Just as the crawling drake was about to lunge up to the puppet, a ripple opened behind the puppet's back and a gigantic black hand shot out, clamping down on one of the drake's forelimbs. With a single wrenching heave, that immense strength flipped the charging drake off the ground.
"Aim."
Sawada Tsunayoshi locked onto the Dark Faction's location.
The black hand extended farther, forcibly aligning the drake toward the Dark Faction's position—then hurled it.
The next instant, the puppet slipped into another dimension, and the black hand vanished with it.
Inside that other dimension, the puppet did not act immediately. It watched the thrown drake first.
The drake, having been flung into their midst, began slaughtering the Dark Faction on sight.
"As expected of the dungeon's sweeper. Even with my presence dialed down, it came for me first."
"I still don't understand the dungeon's targeting logic. My personal strength is only Level 1—how did that thing charge straight at me?"
"Can it really evaluate destructive power at, say, fifteen?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi wasn't sure how any of this was being judged.
"What's going on!? What's going on!?"
Over in the Dark Faction's camp, panic erupted as the sweeper dropped in from the sky.
Through the puppet's eyes, Sawada Tsunayoshi saw the chaos—heads and chickens flying, dogs leaping—clear proof they had no answer to a dungeon sweeper.
"As long as you understand what's happening, that's enough."
This time he had no intention of jumping in himself. Being marked by the Dark Faction out of nowhere was trouble enough. All he wanted to do was a simple long-range rescue.
The puppet moved swiftly through the other dimension, and in no time reached the wounded girls.
Without overthinking it, he had space itself fold into a barrier that enclosed them all, pulling them directly into the other dimension.
With the immediate danger handled, Sawada Tsunayoshi finally turned his attention to the female adventurers—each bearing some degree of mutilation.
"Oh? Unexpected. They're all women. Humans, demi-humans—no men at all."
"It's obvious they took heavy losses trying to fight the dungeon sweeper."
"Cough… where is… this…?"
"It's obvious they took heavy losses trying to fight the dungeon sweeper."
"Cough… where is… this…?"
The red-haired girl at their head stared around in shock. The entire world was black and white. She didn't know where she was—but she saw someone walking toward her.
Instinctively she tensed, but with her right arm gone, that vigilance looked tragically flimsy.
"Alise…"
The black-haired girl behind her tugged at her sleeve. Missing an arm herself, she bowed humbly. "Thank you very much for saving us. We are members of the Astraea Familia. We will repay your aid."
"Astraea Familia… the goddess of justice, huh?"
Sawada Tsunayoshi was a bit surprised. So this dungeon anomaly really was the Dark Faction's doing. All those earlier irregularities had likely been the dungeon's emergency response to floor destruction—that actually made sense.
As for repayment, he didn't care.
Announcing their Familia name was also a way to keep themselves alive.
Sawada Tsunayoshi didn't want trouble for himself, nor did he want to bring trouble to Miss Loki, so he would keep this rescue simple.
"Clap!"
A Healing Rabbit appeared beside the puppet. With a soft double-clap of its tiny hands, a translucent barrier enveloped the girls of the Astraea Familia.
"!?"
The sight startled them—but a heartbeat later, the pain in their wounds dulled by more than half, and their gravely injured bodies began recovering rapidly. They realized this wasn't an execution; it was treatment.
It was only treatment, though. Missing limbs were still missing.
Even so, the Astraea girls didn't seem overly bothered. In the face of that calamity, walking away alive was already a profit.
"Take them back to the safe zone on Floor 28 first."
"And I need to report this to Miss Loki."
He stayed cautious this time. If the puppet went outside, the dungeon would mark it instantly, and the sweeper would charge in at once.
As long as they left Floor 30, the dungeon's sweeper wouldn't pursue.
A created sweeper only acts on its current floor, with the goal of killing every adventurer there. Naturally, any adventurer who leaves the floor out of its sight won't be hunted down.
Besides, sweepers don't have that much patience. By the time it finishes cleaning up the Dark Faction, its time should be about up.
The puppet turned straight toward the entrance to Floor 30.
When the Astraea girls started to follow, they found the environment itself shifting rapidly around them. They hadn't moved at all, yet the place was carrying them along. Amazed, they chose not to thrash about and simply sat quietly.
Sawada Tsunayoshi nodded slightly. Once he confirmed the puppet was on its way back, he stopped micromanaging.
"Contact Miss Loki first."
A television slowly condensed in front of him; Miss Loki's face appeared on the screen.
"Yo~ Tsuna, why are you calling so late?"
"Something happened, of course. Just as I was about to sleep, I heard a goddess's plea in my ear. She asked me to save her children."
"A goddess's plea? She must have sensed her children were in danger and, not knowing what to do, started sending distress calls to people near them. She probably used a bit of divinity at the risk of being sent back—truly out of options, just flinging bottles into the sea."
Loki's gaze checked Tsuna's position. After confirming he hadn't rushed in personally, she relaxed and explained.
"So, are you asking whether we should send a rescue?"
"No. I already rescued them."
"Pfft!"
Loki's eyes went wide; her whole face crowded the screen. Her voice sharpened with urgency. "You dared to do something that dangerous?"
"Please don't take me for a hothead, Miss Loki. I'm not the same as Ais. I considered the possibility it was a trap, so I only sent a puppet."
"Oh…"
Hearing that, Loki finally exhaled, wiping the cold sweat that had sprung up. For a moment she'd thought her most precious kid had done something reckless.
"So, whose children did you save? Whoever made you risk yourself, I'm settling the score!"
"Astraea Familia."
"Huh? Astraea?"
(End of Chapter)
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