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

"Time is limited, there's nothing we can do."

Seeing Lv. 2 Welf, Sakura, and their familiars defeat the enemy with sheer numbers, the goddess (Hestia) couldn't help but sigh.

She gave up hope, caught up with her crush who was running forward, and rushed into the street that Welf and the others had forcibly broken through.

■

—If you were to ask what the beginning of everything was.

The answer is unilateral hostility.

From the moment they met, she, also a "Goddess of Beauty," harbored hatred towards Freya.

Whether it was jealousy stemming from their own kind or envy of Freya's possessions that Freya lacked, Freya herself was unaware. The truth, however, was that she hated Freya and repeatedly tried to oust her and take her place.

As for Freya, she didn't take her seriously.

Freya would often nitpick, but she would just laugh it off, sometimes even finding it amusing and a good way to kill time. Freya's impression of her was just so-so; she didn't particularly dislike her.

I wonder if it was this composure, status, and reputation that determined the relative strength of the two sides.

Freya reigns supreme at the pinnacle of the city, while she is merely the queen of the lewd capital.

Freya's reputation grew daily, her retinue became feared, and because of her status in the labyrinth city, her "beauty" earned her the ridiculous praise of being the most beautiful being in the world, regardless of whether it was the lower or the heavens.

Freya smiled and thought to herself that she was probably going to be envied by the other goddesses.

Her one-sided hostility began to harbor a dark flame.

Perhaps the course of events was already set from the moment she began to look at Freya with a sinister gaze.

However, there is perhaps one thing Freya can say.

The only difference between me and her, both of whom are "goddesses of beauty," is—

"Goddess Freya".

Freya, who had been gazing at her reflection in the wine, looked up when she heard her attendant's voice.

She placed the glass she was holding on the round table, and Otto walked over and quietly continued:

"Alan and the others reported that the Ishtar Familia has captured Bell Crane and is acting dangerously... and then a huge explosion occurred in the Red Mansion."

Before the attendant could say, "This time there's no mistake," Freya stood up from her chair.

"Are all the children from the [Family] here?"

"Yes."

"Issue the order."

"So……"

"Yes, Ishtar crossed the line."

With a chilling voice, Freya narrowed her silver eyes.

"I can forgive all the pranks I've played on you until now with a smile... but no, there's only one I can't forgive."

Oota bowed to Freya, who was walking forward, and then—roared loudly:

"Take up your weapons!! We, the goddess, crave a battlefield feast!!"

The soldiers waiting for orders in the hall, and their families scattered throughout the mansion, marched in unison, their boots clicking.

The group, armed with their weapons, rushed out, their synchronized movements a testament to their loyalty.

No one spoke, yet it was as if they had agreed beforehand to gather in front of the "Battlefield" in the courtyard of the Silver Mansion.

More than a hundred of her retinue members acted together under the goddess's divine will.

"...This is really unpleasant."

As the surrounding noise filled the air, the two walked through the luxurious hall of the mansion.

Freya, who was attending to Ota, whispered something to him.

What do you mean?

"I mean this development."

The brief answer left Ota looking suspicious.

The goddess didn't look at him, and said softly to herself, "Fine," before walking out of the headquarters.

"I'm leaving too. Once you're ready, you can go."

■

The Goddess of Prostitution was instantly engulfed in a cacophony of roars.

"Intrusion detected!!"

"How many people are there!?"

"One person! The 'newcomer' has barged in through the main entrance!!"

Bell ran wildly through the palace amidst the cacophony of calls from the Amazonian people.

He was kicking and stomping on the stairs, pillars, and handrails of a long, wide floor with a central atrium, like a skyscraper (Tower of Babel), as he climbed higher and higher.

"Stop right there—!?"

Fully armed combat prostitutes arrived, their angry shouts rising and falling.

Seeing the shrewish women blocking his way, Bell immediately changed direction. Arrows rained down without warning, and as soon as he spotted the enemy, he veered off to another path.

(If I stop, I'm doomed...!)

This is the enemy's stronghold; I must fight against hundreds of soldiers all by myself.

Every second wasted because of being held back by one person is equivalent to shortening one's lifespan.

Seeing the enemy swarming in from all directions, Bell told himself: Never engage in serious close combat with the enemy.

"[Flame Lightning]!"

"Ughhh!?"

He fired fireballs continuously as he ran.

This is a quick-fire spell that requires no incantation—no charging time required. Faced with superior ranged weapons that surpass arrows in firing speed, flight speed, and power, the Amazons are either blasted away or unable to close the distance for a long time.

While keeping an eye on the trembling non-combatant prostitutes in the corners of the corridors and halls, Bell unleashed a torrent of [Fire Lightning] on any enemy that approached him, regardless of whether they were upstairs or downstairs.

"Fire the arrows!!"

“Wu!?”

As he ran along the corridor surrounding the atrium, more than ten arrows were shot down simultaneously from the upper floors diagonally above.

The shooting seemed to be a form of retaliation, with arrows raining down. He couldn't completely dodge them, but Hestia's Blade flashed, deflecting several arrows, but he lost his balance and almost fell on the spot.

Arrows rained down in quick succession, and with several greatsword soldiers coming from both the front and rear, Bell couldn't handle it. He kicked off with both feet and fled into the side passage, then crashed headfirst into a window at the other end of the passage.

"He escaped outside!?"

Bell smashed through the glass and plunged into the cool night air.

Under the watchful eye of the moon, hidden behind the clouds, he used the palace's protruding roof as a foothold and ran upstairs.

Bell dashed and leaped continuously, like a rabbit, towards the palace's high-rise buildings. The Amazons, having broken through the glass, pursued him relentlessly.

(Three minutes—and it hasn't even been three minutes yet!!)

Sweat splattered from his skin, and his breathing gradually quickened. Not long after, the fatigue caused by being outnumbered began to surface intermittently, and Bell took out the third elixir from his leg pouch.

Bell's heart pounded, but he spurred his entire body to keep running, doing his utmost as bait. He threw away the empty test tube again, continuing to flee and drawing as much attention as possible.

The brightly lit night scene of the red-light district unfolded in one side of his vision, and Belle urged his swift legs, which were faster than those of a fighting prostitute, to keep running.

"Lord Bell, I am deeply grateful."

—While Bell was causing a ruckus at the front of the palace, it was on the exact opposite side.

Hiding in the darkness, he quickly infiltrated the Goddess of Prostitution through the back door and window, running across the deserted corridor.

Ishtar and her group's original target was Bell, but now that Bell had caused a commotion, it had drawn their attention, and the security was much laxer than usual. Furthermore, because they hadn't been able to capture Bell, even more people rushed to the front of the palace to help.

Faith, offering gratitude and apology to Bell, moved with incredible speed. She darted past like the wind, hiding whenever the footsteps of several approaching figures drew near. She dodged several groups of fighting prostitutes before finally spotting a lone member. The sense of their equal presence allowed Faith to immediately recognize that the other was also a Level 2.

The female warrior walked forward and took a crystal ball from her pouch, rolling it to the spot she was about to pass.

"?This is……"

She picked up the crystal that rolled past her eyes, and in a flash—she jumped down from the ceiling, positioned herself behind the other person, and braced her arm around her neck.

He held the "Ushiwakamaru" in his right hand and pressed the tip of the knife against the brown neck.

"Where is Lady Haruhime?"

"The 40th and 40th floors. It's near the Sky Garden."

Having extracted the information, he tightened his grip on the other person's neck, causing the neck bone to crack.

The officer threw the completely unconscious female warrior from the corridor into a room and proceeded up to the fortieth floor.

This kind of adventurer would never use such a perfect, swift, and deadly sneak attack, which reminded Ming of Takemikazuchi's face, and he muttered to himself, "How despicable."

The spirit came out of the window and climbed up the palace roof and outer walls. Soon...

She saw light coming from a window of a room far above.

■

By the window of a certain room, Haruhime was filled with unease.

Just as she was feeling the whole headquarters was in a commotion, she heard the "rising star"—Bell—burst into the palace all by himself.

Haruhime stood up, intending to run out of the room, but the battle prostitute waiting in the same room stopped her. At that moment, there was an Amazon on each side of her, both glaring at her.

Haruhime changed into a red outfit from the Far East, sat on a chair, and wagged her tail as if expressing her emotions.

"The child... has arrived?"

A whispered murmur, unheard by anyone, escaped from her cherry lips.

How could this be? Why? No! Fragments of hoarse voices overflowed.

Chunji's unfocused gaze wandered aimlessly across the floor as she hugged herself tightly, as if she were afraid of something.

"You guys go help out, I'll stay here and watch this room."

As Haruhime stood with her head bowed in a corner of the room, Aisha gave instructions to the other combat prostitutes.

She said she wanted to be the girl's protector too, but the Female Titan, impatient with the inability to capture Bell, objected.

"Stop talking to yourself, Aisha, you have to come with me to catch rabbits too."

"...Huh?"

"You caused us so much trouble by breaking the 'Sessho-seki' before, don't tell us you've forgotten."

Frini brought her frog-like, round face close to Aisha's eyes, looking down at her condescendingly.

"Are you trying to take advantage of the chaos to let Chun-hee escape? I don't trust you. You'd better stay right under my nose."

Frini's words alarmed the other fighting prostitutes.

"Bewitched" by the goddess (Ishtar), Aisha, who was never going to rebel, scoffed and said, "Idiot."

"【Rookie】is clearly bait; the real purpose is to steal Haruhime's 【Shadowless】."

"It's just a Level 2, Level 3. What problem will there be if I'm not here with you?"

Apart from Frini and Aisha, all the fighting prostitutes in this room are Lv. 2.

Second-tier adventurers were all sent to capture Bell, who was also a Level 3 adventurer.

Frini arrogantly declared that for adventurers of that caliber, the fighting prostitutes here would suffice.

"That little girl used unexpected magic in the war game; if things go wrong—"

"Have you finished spouting nonsense?!"

The unusual shout startled both the fighting prostitute and Chun Ji, making their shoulders tremble.

Frini terrified everyone in the room as she stared at Aisha, whose expression remained unchanged, with her bloodshot eyes.