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

In an instant, the one running in front pushed off the ground with both feet.

She jumped into a tree hole with a diameter of four meters.

Led by Ming, Belle, Lily, Haruhime, and Winnie also jumped into the hole one after another.

His companions practically jumped down the long, stepped passageway, and Welf followed suit.

"Of course they'll come, you can imagine...!"

In less than a second, the huge swarm of bees began to invade the tunnel.

As the monster relentlessly pursued him, Welf abruptly changed his body direction while falling through the air, his brows furrowed in anger.

He stared intently at the giant wasps (deadly hornets), gripping the "magic sword" tightly and raising it high above his head.

So what if it can fly?

In this confined space, it was impossible to dodge.

Welf roared once again, accompanied by his weapon.

"Go! Go ...

A massive fireball, capable of burning everything, flew out.

The killer bees were dyed a scorching color all over their bodies.

"----------------ah!?"

The enormous swarm of bees, lured into the tunnel, was blown to pieces without leaving a trace.

Almost simultaneously, the "Demon Sword" emitted a high-pitched sound and turned into dust.

"Thanks."

This time it's not about apologizing, but about expressing gratitude.

With a smile, Welf offered his parting words.

Numerous shattered fragments, shimmering as if bidding farewell.

Then, as if pushed out by the flames of an explosion inside the tree hole, Bell and the others, along with Welf, were blown away.

"~ ...

The blast wave swept everyone away, causing them to fall downwards.

Only the boy experienced a strong sense of déjà vu. The group saw light ahead, then were violently thrown out of the tree hole. Thump thump thump thump thump! Several muffled thuds piled up.

"The 20th floor..."

"Finally, we've arrived..."

"It's...it's a success..."

"Whatever, please get out of the way!"

"Waaaaah~"

"So heavy!"

Life was shattered, Welf showed a wounded smile, Bell was relieved, Lily was angry, while Haruhime and Winnie were struggling and waving their arms and legs.

Before the team, who were huddled together in camaraderie, lay a maze of enormous trees, a landscape stretching to the next floor.

It happened in an instant.

As he confronted the man in black, he was coughing incessantly as he was enveloped by the rising black mist. Suddenly, something that looked like a cloth covered him, and in an instant, all the surrounding sounds faded away.

I had just felt myself being picked up and moved when I came to my senses that I was already here.

"...Did you perform some kind of magic trick?"

"It's nothing serious. I just used a few magical items and took a shortcut, Goddess Hestia."

The stone passage was filled with cool air.

Hestia and the man in black walked step by step along the dim artificial passage.

The passageway had a low ceiling and was so narrow that three people couldn't even fit inside. The walls were made of a seamless, magical material with subtly shimmering patterns etched on them. There were no doors or windows, making it a perfect "secret passage."

Hestia thought to herself, "I've been completely tricked." But for now, she decided to comply with his request and go with him. The skillful way he had abducted her made it clear that she was nothing more than a powerless goddess; any resistance would be futile. She joked as usual, but the initiative remained firmly in his hands.

"Almost no one knows that this shortcut exists, let alone uses it; you could count the number of people on one hand."

The man in black leading the way, carrying a portable magic stone lamp, was, of course, facing away from Hestia.

He seemed to have never considered that Hestia would escape, or perhaps he thought that even if she did escape, he could easily catch her? Probably both.

Seeing that the other party had no intention of harming her, Hestia couldn't help but purse her lips into a straight line, but she sighed and looked around again.

"A shortcut, right...?"

If we believe what they say, then the man in black grabbed Hestia and carried her into this "shortcut"... In other words, the entrance and exit are near the designated meeting point on Fourth Street.

Hestia used a simple map of Nuokai City in her mind, calculating the locations of major buildings and roads, and said:

"This shortcut is for escaping in case of emergency, right?"

"..."

Hearing Hestia's confident tone, the man in black simply remained silent.

However, he seemed to smile under the hood.

(You're not planning to answer, huh... Fine, if it's as I expect, it should be soon...)

Then you'll know the answers to everything.

The owner of this character will tell himself.

Hestia obediently followed the other party.

"Huh? There's no road?"

After walking for a while, they came to the end of the passage.

Just as Hestia was looking surprised, the man in black stretched out a hand and touched the patterns on the wall.

『——』

Then he uttered words that sounded like a spell, and the wall immediately made a low sound and slid aside.

Did he just say "Open Sesame"? Hestia was mentally complaining when the tightly closed secret door opened completely.

The door leads to an open space dominated by dim light.

"..."

Following the man in black who was walking forward, we climbed a short flight of stairs and arrived at a stone hall.

Hestia emerged from the darkness at the wall and looked around.

The floor was covered with stone slabs, the ceiling was high and dark, and the stone walls conveyed a sense of history over the years, making it seem like a forgotten "ancient" temple.

Aside from the "tunnel" she and the man in black had come through, the only other thing that seemed like an entrance was the staircase leading upstairs, which made Hestia realize that this place was underground.

Then, in the center of the hall.

He was on the altar where four torches were placed to form the sole light source.

"—Uranus."

The man in black led Hestia to the front of the altar to confront the male god head-on.

Atop a massive stone throne—the throne of God—sat an old, motionless deity. Over two meters tall, his physique was immensely powerful, and his imposing presence, presence, and divine might were vastly different from those of ordinary gods. He was like one of the powerful deities known as the "Great Gods" of the "Heavenly Realm."

His long white hair and beard peeked out from his robe and hood. He rested his massive arms on the armrests, unmoved. Like a statue, like a ruler, he simply persisted.

The unmoving monarch—the guild's "true ruler"—slowly raised his head, looking down at Hestia.

"It's been a long time, Hestia."

"Hey, Uranus...yes, it's been a thousand years since we last met."

Uranus was not happy about the reunion, and spoke calmly with an unshakable calm expression.

When faced with a divine being (or person) possessing a high divine status, Hestia showed no fear and answered as if meeting an old friend.

Hestia, who had only recently arrived in the mortal realm, was familiar with Uranus, who was hailed as the "creator god of Orario"—at least since he came from the heavens.

Since moving to the lower realm—little is known.

What Hestia knew was that he came to Orario during a period of transition, when the "Ancient" entered a new phase, along with the gods who first descended to the mortal realm.

He is committed to preventing the monsters overflowing from the "big hole" from invading the surface, and together with the children, he built the "lid" of the underground city, the fortress city that was the predecessor of the labyrinth city.

He regards the guild as his own faction, managing the city and the labyrinth day and night. At the same time, in order to show his absolute neutrality, he does not grant "God's Grace (Pharna)" to the staff members and renounces the use of force.

And he himself was in the basement of the guild headquarters, offering "prayer" to the dungeon every day.

It's generally said that due to his "prayer" - suppressing the dungeon with his immense divine power, the recurring large-scale movement of monsters and their attempts to set foot on the surface since "ancient times" were suppressed.

Therefore, this is probably the deepest part of the guild headquarters, the "prayer hall".

Right below the central agency that governs Orario, the gods Hestia and Uranus gazed at each other with the same azure eyes.

"My duty is done, Uranus."

"Thank you for your hard work, Fels."

At that moment, the long black robe that had been waiting behind Hestia swayed.

The man in black, called Fels, began to move.

"Well then, please allow me to leave now. I must hurry, or I'll be too late."

He went on to say that they were heading in the direction of the "tunnel" they had used to get here.

"Please don't be shy, Goddess Hestia."

Leaving these words behind as he left, the man in black, Fels, disappeared into the darkness.

Hestia watched him leave and turned her gaze back to the front.

"I have many questions for you. Can you answer them first, Uranus?"

"Alright."

From the moment Hestia saw the order for the mandatory mission and the coded message in the sacred script, she knew that Uranus was involved in this matter.

She simply couldn't predict the process, but she had long anticipated that the two would confront each other like this.

Is issuing mandatory tasks an arbitrary decision on your part?

"Exactly, guild staff have absolutely nothing to do with this."

"Are Bell and the others alright?"

"They're heading to the underground city; I can't guarantee that."

Hestia immediately confirmed the safety of her family. When she heard the other party evade the topic, her eyes narrowed sternly, but she slowly relaxed the tension in her shoulders.

She wanted to get angry but it wouldn't be too late after hearing the whole story, so she asked herself to stay calm.

"Why play such complicated tricks...and do such roundabout things?"

"I must conduct this secret meeting quickly and without anyone noticing. I also anticipated that you, Hestia, and your retinue would be wary of me."

Does he mean that, including his own people, they don't want others to know that Hestia has been summoned to this "prayer hall"? Was it because he foresaw everything that Hestia was brought to them by force?

At the same time, Hestia had a hunch that she was being tested.

Uranus and the others must have known all along that Hestia and her group had hidden Winnie.

Even today, they are still observing, including mandatory tasks.

Observe the movements and reactions of Hestia and others.

To observe whether Hestia is qualified to have an occasion like this, where two chief gods meet.

"I was summoned here—because of the dragon girl Winnie, right?"

Hestia touched on the key point.

She stared intently at the imposing old god seated on the altar.

"What exactly is she? Do you know anything about her, Uranus?"