"Damn it! They've been hunting us this whole time."
"Just like that kid said—they're only doing this to lure us out by targeting our comrades."
"Tch... and all we can do now is retreat."
"Lyd, this isn't the time to worry about one or two people's safety. If we don't reach the 50th floor soon, we might not even be able to guarantee our own."
At that moment, hundreds of Xenos had gathered near the abyss beside the central boulder on the 50th floor—one of the Dungeon's designated safe zones.
The 50th floor had one of the lowest monster spawn rates in the entire Dungeon, making it relatively safe for adventurers to rest. Now, it was also serving as a refuge for the Xenos.
It wasn't completely secure, but compared to other floors, it saw far fewer adventurers. Unless it was an expedition team, most wouldn't come here at all.
"Our other comrades..."
Lyd's eyes brimmed with tears, but he couldn't say more.
The other Xenos fell silent too. Their kin had drawn enemy fire to protect them, only to be captured—and all they could do now was hide in this supposedly safe zone of the Deep Floors.
"Lyd, there's nothing we can do."
Ray wore an expression of helpless sorrow. Everyone burned with anger over the loss of their comrades, but even so, all they could do was hide.
"We all want to tear those bastards apart, but their weapons can slice through our flesh, and their magic can throw our own people into a frenzy. If we show ourselves now, they'll never let us go. All those sacrifices would be in vain."
"Right now, what matters is keeping the rest of the Xenos alive. A few sacrifices... are what allow the many to survive."
Lyd, unable to contain the fury and sorrow within him, turned to Ray—only to see the same pain reflected in her eyes. In that moment, the fire inside him went cold.
They didn't have the luxury of acting selfishly anymore.
If they wanted to survive, they had to bury their grief—for now.
"Lyd, Ray... we could ask someone for help."
Wiene, who had been silent all this time, finally spoke.
Everyone present went quiet at her words.
Lyd and Ray exchanged glances before turning toward her.
"Wiene, this is our problem. We can't always rely on others."
"Then what if we make our problem... their problem too?"
That snapped both Lyd and Ray to attention.
Wiene continued.
"Didn't Lyd say it before? They're up to something shady too. Now that they're actively hunting down our kind... what exactly are they trying to do?"
"We Xenos have always hidden in the Dungeon. The surface Adventurers never made any serious effort to find us, so why are only they so fixated on us?"
"There must be a reason."
Profit!
Lyd and Ray immediately thought of the benefits.
As Xenos, they weren't quite monsters, nor were they human. They had the bodies of monsters and the minds of humans.
When they died, their bodies dropped materials like ordinary monsters. But even that didn't explain why they were being watched so closely.
"I don't know."
Lyd thought hard, but he still couldn't figure out the reason.
"Could it be... because we became the Guild's eyes and ears?"
Ray suddenly understood. The clever Siren immediately saw how to turn their desperate situation around.
"Of course it is."
Wiene raised her voice with excitement.
"Because we helped the Guild look for clues, they now see us as threats that must be eliminated."
"This isn't just our problem—at least, not only ours."
Lyd finally realized, and the other Xenos around them caught on too.
If it were only their problem, they would have no reason to seek help from above. But if the situation involved more than just them—if it even tied into the investigation the Guild had asked them to conduct—then the responsibility wasn't theirs alone.
"So, Lyd, Ray, we need help."
Wiene guided their thoughts in that direction and finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Her reasoning might've been forced, but it was the only way to get Lyd and Ray to abandon their stubbornness.
They couldn't keep pretending everything was normal while being hunted.
If they wanted peace, they needed help.
Just like that person had once said—Xenos needed to stand on their own. But if they couldn't do it alone, they had to find a way to stand.
'But... we just received help from the Guild.'
Lyd's gaze drifted. They had only recently asked the Guild for supplies to survive, and now they were going to ask for help again. Honestly, he didn't know how to bring it up.
"We don't need the Guild's help."
As she spoke, Wiene pulled out a talisman inscribed with Runes.
"He gave this to me. I can contact him."
'Him'—Lyd and Ray immediately recalled the young man in the white cloak.
He was the one who had arranged their meeting with the captain of the Loki Familia.
Lyd and Ray exchanged glances, then gave a small nod.
"Alright... Wiene, give it a try."
"Okay."
Wiene quickly scratched her finger with a nail, letting blood drip onto the talisman.
The Runes reacted to the blood with a soft white glow, and soon a figure began to project itself before the Xenos.
It was a boy whose face couldn't be clearly seen—only the lower half near his mouth was visible.
"..."
Seeing this familiar figure, Wiene instinctively wanted to call out his name—only to realize in that moment that she still didn't know it.
[Bell Cranel, next time you talk to someone, at least ask their name first.]
[It's been a few months. Looks like you and your companions... haven't been doing so well.]
"I hope you can help us."
[...]
Bell paused for a moment, listening. As he looked at the Vouivre across the projection, a faint smile appeared at the corner of his lips.
[Go ahead.]
He didn't refuse.
Wiene steadied her breath and gathered all her strength to speak.
"We Xenos are being hunted. A lot of our people have been captured... I want to rescue them."
...
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