THE FOOL Part 2

After hurtling through the air and rolling across the debris, the three badly burned

first-tier adventurers were on their knees on a corner of the street. They were the only

ones still moving, but they exchanged harsh words despite their injuries.

Although they managed to get through the blast in one piece, sparks traced their

bodies like flashing thorns, and none of the three could move from the spot.

"…"

Apart from where the monsters lay on the eastern side, not even a shadow remained

of the buildings on the central road where the minotaur was standing. Everything to

the west was completely unrecognizable.

Finn narrowed his eyes as he took in the destruction, glancing over the mountains of

rubble and the monster staring up at him.

"Forget about taking them alive."

Golden hair shifting on his head, the prum general opened his mouth to speak.

He said from his spot, alone on the rooftop:

"Do it, Aiz."

Suddenly, thump!

" "

With the unmistakable sound of boots on stone, the blond-haired, golden-eyed knight

landed behind the monster's back.

"Understood."

A soft chant left her lips at the same moment she withdrew her silver saber.

"Awaken, Tempest."

Her beautiful voice sounded on the breeze.

The extremely short trigger spell activated her magic.

"—VUOOOO!"

Its back vulnerable,the minotaur immediately turned to swing with the magic weapon

in its right hand.

The blond-haired, golden-eyed knight saw the electrified blade coming toward her

and quietly whispered:

"Airiel."

Wind blew.

The moment it enveloped her body, she slashed forward with blinding speed.

Her blade—pierced the enemy's arm.

" ."

Time stopped for Hestia Familia, the Xenos, and the black minotaur.

The wind-lined blade sent the magic weapon spinning along with most of the

monster's right arm. It twirled through the air until it slammed blade-first into a

broken piece of stone pavement with the handle sticking straight up.

Electrical energy pulsed through the ground underfoot as the gigantic monster reared

back.

" ?!"

As the minotaur screamed into the sky, blood gushed from what was left of the

creature's upper arm; everything from halfway above the elbow was gone.

Protected by the wind currents around her body, Aiz avoided the fountain of blood

entirely. Every drop of blood was blown away.

Her Magic was called "Airiel."

A wind enchantment that enhanced the user's weapon and physical attributes.

As they didn't belong to her familia, that was all that Welf, Mikoto, and even Hestia

understood.

—Aiz Wallenstein.

The only being other than adventurers notto be affected by theHowl,Hestia was taken

by the girl's majestic appearance in that moment.

The Sword Princess. Aiz Wallenstein.

A prominent adventurer in both name and reality. Orario's strongest female knight.

Bell's idol.

Engulfed by wind, blond hair flowing in the breeze, she had the air of a fairy straight

out of a hero's tale, and she was so beautiful that Hestia had to accept her as worthy

of the boy's admiration.

The only one unfazed by the monster's Howl shaking the battlefield, the girl whipped

her sword through the air.

" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The minotaur, eyes wide open, swung the Labrys down in a counterattack.

It was a blow that had permanently removed many adventurers from battle. The

monster's mobile guillotine.

And Aiz knocked it away with a single flick of her thin saber.

There was no time to take pride in her successful ambush that claimed her enemy's

arm, nor could she let her guard down.

She stared down the flabbergasted monster, her golden eyes narrowing.

"Here I come."

She attacked at full strength, sword and wind combining into their own melody.

" AAH!"

It was a series of unrelenting, merciless strikes.

Aiz carved into her opponent's towering body, slashing from countless angles

seemingly all at once.

Diagonal over the shoulder, upward arcing, spinning, down from overhead—the now

one-armed minotaur had no hope of blocking them all. Gashes opened in the beast's

incredibly tough black skin; lines appeared in the thick armor covering its body with

every movement.

Facing a bladed storm, the minotaur stepped back for the first time.

"You know, Aiz's magic is sooo unfair!"

"You've only just noticed, bonehead…?"

She moved faster than Bete, hit harder than Tiona, and struck more often than Tione.

The Amazonian girl, unable to join the fight, watched in anguish. Next to her, a

werewolf clicked his tongue in frustration at one of the main reasons the girl had

become known as the Sword Princess: the power granted to her by the wind.

The monster stopped trying to defend itself and went on the attack. Aiz charged to

meet it, their blades clashing with incredible force.

Saber crossed ax. There were no sparks in the air, only deafening wind. The currents

pounding against the unyielding minotaur were far more powerful than normal,

allowing Aiz's unholy technique to land three strikes in the time it took for her

opponent to swing once.

She picked up speed.

Her face devoid of emotion, Aiz saw only the minotaur while blocking out everything

else.

Her precise strikes escalated, as if she were pushing herself to a higher plane,

progressing further than ever before.

Blood spewed from her enemy's large body with every howl of wind and every flash

of silver.

"Th-that's…"

Although already taken, Hestia watched in shock, her face twitching as she gulped.

Mikoto was much the same, pale as a ghost and voice quivering.

"That's… the War Princess."

She'd heard the term somewhere before.

"War Princess."

A monster slayer wearing a girl's skin. The one standing atop a mountain of dead

beasts. Fearless, ever prowling the deepest bowels of the Dungeon without tiring.

Welf, and even the other members of Loki Familia, beheld the incredible girl with a

mixture of awe and fear as she danced amid the fountains of blood, though her wind

protected her from the spray.

The wind screeched louder still over the battlefield.

"!"

The large body staggered. The enemy was off balance.

Wounded yet again, the minotaur had shown weakness. Aiz took the opening,

determined.

Kicking off the ground with enough speed to turn the stone pavement into gravel

behind her, Aiz put all her strength into a diagonal, over-the-shoulder blow to finish it

off once and for all.

" OO!!"

"?!"

However, the enemy's next move took Aiz by surprise.

Realizing that there wasn't enough time to counter with the Labrys, the minotaur

swung its head instead—its mighty horns. The crimson projections deflected Aiz's

wind-coated saber strike on contact.

With a suddenly vulnerable girl in its sights, the minotaur stuck its foot into the

ground and swung the Labrys with all its might.

"?!"

Wind howled.

The beast's sheer strength tore apart the gale protecting the silver blade.

Blown back by the overwhelming force, Aiz's feet carved up the stone pavement before

she finally came to a stop and examined her saber.

It was trembling, the wind enchantment completely obliterated.

Aiz's hand had gone numb after absorbing the devastating impact and could no longer

maintain a strong grip on the hilt. While her face was still aloof, her golden eyes

opened a little wider before looking up at what stood before her.

Huff! Huff! The blood-covered minotaur gasping for breath was smiling.

Even now, the beast was ferocious, gruff, and fearless.

Aiz's eyebrows furrowed, her eyes wide.

"Awaken, Tempest."

Airiel's currents engulfed her tingly arm once again, forcibly tightening her grip with

the power of wind.

The minotaur howled at its powerful, unyielding adversary, swinging its ax directly

into the charging Aiz's path.

Their blades collided as the battle started anew, the resulting clash knocking Hestia

Familia and other onlookers backward, when suddenly…

"NGAH!"

"GOOH?!"

Just as Aiz appeared to have gained the upper hand, the battle was interrupted.

It was Gareth, equipped with heavy armor. Finally returning to the battlefield, the

dwarf had dropped off Ikelos on top of a nearby building after a constant stream of

complaints from the deity ("Brats these days, I swear…"), and then he had jumped

down behind the minotaur and sliced the beast's back with his massive battle-ax.

"Aiz, pincer attack."

"…! But Gareth, I—"

"Ye're puttin' us all at risk, actin' like that. Tone down that ego—don'cha agree, Finn?"

A long spear answered Gareth's question by hurtling toward the monster.

"...?!"

"That I do. Then again, I might not be needed with you here, Gareth."

Having retrieved his spear, Finn had thrown it again, and he shrugged as it pierced the

minotaur's shoulder. Whether he had sensed an issue with Aiz or not, he had

temporarily set aside his duties as commander to join the battle himself.

Under his stern gaze, Aiz reluctantly nodded. Three seasoned first-tier adventurers

surrounded the minotaur.

The monster put up a fight despite being seriously wounded, but it wasn't long

before… thud!

"...!"

The battered, bruised, and bloody frame fell to one knee.

"Asterios…!"

Lido grimaced at the sight of the minotaur kneeling before the adventurers and their

silver saber, massive battle-ax, and spear.

And so the last of his kind had been rendered unable to fight. He sensed the other

Xenos like Gros and Rei shifting nearby as he glared at those adventurers' backs—

when from out of nowhere, three black spheres were thrown into the middle of the

street.

"!"

They broke open on contact with the pavement, spewing a stream of black smoke.

Lido's, Gros's, and Rei's eyes flashed with immediate recognition.

Fels's magic items.

"!"

"Smoke screen…!"

"This smoke, it's spreadin' out fast!!"

Aiz, Finn, and Gareth were stunned to see the swirling, intertwining smoke not only

rushing toward them but threatening to engulf the entire battlefield.

A few seconds ahead of the first-tier adventurers, Lido and his two comrades

exchanged knowing glances, gathered the last of their strength, and all moved as one.

" !!"

The gargoyle roared.

Other Xenos began to stir as the cry reached them, the minotaur immediately looking

skyward.

While the tremendous roar was still ringing in their ears, the siren took to the air and

unleashed a powerful, ever-expanding sound wave.

"""?!"""

The threatening wall of sound targeted only the first-tier adventurers. The three of

them froze in place, bracing against the attack coming from behind.

Visual and aural senses.

They might have been first-tier adventurers, but a momentary lapse was inevitable

without sight and sound.

! The minotaur's aura is…!

Gone.

Limited by the smoke obscuring their vision, her ears under assault, Aiz couldn't

believe it when the monster's presence seemed to disappear into the darkness.

"I've seen that…!"

—Meanwhile, Hestia's memory flared to life as she watched the black smoke inundate

the street, hiding Aiz and the other adventurers from view.

On the moonlit night when she had met Fels for the first time, only a few days prior,

this same smoke had come pouring from the black-robed figure's sleeves before the

mage brought her to Ouranos. Another black sphere landed right in front of Hestia's

group only a moment later, engulfing the area in a black fog.

"!"

Unable to hear Finn's or Gareth's voices due to the deafening sound waves, Aiz decided

to use Airiel on her own.

The torrents of air surrounding her increased in velocity and cleared a space around

her in a few moments.

Once the coiling, almost animal-like fog retreated far enough to see, it was true. The

minotaur had vanished without a trace.

—Don't hold this against me!

Then…

The instant Aiz and the other adventurers emerged from the fog and into Lido's line

of sight, he swelled up his chest like a balloon and released it all at once. Aiz, Gareth,

and Finn had been distracted by the missing minotaur and swiftly turned to face this

new threat, but they were too late.

An inferno came streaming out of Lido's mouth.

"A fire-breathin' lizardman…?!"

Aiz ignored Gareth's flabbergasted remark and enveloped them with a protective wall

of wind. However, they weren't Lido's target.

The lizardman swept his head to the side along with the inferno, igniting a wide area.

"?!"

Aiz's wind alone wasn't enough to protect the residential buildings on either side of

the street from the flames.

This being the slums, many flammable objects immediately caught fire. Wooden

materials and magic-stone products ignited, turning the whole block into a hellscape

right before their eyes.

"GROOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"

The siren and lizardman ceased their attacks and took off running the moment the

gargoyle's voice echoed through the din.

The other monsters were already barreling through the backstreets; the Xenos were

in full retreat.

"...!"

"…We're shorthanded as it is. Cruz and the others take priority."

Finn looked defeated as he ordered Aiz to stay put just as she was about to give chase.

The three of them included, very few adventurers could still move.

"What is transpiring out there…?!"

Riveria stood motionless, making sure the barrier protecting the townspeople

remained firmly in place.

She couldn't dismiss the magic due to the smoky black fog obscuring her vision and

keeping her from comprehending the situation—and her concern it might be

poisonous. The people she was tasked to protect had become her fetters.

Without someone to orchestrate their movements after Finn joined the front line, Loki

Familia had lost the offensive advantage.

The adventurers were quick to regroup once Finn retook command. Gareth went to

Tiona, Tione, and Bete before collecting Ikelos and bringing them all to safety. Aiz also

took part in the rescue effort. To contain the fire, uninjured magic users joined Riveria

in freezing the area with ice magic and summoning streams of water to douse the

flames. Even Hestia Familia, who was unable to side with either the Xenos or Loki

Familia, pitched in.

The damage was contained to a single block within ten minutes thanks to the powerful

magic users' efforts. The fire had been completely extinguished.

Pillars of black smoke rose above the stone street, now a charred, barren wasteland of

rubble.

"Finn, what happened to that minotaur…?"

"…It's underground."

Aiz walked somberly through the middle of the street toward Finn, who was looking

at the ground.

The paving stones had broken open from underneath to form a passageway to the area

below.

"What's this…?"

"The hole that metallic giant left behind. That monster probably passed through here

to enter the sewers."

Aiz looked with surprise at the hole where Fels's golem had emerged.

Indeed, there was a trail of blood leading into the darkness beneath the charred

opening. The black monster had disappeared into this gap during the commotion.

"…Should we pursue?"

"Yes, please do… but considering how well they pulled off the escape, I think it's safe

to say these armed monsters are quite intelligent. Please don't go after them alone."

Finn sighed as he answered Aiz's question, noticing that the minotaur's severed arm

had also disappeared.

A little more time passed before other adventurers and Guild employees arrived on

the scene in a flurry.

As people still suffering from the Howl received medical attention all around him, Finn

looked up at the sky and reflected on his blunder.

"That was a mistake… This failure is on me."

The vicious monster howls, explosive echoes, and, above all, the stories of the

townspeople fleeing from the labyrinthine district plunged the relatively calm Orario

back into chaos.

As Royman and the rest of the Guild's upper management blanched and issued orders

to every familia left and right, adventurers descended upon Daedalus Street in the

city's third district, the southeast block.

"Keh…!"

The setting sun had nearly reached the city wall, burning one side of the boy's face.

Bell was running.

He was in hot pursuit of the vouivre destroying everything in its path.

"Wiene!"

Bell's scream didn't reach the wailing dragon girl as she plowed forward.

Breaking through walls and racing up stairwells, the vouivre and Bell burst out of the

dungeon-like district, leaving the slum behind.

"Eep…! EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEKK!"

"Hey, you—adventurer! Over here! It's over here!"

A group of demi-humans shrieked and scattered in all directions once they caught

sight of the furious monster.

Leaving Daedalus Street meant that they were now careening through busier city

roads, creating a ruckus and terrified cries. Women dressed like courtesans called out

to adventurers one after another.

Bell grew more anxious by the moment.

"Wiene, stop!"

"AAAAAAAaaa!"

He'd jumped onto her many times while passing through the dungeon town; he'd held

on to her only to get bucked off by her undulating snakelike body. His hands were

already cut up and bloodied from trying to hold on to her sharp dragon scales. Calling

out to the girl had proven useless, making the task of returning the garnet jewel next

to impossible.

Bell had clung to her dainty upper body, and her relentless convulsions had flung him

around like a rag doll until he was dislodged by a collision with a street sign and rolled

across the ground once again. Witnesses screamed, fearing for his life.

The curse should have lifted by now…!

The ominous red tint was gone from Wiene's eyes.

Dix's curse should have been broken. But even so, the dragon girl's rampage persisted.

Bell, blood flowing down his face, glanced at the messy puncture wound in Wiene's

left hand.

—The spear that had pierced her.

As unfortunate as it was, there was a high possibility that Finn's spear attack had been

exceptionally traumatic.

It was a reminder of Dix's spear, his scornful laughter, his wickedness.

The curse of his existence wouldn't go away.

"There it is! Right there!!"

"?!"

Unable to stop Wiene, adventurers started appearing one by one.

They were hesitant at first, seeing a crazed vouivre, a rare large-category monster like

a lamia, charging toward them. However, they raised their weapons, determined not

to let it come any closer.

Their longbow strings creaked with arrows at the ready; their fingers clasped around

javelins; the jewels of their staffs glinted.

Bell screamed, enough to hurt his throat, at the adventurers lining the road and

standing in their path.

"STOP—!"

However, Bell's cry was drowned out by the adventurers' shouts as they attacked.

A javelin plunged into the dragon's tail; an arrow pierced her shoulder; fire magic hit

head-on. Countless broken scales fell from her body.

" !"

A shrill howl came from Wiene.

Writhing in pain from the adventurers' merciless assault, she sped up in a desperate

attempt to escape from the threat.

She bowled over the adventurers in her path.

"...!!"

Bell clenched his teeth so hard they nearly snapped.

As even more adversaries gathered in the vouivre's path, Bell cast aside the discord

and doubt in his mind and thrust his right arm in their direction.

"Firebolt!!"

A round of Swift-Strike Magic raced toward the adventurers preparing to attack.

"The hell?!"

"?!"

"WHOOOOOOOOOOOOOAAA!"

At their feet, off their armor, into their bodies.

An electrified inferno ignited, knocking them onto their backs in an explosion of

sparks.

Hot on Wiene's tail, Bell rounded on those who should be his allies, the adventurers.

"Little Rookie, you bastard!"

Red-faced adventurers roared at Bell as his burning lightning bolts interfered with

their attacks.

Lower-class, upper-class adventurers, even their familia didn't matter. They all

seethed at the lone newbie getting in their way.

Wide-eyed women and children peeked out from the higher floors of buildings lining

the street, bearing witness to his barbaric actions.

Was he crazy? Did he want the drop item that much? What was he thinking, at a time

like this? Each one of his fellow adventurers' criticisms cut deep into his heart and

made his hands quiver, but Bell continued casting his magic nonetheless. Protecting

the vouivre, chasing her down.

The endless pursuit soon reached a new arena, the Pleasure Quarter reconstruction

zone.

Formerly Ishtar Familia's territory, it had been heavily damaged during the attack

from Freya Familia that drove the former owners out of business. Many buildings still

bore the scars of that day, and piles of debris were still rampant even for the Pleasure

Quarter. Citizens had been forbidden to set foot in the area. Brothels stood in

shambles; scattered barrels and ash covered the streets. A master-less Belit Babili

overlooked a lonely, empty castle town.

The two barreled their way through the web of debris that filled the street.

A group of adventurers had circled ahead, waiting for Bell and Wiene directly in their

path.

"...?"

Zing! Bell immediately knew something was off.

…They're not attacking?

Weapons held at rest, even the sounds of their pursuers had vanished.

The adventurers just stood to block Wiene's path or perhaps intimidatingly fire off

their weapons, but the onslaught had stopped as far as Bell could see.

Almost like they'd given up…

—No, that wasn't it.

A cold chill zipped down the boy's spine the instant he revoked his own reassuring

hypothesis.

They're leading her…!

All color left Bell's face a moment later.

"Wiene, don't go that way!"

She was being drawn into a trap.

Nothing else mattered to Bell once he realized it, and he screamed at the top of his

lungs.

A human alongside a dwarf with a massive shield at the ready appeared in their path.

The vouivre veered away, racing down a different passage to avoid the people

blockade. Bell reached out to grab her tail, but an arrow crossed just in front of him,

denying him the opportunity.

It came from an animal person on top of a nearby roof as if to say, "Don't get in the

way."

"...?"

Then Bell's wish was proven to be in vain.

The dim backstreet suddenly opened into a wide area that was illuminated by the

setting sun.

It was like a bowl, a clearing surrounded by a ring of rubble.

The vouivre broke through an iron gate, shattering the bars with astonishing force

before the ground disappeared beneath her, and she fell all the way to the bottom.

The stone pavement crumbled with a series of crashes until she came to a stop at the

very center. Countless adventurers stood on the rim looking down at her from all

directions.

The adventurers had conspired together—across familias.

Bell's heart pounded even louder at the sight of so many magic users prepared to

release the spells they had on standby.

He dove into the clearing without missing a step.

"Little Rookie! Stand down!"

"You crazy or something?! You'll die!"

Adventurers shouted angry warnings at the boy the moment he landed.

"Doesn't matter! Just do iiit!"

A man who seemed to have lost himself in the chaos shouted from somewhere around

the rim, and his voice set everything in motion.

Innumerable flashes of magical energy erupted in a volley of simultaneous spells.

" ."

The fusillade descended directly toward the center of the clearing.

Wiene's eyes shrank, her face briefly illuminated before the light engulfed her.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"

Magic explosions drowned out the monster's shriek.

Wiene disappeared amid the roaring wind.

" !"

Bell raced forward.

Streaking flames, electrical discharges, and icy wind rocked his body back and forth

as he made a break for the middle of the clearing.

No matter how much his skin was scorched, his hair sizzled, or his body burned with

frost, Bell rushed to reach the girl at the eye of the swirling vortex of magic energy.

A wordless scream burst from his lungs.

Time slowed to a nauseating crawl.

Trapped in this world without time, Bell reached out.

There, amid the flickering magic energy, was a scale-less dragon monster staring up

at the sky.

Smoke was rising from all over its body; its faint silver-blue hair swished back and

forth as its ash-colored extremities started rotting away.

Catching a glimpse of the approaching boy, she looked at him with vacant eyes as her

lips formed one word:

Bell.

"!!!!"

Bell thrust his hand forward with all his strength and was just about to reach her, when

suddenly—

A crimson spearhead plunged through her chest.

" ."

The missile had been thrown from behind Bell.

It was a cursed blade with a deep-seated grudge.

"HAH! Hya-ha-ha-ha! AH-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA-HA! Got it! I finished it off!"

A large man hooted with the scornful laughter of the insane.

Half his face missing, the stocky human's cackling set time in motion again.

The skewered girl's body started to tilt ever so slightly in front of Bell's eyes.

"—Wiene!"

Just as the crying boy's scream rang out—the ground gave way.

"What's that?!"

"It's caving in!"

The clearing crumbled at the center, the focal point of the magic volley.

The stones disappeared from beneath his feet, and he fell right along with her.

Bell grabbed hold of the girl falling into darkness and embraced her.

Adventurers and magic users shielded their faces with their arms, motionlessly

observing the scene below.

A cave-in.

Swelling clouds of dust in the air.

A gaping hole had opened in the center of the bowl, making the area resemble a manmade inverse anthill. Crumble! Crack! A few stone fragments collapsed into the hole as

if only just realizing what had happened.

Designed byDaedalus himself, secret underground passageways crisscrossed beneath

the Pleasure Quarter. One of these underground tunnels passed under the bowl,

meaning the space beneath the clearing was hollow to begin with. Unable to withstand

the cascade of magic, the stone pavement had collapsed in on itself.

A few adventurers cleared their throats, filling the silence.

The boy and the vouivre had fallen deep into the hole and disappeared without a trace.

"Ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha-ha!"

There was a large human among them, laughing like a madman.

It was Ikelos Familia's Gran. The last surviving hunter had used a key to return to the

surface via Knossos's stairwell and, lost in his own rage, hurled Dix's spearhead at

Wiene.

"Did you see that, Dix?! I killed the beast, killed it dead! Me, all me !"

"!!"

A gargoyle claw plummeted from the sky and crushed the deranged man.

Gros had witnessed the shining beacon from the air after escaping from Loki Familia

and led the winged monsters in a dash to the clearing. That was when he saw it.

The gargoyle, having ended the hunter's life for sure this time, stood amid the

adventurers' screams and gawked at the hole where Bell and Wiene had fallen,

trembling.

" OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!"

"A flying monster?! What's it so upset about?!"

"Dammit, let's get out of here!"

The Xenos went wild.

With the last vestiges of strength in their badly injured bodies, they rushed after the

screaming adventurers in full retreat.

All so that the boy and girl could spend their last moments together uninterrupted.

A steady stream of sand and rubble poured down around them like an hourglass

counting down the remaining time.

The stone and debris of a dark underground tunnel surrounded them.

A red sky looked down on Bell embracing the girl's limp body from a hole over their

heads.

"Wiene… Wiene?!"

Eyes glistening with tears, he took hold of the cursed spearhead lodged in her chest.

The curse was already eating into her flesh. Pulling the wickedly curved blade from

the girl's body, Bell cast it aside with a dry clang.

The light-blue body twitched.

Bell withdrew the garnet jewel from his pouch and pressed it into the limp girl's

forehead.

Although a faint flicker passed through the reddish stone, the girl in his arms didn't

move.

In fact—thud!

The long dragon tail was turning to ash.

"…?!"

Deep inside the spear wound in her chest…

The bloody purple crystal just visible inside the opening was cracked.

Outer portions of her body turned to ash, falling away as the crack expanded.

"No… Don't!!"

Bell kept yelling, bawling like a child.

Don't, don't do this—don't go. He repeated the same words over and over again.

An endless stream of tears fell from his eyes, squeezed shut, and dripped onto her

cheeks as she lay weakly in his embrace.

"…Be… ll?"

"!"

Bell's eyes flew open the instant he heard her weak whispers, barely more than

breaths.

Wiene was awake. The light had returned to her amber eyes, peeking out from behind

her cracked eyelids.

Her cheeks were still solid and elongated.

She gazed up at Bell, so feebly she seemed about to expire at any moment.

"Wiene...!"

"…Be… ll… I'm… so sorry."

She apologized in a hoarse voice, fixated on Bell's bleeding face.

As the sound of crumbling ash grew louder in his ears, Bell shook his head over and

over.

He laughed through his tears with a smile that could hardly pass as genuine.

"I'm fine, just fine, so… don't worry about me, just…!! Please, Wiene—!"

—Don't disappear.

Bell tightened his grip on her shoulder, pleading with all his heart.

Trembling, Wiene pressed her cheek against the boy's chest, smiling as if all was right

with the world while tears welled up in her amber eyes.

Fsh… a faint sound came from her chest as her dragon abdomen crumbled to the floor.

"…I… had a dream."

"You did…?"

Only Wiene's humanlike torso remained as she gazed up into Bell's wide eyes.

"No one… would save me… It was so scary."

She was turning to ash in his arms.

The last moments of her life ticking away, Wiene lifted a quivering hand.

"But, you know?"

It softly brushed against his cheek, crumbling on contact.

Her voice barely audible between sobs, Wiene continued.

"This time… someone came… Someone saved me."

Bell's eyes opened as wide as they would go.

"I'm so happy…"

She closed her eyes, and a single transparent tear ran down her cheek.

Her lips parted, but a single dream, one tiny desire, held her close.

In that moment, the exceptional girl was whole.

Her body was dissolving.

The girl's form was becoming unrecognizable.

"Thank you," she said to the shocked boy.

As she cried, a smile bloomed on her lips.

Then…

"Bell… I love you."

She was gone.

She had crumbled.

Ash flowed through Bell's fingers.

Her warmth had vanished.

" ."

Time stood still as unyielding tears silently slid down Bell's cheeks.

The motes of ash drifted gently around him, glimmering in the light and fading as his

memories of her did the same.

Their meeting.

The fear.

The sadness.

Bewilderment.

Touch.

Gratitude.

Name.

Joy.

Smile.

Embrace.

Tears.

Amid the ash falling from his chest, only the beautiful reddish jewel remained intact.

"Agh, aaggghhhhhhhhhhhhhh—"

His heart was breaking.

A hole had opened in his core.

His throat quivered, but just before a wail could follow…

"O untrodden domain, O forbidden wall. Today on this day, I turn my back on the laws of

heaven—"

The words of a spell echoed.

"?!"

Tears flew from his cheeks as Bell whirled around to look over his shoulder. It was the

black-robed mage.

"Rod of Asclepius, Goblet of Salus. O ye who is beyond the power of healing—I ask you to

wait."

A white magic circle expanded by the moment. The twinkling magic energy surpassed

the realms of human comprehension.

Bell watched with wide eyes as Fels continued to chant in a loud voice.

"Lord's judgment, lightning of conviction. Shall I be burned, rejecting your providence—

"

The white magic energy illuminating the underground tunnel burst through the hole

overhead, forming a white pillar that reached to the heavens.

Everyone in Orario, both monsters and people, spotted the beam piercing the twilight.

"That light—Fels?!"

"...?!"

Rei and Gros had successfully driven off the adventurers and were now carrying a

badly injured Lido over their shoulders. The lizardman whispered in disbelief as all

three stared at the bright light coming out from the cracks in the pavement under their

feet.

"Lady Hestia!!"

"A deity being sent home…? No, it's not!"

Hestia was checking up on her familia's condition when Welf got her attention by

pointing to the pillar of light.

"Finn…"

"From the Pleasure Quarter… Bell Cranell—no, the vouivre?"

Loki Familia's adventurers stared up at the heavens as well.

"Using that now, are you, Fels…?"

A wizened deity closed his eyes.

"That light, how many times have I seen it now?"

A silver-haired Goddess of Beauty smiled from her vantage point at the top of the giant

tower.

"Somethin' big's goin' down…"

So said a goddess with cinnabar-red hair, sitting cross-legged on a rooftop.

"A miracle if I've ever seen one."

A god narrowed his eyes beneath his traveler's hat.

"—I shall journey to the realm of the dead myself."

The song's tempo increased.

As the magic circle glowed even brighter, Bell's face and the black robe disappeared in

the white light.

"Gates of Charon, over the river of time. Lend your ears, O Lord. Listen to this deranged

melody."

It was a reverberating, majestic tune. A divine harmony.

And a sinful deed that went against the laws of the earth.

"Never-ending tears, lamenting wails. The price has already been paid."

It was taboo magic conjured with an extremely long chant.

It could overturn predetermined fate, a secret technique capable of defying an

irreversible, absolute truth.

"O path of light. I ask you to sacrifice the given past and cast light on this foolish desire."

Resurrection magic granted to only the Sage of old.

"Yes, I will not turn away."

The conjuring was complete, the magic energy at its peak.

And a request was made in exchange for all of Fels's Mind.

"Dia Orpheus."

The pillar of light began to flake apart.

In its place, millions upon millions of light fractals overwhelmed the underground

tunnel.

Sparkling white jewels fell like snow. Bell's wide eyes glittered with the reflections as

a high-pitched tone filled the air, and the pieces began spiraling into a single point.

Lastly, soft blue light from beneath the magic circle swirled into Bell's chest.

The light pillar shattered a moment later with the sound of breaking glass.

Bell reflexively shut his eyes to protect them against the blinding flash that turned the

world white for an instant, shuddering as weight and warmth returned to his chest.

Slowly, cautiously, Bell opened his eyes as if in prayer… only to see the dragon girl, eyes

closed and curled up against his chest.

"Aa ."

A small cry escaped him as his vision blurred and he placed a hand on her cheek.

Cold. And yet warm. He felt a soft beat. She was breathing.

She had four supple, humanlike limbs. Gone were the dragon wings, and the piles of

ash on the floor were noticeably smaller than before.

The reddish jewel embedded in her forehead started to glow, spotlighting Bell's eyes.

"…That… was my first success."

Plop! A dull thud sounded soon after.

The black-robed mage fell to a seat on the floor behind Bell, every ounce of energy and

willpower spent.

"Eight hundred years, has it been…? How I loathed this pointless magic, this useless

hope that took up one of my Status slots all this time…"

Bell met the mage's gaze, certain he could feel a smile coming from beneath the hood.

Fels looked up, staring into empty space.

"But yes… there was a point."

Tears flowed from Bell's eyes as he watched Fels struggle to form the words.

The boy then turned his attention to the girl, feeling the warmth in her cheek once

again—and embraced her with all his strength.

A single, transparent tear trickled out from between the girl's closed eyelids.

The sun sank into the west.

The white pillar piercing the heavens had vanished without a trace.

The world had been momentarily cast in white light, but it was now silent. Twilight

returned to Orario, leaving behind only confused townspeople and the excited

whispers of deities.

In a corner of the slum in the white tower's shadow…

Finn was receiving an update underneath the evening light.

"Sorry, Finn… A water main broke halfway through… and we had to give up the chase."

"The winged monsters that appeared in the Pleasure Quarter also vanished into the

sewers beneath the broken courtyard… There's no trace of them."

"I see… What of Bell Cranell? The vouivre?"

"He is still missing. However, on the spot where he fell along with the vouivre… we

discovered traces of blood among a great deal of what appeared to be monster ashes."

Finn said nothing, running his tongue along the base of his thumb as he listened to Aiz

and Riveria's report.

Out of the corner of his eye, he took note of Aiz's reaction to Riveria's information and

added, "All right, thank you," with a nod. The prum general dismissed the two women

and cast his gaze back over the battlefield.

"So they got away in the end…"

He whispered while surveying the damaged and burned cityscape.

At long last, he started issuing new orders to Loki Familia, which had been busy

helping the other adventurers attending to the wounded and rescuing people from the

rubble.

"..."

Aiz watched him in silence before gazing at her own hand, then silently raised her

head toward the sky.

The red sun was about to sink below the city.

Bell quietly stared ahead, hidden deep in the shadows where the evening light could

never reach.

"Wiene, Wiene…!"

"Th-thank goodness…!"

They had arrived at the entrance to a drainage canal located deeper inside the city's

sewer network.

Concealed behind a trapdoor,this tunnel was surprisingly large and resembled an area

beneath a bridge. Bell had a feeling he'd been here before, but he couldn't place it at

the moment.

Bell, Fels, Wiene, and all the Xenos who had been able to make it this far had hidden

in this drainage canal, which was still beyond the adventurers' range.

Lido, Gros, and Rei, as well as a lamia and a troll, were all huddled around Wiene in

front of Bell. Although she had yet to wake up, the Xenos were trembling and crying

tears of joy to see that their comrade was safe and sleeping soundly.

"…Fels."

"What troubles you, Bell Cranell?"

Bell wanted to pose a question to the mage, who was standing outside the ring of the

Xenos just like him.

"Are they all that's left of the Xenos who came up to the surface…?"

"No, there are Xenos who have yet to regroup. You might not be aware, but many of

them were separated during the retreat from Loki Familia and are still hiding in the

city, or…"

Fels's words hung in the air, and Bell closed his mouth.

Bell could count the Xenos survivors in front of him on his fingers. He was concerned

for the safety of all the monsters who had rushed into the battle to buy time for Wiene

and himself.

Lost in his train of thought, Bell focused again on the Xenos surrounding Wiene.

"Bell Cranell…"

Still exhausted from the earlier spell, Fels spoke in a meek voice while leaning against

the wall.

"May I ask as to why you seem upset?"

Fels stepped forward immediately, pressing for the boy's thoughts as he looked upon

the Xenos with a heavy heart.

"..."

"The Xenos were saved thanks to your efforts. That is no lie. The same is true for

Wiene. You have my gratitude as well."

"I…"

"Regret your decision, do you?"

You regret the actions you chose to take?

That was the question, but implied rather than spoken.

Bell immediately started to shake his head, but then stopped and stared at the ground

as he answered.

"That man… The adventurer who wore goggles said something to me."

The tyrannical hunter who had captured and tortured the Xenos.

Bell repeated Dix's words.

"That… I'm a hypocrite."

"..."

The goggled man had declared and laughed scornfully at him.

He claimed that Bell's decision was nothing more than pretty words, an absurd dream,

a fabrication.

Nothing more than a "bat" flapping back and forth, unable to make up its mind.

—He was correct.

Bell was desperate not to get driven out by the people but lent the monsters a helping

hand.

He'd become the target of Loki Familia's hostility.

He'd attacked other adventurers with his magic.

Bell remembered everything.

He had betrayed so many during his single-minded effort to save the girl.

He'd stood opposite his idol, driven away his allies.

He'd even turned his back on his desire to be a hero according to his grandfather's

teachings. He had been that close to leaving it all behind.

A monumental feeling of powerlessness had been waiting for him at the end of it all.

For without assistance from Fels, the other Xenos, Lyu, and so many others, he would

never have been able to rescue Wiene.

He was unable to protect or save anyone—a hypocrite.

That man's laughter resounded deep in his ears once again.

"..."

Fels listened to the boy's answer as he hunched over.

Stepping away from the wall, the mage turned toward Bell.

"Bell Cranell, this is nothing more than a theory… However, I see it like this: Only those

criticized for hypocrisy possess the necessary qualities to become a hero."

Bell's eyes flew open, and he looked up.

"Please continue to worry, feel anguish, and doubt as you make decisions, like today."

"Fels…"

"Heroes have to make decisions that are sometimes cruel, heartless, and go

unforgiven… but they are also the most noble."

Bell couldn't help but feel that Fels was smiling deep within the darkness underneath

the hood.

"Because your answer—just like the heroes' of old—was not wrong, no matter how

scorned or criticized it might be."

Fels's words touched his very soul. Bell had no response and could not answer.

It took everything he had to manage the emotions coursing through his heart.

"Allow me to speak as one who has lost flesh and skin. I, a mage composed of nothing

but bones and regret, say this to you."

The long-lived, black-robed skeleton got to the point at last.

"Be a fool, Bell Cranell."

"..."

"You are the one who must do so. What you possess seems foolish to us… However,

I'm absolutely sure it is irreplaceable in the eyes of the gods."

Fels stepped aside, allowing Bell to see the monsters again.

"Bell, thank you, thank you so much…!"

"Sorry, Bellucchi… And thanks!"

"…Thank you. You have… my gratitude."

Bell's vision blurred at the sentiment of these monsters who could never see eye to

eye with people.

He took one look at the sleeping dragon girl, and his throat trembled.

"There were many who showed compassion and shared an unusual bond with the

Xenos just like you… However, none of them were able to care for and save them, as

you have just done.

"Thank you."

Bell looked back down at his feet upon hearing those appreciative words.

The boy's back was toward the setting sun, and the last of its rays dyed the sky red as

they caressed the boy's cheek.

You don't have to be proud.

You can doubt yourself.

But never ever regret.

Because lives saved by foolish hypocrisy are surely right before you.

—He felt as though the red rays had borrowed his grandfather's voice to tell him so.