CHAPTER 5

The VIP room was enveloped in silence.

Everyone in the salon stopped moving, all glancing in the same direction in terror. The mountain of chips constructed on the mahogany tabletop. The curtain had closed on the game: an overwhelming victory for one girl. An unimaginable result that would leave anyone shocked, especially the Grand Casino's owner, Terry.

While calmly maintaining the pretense of the count and countess, Lyu and Syr looked over at him.

"Mr. Cervantes, as you promised…will you listen to my husband's request?"

As Syr smiled, Terry clenched his fists tightly. He had promised to fulfill the victor's request before the gamble had started. In front of all the VIPs, not accepting the request would just be a disgrace. Glancing at Anna Kreiz, the flaxen-haired girl at his side, he responded, biting his lip in humiliation.

"Very well…I'll discharge the girl for a little while. Since she just came from a foreign country, I'm sure she is tired."

Terry returned Anna, for whom Lyu had been searching. He seethed as he watched Anna fearfully walk past him, still completely bewildered. In reality, he was letting her go. He had just bought her and hadn't even had the chance to enjoy her yet.

"Are you satisfied, Lord Maximilian?" He spat his words as he stared at the elf who stepped in front of Anna as Syr stood up.

This damn greenhorn…just you watch. You'll regret embarrassing me like this.

While Terry was just barely managing to contain his hatred, Lyu responded.

"No, not yet."

At those words, Terry felt his eyes twitch again in rage.

"…What's that? You aren't satisfied with just Anna?"

Thinking back, he realized that Lyu had never actually said "Return Anna" as her request. However, asking for more at this point amounted to little more than spite.

Ignoring Terry's expectations, the eye-patch-wearing elf looked straight at him.

"Oh dear, you are quite greedy for an elf, Lord Maximilian. Just how many of my lovers would you have me divorce?"

Ignoring the sarcasm dripping in his words, Lyu responded:

"All of them."

At that, the VIP room instantly fell silent.

"The ones you paid those men to steal. You will free all of these women."

Lyu's pronouncement broke the silence. The women in the room immediately turned around, eyes filled with surprise. Even Syr seemed shocked. Gazing in wonder, her expression gradually changed back to a smile, her shoulders starting to shake as she suppressed a giggle.

"My dear husband certainly is greedy. Hee-hee."

The blue-and-silver-haired girl giggled, her mood somewhere between happiness and hilarity.

"…Y-you…!"

Stunned, Terry's face turned a purplish red, his anger breaking through the shock. Slowly rising to his feet, the dwarf's stony face was menacing with no further attempts to hide his true nature.

"Don't get ahead of yourself, greenhorn…"

His threatening voice was unsuited to the VIP room.

As rage tinged his eyes, Anna, the girls, and the VIPs cowered.

"Maybe you're misunderstanding something? Who do you think you are?

All you did is win one game!"

"…"

"Do you really think you'll survive if you make an enemy of me?! If you think the Guild will protect you, you've made a big mistake! I can just go back to Santorio Vega if—"

"Wrong."

Lyu quietly interrupted his threats.

"You aren't a citizen of Santorio Vega. Your name isn't Terry Cervantes, either."

The dwarf froze.

"Your name is Ted."

At that declaration, the man's face changed drastically.

"In the past, you were the bookie for an establishment that repeatedly ran illegal gambling dens in Orario…Even though the goddess you contracted with was exiled from Orario and returned to the heavens, that Status is still engraved on your back."

Lyu took a small vial containing a scarlet liquid and fragment of crystal. Status Thief was an item that revealed the Status engraved by a god onto their faction. When used, the identity of a person's patron deity and their real name would appear on their back as proof. Lyu held out the vial to back up her assertion.

A strange mood took over the VIP room. As if the room had frozen over, no one moved a muscle. Left in the lurch, the guests, girls, and even the waiters looked on in confusion as the elf and dwarf stared at each other.

"…Ho…ho-ho. That a pretty wild accusation you're making there."

Finally, the owner opened his mouth. He was striking a calm pose, but there was a hint of unease in his voice that had not been present before. At the same time, his glare was overflowing with bloodlust.

"I have no intention of wasting my time with pointless delusions…More importantly, I can't allow people who go around impugning me or the reputation of this establishment with nonsense stories to leave alive."

Terry raised his hand, and the men who had been loitering moved at his signal. Starting with a murmur, a large commotion roiled around the room. Black-suited men surrounded Syr and Lyu. The hired guards followed his orders obediently, driving away the flustered old animal person, the rich prum, and the other participants away from the table with a sharp glance.

He intended to eliminate the Status Thief item—along with the one who had made the allegations about his identity.

"Once…yes, just once before I kill you, tell me who you really are, you bastard," Terry demanded, smothering his agitation.

As Anna cowered, Lyu held out her hand to Syr. "You don't remember me?"

She took the stole from out of Syr's arms. Using the long, narrow cloth, she wrapped it like a turban. Other than her uncovered right eye, her entire face was covered. A puzzled look appeared on Terry's face—then as he stared into the one uncovered eye, he gasped. He started sweating heavily.

"I-it can't be—"

A sky-blue eye peered out from inside the stole, a veiled look that matched someone in his memories. The sharp gaze pierced through him, and the next instant he shouted in a loud voice:

"—Leon?!"

An adventurer who had once made villains quiver at the sound of her name: Leon of the Gale Wind.

A notorious second-tier adventurer who always wore a veil to cover her face and whose identity was never discovered. Someone whose strength could even be compared to the Sword Princess's. The executioner of justice who had condemned more evil than anyone else in Astrea Familia.

It was her second coming. The color drained from Terry's face as the follower of the goddess Astrea revealed herself.

"You're alive…?! That means, you really were in that War Game…?!"

Terry had heard that Gale Wind had turned to revenge after losing her comrades in the familia but had been mercilessly killed in the battle with the target of her fury. A corpse was never discovered, but Terry had believed the rumors when Gale Wind stopped roaring through the city.

Until today.

"I heard rumors that you were back, using a false name."

The beautiful elf woman in men's clothes stared at Terry as she removed the veil. Lyu had vaguely suspected that the dwarf she had once chased down had changed his name and appearance and resurfaced in the Casino Strip. As she gathered more information and learned more of his characteristics, she had a sense of déjà vu at the modus operandi. And when they met face-toface today in the casino's hall, she was sure of it.

"Did you ever wonder why I overlooked your evil deeds?"

Lyu's eyes narrowed as the dwarf's heart pounded, his mouth opening and closing silently.

"There were two reasons. The first is that I don't have the right to talk about justice. And the other is…" Her eyes widened as she raised her voice.

"…Goddess Astrea offered you one more chance when you prostrated yourself, begging for forgiveness."

Terry's—or rather, Ted's—face paled.

When he was younger, he had dirtied his hands with crime and been caught in a roundup of criminals by Astrea Familia. Caught red-handed, Ted had fallen down in front of the goddess and put his forehead to the ground, begging to be spared. The goddess Astrea listened to his request with compassion. Perhaps she wanted to believe in the children's ability to improve and rehabilitate, hoping that the residents of the mortal realm who were not eternal might change.

Lyu laid bare her fury at this man who was only free due to the goddess's kindness and yet still cultivated more evil in service of his selfish desires.

"G-get her already!"

Ted finally shouted as he stood under a just gaze that had not weakened after all these years. Having lost his composure, he ordered his bodyguards to dispose of Lyu.

"There is no more room for leniency with you."

The sturdy men advanced to pin her from all sides, but she easily knocked them back.

"Gah!"

"Guh!"

While moving in a circle covering Syr and Anna, she used kicks to send their large bodies crashing into the wall and the table.

As the bodyguards who had fallen victim to her techniques hit the floor, the female VIPs in the room cried out.

"I'll judge you in her stead."

In an instant, screams filled the VIP room. Trembling in terror in the center of the noisy room, Ted finally pulled out his trump card, no longer carrying about appearances.

"Faust! Lolo! Kill her!"

At their employer's order, the two bodyguards standing behind him moved—a medium built, burly human and a slim catman. As the two men came rushing toward her, Lyu's expression tightened.

"Syr, take her and get back."

Her eyes signaled that she would not have enough leeway to protect them as she leaped into the fray, challenging the skilled fighters coming to attack her.

"Okay. Good luck, Lyu."

Closing the distance in an instant, the human and catman drew their specialized weapons.

Black steel gauntlets and two knives. As the enemy made contact, unleashing a sharp punch and slash, Lyu leaped over their heads, avoiding their attack. Landing behind them, she immediately kicked at their heads.

"!"

The black gauntlet repelled her kick, and the knife swung in from the side with perfect timing. Twisting her body to dodge, Lyu's formal outfit was lightly cut.

"Faust and Lolo are the famous Black Fist and Black Cat! I'm sure you've heard of them before!"

Watching the ebb and flow of their fight, Ted wiped his sweat and smiled ferociously. Lyu knew the names well. They were the aliases of a menacing bounty hunter and an assassin.

From a time when Astrea Familia was still alive, the Dark Age when the Evils ran rampant in Orario, countless bounty hunters and assassins had been hired from outside the city in order to dispose of wanted men and enemies. Guided by Guild members who colluded with the Evils, they invaded the Labyrinth City and, like mercenaries, they determined their enemies and allies based on their reward, becoming one of the sources of turmoil in the city.

Among them, the names and strength of Black Fist and Black Cat resounded through the underworld. Their contract success rate was basically one hundred percent. Their names became a synonym for terror at the time, having even fulfilled contracts on second-tier adventurers.

When Orario's Dark Age came to a close, like Lyu they had disappeared.

I see, they're strong…

She acknowledged the might of the two men in front of her, while ignoring Ted's boasts that they had been at his side since the Dark Age. These two had the skills to prevent a Level 4 like her from attacking carelessly. They combined their moves flawlessly.

Quickly and accurately analyzing the situation, they aimed for her eye patch—her weak point—constantly alternating attacks from the blind spot it created.

If I take the eye patch off, I might be able to get in a surprise attack…but first I need a weapon.

The bodyguards reentered the fray from the front and back while Lyu was unarmed and under pressure from her enemies' weapons.

"While they're pinning him down…!" the dwarf snapped with a husky voice that had lost all composure.

Ted could not relax as he watched Lyu go toe-to-toe with Faust and Lolo.

The scariness of Astrea Familia had seeped into his bones.

"You waiters, grab Anna and that woman!!"

The waiters from Santorio Vega were flustered but did not disobey as he ordered them to get hostages. Shady though he may be, the owner's orders were absolute.

As the surrounding guests kept screaming, they corralled Syr and Anna near the wall.

"Uh…ummm…?!"

"…"

Anna became fearful as the ring of people closed in around them and Syr quietly took in the situation with the waiters. She surveyed the surroundings, ignoring Anna's gaze that seemed to be urging Syr to just leave her behind and escape.

Lyu did not react to them. Trusting her colleague, she just focused on her own fight.

Finally, without any warning, Syr raised both of her hands. A sharp noise rang out as she clapped her hands once in front of her chest.

"!"

Shocked at the loud, sudden noise, the waiters stopped moving, and even the other people nearby focused on her. Remembering the mysteriousness she displayed in the game just a little while before, they unconsciously readied themselves as Syr spoke in a restaurant staff's voice that carried well in the crowd, smiling with her hands together.

"Everyone who was kidnapped by this awful owner: You aren't just caged birds waiting for the hero to save you, are you?"

The mistresses, who had been left standing in confusion as the situation took such an unforeseen turn, were shocked when the idea of escaping was brought up.

Talking to those girls, Syr continued.

"You don't look that way to me. You are all very strong people. People who didn't lose to adversity. Because you all are pure and have a determined spirit. I know you all have people waiting for you."

The women's eyes wavered, as if they were remembering who they used to be. With each word, Syr stirred up a longing for freedom in their hearts.

"Also, if that hero wins…everyone will be free."

She pointed to the eye-patch-wearing elf who was even now fighting the bodyguards. Watching the elf gallantly fight, the women's eyes, which had been dyed with resignation, brightened, and then filled with the pent-up fury along they had accumulated. Seeing that, Syr smiled brightly.

"So let's run wild! "

Once she had lit the fuse, it exploded in the blink of an eye. The girls screamed in one voice:

"Uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

"I'm going home, meow!"

The women who had been beautiful dolls roared in anger, recklessly getting violent. The waiters turned pale. Unlike the bodyguards Lyu had downed, they did not have particular confidence in their strength. Fighting against the number of women Ted had gathered into his so-called collection was hopeless from the start. Humans leaped in, ignoring their dresses, elves haphazardly threw sparkling chips, and animal girls scratched up the faces of waiters that they caught. Capturing Syr or Anna was hopeless. Their opponents were knocked down at the feet of the dumbfounded guests, who cried out in shock.

As the women's rebellion spread across the VIP room, shouts rang out.

"Wh-wh…what?!"

Ted's entire face started twitching as the riot unfolded before his eyes.

"…Wh-who are…?"

"?"

Anna's flaxen hair trembled as she seemingly struggled not to fall over backward at the scene unfolding before her eyes. Syr tilted her head slightly as the girl timidly opened her mouth. "Who are you people?"

"…"

"Why? You've never met us…"

Anna had been looking at Syr and turned her gaze to Lyu. Placing a hand on her breast, Syr also watched the elf resolutely fighting.

"Well, I'm just tagging along, but…Lyu wanted to help in whatever way possible after hearing your story. Lyu likes to put up a front, but it's really just that, I think."

Anna inhaled sharply and clutched her chest as the woman standing next to her continued her monologue.

"Don't be mistaken, Lyu is not some hero of justice without past mistakes."

Speaking clearly, her platinum eyes narrowed.

"However…I like that kind side."

And then she smiled broadly. Syr's whispers were drowned out as Lyu's battle sped up.

"—I can't take it anymore!"

Crying people appeared everywhere as the VIP room turned into a battlefield. The exhausted wealthy prum ran at full speed from the midst of the guests. Deciding to take the opportunity, the scratched-up old chienthrope gentleman and the other guests followed him. They ran for the large oaken doors, the exit from the VIP room.

"Call Ganesha Familia!"

"Hurry up!"

"Oy, watch what you're doing!"

As the guests panicked, Ted's angry shouts telling them to stop were drowned out. Once Lyu was silenced, he could use however much money and influence were necessary to make this go away, but he really did not want things to get rougher. Unnecessarily inviting suspicion by bringing the city in for help was his absolute last resort.

It was the same for Lyu. For someone on the blacklist, trying to accuse the owner of not being from Santorio Vega would not be believable. If Ganesha Familia showed up, their first step would be to ensure the safety of the guests and the owner. If Ted escaped in the three-way struggle, she would not be able get to him again. She did not want Ganesha Familia to get involved. However, she had to let it go. Glancing aside at the flood of guests looking for help, she continued her battle. And also, she had faith that someone in Ganesha Familia would do something about him for her.

The tide first began to turn with the gatekeepers flanking the oaken doors.

"…?"

"What was that—something with the VIP room?"

Some of the guests enjoying themselves gambling in the hall noticed the two guards moved toward the center of the doorway. Tilting their heads, they wondered if something had happened. After just a little bit of time passed—BAM! BAM! It sounded like someone was ramming the door. The sudden noise startled the people approaching the area in front of the doors, and the next instant…

"Uwwwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

Pushing aside the waiters and gatekeepers, the VIPs overflowed from inside the room.

"?!"

As people heard the screams, they turned, one after the other, in shock. The highest-status guests in the gambling paradise, the ones who had been invited to the VIP room, were flinging decorum to the wind as they struggled to be the first out of the room.

"What happened?!"

"I dunno, but move it!"

While the people and gods farther away from the VIP room made a stir trying to figure out what was going on, Ganesha Familia immediately sprang into action.

The guards they had provided wove through the gaps in the crowd as they cut toward the VIP room. Then…

"—this asshole!" Wild shouts rang out.

What now?! the members of Ganesha Familia thought. If they turned around, they would see disreputable men wrestling. Adventurers were scuffling with each other. Without any concern for the trouble going on around them, they started fighting. The casino employees had no reason to stop stupid guests arguing with each other. Their cries of anguish turned into a riot.

Shocked, the Ganesha Familia members came to a stop.

"Uooooooooooo! What are we doing?!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Hell if I know!!!!!!!!"

—Scott and Guile from Mord's crew were crying as they grappled. Mord himself was next to them, grabbing a white-haired boy.

"Damn it!!!!!!!!! We're gonna get banned!! Why, Little

Rookie?!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"I-I'm sorryyy!"

The riot happening now was Bell's—or more accurately Syr's—suggestion to slow down Ganesha Familia.

"This VIP room is a place that even members of Ganesha Familia may not enter."

"So no one can come in."

"Even if something happens, no one can come in here."

Syr had whispered that to him when he had been called to the VIP room. That was the message from her and Lyu: No matter what happens, no one can be allowed to get close to the VIP room. Somehow understanding the message, Bell had asked Mord's group for help, which confused them greatly. "Somehow or other I need to do something. Please help me." They absolutely refused, but when they heard it was for Lyu, to whom they owed a favor for the fight on the eighteenth floor, they tearfully gave in.

"You must be some kind of jinx, you bastard!!!!"

"I'm sooooooooooorrrrrryyyyyyyyyy!"

As Mord got more desperate, he threw Bell through the air in an attention-grabbing display, and the boy's body landed neatly splayed across a table. Several tables were overturned as a rain of chips danced through the air. The dealers turned pale and cowered as a human manager who came to stop them was sent flying just like Bell.

Guests frantically trying to avoid the mayhem crashed into each other and knocked each other away. Greedy gods feverishly gathered the chips scattered across the floor. In an instant, the entire hall fell into chaos.

"Wh-where should we go…?!"

Momentarily trapped between the chaos inside the VIP room and Mord's group's riot behind them, the Ganesha Familia members hesitated.

"Wh-what are you doing?! Hurry up and clear up the disorder in the hall!"

A fat elf with sweat dripping from his brow, Royman Mardeel's shout was

the deciding factor. The faction members were forced to prioritize the suppression of the main hall at the demand of the Guild chief, who was desperate to prevent Orario's reputation from dropping. Since the chaos in the casino showed no signs of dying down, the relief for the VIP room would be substantially delayed.

A handful of remaining waiters were desperately trying to resist the women's revolt. The furious battle of Falna-blessed warriors raged on in the middle area of the VIP room.

"!"

Lyu dodged the skillfully coordinated twin attacks. Two versus one. Not only that, she was staving off brutal gauntlets and fierce knife slashes while empty-handed. She was clearly an opponent wielding high-level Technique and Strategy.

—This elf is strong.

—It's really Gale Wind.

The men were dubious at first, but their hearts whispered that they were fighting a truly strong person. Calmly analyzing their opponent's strength, the two bodyguards attacked repeatedly without giving an opportunity for a counterattack.

"Level Three, right?"

While defending, Lyu also saw through their true strength. She whispered to herself as the bottom of her shoe flew through the air and struck the enemy's gauntlet, and she used the combined force of the kick and punch to jump back and open significant space between them. As the elf tried to reestablish some range, the human and catperson prepared themselves without letting their guard down.

"You certainly have real strength…but you're just like your owner."

"?"

Looks of suspicion floated across the bodyguard's faces as Lyu spoke up to them.

"You are faking your identity. You aren't Black Fist or Black Cat."

Their faces twisted in shock at her declaration. As her assertion rang out

in the room, Anna wasn't the only one surprised as she watched the fight with bated breath—even Ted doubted his ears.

"You match the names, but Black Fist and Black Cat were individualists who never trusted anyone other than themselves for contracts. Obviously, they would not have fought in a large group, but they also assuredly would never have worked together with the coordination you two have."

She spoke as if she had fought the real thing before. The elf standing there was Gale Wind, a person of true strength who had survived the city's Dark Age, so objectively speaking, that was entirely believable. The human and catperson bodyguards gritted their teeth as her disinterested gaze seemed to say, Your real strength has risen plenty on its own, so why strut around with a borrowed reputation?

"…Sha!"

As if enraged that their deception had been exposed, the men assaulted Lyu. In this monster-filled Labyrinth City, they were not worth considering, so they had survived by polishing their teamwork and coordination, which they used to pummel the opponent in front of their eyes.

The intensity of their offense and defense increased severalfold. The instant the fake Black Fist led the enemy to defend, the catperson dove in from Lyu's blind spot, the left side where the eye patch obstructed her vision. You're mine! The man was sure of himself.

"—Wh—!"

He saw a leather shoe about to hit his body, and his confidence changed to a tremor. Without looking at him, she hit him with a ferocious kick from below his line of sight as he put his hand on the floor.

—A trap.

She had purposefully used the eye patch's blind spot as a lure. She dangled it as bait and invited him to dive into her range. And the catperson ate a deadly kick, having fallen it for it just as Lyu predicted.

"Guh?!"

"Sharl?!"

The foot connected with the catperson's jaw and launched him away. Both of his knives slipped out of his hands, and his body rolled across the floor as it hit. A direct strike from a Level 4 kick.

He was totally knocked out with one attack. The human who had called his partner Sharl was stunned as Lyu easily walked toward him and picked up the two blades.

"Black Fist and Black Cat both had a Status of Level Four." The human gulped as Lyu thrust her words at him.

"In addition to that, Faust and Lolo were not code names, they were real names."

Holding the unsheathed blades in a reverse grip, Lyu walked straight forward.

Just who is this elf? All he did was pick up a weapon, but I feel so much more pressure, and he knows way too much about that bounty hunter and assassin. Those thoughts were conveyed in his cold sweat. "—Most importantly, Black Fist and Black Cat were women." The man went wide-eyed at a third shock.

"They are currently working to earn a day's income at a tavern that I'm also indebted to."

At the same time…

In a tavern far away from the casino, a human and a catgirl were at work washing dishes. Runoa Faust and Chloe Lolo each let out a large sneeze.

"U—uaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!"

As if losing himself, he roared. The man stealing the name Black Fist lashed out.

As her opponent approached her, swinging his black steel gauntlets, Lyu moved even faster, the two blades gleaming.

Her knives flashed. Eight in all. As he passed behind Lyu, his gauntlets fell to the ground like wooden building blocks. Multiple slashes were engraved on his arms.

"—"

An attack speed worthy of the name Gale Wind. Time seemed to freeze for the man as blood drops scattered from the sharp knife wounds. Lyu did not stop there. Closing in on him again, she spun, mercilessly unleashing a spinning kick to his head.

"—Guah!"

His body was sent flying with the force of a river breaking its dam to crash into a wall. The thunderous sound returned the VIP room to silence as the women and waiters pulled back, no longer moving. The human and catman lay on the floor, unconscious. As the women looked on in shock, the main battle concluded.

"You're lucky you fought me. If the people whose names you borrowed were here, you wouldn't have gotten off so easily."

Lyu gave her unconscious enemies a warning out of concern.

"A-amazing…"

Anna expressed wonder mixed with fear at how the battle had unfolded. She was captivated as the gallant elf glanced over at her, displaying an amazing strength worthy of a fairy-tale hero. Then— "—Come!!"

"Kyaa!"

A thick hand clutched her slender arm. Ted had been watching the battle, and the moment he recognized that the bodyguards' defeat was imminent, he hid his presence and snuck close to Anna. Wielding a dwarf's peculiar strength, he yanked her away in one motion as if she weighed no more than a feather. As Syr turned in shock, the two disappeared down a passage leading deeper into the VIP room.

"Lyu!"

"I'll follow. Stay here!"

Before Syr could even speak, Lyu was already dashing away. She knew that, as quick on her feet as Syr was, she could get away by passing as one of the mistresses whenever Ganesha Familia came into the VIP room and questioned her. Leaving her friend in a safe spot, Lyu chased after Ted and Anna.

The drama had reached at its final stage.

6

They ran down the hallway, their footsteps thumping along the extravagant carpet. Large beads of sweat seeping from every pore, the dwarf Ted dragged Anna along as he fled deeper and deeper into the casino. All of the bodyguards he had employed had been wiped out. All of his pawns had been blown away in the VIP room. He was the king of the gambling paradise, wasn't he? Until just a little while ago, he was. But now, at the hands of a single elf, he was forced to flee in humiliation.

"They faked their names! What Black Fist?! What Black Cat?! Those bastards!"

Already forgetting that he had been also been caught faking his identity, the owner shouted at the bodyguards for which he had paid a huge sum of money. He was no longer pretending to be Terry Cervantes. All that was left was the criminal Ted.

"Ah-ahhhhh…!"

As the man got angrier, his grip tightened, and a moan escaped Anna's lips. Even now, she was desperately resisting, but the strength of a dainty young girl was like that of a baby in comparison to a dwarf's superhuman strength.

He dragged his insurance forcefully along with him, lifting her legs off the floor at times. A fierce beat of footsteps and a violent presence were hot on their heels.

"Grr—!"

As Lyu bore down on them, Ted jumped in desperation, hounded by fear and unease. It was a gaudy, long hallway decorated by crude bronze statues and paintings. Passing room after room assigned to the women, they headed into the casino's back rooms, then the backyard, passing shocked dealers and staff as they went.

"Mr. Cervantes, what are you doing?!"

"What's all this…?!"

"Stop the elf behind me!!"

Without giving the stunned staff and remaining bodyguards any semblance of an explanation, Ted kept running. The area he had just passed through erupted into a loud struggle, and then cries rang out, stoking Ted's fear. With Bell's group in the main hall, and now this, both sides of the Grand Casino of El Dorado Resort were descending into a never-before-seen chaos.

"Here!"

Swinging Anna around painfully, he changed their path to wind countless times across the labyrinthine backyard before they ran down a long staircase. The casino's underground floor.

It did not have any of the splendor of the main hall where games were played, but it was just as large as the aboveground floor in size. Raising his voice, he repeatedly told the flustered, staring people to open the enclosing wall as he exited onto a wide, long path. At the end of the path was a giant round metal door. The Grand Casino's underground vault.

"Faster! Faster…!"

Almost as if he was planning to ram the door, he ran toward it, his fingers trembled as he took out a master key that only he possessed. Opening all the locks, he spun the handle like the captain of a ship, swinging the giant metal door out. His face was bright red. Having opened the door, he pushed Anna into the vault and slipped in himself.

"Ha…ha…if I come here…!"

Thunk. The metal door slammed shut. Anna looked around from where she had collapsed on the floor as the sound of the locks closing echoed in the room. Polished gold coins were everywhere. The inside of the vault was like a small cottage, filled with all the money deposited at the casino. There were innumerable mountains of gold, and each appeared to contain at least a hundred million coins. An incomprehensibly large amount of money.

All of the Grand Casino's commodities were stored here. It was El Dorado Resort's treasure box—Anna gasped at this room, which befitted a place that billed itself as The Golden City.

"The only one who can open this vault is me, and it's made from adamantite from the Dungeon! He can't get in or break in!"

As he caught his breath, a smile finally formed on Ted's face. As he had said, the vault was made from adamantite mined in the Dungeon. He had sourced large amounts of the rare metal from merchants and familias to build it, heedless of the needs of others. In order to protect against skilled thief familias, it was a small underground fortress. Ted's aim was to hole up in this underground vault.

"As long as I'm cooped up in here, even Leon can't do anything about it. Ganesha Familia will capture him eventually, since he's already on the blacklist."

"…!"

"Until then…Anna, I'll have you keeping me company to soothe me." Ted looked up, his eyes bloodshot.

"They keep getting in my way. I can't hold the rage back anymore!"

"Ngh…?!"

"Astrea Familia, those ghosts from the past! I'm the one getting the last laugh!!"

His clothes were stained with sweat, his slicked-back hair a mess. Ted unleashed his sadism, intending to take out all his pent-up resentment on the girl in front of him.

"Acting cute while making a fool of me…It's just a shame he won't be able to hear your screams…"

"S-stop!"

The dwarf's shadow started toward the trembling girl. Her flaxen hair shook in terror. Sensing danger, she reflexively scooted away from him.

"Hmph!"

"Guah!"

An animal person rolled to the floor, struck by a boot to the cheek. After her swift kick, Lyu sprinted forward. She proceeded through the underground floor, instantly dealing with the waves of guards who attacked her. From the aboveground floor through the stairway, countless demi-humans were laid out along the path she had taken. She ran past them like the wind in order to reclaim the girl whom Ted had stolen from her family.

"That's…"

Breaking through the last door, she emerged onto a wide path. At the edge of her vision, she saw the vault where Ted had holed up. Lyu's eyes narrowed as she stopped in front of the haughty adamantite door, the seal on the metal castle wall.

"—Distant forest sky. Infinite stars inlaid upon the eternal night sky." She started chanting.

"This is…magic?"

As he was about to lash out at Anna, Ted noticed the flow of magic being wielded from far behind him. The swirling torrent of power was strong enough for him to perceive it, even shut off from external stimuli inside the vault. As he whirled around, his face broke into a sneer.

"Bwa-ha-ha-ha! That's pointless, Leon!! Even you can't break this vault!

That isn't about to change even if you use magic!"

The dwarf's husky laughter echoed off the mountains of gold coins.

"Heed this foolish one's voice, and once more grant the starfire's divine protection."

Lyu walked forward steadily, with an air of composure, her footsteps ringing out. Her beautiful chanting voice did not hesitate in the slightest. Her mantra echoed cool and clear as she added more force to her voice.

"Grant the light of compassion to the one who forsook you."

"Ha-ha-ha-ha…?"

The loud laughter echoing in the vault died down. That enormous amount of magic. It was as though he were standing in front of a cannon loading an especially large cannonball.

"O…oh…?"

Even a normal person like Anna could feel the power welling on the other side of the vault. She went wide-eyed as Ted's sneering face twitched.

"Come, wandering wind, fellow traveler."

Lyu pulled her tie off, letting it drop to the floor as she loosened her collar. Her throat quivered, speeding up the spell as she advanced.

"Cross the skies and sprint through the wilderness, swifter than anything

—"

She refined her Mind, infusing the source of magic. The undulating power that was gathering in front of her converged the instant before it was released. Stopping to leave a bit of distance, Lyu stared at the metal door with her sky-blue right eye.

"—Imbue the light of stardust and strike down my enemy."

Accompanied by flashes of wind and stars, she thrust her right arm forward like a conductor. The chanting complete, Lyu quietly spoke the name of her trump card, the strongest sure-kill spell.

"Luminous Wind."

Clothed in wind, a cannon blast of starlight rang out.

"~~~~~~~~~~~?!"

Stardust rushing through the sky turned into several large light spheres, accompanied by a green wind, that hit the vault. A string of billowing explosions rang out through the underground. Wave after wave of shocks and awe-inspiring explosions washed over Ted and Anna. As they ducked, the door made of numerous layers of adamantite bent inward, cracks forming.

" "

As Ted stood frozen in place, Anna suddenly lay flat on the ground. The next instant, the vault exploded with an enormous boom.

"—Whaaaaaaaaaaa?!"

His vision overwhelmed by a flash of white light, Ted's frozen form was blown back. Because of the shock wave, the mountains of gold coins were also scattered in the air, turning into countless gold raindrops, clinking loudly as they splashed across the floor.

When Anna lifted her head, she saw that half of the vault's door had been torn away.

"Adamantite's hardness is directly proportional to its purity."

Emerging from the smoke, Lyu stepped into the large hole in the underground vault.

"If it were the rare metal from the deep levels—the highest purity adamantite—then it would certainly have been exceedingly difficult to break through."

Anna and Ted—who was somehow pulling himself up—both gazed at her in terror as she spoke.

"However, the materials to make this clearly were excavated from the upper and middle levels…If it is lower-strength adamantite, then my magic can pierce it.

"You obtained inferior goods," Lyu explained as she glanced at Ted, who had lost his voice.

Telling the difference was impossible for someone who was neither a smith nor an upper-class adventurer. Arrogantly throwing around money had only bought him the resentment of the merchants, who paid him back with this meager revenge.

Ted's face colored in shock at his miscalculation, and his cheeks quivered as Lyu calmly approached.

"L-Leon…"

His clothes ragged, Ted's tongue spasmed as his gaze shifted to the side. Anna was there, still unable to stand up. The next instant, he leaped, reaching out to grab her. However, faster than a dwarf could move, the elf's hand whisked the girl away.

"…?!"

"Time to grit your teeth, you beast," Lyu calmly announced as she looked down at the cowering dwarf.

The handsome elf wrapped one arm around Anna's waist as she blushed, moving in front of the girl to cover her. Lyu was wearing just a single dress glove.