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

The flowing blood turned the azure waters red and dirty, like smoke. And something seemed to be drawn to this blood mist, a huge figure twisting its body in the distance.

(That's—a "giant water snake"!?)

It is a large-scale monster that comes from the confluence of other waterways.

Its piercing eyes, shining brightly in the water, complement its imposing presence, making it seem like the embodiment of fear.

"Chaa ...

The real aquatic monster attacked with speed surpassing that of the moss giant, giving me no time to fight back, and bit into my shoulder with a sharp tooth.

“Ugh!?”

The attack caused a burning pain and more severe bleeding. Its jaws seemed to be trying to crush the flesh and bones together, and just as I felt my life was in danger, the shackles on my feet suddenly disappeared.

(Huh?)

The moss giant released the tree roots, stared intently at me, and then began to try to leave. It stretched out its wooden tentacles and went against the current, disappearing into other tributaries.

(It's finally free of its restraints? What a perfect opportunity to finish off its prey!)

Was it afraid of the aqua serpent? I was suspicious, but I didn't care anymore and plunged the dagger in my right hand into the monster that was biting my shoulder.

"~~~~!?"

The giant snake writhed its massive body in agony, and just as it was shaking me back and forth, desperately trying to break free of its fangs...

That's when I finally noticed the deafening roar coming through the water.

(──)

The vibration from behind made me turn around.

In the distance, all that could be seen was where the water flow had stopped.

Just as the end was announced, the water plunged downwards—

(—No way...)

All the water flowing from the floors leads to the "Giant Waterfall" —

This is knowledge that Miss Eina taught me, and it's something I said myself.

My body was drifting along with the current, and I was about to reach the central area of ​​the building, which is the waterfall.

「!?」

The water flowing so close to the waterfall's mouth was already a torrent. The current was too fast; I couldn't stop accelerating. It was sweeping everything towards the shattering opening directly below, sucking everything in.

My face turned ashen instantly, and I mustered all my strength to pull the giant water snake away. Without thinking twice, I gripped the black dagger and stabbed it in the neck, face, and eyes. The monster screamed in agony, red blood splattered everywhere, and the force of its violently twisting body lifted me to the surface.

"Guha!?"

I brought my face above the water.

The air I had been longing for was completely tasteless. In a burning, agitated state, I shoved the "White Illusion" into the giant water snake's skull, finally freeing myself from its powerless jaws.

However, it was too late.

That was the end; the waterfall gushed in front of me and sucked me in from behind.

I reached out, but couldn't grab anything. In an instant, a terrifying feeling of floating enveloped me.

Then, I was pulled downwards by the current—

"Ugh—Aa ...

The torrent poured down, and huge splashes of water hit my skin.

My loud screams were swallowed up by the roar of the waterfall as I was swept into the labyrinth's largest waterfall, "Giant Waterfall," and plunged downwards.

Volume 12, Chapter 5: The Bride of the Water City

"Lord Bell! Lord Bell!?"

Lily's screams were carried away by the water.

In the cavern where water flowed like a spider web and countless crystal clusters were scattered like stars, Lily called out again and again to the boy who had disappeared into the water.

"Lord Bell, you've been dragged into the water by a monster..."

"We have to save him quickly! The current is very strong; if this continues, he'll be swept out of the cave!"

Haruhime stood frozen in place, while Lily beside her took off her Black Giant Protective Suit (Goliath Robe) and backpack and threw them away.

She revealed her thin body, which was covered by shorts and a short-sleeved top called a "water crystal fabric," and tried to jump into the water.

"No, Lily Luca!"

However, Daphne stopped her.

She put Luvis, whom she had been supporting, down on the floor and grabbed the girl's wrist.

The instant Lily was pulled forcefully, the fangs of the "Ambush Fish" that flew out of the water grazed her face. A little blood trickled from Lily's scraped cheek, and she froze.

"What are you doing?! If you or I jump in, we'll just get bitten to death by the monster! Have you forgotten how dangerous these currents are?!"

"But...! But, Lord Bell...!?"

Seeing Lily's unusual panic and disarray, Daphne stared in astonishment and remained silent. Just then, Aisha and Welf rescued the elven adventurers and returned to everyone's side.

Although they were held back by monsters like the Metal Blue Crab and couldn't rescue Bell in time, they annihilated all the monsters that had climbed ashore.

"Lady Aisha! Lord Bell...!"

"I know, I saw it just now."

Aisha handed the wounded to the flustered Cassandra for care, glancing at the other side of the road.

【Yata no Shiro-ga】—In contrast to 【Yata no Kurō-ga】, which detects monsters, it can detect familiars who possess the same "divine grace (Pharna)". The girl who possessed this "skill" shook her head as if enduring grief.

"Just now, Lord Bell's reaction vanished outside this cave..."

"How could this be...?"

Upon hearing that Bell had been swept away by the water along with the "enhanced species," Lily turned pale.

When Welf and Sakura, both panting heavily, opened their eyes wide, Aisha sighed and said:

"Hey you guys, you're not allowed to go rescue Bell Craney, okay?"

"Varied……!"

"He fell into such a fast-flowing current; normally, even if we chased after him, we wouldn't be able to catch up. And with so many wounded people in our group, how agile can we be?"

"Ah, Lady Aisha! Please wait a moment!"

"Calm down, kid. You're the team leader, what kind of behavior is this, panicking like this?"

Lily was about to retort excitedly, but Aisha flicked her forehead with her slender fingers. "Eek!?" The little girl leaned back, tears welling in her eyes, looking back at Aisha in confusion.

"With Bell Craney's abilities, he could easily operate alone in this area."

"!"

"That little brother's abilities (stats) are really strange. Judging by his stats, he's above average even at Lv.4, and in terms of 'agility' alone, he's top-tier. I have no idea how much potential he's accumulated."

Aisha emphasized that his strength far exceeded the appropriate level for the 25th floor, "Hmph!" She first snorted through her nose, then asserted as if quite unconvinced:

"Bell Craney is better than me. Although I don't want to admit it."

"Lady Aisha..."

"Even if he gets caught up in the water battle, knowing that little brother's personality, he'll definitely survive. Just pray that he climbs ashore on his own; as long as he's out of the water, he's unlikely to kick the bucket."

Hearing the second-level adventurer guarantee this, Lily's excited emotions finally calmed down.

Seeing that she was beginning to regain her composure as an advisor, Aisha said in a final, persuasive tone:

"If you're going to worry, worry about your own business. Am I wrong?"

Lily paused for a moment before slowly nodding.

The tiny hands of the little people were clenched into fists.

"...Lady Aisha is right, let's not worry about Lord Bell for now."

"Lady Lily!?"

"Hey, Riko!"

"Calm down first."

In front of Haruhime and Welf, Lily seemed to be admonishing herself, and took a deep breath.

"The team's safety should be our priority now. Lily, if we can't be rescued, we'll only be a burden to that person."

"Little Lizi, you..."

"Lord Bell will be alright. Let's all trust him."

Everyone could see that Lily, like the fox-girl, was more worried about the boy than anyone else.

However, Lily showed no sign of such feelings, donning the stern "Commander" mask.

"The situation has changed, and Lily suggests leaving this floor."

"!"

Then, upon hearing her judgment, which was far removed from the original purpose, not only Welf and the others, but even Aisha seemed quite surprised.

"With Lord Bell gone, Lily, it's difficult for us to protect so many wounded while we're still on the move. We'll probably have trouble even withstanding attacks from ordinary monsters. It's putting too much of a burden on Lady Aisha."

Including Chigusa and Luvis, there are now five wounded in the team. Even if one person is sent to carry each wounded person, only three people are left who can fight normally. Lily glanced at the elven adventurers that Cassandra had begun to treat and explained the situation in a logical manner.

"But Lady Lily! It would be impolite for us to abandon Lord Bell and leave this floor..."

"To leave, you just need to get to the cliff with the 24th level passage."

"What's the meaning?"

"That location has a wide field of vision and no water flow, so it's impossible for it to be attacked except by flying monsters. Besides, there are no other passages besides the cliff path, making it easy to defend... and it won't be attacked by that 'enhanced species'. Lily, we need to set up an emergency position there."

Despite being pressed for answers by Ming and Sakura, Lily tried to maintain a flat tone. She said that as long as she paid attention to the monsters coming down from the 24th floor, she wouldn't make any mistakes.

"Lily wants to ask Lady Aisha to go to Rivera Town alone to fetch reinforcements. Lily, we... will use Lady Haruhime's level-up to defend that passage and protect the wounded."

"So, you're going to use that cliff as a temporary fortress?"

"That's true. It's really difficult to carry so many wounded people to the 18th floor. If it were just about moving to the entrance to the 25th floor, there might be a way. Under these conditions, we might be able to hold out until reinforcements arrive. Maybe we can even ask the team coming down from the 'middle floor' for help."

To avoid being overheard by Lewis and the others, Lily whispered to everyone about using "Level Ascension," and Welf and Daphne both said they could accept it.

"Besides, after Lord Bell and Lily got separated, he'll probably go to the Great Cavern too. It's a common method when you get separated from your companions in the 'Water City'... Lady Eina must have taught him that. As long as we stay in front of the tunnel, Lily and I will be able to see him as he goes."

After Lily finished explaining and took a breath, Sakura asked her stiffly at the end:

"...I understand that we need to use that cliff as a base. But what if that 'enhanced species' attacks? Although we don't need to worry about a sneak attack, with [Lijie] not here, we'll be in for a tough fight against it."

"In fact, this is Lily's true purpose. It's a single path, Lily, we can lure it to a place where there's nowhere to escape... and then use Master's 'Heavy Pressure Magic (Futsu-no-Mitama)' to crush it along with the cliff path, slamming the monster onto the ground in the deep valley and sending it to its doom."

Upon hearing her true intentions, Sakura and the others were speechless, letting out a gurgling sound.

Upon discovering that even in this critical moment, Lily was still trying to use the "terrain" to retaliate against the enemy, Daphne couldn't help but stare intently at her indifferent profile.

(I did teach her how to give commands, but... this little girl is definitely much smarter than me.)

At this moment, Daphne truly felt a sense of fear towards the little girl she had carefully taught.

Daphne had only witnessed one large-scale battle of the Loki Familia. At that time, she saw the hero (Finn) leading his troops against the floor master (Goliath) of the 17th floor. Now, looking at the porter (supporter) who should be much weaker than herself, she was reminded of that calm and insightful profile.

"The problem is whether Lady Chigusa and the others have the stamina to last that long. And of course, the prerequisite is that they can escape the pursuit of that 'enhanced species' within the dungeon... What do you all think?"

After Lily finished telling everything, she looked uneasy and looked up at Aisha.

The battle-hardened Amazonian smiled contentedly, the corners of his mouth curling up.

"Great, let's do it that way."

"Let's get started right away." Heeding her command, Welf and the others quickly began their operation.

Lily re-equipped herself with the Black Giant protective suit and backpack that she had thrown aside, and began to prepare. At this moment, Haruhime, who was helping her, spoke to her.

"Lady Lily is indeed reliable. Lord Bell said so too."

"what?"

"That man said he has been relying on Lady Lily's help all along... He told me this when he was cleaning the manor."