With Alfia—Freya Familia's strongest—agreeing to Takumi's plan, and with it being the only sensible move, nobody hesitated.
They moved out immediately, sprinting upward together.
But the speed of their retreat still couldn't match the divine beast the Dungeon had forged for the sole purpose of killing gods.
Seeing the gap closing fast, Takumi finally stopped holding back. He released a portion of his power and forced the whole group's pace up, dragging them out of the Dungeon in one burst.
Almost the instant they cleared the entrance, an ear-splitting roar erupted from below.
"RRAAAOOOAAAAHHH!!!"
The shockwave of sound made adventurers clamp their hands over their ears on reflex—even Alfia frowned.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
The ground shook as something enormous smashed through rock and surged upward, bursting into view.
That cursed bulk hovered in midair, twisted wings shedding black particles like ash.
"W-What is that…?!"
"A winged snake… no, a dragon?! That body's huge—how can it even fly?!"
"That's disgusting… I've never seen a monster like that!"
Ryuu, Alise, and Kaguya all wore the same instinctive look of revulsion.
Now that they were close enough, everyone finally saw it clearly.
Curved horns. A split, jagged maw. A dragon's head like a demon mask carved out of nightmare.
A massive torso paired with absurdly small forelimbs and hindlimbs—like a grotesque chimera, as if someone had stitched a thin human frame to a serpent's body and then called it "complete."
And towering over the city—Babel Tower—had collapsed because of it.
Even the gods watching from afar felt their bodies tremble.
The black winged dragon howled again, declaring its arrival.
In the shadows, the remnants of Evilus screamed in ecstatic triumph.
"Babel Tower's collapse foretells the end of the Age of Gods! The true era of darkness and chaos has arrived!"
But the moment Ais saw that dragon, something in her snapped.
Black wind spilled off her like smoke.
In her eyes, the scene overlapped with an old nightmare—the Black Dragon that destroyed everything.
"That… that is… a dragon…!"
Hatred surged up from the pit of her soul, drowning reason until there was nothing left but raw fury and killing intent.
Ais activated her skill—
[Avenger Princess].
THUMP-THUMP-THUMP.
Her heartbeat thundered, mixed with magic that surged like a flood.
Black gale wrapped around her. The storm swelled—then started slipping out of control.
Her grip on her sword tightened until it creaked.
She wasn't herself anymore. And then—she vanished in a streak of gold.
"Ais?! Wait—don't go!!" Riveria shouted.
All she got back was the screaming, violent black wind.
Even Riveria was forced to sweat at that pressure.
Takumi, who had just released the rescued adventurers from the Shadow Domain, waved a hand and dispersed the storm that was tearing through the air. Then he patted Riveria's shoulder, eyes fixed on the berserk girl.
"Leave it to me."
Riveria was silent for half a second, then nodded heavily. "…Please protect Ais."
Centered on the wreckage of Babel Tower, monsters poured out like a tide—each wrapped in lotus-red flame armor.
The firelight was so intense it almost swallowed the sun, staining the sky a deep, bloody crimson.
None of it slowed the rampaging girl.
SHHK—SHHK—SHHK!
Ais swung on instinct, and the swordplay she'd learned from Takumi poured out of her like muscle memory made divine.
Her blade—wreathed in black gale—barely even needed a full swing.
The resulting wind slash obliterated everything in its path, turning waves of monsters into shredded fragments.
"Out of my way—out of my way—OUT OF MY WAY! DISAPPEAR!!"
She roared as she shot forward like an arrow.
Flaming debris and blood mist whipped into the gale around her, becoming a spiraling red storm.
"Is she a berserker?!"
Adventurers instinctively scattered away from her, terrified she'd cut them down too.
Watching from above, Loki could only let out a tired sigh.
But when she saw Takumi chasing after Ais, her tension eased.
"With that brat around… Ais should be fine."
She muttered it, then turned toward Freya—only to see Freya staring at Takumi with bright, feverish eyes, like a fan watching their idol at the peak of a concert.
"Why aren't you ordering Alfia and the others to move?" Loki snapped. "What are you playing at?!"
"An hero's moment of radiance," Freya said coolly, "shouldn't be obstructed by others."
Loki clicked her tongue. "Tch—what a shameless woman."
She genuinely didn't understand how a goddess could be this openly lovestruck.
Where's the dignity?You're embarrassing all of us.
Then Loki's expression shifted into something equally unhinged.
"Still… my Ais is sooo damn cool."
And like a proud, hopeless fan herself, she watched Ais's rampage with shining eyes.
Even Loki had to admit it—Takumi's training had turned Ais into something terrifying.
The moment the divine beast actually traded blows with her, it was already starting to look pressured.
The black winged dragon's eyes burned with hatred as Ais closed in. It spread its torn maw wide.
FWOOSH—FWOOSH—FWOOSH!!
Hellfire orbs rained down like a meteor shower, lighting all of Orario in burning orange.
The heat hit the city like a slap—people everywhere broke into instant sweat.
"Damn it—no restraint at all!!"
"These fireballs… this is bad. An entire street will be erased in seconds!"
Finn and Riveria both looked grim, staring up at that monster as it ruled the sky.
Ais didn't flinch. Not even slightly.
They hated each other.
The dragon carried the Dungeon's hatred.
Ais carried hatred for dragons—hatred for monsters—hatred soaked into her bones.
"Howl—!!!"
Ariel—under the amplification of [Avenger Princess]—condensed into the shape of a massive storm greatsword.
Ais slashed through the air.
A sweeping black hurricane detonated the falling fireballs midair, shredding them into sparks.
And the razor wind blades didn't stop there—they surged onward, carving into the dragon's body and leaving dense, crisscrossing wounds.
SPLASH!
Foul blood sprayed out like torrential rain.
The gale armor around Ais gave her lift—flight—so she kicked off into the sky again, accelerating straight at the winged dragon.
The dragon's wounds made it howl louder, pain pushing it into deeper frenzy.
"ROAR!!"
Its torn flesh began to boil, and black-violet steam rose from its body.
In only a few seconds, the wounds sealed shut.
Even shattered scales regenerated as if time were rewinding.
"That regeneration…" Riveria's fingers tightened. "Even with Ais this strong… fighting that thing alone is still too risky."