A Mistaken Encounter: The Hero of the World

Loki simply shook his head, "No, Pernea has no [Family]."

"Isn't that just like brainwashing?" Diona exclaimed, subconsciously moving away.

Noticing Diona's actions, Ais also took small steps forward.

"Hmph!" Penea snorted coldly, "Poverty, only poverty, is the best medicine to keep people and gods awake and prevent them from falling!"

"Don't tell our children your old-fashioned nonsense." Loki took out the portrait.

"Have you seen this child?"

Pernea glanced at the portrait, took a big bite of the chicken leg, and muttered incoherently while chewing, "I'm sorry to disappoint you, Loki. I don't know this kind of person. I haven't seen him in "Daedalus Road". Besides, even if I knew, I couldn't tell you outsiders for free."

"I understand... How about if I pay you a little money and you mobilize your followers to help us find it? This deal will be a pure profit for you, right?"

"You must be kidding! I'm most afraid of trouble! Don't drag me into this!"

The God of Poverty waved his hand in disgust as if he was shooing away a fly, and quickly left.

Her followers cried out in surprise and chased after the God of Poverty—

"Lord Penea, wait for us!"

“Let’s embrace poverty!”

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On the second day of exploring the Daedalus neighborhood, Loki had gone back and Finn continued to lead the team in the exploration.

Shortly after entering the southeastern area where "Daedalus Road" is located from the southern part of the city, Bert stopped. Not only him, but other orcs also reacted and twitched their noses.

"This pungent smell...is from the Piranha plant," said Bert.

Finn's face changed. After carefully searching the area, they found a staircase with an opening in the floor in front of a dead end that deviated from the waterway.

"…Hidden stairs?"

"There was clearly no trace of it before...but this time we found it right away," Bert whispered.

Raul and others also understood what he meant - it was very strange, and the team immediately became nervous.

Finn and Grace also narrowed their eyes and instructed everyone to go down the stairs.

The group continued to move along a stone passage that was clearly different in structure from the underground waterway, guided by the monster's scent - and finally arrived in front of a gate.

"A metal door..."

"No, this is Orichalcum!" said Finn.

"What?!" Even Aisi and the others were surprised. The highest grade metal in the world was used to make a door.

At this moment, the door opened——!

It was like inviting someone into a trap, and the dark passage gave off an eerie atmosphere.

"Bert, Cruz, you go in and investigate first. But don't go too deep, and come back as soon as possible."

Finn gave a careful instruction.

The Lv.6 werewolf and the Lv.4 dogman nodded and rushed in together. A few minutes later, they both returned safely.

"After we went in, we didn't see any people or monsters. But after walking a distance, the path became complicated and branched, just like a maze... No, it's like a dungeon." Cruz, who is usually taciturn, reported the scene they saw on behalf of Bert.

The leader of the little people lowered his head in thought, his thumb aching slightly.

“What should I do next…?” Raul asked nervously.

"It saves the trouble of dealing with the hardest metal door. Now we can get in!"

"But, no matter how you think about it, it's a trap, right?"

"Since they invited us in, why don't we just take advantage of their tricks? We should defeat them along with all their tricks."

"Indeed, it is a bit strange that you are still undecided after coming here..."

Diona, Angie, Dione, and Alicia expressed their opinions one by one.

"Finn, the enemy's goal is to summon the "Fairy Clone". We have limited time, so why don't I go in?"

Finn shook his head. Indeed, the enemy wanted to summon the "Fairy Clone" on the surface, so now they had to go in -

"Finn, leave Xiaoka behind." Burt, who had been silent all this time, stared at the dark passage and said, "There is a bad smell that makes me uncomfortable... I don't need Xiaoka to drag me down and get in the way."

The lower-level members were unhappy when they heard such rude remarks.

Diona also started to accuse him, "What are you doing, Bert? We are from the same clan, please stop talking like that, okay?"

Finn frowned. If Serven, who was able to resist, fight and investigate, was there, the situation would be much better. However, Serven's return date was uncertain, so he could only make a decision first and gestured for everyone to be quiet.

"Everyone, divide into the vanguard, rearguard, and treatment team. Grace and I will lead the troops to attack. Everyone, be careful."

"Lefiya...are you going too?" Someone called Lefiya when she was sorting out the props.

"Ms. Fellweiss...?" Facing Fellweiss's red eyes, Lefiya said, "Yes! I want to go, because I want to help Miss Ais... help everyone."

"...Is that so." Fierweiss nodded, "Then I'll go too. I'll protect you."

Hearing that Filweiss promised to be a knight protecting the princess, Lefiya's heart trembled and she blushed, but then she smiled and thanked her.

In addition to Livilia who stayed behind in the base camp, there were other first-level adventurers, Lv4 second-army members such as Raul, and low-level members mainly at Lv3, as well as [Dionysus Familia] Lv3 Filweiss.

A group of people stepped into the passage.

Led by Grace and Diona, the team walked along the stone-covered passage.

"It's like a dungeon..." Tiona couldn't help but sigh.

The passage was wide enough for three adventurers to walk side by side, and the structure was neat and uniform, as if it had been carefully calculated, without any disorder. Many of the stones themselves were already cracked, giving people a sense of the long years.

The one-way street soon turned into a complex maze, with some split in two, some crossing, and many forking roads. Every time Finn encountered a fork in the road, he had to send out scouts, and although the result was often reported as a "dead end", it did waste time.

The blue magic stone lamp embedded in the wall dimly illuminates the monster-shaped statues and the plant pattern reliefs on the wall.

The carefully crafted stone maze looked like a dungeon, the only difference being that it was too dead.

"This wall..." Finn said, frowning.

"It's 'Steel'." Grace also frowned. 'Steel' has a strength second only to the hardest metal, Ohari Steel. Although he and Finn are not indestructible, they will be delayed for a long time.

Not only is the gate made of the hardest metal, the entire maze is constructed with super-hard metal.

After hearing what Finn and Grace said, the group members were very surprised.

"There are stairs ahead, seemingly leading downwards." "The same is true for the reverse route, there is no sign of an enemy ambush."

Cruz and Angel, who were in charge of reconnaissance, came back and reported.

"What to do, Finn?"

"…divide into two groups. There are too many of us, and we won't be able to mobilize when a real battle comes. Let's split into two teams."

So, Grace, Ai Si, Diona and Tione led the team, while Finn and Raul led the center back, Bert led the vanguard, and Lefiya and Felweiss led the defender, and continued the exploration.

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"…It's very similar to the 'upper level' of the dungeon." Finn spread out the map in his mind. Based on the depth he came in from, he felt that he should be on the first or second level. Whether it was the height, width, or branching pattern of the passage, it was very similar to the dungeon.

There are even "vertical holes" on the ground leading to other floors - it looks like the construction was stopped halfway, or it may be a passage specially reserved for the Piranha Plant monster.

They came to a square space similar to an underground cave, with a side length estimated to be more than fifty meters.

“Finn, um——!!” A figure swayed and appeared, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"I miss you so much...you pretentious hero!" The opponent had a ferocious smile on his face and spit flying.

"Oh, you are still alive after all...Valetta."

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"I haven't forgotten your conceited face for a single day, you stinky bastard! Do you still remember who I am? Of course you do? If you dare to say you forgot, I'll beat you to death! I'll pull your intestines out, cut your face into pieces, stab you all over, and make sure you never dare to talk to me in a contemptuous tone again!"

"Captain, who is this crazy woman?" asked the rabbit man Lakta.

"Her name is Valetta Grad. She was one of the main cadres of the dark faction in Orario fifteen years ago." Finn looked at Valetta, "So, the "Nightmare on the 27th Floor" is really just a cover for pretending to die?"

"You are so predictable that it makes me angry, short hero. That's right, six years ago, I instigated the white-haired ghost Olivas to plan the "Monster Gift" and let all the cadres pretend to be dead together."

Valetta glared at Finn, "But you didn't go to the 27th floor to rescue people! As soon as you heard the news, you took Freya and Ganesa's gang and took the opportunity to attack our main gods! The main gods were repatriated and "Benevolence" was sealed in the dungeon. Do you understand my fear? How many times have I been almost eaten by monsters!"

At that time, Finn saw through the intentions of Valetta and others, and judged that it was too late to rescue them, so he abandoned the 27th floor, and with the help of the power of the main gods, attacked the bases of all dark factions, and successfully sent a large number of "evil gods" back to heaven.

This brilliant action played a decisive role, shifting the balance of power between the dark faction and the guild greatly in favor of the guild.

"I understand how you feel, but you deserve it."

"Finn! I will never let you go!!"

........ ........ ...

Valetta roared, holding a red ball with a "D" pattern on it. The back of the cave was blocked, and a large number of carnivorous plants rushed out from a certain gate.

"Everyone, move to the front!" Finn gave the order, and Lefiya volunteered to cooperate with Filleweiss to cover the rear.

"The Holy Grail of Evil-Destroying, transformed into a shield! [The Holy Grail of God's Salvation]!" Felweiss stretched out her left hand straight and completed the spell in an instant. A pure white circular barrier stood in front of her and Lefiya, blocking the attacks of several carnivorous plants.

"Release a beam of light, the bow of the holy wood. You are a master of archery - [Spiritual Bow and Light Arrow]!" Under the protection of her good friend, Lefiya released the magic steadily. The dazzling flash of light burned the carnivorous plants that rushed into the passage with their clansmen to ashes.

The other carnivorous plants in the hall quickly rushed into the passage, but were blocked again and again by Lefiya and the others.

At the same time, Bert also led the vanguard to clear the way and eliminate the new monsters blocking the way.

Finn could feel Valetta's secret gaze, but he didn't know where the enemy was hiding now.

He felt that Valetta was like a spider hiding in the dark, preparing to wrap its prey in a web before biting it.

Finn had expected this. But after taking into account the enemy's strength, the maze's terrain, and our army's strength, he still had the confidence to break through.

But his thumb suddenly felt more painful than ever before. He became more alert, but still had no idea where the danger came from.

The group came to a huge crossroads.

Bert's vanguard passed safely.

However, when the central defenders led by Finn arrived here, something strange happened!

The "door" suddenly opened!

Green eyes, a strange black sword, blood-red hair——

Weird Revisited!

In an instant, she approached Finn and slashed down with the black sword raised high!

Finn held his spear horizontally to defend himself, but the terrifying force hit his entire body.

My fingers were numbed by the shock for a moment.

The enemy's strength and speed are much stronger than before!

"How many magic stones did she devour——!"

Unimaginable power, almost overwhelming combat power——

Finn felt that he had to use [Magic Helfangs] to have a chance of winning, otherwise he would definitely lose. The only problem was that using magic would make him lose his mind, and the team members would lose their command tower -

During his few seconds of confusion, Revis caught the fatal flaw of the [Brave]——

She seized this brief opportunity—!

The black sword drew a violent arc and instantly cut off Finn's gun handle!

——The situation collapsed in an instant!

The great sword cut Finn's body into pieces.

There were deep knife wounds on the dwarf's body, and a lot of bright red blood spurted out!

The spear of courage [Spear of Fortia] was cut off, and the leader Finn bounced off the stone slab and fell down——

Unable to move, unable to get up again!

Finn—fell!

The [Brave] who always inspires the members of the clan at all times——

Defeated!

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