Beyond a Thousand Darknesses
It was the same as before.
That day, too, everything began with a powerful explosion.
That fateful day that proclaimed the beginning of calamity.
Endless shaking. The sound of rubble falling in the distance.
Lyu sat up with those sounds still ringing in her ears.
"Huh…?!"
The room was in shambles. Huge holes had been gouged from the walls, and the floor
was pocked with craters. Claw marks crosshatched the walls, stubbing out the
phosphorescence and plunging the labyrinth into a darkness deep as night.
"Hey, is everyone okay?!"
"That was close!"
"So it was a trap after all… although I've gotta laugh at a plan as crude as burying us
alive with bombs…!"
The voices of Alize, Lyra, Kaguya, and the other members of Astrea Familia echoed
around Lyu. As they climbed over the rubble to stand up, the girls saw that a few of
their party had been injured, but it was nothing fatal.
That day, they had descended to the deep levels in pursuit of their longstanding enemy,
Rudra Familia, and had been lured into a trap. Indiscriminate explosions across a large
area, set off by masses of Inferno Stones, had nearly penned them in.
But thanks to the prum Lyra, who had sniffed out the trap and warned everyone, they
had escaped disaster by a hairbreadth.
"Why are you still alive, Astrea Familia bitches?! How many Inferno Stones do you
think we wasted on you?!"
On the far side of the swirling sparks and smoke, Jura Harma was shrieking.
The tamer was still young then, with both ears and both arms intact, and filled with
hatred at the sight of his reviled enemies. But terror, too, seeped in at the edges of his
rage.
Making allowances for unexpected events, they had scattered more than one hundred
explosives in the Dungeon. Judging from the scale of the detonation, this was Rudra
Familia's final trap.
Jura and the rest of his familia were clearly cowed by the fact that even this had not
managed to wipe out the clan of justice.
"Thank you very much, Jura. But this will be the last of your evil schemes."
"…?!"
"We will put an end to it. To the Evils and to this evil era."
Alize's eloquent words rang out as if she were arraigning the men in court. Lyu and
the other members of Astrea Familia stood behind her, piercing Jura and his cronies
with their eyes as they shrunk away.
Astrea Familia was about to bring the hammer of justice down onto the cornered
Rudra Familia—when it happened.
The Dungeon cried.
"——"
This was not the cracking sound of a monster being spawned, nor the shaking that
foretold the coming of an Irregular.
It was a piercing, inorganic sound, like a blade being run over a taught silver string.
The instincts of every adventurer present flashed red at this unmistakable lament of
the Dungeon.
Lyu was not the only one immobilized by this unfamiliar situation. The other members
of Astrea and Rudra familias froze, too. And then it came.
A loud crack.
A deep, wide, long fissure ran down one of the massive crumbling walls.
A strange purple liquid gushed from the vertical rift.
The opening breathed out scalding steam and something writhed out, as if it was
crawling free of a womb.
Lyu's eyes met the piercing crimson eyes nestled inside the fissure.
The next moment, a fierce slash cut through the air, and Astrea Familia was split asunder.
"—Huh?"
Before anyone had realized, not even the adventurer herself, a life ended.
The purple claws of destruction flashed mercilessly, and a girl's body was cut in three.
Someone whispered something. The sound of fresh flesh tearing apart.
As if suddenly remembering what they needed to do, the head and torso dancing
through the air began to spew blood, then tumbled to the ground where the girl's
lower half had collapsed.
The curtain had risen on their tragedy.
"No-Noin?! –Uuuooo?"
Number two.
No sooner had Neze called the dead girl's name than her beast-person torso sprang
into the air. This, too, was the work of the glittering purplish-blue claws of destruction.
Number three.
The dwarf Asta thrust forward her shield, only to be crushed by the enormous form
that leaped into the air and pounced on her.
The three deaths all took place within the span of a mere handful of seconds.
"—"
Splash!
Warm fluid sprayed Lyu's cheek and long, pointy ear.
The noble blood that should have been flowing through her friend's body now clung
to Lyu instead.
It took a moment for her to accept that this was really happening—a moment to realize
that her companions would not be coming back.
Lyu's face went white, then as red as her friend's blood with anger.
"—AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!"
Wild with rage at the death of her companions, Lyu flew toward the monster.
"Leon, no!"
Alize's words could not hold her back as she brandished her sword in a frenzy.
Ominous claws wet with the blood of her friend, crimson eyes glittering in the dark,
and a huge, bony body that looked like a dinosaur fossil encased in armor.
This was the embodiment of calamity called the Juggernaut.
Lyu roared a thoughtless roar and swung her wooden sword at this apostle of murder
sent to massacre foreign bodies in the Dungeon.
"?!"
Her ferocious attack cut through nothing but air.
The monster's reverse joints creaked as it leaped upward, crushing the ground
beneath its feet, and disappeared. It had landed on the ceiling several dozen meders
above Lyu's head. That was only the first in a series of leaps so incredibly fast Lyu did
not even have time to be shocked.
Every adventurer in the room stood rooted to the ground as it ricocheted off walls and
ceilings like an unending streak of lightning. Lyu stared in a daze at this impossible
display of speed by a large-category monster.
Having thoroughly disoriented its prey, the monster then landed behind Lyu.
"!!"
As terror replaced fury, Lyu realized from seeing how her friends died that she had to
avoid those claws at all costs. She swiftly dodged the harbingers of destruction, only
to find the monster threatening her with an even more incredible attack.
"Aaah!"
Like a third arm, the monster's tail bore down on Lyu, who had barely been able to
avoid the previous blow.
The Juggernaut's cudgel-like appendage was plenty capable of delivering a lethal blow.
It landed directly on Lyu, sending fissures through every bone in her body. Blood
painted her lips red.
As her back crashed against a pile of rubble, Lyu saw light flash before her eyes and
then swirl into a whirlpool that crushed her will to go on. Pulled to the ground so hard
that she nearly collapsed, she saw the monster approach causally and then mercilessly
begin to swing its claws down toward her.
"—Idiot!"
It was Kaguya who saved her.
The price was an arm.
As her friend's right arm flew through the air, raining blood onto Lyu's stunned face,
the claws of destruction crashed into the ground, sending both girls flying backward.
"Celty, attack! Together!!"
Lyu, the most bellicose member of the familia, had been knocked down by her
intended target, and Kaguya had lost an arm. But Astrea Familia's spirit was far from
broken. If anything, its remaining members seethed with a burning desire to exact
vengeance for their murdered companions, and so they chanted and activated their
magic.
But of course, it only served as more fodder for tragedy.
"?!"
Magic reflection.
The spells that the familia's two sorcerers, Lyana and Celty, had shot at the monster
were hurled back at them by its shield—the ability to reflect any and all magic. They
horrifically burst into flame.
The Juggernaut was endowed not only with claws that could slaughter an upper-tier
adventurer in one swipe, but also with a mobility unheard of in monsters and a shell
that could repel magic. As a full picture of this beast specialized entirely in murder
developed before the girls of Astrea Familia, despair overtook them.
"—————!!"
Its roar was more terrifying and ominous than that of any other monster.
This was the cry of a beast that excelled in killing at first sight.
Its incredible mobility suffered no hand-to-hand combat, and magic was insufficient
to defeat it. This monster's potential was enough to wipe out even a party of first-tier
adventurers. The Juggernaut was truly a symbol of death.
The five minutes it took them to evade the first round of attacks and pull together the
defensive gear they needed to fend off the claws of destruction seemed endless.
Not one of them had what it would take to defeat this nightmare.
"NOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
"Don't eat meeeeeee!!"
Slaughter, abuse, predation.
Those who revealed cracks in their will to fight were the first to be cruelly massacred.
"Iska, Maryu?!"
Alize's voice rang out. It was pregnant with tears she had never shown before.
And what about Lyu?
She stood beside the groaning Kaguya and witnessed every second of her friends' deaths.
"Ah, aaah…"
The fashionable Amazon was shredded to pieces.
The sisterly human who was such a good cook was devoured from the head down.
Those noble, kind girls were slaughtered so cruelly.
As Lyu watched, she felt something shatter within her.
Their miserable dying screams, the cruel corpses of these friends with whom she had
shared so many joys and sorrows, this symbol of calamity that killed everyone—all of
it broke her heart.
And when the heart of an upright, proud elf is broken, it becomes fragile. At the very
least, more so than other races. Lyu certainly fit that mold. It was one of the reasons
Kaguya had called her "weak."
More than anything, Astrea Familia was what gave her strength.
These had been her first non-elf friends, and they were everything to her.
"Aaaaaaah…!"
As her companions in battle collapsed, or exploded leaving only their weapons behind,
or were eaten alive as they screamed, Lyu's heart was deeply and utterly scarred.
For the first time she felt helpless.
For the first time she felt overwhelming loss.
Despair crushed her proud elven sense of self-worth.
For the first time, she felt afraid.
This elf who had never once given in, no matter how brutal or evil her opponent, now
knew terror because of a single monster.
At that moment, a deep wound was carved in her heart.
"Gyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Finally, the damage spread to Rudra Familia.
Jura's cronies turned to lumps of flesh, and in a span too short to allow comprehension,
countless members of his familia succumbed to the claws and tail.
Having turned the tip of its spear toward this large familia, the monster proceeded to
mechanically wipe them out as if it was loath to let a single survivor escape.
"…Kaguya, are you okay?"
"If I look okay to you, Captain, you must be blind."
Four members of Astrea Familia remained. They were wounded from head to toe. Alize
had suffered attacks along with their murdered companions, but all she could do was
go on living. Kaguya, of course, had lost her arm. She had used her teeth to rip up her
battle clothes and bind the wound, but her face was horribly slick with sweat.
The prum Lyra was there, too.
"…I'm sorry, Alize and Kaguya. It got my eyes…"
"Lyra…"
"I can't see anything…"
Hit by the magic that had been reflected off the monster's hard shell, both eyes were
shut tight behind her bangs. There was no hope of recovery. Both her eyeballs and the
skin around her eyes had melted. Both of her hands were shaking, perhaps because of
the terrible pain from having her nerve endings burned away.
"What the hell is that thing…? Shit, I guess my bad luck ends here…"
The prum's curses rang out in the darkness.
Lyu, who lay facedown on the ground, groggily registered their conversation. Coughs
convulsed her. She spat up blood, then shakily looked up.
"—"
Their eyes met.
As the three girls stood before her, one pair of green eyes had glanced swiftly her way.
Although she wished otherwise, her gaze met the transient yet beautiful gaze of Alize,
so full of decision.
"I'm sorry—Kaguya, Lyra. Please give me your lives."
Alize returned her gaze to the other two girls.
Lyu's own eyes stretched wide.
"I want to save Leon."
It was impossible to describe her despair at that moment.
An emotion far greater than what she felt toward the calamitous monster writhed
within her, stopping her breath.
"…From the start, this has been a battle in which we must choose who will survive. We
three are already like broken dolls ready to die here."
Ignoring the frozen Lyu, Kaguya confirmed what Alize had said.
"You guys know me. I put my own life first. But I'm the weakest of us all. I'll probably
die first anyway… so I may as well go along with your plan."
Lyra smiled resolutely. After all, she wasn't one to make a losing bet.
"But Captain… you must live. As long as you and Lady Astrea remain, justice will live
on."
"No, Kaguya. It's like I said before. There are as many kinds of justice as there are
people in the world. There is no correct definition of justice."
Alize smiled.
"But I know Leon will make the right choices."
No!!
Lyu's consciousness was crying out.
From outside this memory, the Lyu of the present day who crouched in the darkness
contradicted Alize's words.
You're wrong, Alize!
Lyu will be consumed by the flames of vengeance! She will lose her hold on justice!
You're the one who should live!!
Her face contorted, she pointed at herself from that tragic day who lay wretched and
immobilized on the ground. But Alize did not hear her desperate shouts. She kneeled
beside the Lyu of memory.
"Leon… can you hear me? We need your magic to bring that monster down."
Her final gaze was pure kindness.
"I need you to stay here and chant."
Her final whispered words were pure cruelty.
"We're going to pull off its shell."
Because Lyu couldn't fight anymore. Because an elf with a broken heart would hold
them back.
Most of all, because she was Alize Lovell.
To save her friend's life instead of her own, this noble girl pushed Lyu away.
"Please… promise me, Leon."
Those words were a curse.
They were an oath that pinned Lyu to the ground and stole from her the chance to rise.
They were a pledge forcing Lyu to live.
They were a plea not to waste their sacrifice.
Lyu trembled, unable even to cry.
"Leon, are you there? You… will live!"
Wait.
"I'll give you my shortsword. Don't tuck it away like a keepsake—use the hell out of it.
Be strong, my first worthy rival."
Don't go.
"Bye, Leon."
Please.
The girls smiled brightly, like offering flowers in parting.
The tears of the Lyu of then and the Lyu of now mingled.
"————!!"
Having finished with Rudra Familia, the Juggernaut announced the resumption of the
battle. Alize, Kaguya, and Lyra ran toward it without a backward glance.
"…Distant forest sky…"
Lyu began to sing in a trembling voice.
She sang toward their receding figures, in terror and despair.
Lyra was the first to give up her life.
Blinded and unable to move well, she fell at one stroke of the Juggernaut's claws.
"Infinite stars inlaid upon the eternal night sky."
Just before she died, Lyra activated the explosive she held behind her back. It was one
of the finest bombs the nimble-fingered girl had made.
It took the Juggernaut's right arm.
"Heed this foolish one's voice, and once more grant the starfire's divine protection."
As the monster howled, Kaguya pounced with her longsword.
Taking advantage of the momentary window Lyra had created, she drove her weapon
into its chest at high speed.
Roaring in fury, the Juggernaut swung its claws horizontally through Kaguya's body,
sending her flying through the air in pieces.
"Grant the light of compassion to the one who forsook you."
All Lyu could do was sing.
Unable to collect the pieces of her shattered heart, unable to stand, still whimpering,
she let the image of her friends being torn apart sear itself into her eyes.
One man was watching her.
Jura had been lucky enough to escape the slaughter of his familia. He smiled mockingly
as the elf he hated cried and sang and left her companions to their fate. On his face
was a terrified, dark smile.
"Come, wandering wind, fellow traveler."
Alize was last.
"Agris Arvensis!"
As she spoke the name of her magic, flames rose from her body.
Alize Lovell.
She had an unusual skill that gave her strength equal to that of a first-tier adventurer
even though she was second-tier. The deities had given her the name Scarlett Harnell
because she could use a powerful fire enchantment that sheathed her arms, legs, and
sword in an armor of flames.
This time the flames had converged in her boots, and they shattered the ground as the
scarlet sword princess dashed forward with ferocious speed.
"Cross the skies and sprint through the wilderness, swifter than anything."
Kaguya had paid with her life to destroy their enemy's knee and its reverse joint,
robbing it of rapid movement. As the Juggernaut floundered in confusion, Alize drew
near to her opponent for the last time in her life.
"Imbue the light of stardust and strike down my enemy."
The Juggernaut responded with a savage swipe.
What Lyu saw was the back of her dear friend impaled by claws.
For an instant, time froze.
While Lyu was plunged into despair, Alize was burning up her life.
"!!"
She had purposely enticed the monster to pierce her so as to immobilize its hand.
With a roar, she countered by plunging her sword into its body.
"Arvellia!!"
This was the spell key for her enchantment.
The flower of flame burned as red as her hair.
She sent it not onto the surface of the monster's shell but rather underneath it, so that
the river of flames cracked the armor-like covering from the inside out, causing it to
explode in a rain of shards.
Mixed in with the thundering scream of the Juggernaut was a cry of her own.
Although she did not turn—could not, because she was run through—she spoke the
name in a voice that nearly disappeared in the inferno of flame.
"—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"
Tears streaming down her face, her throat trembling, Lyu released her magic.
"Luminous Wind!"
There was a flood of light, a storm of huge glowing orbs.
The light illuminated Jura's face and glinted off Lyu's tears.
The shining wind swallowed up the astonished Juggernaut along with the girl pinned
to his hand.
Waves of violent detonations shook the room.
The instant the light swallowed everything, Lyu saw it.
The monster was fleeing.
Having lost its shell and thus the ability to defend itself, the Juggernaut chose retreat
in the face of the massive magical assault. Its remaining reverse joint creaking, the
monster accelerated. Even as one orb of light after the next hit home, shattering various
parts of its body, the monster fled the room with howls of pain and resentment.
After the thundering and shaking had subsided, Lyu looked around, her breath ragged.
All that remained where the monster had stood a moment before was the heavily
damaged floor.
"Aa, aa… aaaaah…"
Lyu felt neither amazement nor relief at having driven off the monster.
The corpses of her friends and the members of the evil familia lay strewn around her.
Alize was not there. Lyu had blotted her out.
Lyu had taken this friend who burned brightly until the final moment of her life and
banished her beyond the light. She had buried her in light.
"Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah…!"
Wails spilled from her as if they were tearing her apart.
A hundred emotions blended in perfect harmony, branding Lyu as a worthless thing.
The howls did not even allow Lyu to feel regret or repentance.
They were synonymous with the shattering of her belief in justice.
By then, Jura was already gone. This did not bother her. She was tossing on the sea of
her emotions.
The corpses of Lyra and Kaguya sprawled so mercilessly on the ground would not
permit her to die a pointless death.
Dragging her battered body, unable even to collect the remains of her companions,
tears streaming from her sky-blue eyes, Lyu fled that place of tragedy.
That was the full story.
Lyu had sacrificed her friends so that she could live. She had sent Alize beyond the
light to her death.
This was the true essence of the darkness that still dwelled deep in her heart.
After the incident, Lyu was constantly tormented by loss and guilt. She did not return
to Astrea, but rather tended her wounds on the surface and then returned to the
Dungeon as swiftly as possible.
The bodies of her friends no longer remained in the room where the tragedy had
unfolded. Instead she found signs that they had been devoured by monsters. Their
blood-soaked weapons sticking into the ground told her everything. Again, Lyu
howled and cried.
Trembling like a baby, fighting desperately against the trauma that had been carved
deep into her, she searched for the monster. She wanted to kill the beast that had
murdered her friends, but in truth it was also a suicidal act. She had to bring an end to
things—both to claim vengeance for her friends, and to pass judgment on herself.
But in the end, she was not able to fulfill her wish.
Deep in the Dungeon, she found a mountain of purplish-blue ash that she thought
must be the Juggernaut's remains, as if someone had crushed to powder its magic
stone.
Once again, she lost all hope.
Her magic had not killed the monster. Something with no connection to her had
occurred. There was nothing now on which her terror and raging emotions and hopes
could settle. Denied even the chance to find resolution, Lyu gripped her head in both
hands and collapsed to the ground. She was a broken elf, her spirit and body alike split
by a thousand cracks.
Afterward, Lyu brought back the mementos her friends had left in the deep levels. She
made a grave for them on the eighteenth floor, a place they had loved. Her tears
seemed as if they would never run dry. Once they had joked that if they died, they
would like to be buried here in the Dungeon's paradise.
Her companions gone, her heart thrust into the depths of disappointment and despair,
she stood before the weapons she had driven into the ground like gravestones and
questioned herself.
She was the only one left alive.
What should she do?
If only she could vanish.
She wanted to welcome death and disappear from this world.
But there was little chance she would be able to end her life.
How could she throw away the life that Alize and all the others had given her?
That would be the same as rendering their deaths meaningless.
Her mission was to live. Her most ardent wish was to die.
In the narrow space between these fiercely competing emotions, a black flame sprang
up.
"I will never forgive him!"
The world distorted like melted candy.
Her pent-up emotions congealed in the vengeance she had forgotten until now, and a
voice so dark she hardly recognized it as her own spilled from her lips.
Jura. Rudra Familia. Absolute evil.
They had brought on disaster and led Alize and the others to their death. They were
detestable. They must not be forgiven. If only they had never existed. Lyu's thoughts
converged in this way very quickly. Her black anger burned like hellfire.
All in the name of vengeance.
Lyu justified everything by giving herself over to anger and hatred. They must not be
allowed to live. If she let them live, they might call forth another calamity. Letting them
run free made no sense. Overlooking their crimes was not even an option. She decided
that she would use her life to destroy evil.
This was not for the sake of the city, nor for the citizens who suffered there. This was
no noble mission to protect people she had never met.
It was for herself.
She would make them pay for the tragic deaths of her companions.
At the time, Lyu had been unable to think of any other way to use the life they had
given her. Or rather, she pretended she was unable to think of any other way.
She carried out her last act of justice.
Of all the justices Alize had spoken of, this was perhaps the ugliest.
In truth, it probably was not justice at all.
This was the end of the elf who wailed tirelessly, her body broken and her wings rotted
away.
Black flames consumed Lyu's sword and wings of justice, burning them till nothing
remained.
After she decided to walk the path of destruction, Lyu pushed Astrea away.
Given over completely to her raging emotions, she could no longer see herself clearly.
Unable to grasp her own heart, she did not want to be seen through by a deity. More
than that, though, she did not want to be prevented from exacting revenge.
She did not know what Astrea thought of her when she came to her begging
desperately, scraping her forehead on the ground and refusing to meet the deity's eyes.
Perhaps she was exhausted by the endless chain of tragedy and hatred, or perhaps she
was disappointed by the children's inability to stop fighting.
Lyu could not remember the expression on Astrea's face that day. Her own eyes had
been clouded by anger, sorrow, hatred, and resentment.
Before her goddess left, she had spoken with sadness in her voice.
"Lyu… please forget about justice."
Lyu exacted her revenge swiftly.
First she targeted people, then buildings, and finally whole facilities. She did not give
the familias that sided with her enemy time to intervene. She struck at night, using
surprise attacks and traps. She snuffed out those associated with evil using methods
unbefitting an elf.
There was no technique she would not resort to. She struck those who were evil along
with those who were suspicious. It didn't matter if they were shopkeepers or Guild
employees. These were reprisals carried too far, but also a judgment passed on herself.
If you were going to kill your enemies, you should have been smarter about it.
Not long after all this happened, Chloe had said those words to her.
Lyu had no response. Instead, the depths of her heart smiled mockingly. Of course she
couldn't tell the catgirl she wanted to die from the start.
She could not forgive Jura and his cronies for bringing on disaster.
She would not forgive herself for letting her friends die.
It was a dark and reckless time for Lyu.
She sincerely sought death.
Revenge had nearly run its course. Lyu was preparing to attack Rudra Familia's hideout.
Many familia members still remained there. Jura, too, was there, tormented by fear.
Lyu remembered those events only dimly. She remembered roaring like an animal and
slashing again and again at the tamer. She had cast off coolness and followed the
commands of her raging emotions as she sliced off his arm and then his ear, her dagger
flashing countless times.
She didn't leave a single member of the familia alive. After she killed their leader, she
used her magic to burn their hideout to the ground with all their corpses still inside.
Immediately after it ended, as the smoke was still rising from the ruins, the deity
Rudra appeared before Lyu from wherever he had been hiding.
Even at that point in her life Lyu could not bring herself to kill a deity. But no one
remained to protect him, and after Lyu left, the Guild decided to capture and expel
him. This dropout of the mortal realm stood before Lyu encircled by raging red flames
and roared with laughter.
And then he spoke to Lyu.
"When I saw you just now, I wanted to invite you into our familia."
The face reflected in his eyes was that of a well-worn demon of revenge.
Lyu destroyed twenty-seven organizations, including businesses and bands of outlaw
mercenaries.
Lyu's actions led to four sacred columns piercing the heavens.
Lyu's dark impulses drew in many others along with her.
Ironically, they triggered the end of the city's dark days.
But contrary to her wishes, Lyu herself survived.
When her revenge was complete, she had finished everything she wanted to do.
What she attained by crushing those who stole her friends and those who sided with
them was not a feeling of accomplishment, but instead a terrible emptiness.
She could remember neither the smiles of her friends nor their wretched faces as they
met their ends.
The tears that had overflowed from her eyes and the wails that had erupted from her
throat vanished.
She made her way to a back alley where no one ever set foot. Empty and drained of all
energy, Lyu waited for death.
Are you okay?
After that, it was as she told Bell.
Lyu was taken from the rainy back alley by Syr, saved against her will. She pulled her
back onto the path of the living.
Thank you for fighting for us.
When Syr said those words to her, she felt as if she'd been forgiven. At the same time,
she felt she had to live—to live for Alize and her other companions. All this was thanks
to Syr and The Benevolent Mistress.
But she was not able to wipe the old feelings from the depths of her heart.
The thirst to be sentenced for her sins continued to smolder.
She did not confess her crimes to Syr or the others.
The pain and loss from losing her irreplaceable friends could never heal.
Even if the wounds had closed, they would suddenly begin to throb when she least
expected it, invoking a terrible loneliness.
The blame that never disappeared hounded her heart for having chosen the path of
life.
It always had, and it still did.
Lyu stepped out of the forest of reminiscence and stood perfectly still in the darkness.
Suddenly, there was a blinding light, and she turned toward it.
It was the same scene she had witnessed many times before.
Beyond the white light, her friends were standing with their backs to her. Among them
was the girl with the red hair.
They were on the far shore of the light, where Lyu had driven them. The far shore,
where the dead are.
She could call them till she went hoarse and yearn for them from the bottom of her
heart, but they would never look back toward her.
As if to say, This is your punishment.
Only when she reached their sides and was welcomed into their fold would she truly
be forgiven.
Lyu believed that, and she was sad that once again she had failed to reach them. As
that sadness washed over her, the white light blotted out the world and swallowed her
up.
Consciousness returned.
But Lyu did not know if she was in reality or in a continuation of her dream.
She was aware only of a darkness like a swamp. Her other senses were not working
properly. Her ability to interpret her surroundings stolen by vestiges of the past, her
eyelids fluttered. She opened her eyes—and saw a pair of bloodshot eyes right in front
of her own.
"!"
Astonishment brought her instantly back to her senses. The owner of the eyes was
writhing in the darkness.
She heard a scraping sound coming from all around her.
It took a moment for her to realize that someone was digging her out of a pile of rubble.
And another to recognize that the bloodshot eyes were the color of rubellite.
Eventually, a cool draft blew over her wound-covered skin, and a pair of bloody hands
grabbed her. Without allowing her a word in the matter, the hands pulled her body
onto a thin back.
"...Cra… nell…?"
"…Yes."
The voice of the boy who had returned for her was so faint and mixed with exhaled
breath that it almost disappeared.
Suddenly everything came back to Lyu in a rush, and she looked around at her
surroundings with wide eyes.
The straight path ahead had become a mountain of dirt and rubble. The path was
completely blocked off behind them, leaving only the option of moving forward.
She looked up and saw that the bedrock was repairing itself. The holes were nearly
closed already. For a brief moment, she saw the vast darkness that veiled the ceiling
and unfurled through the Colosseum.
Did the floor of the Colosseum collapse… and I fell through with Mr. Cranell?
As if to confirm her guess, the body parts of dead monsters were sticking up here and
there from the mountain of rubble. There was a lizardman crushed by rock, a loupgarou with a broken neck, and a dismembered spartoi. They must have been swept up
in the collapsing floor. Corpses lay everywhere.
Like the Water Capital, the thirty-seventh floor had a multilayered structure.
The power of Bell's fully charged bomb had caused the floor to fall, plunging Lyu, Bell,
and the monsters into a passageway that apparently existed directly below.
There was a passage like this beneath the Colosseum…? Anyway, I need to focus on other
things right now…
Lyu returned her eyes with a start to the boy who was still carrying her on his back.
Bell was on the verge of death.
His breathing was so ragged it was peculiar he was still able to move.
His irregular gasps made Lyu want to cover her ears. He sounded like a broken
instrument or a dying animal. Little red bubbles foamed from the edges of his mouth,
and then, as if remembering to do something, he spit up a red glob.
His body was riddled with holes.
Droplets of his life were draining away at this very moment. Warm red liquid
dampened Lyu's chest as it pressed against his back.
He must have shielded her as the massive charge reverberated and their footing caved
in. His entire body was stained with blood, and the protective gear he had gotten from
the dead adventurers was deformed beyond recognition.
Most of the nails on the fingers gripping Lyu were either cracked or missing.
"You idiot… you idiot!!"
Lyu screamed at him as he carried her swaying on his back.
"Mr. Cranell, why did you save me?! Why didn't you desert me?!"
She was so angry at him for coming back to the Colosseum. The hair right in front of
her nose—that hair white as virgin snow that she had so loved to gaze at from afar—
was now a dirty bloodred. As she looked at it, she felt her eyes brim with illogical tears.
"Answer me!"
"…Ms. Lyu, I mean…"
Lyu's eyes were squeezed shut as she barked at him. He barely managed to squeeze
out a few words in response between his shallow breaths.
"Ms. Lyu… you would… surely do the same."
Lyu was at a loss for words. Her lips trembled at the certainty in the boy's voice, the
conviction that she would take the same risk in his place.
"…No I wouldn't. I wouldn't… save you!"
"…Liar."
Bell rejected the words that she spit out with such sorrow and pain. She could tell from
his voice that his lips were curled slightly. In a smile.
Lyu hated lies. Lyu was an elf who would not stand for lies.
Bell was smiling because this lie-hating elf had lied for his sake.
Lyu's face distorted like a baby about to wail.
"Enough! Put me down at once…!"
"…I don't want to."
Bell flatly refused.
"I won't let you die…"
"You will die yourself!"
She replied to his whisper with a shriek.
She willed herself to break free of his hold.
But she could not make herself do it.
That was because she knew who he was struggling so long and hard for—the same
person Alize and the others had fought to save.
There was no strength in the two legs that walked forward.
He stumbled many times, until Lyu was not even sure he was still conscious.
Nevertheless, Bell continued to walk forward with Lyu on his back as if he was
possessed.
Bell was struggling for Lyu. He was burning up his life for her.
"Please stop…!"
Stop.
Stop!
Why do you have to save me like Alize and the others did?
I'm not worth it!
I wasn't able to save anyone!
"…Mr. Cranell."
Lacking the strength to scream anymore, Lyu laid her face limply against Bell's neck.
She was like a living corpse that had lost hope and everything else.
"I… let my friends die before my eyes…"
"…!"
"It's like Jura said… to save my precious self, I… killed my friend Alize with these two
hands…"
Lyu whispered her confession into Bell's ear.
She was finally revealing to him what he had asked her about before.
She did it so he would abandon her.
For the first time, Bell's shivering body showed signs that he was upset.
"I'm not the pure elf you think I am… I'm a criminal, soiled beyond belief…"
She laid bare her true feelings. These were the dregs at the bottom of her soul. This
was the mark of failure branded into her heart.
"The elf you are trying to rescue… is not worth saving…"
That was the true content of Lyu's heart.
If she closed her eyes, she could see it.
Her friends' dying moments. Her miserable self. Alize, killed by these very hands. The
endless sorrow and despair she had seen in her dream was eating away at her.
"I have no right to speak of justice… justice has been lost for me…"
Lyu realized that she was muttering deliriously.
She thought of the commandments of the familia that had meant everything to her,
and the ties to the friends who could never be replaced. For the five years since that
day, there had been a hollow place inside Lyu. The hole could not be filled by all of
Syr's comforting words or by the welcoming embrace of The Benevolent Mistress. This
was the loss at her very core that she had tried so hard to keep hidden.
Even now, the "blessing" of justice carved into her back throbbed like a curse.
You have no right to carry the burden of justice. Her delusional mind spoke to her in
the voice of Astrea.
Lyu's face was blank.
In its place, her frozen heart cried quietly.
She looked down as she spoke her next words.
"For me… justice no longer exists."
Her dejected words echoed in the darkness.
Bell's steps became sluggish. The strength drained from the hands supporting Lyu, as
if they had reached their limit. He coughed up a few drops of blood, which fell onto
Lyu's limp arm.
"I… don't know anything about justice."
But.
"But… you've given me so much."
His nearly broken legs stepped once more onto the ground. His quivering arms did not
let go of Lyu. He clenched his teeth inside his bloodstained mouth.
"So…"
He spoke as if to prove Lyu's existence—as if to sweep the darkness from her.
"You do have justice within you."
"—"
Lyu's eyes opened wide.
"You've saved other adventurers."
That was on the eighteenth floor. The elf had thrown herself before the Goliath and
saved many lives.
"You saved our deity… and Lilly, and Welf…"
That was in the war games. Lyu had run to their aid in the face of Apollo's absurd Will.
"You saved me…!"
That was in so many tight spots he couldn't count.
Lyu's hands had led Bell forward so many times when he was hurt or lost or frozen.
Lyu's advice, her words, had always given him courage.
"You were always like a hero… always right, always on the side of justice…!"
Bell's simple words shook Lyu deeply. Her sky-blue eyes wavered and grew hot. His
honest, unvarnished voice pierced her heart, just like Alize's words had.
"No… you're wrong! I was wrong! I lost my hold on justice…!"
She could not allow him to offer affirmation to the self that had abandoned Alize and
the others in their time of need, and so she desperately contradicted him.
But…
"You, wrong? I won't let anyone deny your worth…!"
"!"
"Not even you…!"
Bell contradicted Lyu's contradiction.
Drops of red liquid were pooling at their feet. Despite that, Bell's steps were growing
more forceful and his words more impassioned.
"…I don't know the old Lyu… but…"
His words evoked the elf possessed by flames of vengeance. All the same, he argued
that justice still dwelled in her.
"…I know the Lyu who is more just than anyone…"
Bell had changed. As Lyu had sensed several times before, he had grown beyond
recognition. Meeting the Xenos had changed him. Foolishness and hypocrisy. Good and
bad. Caught between these poles, he had suffered wounds and mental anguish. Now
he was trying to teach Lyu something. He was trying to give something back to the elf
who had saved him so many times.
"Ah…"
Lyu understood already.
There were three people whom she had allowed to take her hand.
Three people whom her heart had accepted and respected as righteous.
Alize had led her.
Syr had healed her.
And Bell—
"Justice… is alive within you."
Like a mirror, he reflected back the justice she had given him.
If Bell was just, then Lyu, who had given him so much, must be just as well.
"Yes…! There is justice! Within you!"
A tear fell from Lyu's eye.
It was a vestige of the justice that remained inside her, which Bell had shown her.
Lyu had stepped off the path once. That was certain.
The flames of vengeance had charred her body and soul.
Still, within the burned-up sword and wings, the ashes of justice remained.
This was the starting point for the Lyu who had not turned her back on all those
people, but instead had saved them.
But I know Leon will make the right choices.
Alize's words came back to her.
Bell and many others could attest to the same thing.
If she looked back, she should be able to see it.
Many smiles blossomed in the tracks she left behind.
This was Lyu's accomplishment.
This was the accomplishment of justice that had continued to exist even as ash.
The ash at the bottom of her heart swirled up to fill the hole inside her.
Her elven heart was empty no more.
Tears spilled endlessly from the eyes that had been wavering like pools of water.
"I… I…!"
Unable to deny the truth any longer, unable even to wipe her tears away, Lyu grasped
for words. She did not know what this feeling overflowing her heart was. She had no
idea what the boy, who was looking straight ahead, his warm body so close to her own,
was trying to give her.
"For me right now, justice is… returning alive with you."
There was no good or bad in the Dungeon.
There was only life and death, only the strong devouring the weak.
If justice existed in the Dungeon, then, it was to return alive.
Returning alive from this infinite maze was the adventurer's royal road, and their
justice.
"Returning to the surface… to where the deities are, to where Syr and our other friends
are…!"
Let us talk of justice.
Let us do what is just.
The only justice that existed for them, and for them alone at this moment.
"So… I will never let you go!"
Like dew falling from a leaf struck by rain, a droplet fell from Lyu's once-dry heart,
spreading ripples through it.
In all likelihood, these horrendous lower levels would not let them go free. Lyu knew
that.
But she wanted to live—if only a little, if only for a few seconds more.
She wanted to return alive with Bell to Syr and all the others. She couldn't help it.
"Uuu…!"
And then, as if to squash that feeling—a black form appeared before them, jeering at
their hopes.
"…?! A barbarian…!"
Both Bell and Lyu were stunned to find a panting, snorting large-category monster
blocking their way forward. The barbarian was injured. Most likely it had survived the
fall from the Colosseum, like Bell and Lyu. Flakes of stone stuck out of the bulging
muscles on its shoulders and arms like scales. One corner of its head was bent in as
well. Rage colored the blood-drenched monster's eyes as it glared at the adventurers
with something resembling vengeance.
"Uh-oh…!"
They were standing in a straight, narrow passage. There was no place to run. The
barbarian's eyes flashed viscously at Bell as he stood rooted to the ground.
"GAAAAA!"
"Ah!"
The massive form raised its cudgel and charged toward them. Bell had no way to parry
the attack. He threw Lyu aside an instant before the earth-crushing blow launched him
backward like a piece of paper.
"Oof…! Mr Cranell!"
As Lyu hit the ground, Bell flew through the air, bounced off the ground, rolled a meder
or two, and came to a halt.
He lay completely still. Not a drop of strength remained in his battered arms and legs.
The shadow of his bangs hid his eyes, and Lyu couldn't even see his chest rising and
falling with breath. Sorrow spread over her face as she once again stood on the brink
of despair.
"—Mr. Cranell! Please get up!" she screamed.
She tried to summon the strength to stand up, but her body would not budge. Her
wounded right leg slipped repeatedly, bringing her back down. She could not peel
herself from the ground.
Ignoring this elf shorn of her wings, the barbarian turned toward Bell.
"Mr. Cranell… Bell!! Answer me!"
Lyu did not notice the change in her voice as she called him.
She did not notice how upset she was.
She simply continued to call his name, having jettisoned her usual cool composure.
But Bell, who lay facedown on the ground, did not answer.
The monster strode slowly but mercilessly toward him, intent on delivering the final
blow.
"Bell, Bell!… Please… answer me…"
Her voice grew weak. In Bell's prostrate body, she saw the forms of her bygone friends.
No, no.
I don't want to lose any more.
She did not want to let go of the feeling in her heart.
She could lose anything… anything except him.
How ironic that this should happen just as something inside her had been about to
change.
Her wishes were in vain, however. The barbarian stopped above Bell.
It probably intended to bite right into him. It grabbed his head in one hand and lifted
him up.
"No, don't, wait…"
She shook her head sluggishly, tears pooling in her eyes, and stretched out her shaking
hands.
Mocked by despair, Gale Wind's mask cracked and fell away.
Lyu's true self was laid bare.
This was not the feared elf Gale Wind. This was a weak girl who cried as someone
important was about to be stolen from her. This was the real Lyu who had been hidden
beneath the adventurer's armor and mask.
Forgetting her usual way of speaking, she pleaded vainly in the words of a powerless
little girl.
"Please… stop…"
Bell's body swayed limply as it hung suspended above the ground.
The monster jaws opened wide, revealing its hideous teeth.
"Bell!!"
Just as the tears began to spill from her eyes—
"—!!"
The rubellite eyes veiled by his bangs sprang open and he drew the knife at his hip.
He drove Hakugen's sparkling white blade into the monster's chest.
"GAAA?!"
Stabbed at close range, its magic stone pierced, the barbarian's astonished grunt
became its final utterance.
Bell dropped to the ground amid a thick swirl of ash.
For Lyu, time stood still.
"Huh…?"
Beyond the swirling ash and scant wisp of smoke, she saw the boy rise shakily. Before
she could comprehend what had happened, he walked slowly toward her.
"I'm sorry Ms. Lyu… I had to draw the monster to me…"
"Ah…"
At those words, Lyu understood.
It had all been a strategy to kill the monster.
Lyu had taught him to deliver a single lethal blow aimed at the magic stone. Without
the energy left to raise his arm, Bell had waited for the barbarian to come to him. To
land a blow on its chest, he had played the role of helpless prey.
It was literally his final gamble.
"I heard you, but… I'm sorry."
He kneeled in front of her and pulled her up. She sat in a daze at eye level with him…
blushing far redder than the circumstances merited.
He'd heard her pleading like a little girl.
He'd heard that pitiful voice.
Bell looked somewhat uncomfortable.
Helped by her embarrassment, Lyu forced her teary eyes to glare fiercely and raised
her hand. Bell closed his eyes, and she was about to slap his cheek… but in the end,
she lowered her hand without doing anything.
Giving in to relief, she buried her face in Bell's chest as if she was about to dissolve into
tears.
"I'm begging you… never do that again…" she muttered, pressing her forehead to his
chest.
"…I'm sorry."
Bell's apology for making Lyu worry fell onto her hair. The heartbeat that reached her
ear told her he really was alive, and because of that, she forgave everything.
After a few moments, Bell lifted Lyu onto his back. They started down the dim passage.
Bell's steps were as unreliable as a boat made of sand, but to her they were fantastically
reassuring—even if they were the extension of a mission that might cost them their
lives.
…I don't sense any monsters. Aren't there any around here…?
Although the dimly lit passage was littered with rubble and monster corpses, no eyes
peered at them and no bloodthirsty animosity lurked in the shadows. The barbarian
from a few minutes earlier had come from the Colosseum. Lyu's exhausted mind
concluded it must be sheer luck that monsters were not spawning nearby.
Just then, Bell paused.
In the dusky darkness ahead of them, the passage turned.
A faint blue light spilled from around the corner.
In the Dungeon, changes in scenery signaled danger. Not that turning back was an
option, of course. The path behind them was blocked by rubble. Bell and Lyu
continued nervously toward the turn.
"—!!"
Lyu gasped at the scene that was suddenly revealed. Although the passage remained
the same width, water was running down the center.
"A river…?"
Bell was right. A pure blue stream began right before their eyes.
Water bubbled up like a pedestal from the bedrock and continued as far down the
straight passage as they could see.
"A spring on the thirty-seventh floor…?"
Lyu had never heard of such a thing.
Acquiring food and water in the White Palace made of milky white stone was extremely
difficult. This was one reason why she viewed escaping the lower levels as of the
utmost importance. Even Lyu, who had made it all the way to the forty-first floor with
Astrea Familia, had not known that a place like this existed.
"To think that this was here below the Colosseum… I guess it was never discovered
because no one dared to go near the Colosseum…?"
As Lyu mumbled doubtfully, Bell moved ahead. Whatever else this signified, it was the
water they had been wishing for. He stepped toward the river's edge, planning to sooth
his parched throat.
"…!"
Suddenly, however, his legs buckled beneath him. The strength strangely drained from
his legs, he lost his balance, pitching forward into the water with Lyu still on his back.
The impact of the fall knocked his green longsword loose, and it danced through the
air.
"…B-Bell!"
Lyu planted her hands on the shore and looked up. Bell was underwater beside her,
and did not answer. Through the clear water she could see that his eyes were closed
as if he had been drained of his final strength. Bubbles broke the water's surface.
Fortunately, the stream was shallow. Nevertheless, Bell was bleeding, and the blue
water soon turned pink. Lyu reached toward him in a panic.
Unable to stand thanks to her injured leg, she remained sitting on the streambed and
wrapped her arms around his waist to pull his head out of the water.
"I sing now of a distant forest. A familiar melody of life!"
She began to chant, clinging to the white-faced boy. This was the last of her mental
strength, her last gamble. She knew full well that she might suffer a Mind Down and
end up toppling into the water with him, but she activated her healing magic anyway.
"Noa Heal…!"
A warm green color enveloped Bell's body.
Lyu felt the strength draining from her fingertips as her consciousness flickered, but
she bit down on her lip. The healing was very slow. His wounds would not close. Life
seeped from his body second by second.
It was no good. She had to stop the bleeding. She refused to let him die.
She squeezed every last drop of magic from every corner of her body, half cursing
herself as she did, and funneled it toward him.
The edge of the green light spread outward, carrying a warmth like sunlight filtering
through the trees.
Finally, the light converged.
Bell's wounds were all closed.
"…Bell."
She whispered his name so faintly her voice could have been blown out like a candle.
Clinging desperately to consciousness, she scooped water in her hand and brought it
to her lips. Only after confirming that it was safe to drink did she scoop some up for
Bell.
"Please drink… drink," she whispered again, so that he could live.
Supporting his head with her left hand, she brought her right hand to his mouth.
The clear water cupped in her palm quivered. Her fingers touched his lips, which were
glued together with blood.
As if she was praying, she continued to moisten his lips. Again, and again.
Although darkness enveloped them from above, the pure glittering water illuminated
his face. He looked as ephemeral, silent, and noble as a statue of the pieta .
Only the hushed Dungeon watched over the elf in her vigil.
Finally, Bell coughed and opened his eyes slightly.
The stream gurgled quietly.
The sound of the thirty-seventh floor's lone spring was a song unconnected to
battlefields.
There was no phosphorescence on either the walls or ceiling.
But the pure stream that ran down the center of the passage shone, itself a light source
illuminating the passage with mysterious blue light. The shore on either side was
about four meders wide. It was not rocky but rather as smooth as an iceberg.
Lyu and Bell sat on one shore, resting with their backs against the wall as they had
done up to this point.
"…How does your body feel?" Lyu whispered, a rustling sound coming from her nearly
motionless form.
"Fine. I slept for quite a while… and I drank that water."
For Bell and Lyu, finding water was lifesaving. The combination of the harsh
environment and the merciless string of battles had pushed Bell to the edge of
dehydration. The stream was the water of life.
They had already spent nearly an hour by the river.
Without any monsters to fight, they were able to get a full rest. That was unprecedented
given their five-minute breaks up to this point.
"…"
"…"
Both Lyu and Bell fell silent.
Properly speaking, whatever they talked about, the exchange ended quickly, so that
conversation amounted to a succession of short bursts. They looked at the river, not
meeting each other's eyes.
To get to the point, they were half-naked.
"..."
"..."
Their soaked clothes and equipment had been pitilessly robbing them of body heat—
all the more so because they were so tired. They had consequently decided to take
their clothes off. It was the obvious choice.
No matter how much they understood the logic, however, their emotions were another
matter.
The serious, upright elf and the inexperienced human were both thrown into a panic.
They blushed, each unable to ignore the presence of the other, as they desperately
tried to quiet their pounding hearts.
That was the situation.
"...…"
"...…"
Lyu was naked on top but wore her long cape, which had escaped a soaking. From the
waist down, she wore only a thin pair of underwear.
Bell was also naked on top and wore a pair of black long underwear rolled up to the
knees. The repeated inadequate healing had glued the underwear to his leg wounds,
and pulling it off by force would have opened the wounds again. He'd compromised
by leaving them on. On balance, though, he was still more exposed than Lyu.
At first, she had covered her chest with her arms and insisted, eyes averted and cheeks
flaming, that he wrap himself in her cape, but he had managed to convince her to keep
it for herself.
"…"
Unable to fight off the feelings bubbling up in her chest, Lyu was squirming subtly but
repeatedly, and the cape rustled against her skin. Every time she did, Bell held his
breath and stiffened.
This is so embarrassing… even though I know I shouldn't care right now.
Lyu muttered quietly to herself, her satiny legs hugged close to her chest. If she stole
a glance at Bell, she could see even in the dim light that his face was pink. So was her
own. She could feel the heat to the tips of her long ears.
Their clothes and equipment were scattered on the ground. She hadn't folded her
battle clothes because she wanted them to dry, and her long boots were bent over
messily.
For some reason she did not comprehend at all, the scene struck her as faintly
immoral. She couldn't tolerate it, perhaps because those things belonged to her, an elf.
Bell, too, was studiously avoiding looking at them.
Lyu being Lyu, she also couldn't bring herself to look at the clothes Bell had taken off.
They were caught in a negative cycle of contagious tension.
The gap between their shoulders spoke vividly of their embarrassment.
Why am I so hyperaware of him?
No answer came in response to the simple question she asked her heart. Was it
because he had saved her? Because they had been tied together? Because he had
comforted her by saying she was just? Because he had held her and told her he would
never abandon her?
She continued to question herself, but found no answers. Her heart simply continued
to beat as irregularly as before.
In the first place, she hadn't felt like this when he'd seen her bathing that time—
"…!!"
She cut her thoughts off there. Blood had rushed to her face at the memory of what
happened on the eighteenth floor. She looked down, determined not to let Bell see her
looking so horrid.
She succeeded in evading his notice, but he recoiled.
I never thought I'd end up in this situation in the Dungeon… in the deep levels, of all
places…
She didn't have time for a farce like this.
It wasn't just that she was half-naked. She didn't have much energy left, either. If a
monster attacked at this point they'd be done for. She had to forget her embarrassment
and do what she could.
But for some reason… she had a feeling no monsters were going to show up.
She guessed that Bell thought the same.
She couldn't put it into words, but this whole area around the stream lacked the
Dungeon's usual tense atmosphere. She didn't sense any monsters or hear any breath,
or even feel any eyes on them. All she heard was the gurgling stream.
The fact that they'd been able to rest for a whole hour backed up what her instincts
told her. She even felt that time moved more slowly in this place.
"…"
But the current situation couldn't go on.
Here they were wasting a good rest by being so nervous they couldn't regain their
strength, Lyu told herself.
"…There's something I have to ask you about."
"Uh… oh, of course. What is it?"
Lyu wanted to ease the tension, but she had also been wondering about this incessantly.
She looked at him as she asked the question.
"Why did you come back that time?"
By "that time," she meant when she was in the Colosseum.
Her decision had not been mistaken. She wasn't trying to glorify self-sacrifice; that
situation had demanded a choice. The options had to be placed on a scale. There was
no way to know in advance that things would turn out like they had.
"If you'd taken one wrong step—or even if you hadn't—we both could have died," she
continued.
"…"
"Did you know this space existed under the Colosseum?"
"No…"
"Then why did you do it?"
She had set aside her emotions and was asking as an adventurer.
Bell returned Lyu's serious gaze unflinchingly.
"I didn't want to let anyone else die… that's why I did it."
His words were simple. The feeling motivating his behavior was unsullied and
straightforward.
But was there really no more to it? Was that the only reason he had saved Lyu?
That much seemed clear. There had been no calculation or goal to his actions other
than saving her life. He had destroyed the scale that forced choices on them for the
sake of his own ideals. He had used all his strength and wit, paid with his own blood,
and struggled against the world.
"…"
He had left everything to chance.
They were more than lucky the floor of the Colosseum had caved in; if it hadn't—
…If it hadn't, he probably would have fought off the surviving monsters, carried me off,
and saved me anyway. Knowing Bell, I don't doubt it.
At this point, Lyu couldn't help coming to that conclusion.
"Bell… will you listen to me?"
She was asking without really having intended to. But just like that day in the
Dungeon's paradise, she told all to the boy beside her. She told him what had happened
to her and to the rest of Astrea Familia—all the details of the story she had always hid
from everyone.
"—That's what Jura meant by 'sacrifice.'"
"…"
Having finished her story, Lyu looked at the ground as if to escape. The wounds she
had revealed by her own choice were throbbing. She was terrified of what Bell would
say next.
He slowly parted his lips.
"In that case… it sounds like you have to go on living…" he said, smiling. "The people
who cared about you fought because they wanted you to live."
"Ah…"
"Even an idiot like me can see that. If you died now… Alize and the rest would definitely
be mad."
He spoke slowly, like he was explaining something to a young child. He was not looking
down on her or reprimanding her. But he did sound a little angry, as if he would not
forgive her if she did the same thing again. He sounded like Syr, and the look in his
eyes reminded her of Alize.
He arched his brows as if he was going to smile cynically again. Pulled into his rubellite
eyes, Lyu placed her hands on her chest. Her heart was pounding.
At least, she felt like it was. Obviously, it was just a feeling.
And this impulse to reach out and touch him was definitely just her imagination.
She looked down and clenched her fists.
"B-Bell."
"…?"
"I-I think we should... get a little closer."
"What?"
Bell had already been giving her a strange look, and now he clammed up. After a long
pause, during which he must have understood what she was trying to say, his cheeks
began to flush. Lyu, who was red to the tips of her ears as well, stumbled over her next
words.
"Wh-what we're doing right now… isn't e-efficient. If you really want me to return
alive… we have to warm each other up s-skin to skin…!"
"Uh, um, but…?!" Bell stuttered.
"Now is no time to be shy… can't you feel how cold I am?"
Bell's eyes popped open as Lyu gripped his hand. Her own was white and cold as ice.
As for Bell, he had lost quite a lot of blood. Now was no time to tough out the situation
in a show of upper-tier-adventurer strength.
Lyu was embarrassed, too, but her point was well taken. She was genuinely concerned
for his well-being.
"B-but you're an elf, Ms. Lyu…"
"Don't worry about that. In emergency situations… I'd even be willing to hug a dwarf…"
She quickly shut down Bell's concern about race issues. He was out of arguments.
"B-but, Bell… don't get any nasty ideas in your head."
"…What?"
"If you do, I-I won't be able to stop myself from slapping you."
Lyu was dying of embarrassment even though she was the one who started listing
rules in the first place. Bell had a blank look on his face.
"I-I mean, given my body type, I doubt you'd be interested anyway… I mean…!"
She was now more flustered and redder than ever, unable to escape her upright elf's
nature.
"Uh… ha-ha-ha. A-owww…"
"What are you laughing at…?"
Bell had broken out laughing. The sight of him holding his stomach in pain, seemingly
from the strain of laughing, upset Lyu even more. As she was steaming over the fact
that he wasn't taking her seriously, he went on with a smile.
"I'm very sorry. Please don't worry… because you're Ms. Lyu, after all."
In other words, she may be acting strange, but she was still the elf he knew and liked.
Lyu gaped at him for a moment, then pressed her lips together. She felt like even more
hot blood was rushing to her face, and she was getting itchy to boot.
Bell, who was still doubled over from the pain of laughing, glanced at her cautiously.
"Um, so… what should we do…?"
"…"
"Hugging would be awkward since we're not wearing clothes, I think, so, um…"
Lyu broke off and was silent for a few seconds before standing up. Dragging her bad
leg, she moved in front of Bell and turned her back to him. Then she slipped off her
cape.
"—"
The garment fell to the ground with a swoosh.
Below the white nape of her neck, her naked back was fresh and youthful. Drops of
water traced a path from her neck to her slim waist, where they were absorbed by her
single garment—her panties.
Bell gulped. His whole body was extremely tense. Even with her back to him, Lyu was
blushing. Logically, he couldn't see anything from behind, but she hugged her arms to
her chest anyway as she sat on the ground.
The silence only lasted a few seconds, but to Lyu it felt like an eternity. She looked
down, and her meaning must somehow have gotten through, because she could sense
Bell steeling his will behind her.
He crouched down.
Lyu's heart skipped a beat.
Very timidly, he wrapped both arms around her from behind.
Her shoulders shivered.
The space between them disappeared.
"…"
"…"
Bell hugged Lyu to his breast from behind. He could feel her back and thin chest. He
crossed his arms in front of her upper body, which was as naked as the day she was
born.
The burning embarrassment only lasted a few seconds. Their bodies began to warm
each other. Cold skin lost its chill and warmth spread through Lyu. Bell's furiously
beating heart slowed and became calm, knocking against her back. The comforting
rhythm rocked her like a cradle, relaxing her heart.
The stiffness melted from their bodies.
The sound of their heartbeats melded into one.
They relaxed into this feeling as if it were entirely natural.
Bell leaned against Lyu's back as she rested against his chest.
"Are you warm now?"
"Yes, very…"
"Good…"
"Yeah…"
"..."
"..."
As usual, their conversation didn't last very long. But the silence this time wasn't
uncomfortable. The gurgling of the stream added to the peaceful feeling. Bell widened
his legs a little so that Lyu could fit fully between them. Lyu was very warm, but she
thought Bell must be cold. She told him to put on her cape and he wrapped it around
both of them. His face was right next to hers. His easy breath tickled her ear and neck
a little, caressing her thin ear over and over.
"I didn't realize…"
"…?"
"I didn't realize you were so small…"
"I'm not much shorter than you."
"I know, but… I can't explain it."
"What?"
"…Nothing."
"…Tell me."
"It's nothing."
"Um—"
"Hurry up."
"…You're so slender and soft… it makes me realize you're a woman."
"…"
"It's like I understand that feeling men have… of wanting to protect women."
"…You're very sly," Lyu muttered softly.
She repositioned herself so that her back was pressed more firmly to him, as if she
was seeking him out. He responded by firming his chest muscles.
He let out a shaky sigh. For some reason, it struck her as sweet.
…It's not fair.
Lyu was trying not to think of the girl with the blue-gray hair.
The elf in the corner of her heart criticized her for being contemptible.
She wanted to be forgiven.
Just for this one short moment.
She didn't know what she was asking forgiveness for. She didn't understand who she
was apologizing to. She was simply obeying her emotions.
Her heart whispered that it wanted her to turn around.
Her chest burned for her to meet the gaze of the beautiful rubellite eyes behind her.
She wanted to lock eyes with that boy whose face was so close it was practically
touching her own.
But she was afraid.
She was afraid that something would change irreversibly between them.
She felt she would not be able to turn back.
And so she resisted the desire.
She grasped her slender upper arms and let the upright elf inside her come to the
rescue. She scolded the self who was neither an elf nor a tavern waitress nor Gale
Wind, but simply Lyu.
It was sad and painful, but it reassured her.
"Ms. Lyu…"
"Yes…"
"What do you want to do when you get back…?"
"…I want to eat a warm meal made by Mama Mia."
"Ah, me too… Let's go together, then."
"But before I do that, I'm sure I'll get an earful from Syr and the others…"
"Ha-ha-ha…"
"…What about you?"
"I want to go back home with Welf and the rest of my party, walk into my house, and
say 'I'm back!' to our deity…"
"That's a good plan. You should value your familia…"
"I will. I'll value them forever, just like you…"
"…Thank you."
They leaned into each other as they whispered back and forth.
They were like lovers sharing pillow talk.
At the same time, though, there was a fleeting feeling to the moment that they could
not wipe away.
There was a peaceful danger in their faint smiles and in their voices so soft the
slightest breeze could blow them away, like a candle flame about to flicker out.
They closed their eyes and slept like travelers through space.
They held each other, drawing ever closer in their own private world.
Beside them, the pure stream sparkled blue, as if it were giving them this quiet
moment.
Several hours had passed since Lyu and Bell's rest began.
Their deep sleep had restored them in both mind and body.
Setting aside their physical wounds, the recovery of their mental strength was
incredibly important. Their stubborn headaches and lethargy had vanished. Compared
to their condition before the rest, it was like night and day.
As soon as they opened their eyes, they swung into action.
"Thank you, Bell, for using your precious mental strength to start a fire."
"It's fine, I rested well… I can handle that level of firepower."
The sound of a crackling fire blended with that of the babbling stream. The bonfire
illuminated their faces. Lyu, somewhat revitalized now, had gathered the kindling and
Bell had shot a firebolt into it. Starting a fire in such a damp location without proper
fuel or tools was extremely difficult.
They had used drop items as kindling. Lyu had returned along the passage to the pile
of rubble and corpses from the Colosseum to gather monster skins—especially the
oily hair of the barbarians. Just like that of the heretical barbarian Bell and the children
from the orphanage had encountered in the secret passage below Daedalus Street, the
hair burned extremely well.
"Bell, how strong do you feel?"
"A lot better, but my hands still shake like this if I'm not paying attention…"
Since they'd lit a fire, Bell and Lyu were no long embracing. Instead, they were sitting
side by side in front of the flames. Lyu stared at Bell's quivering hand, which he was
holding in front of his chest.
The stream was a safe zone.
Lyu was sure of it.
As if the sparkling blue water was an amulet warding them off, no monster had
attacked. It was likely the sole "paradise" on the thirty-seventh floor. As long as they
stayed here they would shed no blood and could rest as long as they liked.
Holing up down here is one option… but we don't have the all-important rations for that.
There was plenty of water. However, there was not a crumb to eat.
Second-tier adventurers might be a far cry from ordinary people, but they still relied
on nutrition to function. This was why they would never fully recover no matter how
long they rested here.
All that awaited them in this passage was a gentle death. That was the unspoken
message of Bell's shaking hands.
Even if a rescue party had been dispatched, it would never make it here before they
died. She was certain of that.
To start with, the chances of rescuers stumbling on Lyu and Bell in a floor as big as
Orario were slim to none. Adventurers who lost their way in the deep levels were as
good as dead. At least, that's how the Guild treated them.
The Dungeon does not let those who stop moving return to the surface alive…
No one wanted to suffer through more brutality.
But accepting the heart's yearning for peace was the same as losing to the Dungeon.
The image of the adventurers-turned-skeletons flickered across Lyu's mind. If they
settled into this peaceful paradise, Lyu and Bell would meet the same end.
They had to press on.
They had to risk another adventure—if they were adventurers.
Lyu made her decision.
"Bell… let's rest a little more and then leave this place."
"…Right."
Bell nodded in response to Lyu's hushed voice. Drawing on her revived mental
strength, she used Noa Heal to fully restore Bell's physical well-being. That is, with the
exception of his left arm and lost blood, neither of which could be brought back with
instant healing.
Lyu also healed her own right leg. When she had enough mental strength, her magic
could fix broken bones. The only problem was that despite having stabilized the
fracture with her knife hilt, she had been moving around so much that the bones didn't
fit back together quite right. This was the price she paid for not being a real healer.
Her movement might still be somewhat compromised, but at least she could get
around on her own now. There was no question Bell's burden would be lightened,
since he had been supporting her this whole time. When she got back to the surface,
she could have a real healer fix it for her.
After Lyu finished with the healing and took another short rest to replenish her Mind,
she and Bell collected their garments. Thanks to the bonfire, the battle clothes were
nearly dry. Turning their backs on each other, they started putting their gear back on.
By now they weren't overly flustered by the situation, but they still weren't used to the
sound of the clothes rustling around.
They finished getting dressed and put out the fire.
Just before they set off, Lyu realized she felt reluctant to leave.
…It's only a temporary weakness. The exhaustion must have gotten to me.
Enveloped in Bell's warmth, she had experienced the illusion that her mind and body
were one. She had never experienced a peace like that before.
However, she would not permit herself to drown in that feeling. She was a noble elf
through and through. She pretended she did not notice the feelings budding in her
heart, telling herself they were mere false attachments.
"Shall we go?"
"Yes, I'm ready."
She and Bell set out walking side by side. Turning their backs on the place that had
allowed them a brief respite, they began to move ahead once again.
They walked down the passage with the stream for what felt like an eternity.
As they had suspected, it appeared to be free of monsters, and they were able to
advance safely.
"Is this an 'unexplored area'?"
"Yes, in the sense that it hasn't been mapped. But… I feel like this is a special place."
Bell peered around as he talked with Lyu. As it was elsewhere, the walls were milky
white stone, but because of the light given off by the stream running down the center
of the floor, the passage itself seemed to have a blue tint. Thanks to the water, it felt
moist and cool. Diminutive lily-like flowers bloomed along the boundary between the
walls and the ground. Some of the petite white blossoms swayed with the passing of
the river water