Riveria watched as Ais began to wander around the castle with an air of familiarity.
First, the two of them entered a small room on one side of the hall, where they saw Isagi. At this moment, the young boy was speaking to a certain robed young girl.
By the dim fluorescent light, Riveria saw the girl's distinctive pale blue skin.
'A Siren?'
Although she lacked the signature fish tail, as a veteran adventurer, the woman recognized the other party at a glance. It was a considerably rare Monster in the Dungeon.
"We need to make... a... a... and this... ah... let me think..."
"And this."
"Got it!"
"How long will it take?"
"Just a moment!"
The girl and the boy were talking, looking quite like a slice of daily life.
[...]
What on earth is this inexplicable sense of normalcy?!
Riveria seemed to have already caught a glimpse of the nature of Isagi's special Dungeon, leaving aside what this dim, ancient castle before her eyes actually was.
Why can the Monster speak?
And looking at her, she was completely indistinguishable from an ordinary person. Furthermore—what is with her being kind of cute?!
"Isagi, are you busy?"
"Mn."
Answering Ais's words, he explained he was letting Marie create some small accessories (rings and talismans) that might be used later. He had handed all the materials over to this clumsy fellow.
Isagi told the girl and the woman to go ahead first; he would join them in a while.
Thus, Riveria quickly followed behind Ais, passing through the long corridor inside the castle once again, arriving before that massive gate.
After pushing it open, outside the cliff face, the sky full of stars that suddenly revealed itself caused the woman to freeze in place for a moment.
It was indeed a beautiful scene.
The giant pitch-black bird appeared once again. Emitting a loud cry, it grabbed the two of them and flew toward the "Floating Continent" in the distance.
It was also at this moment.
Looking down at the approaching continent, where grasslands and mountain forests connected, ruins of castles and wilderness were visible everywhere. There were also lakes, long rivers, as well as ice, snow, and deserts—
In a trance, Riveria felt that this was a mosaic pieced together from the different Floor regions within the Dungeon.
'An "ecology" exists inside the pothole.'
From the initial caves of the Upper Floors.
Then further back, slowly changing from chambers piled with scattered rocks into lush forests, massive caverns with giant waterfalls, deep pools, and undercurrents everywhere. Then to the primeval dense forests, deserts, and volcanoes further down...
The deeper one went, the more inconceivable the environment presented by the Dungeon became.
And this Floating Continent before her eyes gave her an even stronger feeling.
Even—
Falling.
A slight sense of weightlessness made Riveria feel somewhat dazed. Subsequently, together with Ais beside her, she landed amidst the green grass.
In the distance was a pitch-black [Site of Grace], floating in mid-air and leaving a ring of fine, fragmented light around it.
"Ais, this place is..."
Just as her voice fell, Riveria saw the young girl's face reveal an incomparably serious expression, one she would only show when facing an enemy.
She had also already heard the commotion coming from behind.
The low roars often emitted by Monsters, that "ji-li-gua-la" gibberish that one couldn't understand at all, as well as a certain "stench" carried on the wind. And, of course, the intuition for hostility possessed by an adventurer.
Riveria turned her head.
She happened to see a Goblin Knight wearing armor, riding atop a Kobold.
"?"
The Monster that the young boy had encountered when he first entered the Dungeon appeared before their eyes once again.
The Elf High Princess was momentarily stunned. It seemed she still couldn't understand how a Goblin could turn into this appearance.
Subsequently, she saw it charging toward her!
"# #@￥#@!"
The Goblin and the Kobold shouted and screamed simultaneously, emitting roars that were completely unintelligible. The lance in its hand pierced the air, arriving before her even faster than imagined.
Riveria lifted her foot, almost subconsciously wanting to kick the opponent.
As a Mage.
The Level 6 Elf woman was naturally not a "frail" individual. Relying solely on the suppression of Level, even without releasing Magic, she could easily slaughter her way from the Dungeon's Upper Floors to the Middle Floors without any problems.
Although her [Strength] and [Endurance] were considered low among adventurers of the same Level, that was still the same Level!
So seeing it was a Goblin, she almost subconsciously wanted to use her fists and feet to resolve the opponent. If not for the lack of a staff in her hand, she might have even "bang bang" knocked the opponent a few times.
Using it directly as a long staff!
However, she was swiftly pulled away by Ais beside her.
"Careful, Mama!"
"Hah?"
"This isn't a normal Monster!"
The fierce wind wrapped around the spear tip cut a few strands of the woman's flowing deep green long hair.
Simultaneously, Ais called out softly, using her Magic.
"Awaken."
Although weapons couldn't be brought inside, Magic could still be used.
Thus, the girl instantly flew up carrying the woman, momentarily dodging the Goblin Knight's sudden attack, as well as the even more insidious poisoned dagger of the Kobold beneath it.
Subsequently, a kick!
While directly kicking the steel knight sitting on top away, she stepped down onto the head of the momentarily bewildered Kobold.
Clearly, she was experienced!
Watching the Goblin Knight in the distance preparing to crawl up, Riveria quickly understood. As she was thrown out by the girl, she began the chant for her Magic in mid-air.
"Harbinger of the end, the endless white snow. Face the twilight, and release the gale. The light is closed, the frozen earth. Blizzard, the three harsh winters—My name is Alf!"
"[Wyn Fimbulvetr]!"
The moment she landed was also when the Magic chant was completed.
White snow blew past accompanied by cold wind. It was not violent, yet it advanced layer by layer, completely freezing the Goblin Knight in the distance, and subsequently shattering it.
It turned both the enemy and the surrounding grass into glistening, broken frost.
However, very quickly, more Goblin Knights unexpectedly formed a phalanx in the distance, charging toward this side. Thus, without pausing, Riveria once again chanted her second-stage Attack Magic.
"Before long, flames will be released. The creeping war, the unavoidable destruction..."
"...Burn everything away, Surtr's Sword—My name is Alf!"
"[High · Via Laevateinn]!"
Scarlet flames, even more exaggerated than Lefiya's [Fusillade Firebolt], descended from the heavens. It was like a rain of fire from a god judging the Lower World, or perhaps a natural disaster sufficient to destroy cities and kingdoms.
In the blink of an eye, the view before Ais and Riveria turned into a blazing sea of fire, turning all the charging Goblin Knights into charcoal.
Yeah!
With "Mama" here, it really is much more relaxing!!
Ais ran swiftly into the grassland that had been completely turned into scorched earth by the Magic. Then, as expected, she found the sparkling giant treasure chest that had suddenly appeared.
After opening it, she immediately began to take out a large machete, as well as a thick, large wolf tooth club.
"..."
Looking at the large club handed over by her "daughter," Riveria actually didn't want to accept such a crude weapon that looked like something a barbarian or Dwarf would use.
But strangely, through sensing it, she discovered there was indeed extremely subtle Magic flowing inside this thing.
That is to say, as a wolf tooth club, it could truly increase Magic power slightly.
What the hell?!
Then she could only use it. After all, having something was better than having nothing. She thought that she should be able to obtain other weapons next.
To be honest, up to this point, Riveria still didn't have much sense of reality.
The Monster's speed just now was indeed fast enough, and one could feel that sharp killing intent, but how to put it—it was still taken out by a single Magic spell.
For a Mage, it was indeed like this.
Sigh, Mages.
At this moment, Isagi, floating among the stars, watched Ais and Riveria playing happily in the Floating Continent not far away, and he had the same feeling.
He inexplicably recalled the very beginning when he and Lefiya were adventuring in the Dungeon.
For the Elf girl, many of the "mobs" she encountered were indeed guys that could be taken out directly by throwing a spell from far away.
There was simply no feeling at all!
It wasn't until later, slowly experiencing various arduous battles—especially recently, taking Cecil to the Dungeon with Ryuu-senpai and the others to crusade against the Goliath, experiencing the "True Dungeon"—that she realized what kind of hard life she had been living before!
Of course, a hard life cultivates people!
Lefiya was now not only powerful in strength, but her heart was also incomparably firm. In just a short half-year, she had already become an incomparably veteran adventurer. Didn't this rely entirely on the special Dungeon?
Amidst his thoughts, the tiny starlight circling this world would occasionally quietly float before his eyes, circling like small colorful butterflies stopping at his fingertips, finally merging inside.
This was the "Divine Power" of the Dungeon.
Or rather, it was the power the Dungeon was slowly transmitting to him through this space. Through it, Isagi could clearly feel that he was a bit closer to that "Black Sphere" located at the end of the incomparably deep darkness.
Maybe just a tiny bit, very, very small, but it was real.
As Ais and Riveria below fought more and more various Monsters in the Floating Continent, more and more starlight gathered.
Clearly, this was the Dungeon telling him that if he wanted to obtain Divine Power, he had to bring adventurers in to "suffer" on this continent.
Why is it like this?
Could it have something to do with his Skill?
Or perhaps—subconscious?
Isagi was still very interested in Divine Power. He had specifically asked the two Goddesses, Astrea and Demeter, before. Although the words spoken by the two fellows were different, they both pointed to a common point.
[The authority or ability governed by a God is highly correlated with themselves.]
Specifically speaking, it wasn't that the world needed a Moon Goddess, so someone became the Moon Goddess; rather, because she herself represented people's certain cognition and concept of the "Moon," she was the Moon Goddess.
Just like Astrea.
She herself harbored justice and was incomparably fair, while also always embracing hope for the future—one of the symbols of the stars is "Hope."
Simultaneously, justice, fairness, and judgment themselves represented things people hoped for at certain moments.
Isagi listened and seemingly understood but not quite. But in summary:
[What effect Divine Power can have depends on oneself.]
This was certain.
Moreover, it was an extremely private, self-existent thing. One might not even be aware of it themselves, because not everyone can correctly recognize what kind of person they are.
Too brain-burning!
He had always been a quite casual and simple person!!
So, Isagi's thoughts quickly drifted far away. Subsequently, he noticed Ais and Riveria, who were currently fighting a BOSS in the Floating Continent.
The opponent of the woman and the girl at this moment happened to be that Two-Headed Lizard from before.
It was just that there were many [Glimmer Knights] following around it, causing the two of them to fall into a bitter struggle for a while.
Isagi watched with relish.
Seeing Ais and Riveria jumping left and right, hopping up and down under the siege of the big lizard and Goblin Knights, he inexplicably felt it was interesting.
Ah—watching people suffer is also a link that must be tasted in Soul-games.
Wait!
Suddenly, he seemed to think of something.
"How did the Dungeon design these special Monsters and BOSSes?"
Not only the Dungeon changed by his Skill.
Also, in the original normal Dungeon, were those Monsters and environments originally there, or were they "designed"?
This question definitely had no answer, because he couldn't go ask the deity itself.
And from the looks of it, the Dungeon didn't seem to be able to speak either.
So Isagi could only guess. He thought, since the Monsters all called it the "Dark Mother who created everything" and said "Monsters are all bred by it," did it mean that the Dungeon was actually a "Creator"?
It created the world and life inside the Great Hole. And this was its power, which was—
In a trance, as if he had a sudden epiphany.
The sky full of stars surrounding this space sparkled, but in Isagi's eyes, they seemed to transform into countless "images."
That was...
[Images of Combat].
The Nameless King riding a Great Dragon;
The twisted orphan weeping by the seaside;
The Father and Nun in the Painted World;
The sorrowful Samurai who wanted to protect his homeland no matter what;
The gentle young boy who had become a God and his King;
The True Monarch waiting alone for an old friend on the snowy mountain peak;
The King of Riddles bathing in scarlet and slaughter within the Rose Manor;
Countless images flashed before his eyes, like slow-motion movies. There was neither beginning nor end—
From beginning to end, the most important thing about combat was the combat itself. What he enjoyed was also this process.
Nothing more.
Isagi seemed to understand something in this instant. Thus, he reached out and grabbed a small sparkling fragment before his eyes.
And also in this instant.
This "Illusiory World," originally constructed purely by the Dungeon's power, also underwent a small change.
In a trance.
At this moment, Ais and Riveria, originally located in the Floating Continent, both discovered something "wrong."
The two joined hands and worked quite hard to defeat the Two-Headed Lizard, which was accompanied by several [Glimmer Knights] and had "Saints" in white robes holding weapons crawling out of its mouth.
It was actually quite interesting!
Riveria thought so. These "special Monsters" were indeed not quite the same as those in the normal Dungeon.
But it wasn't as exaggerated as Gareth and the others said!
It was just okay.
Although the intensity had indeed increased a lot, for a veteran adventurer like herself, it was also within the "normal range."
She felt Gareth had exaggerated before. He must have been unable to let loose while bringing Tione and Bete along.
Of course, it was also possible because she was a Mage.
Facing the same enemy, the things a Mage could do were indeed much more than a Vanguard.
Proudly puffing out her chest, as a noble Elf Royal, Riveria naturally possessed a strong sense of pride.
On the other side.
Ais ran as usual to open the treasure chest dropped after the Monster was eliminated. Just as she was taking out the weapon dropped inside, she discovered that the surrounding environment had suddenly changed.
The forest and grassland disappeared, replaced by yellow sand filling the sky.
"?"
Amidst the confusion, a pungent bloody scent permeated the air.
Appearing before the two of them were long stone steps, and a "Temple" that looked ancient and of a style completely unknown to them.
The only thing Ais understood was the "Land Temple" to the side!
Isagi had taught her to recognize this.
What is the situation?!
The scene before their eyes was too realistic, even causing the two of them to have some illusion of unreality.
Flying sand stung the eyes; the fishy stench was unbearable.
On the stone steps, scattered flesh and internal organs lay in large heaps. Dark red stains and chunks of meat, accompanied by broken bones, were thrown everywhere.
The building in the distance, which looked like a high tower, was very mottled. Scavenging crows flew all around, "caw-cawing" noisily.
Walking forward.
Only after reaching the end of the stone steps, beneath the dark tiles on the empty door frame, Ais and Riveria completely failed to understand the three large characters "Crouching Tiger Temple" [Wohu Si] on the plaque.
However.
Crossing the temple threshold and walking inside, the first thing that caught their eyes was a giant headless stone statue—the young girl and the woman also didn't recognize this thing called a "Buddha Statue."
What they did recognize was the blinding scarlet blood pool before their eyes.
And not far away, lying prostrate within it, seeming to be gnawing and licking something with large mouthfuls...
A big orange cat?
No, it was a tiger!
A terrifying monster at least three meters tall, with muscles bulging like small hills. It lifted its flowery face covered in blood stains.
It extended its tongue, licking. A pair of turbid yellow eyes were as scary as lanterns. It also carried a weapon on its back, which looked like a large machete?
"Ma la ge ba zi [Motherf*cker], why so late again?!"
It can talk?
But why can't we understand it? What exactly is it saying?
Whelping, Old Melon, Great King, Kung Fu, Crutch Face, Little Monk...
Not a single word could be understood!
Until the big tiger, whose face was covered in blood, just stood up like that, twitching its nose as if sniffing something.
"Screw it, I'll taste two bites first!"
Understood this now!
Following the big tiger suddenly leaping up its body, jumping to a blind spot on the side, and then suddenly leaping up to smash down with double fists!!
The sound of dance music, completely unheard of before, rose up. Subsequently, its name surfaced from within their hearts—
[Tiger Vanguard].
Under the moonlit night, Ryuu "infiltrated" the Loki Familia's [Twilight Manor] all alone!
Actually, the stealth vibe wasn't that heavy!!
Cough, cough, cough.
She came over only after telling her Goddess. Even if she was really discovered by the people of the Loki Familia, it would be fine!
The Elf girl currently had a considerably important mission, which was to come over and watch Isagi!!
Really, Ryuu didn't know what to say about her own Goddess.
How could she let the young boy run to another Familia to sleep? One could only say Astrea was a bit "careless," thinking that the boy had already been with her and Demeter and...
Also.
Because she heard Riveria was also there, she was more reassured.
She didn't trust others, but the Goddess surely couldn't distrust the noble Elf Royal, right?
Including the other girls, too.
Ryuu was the same.
When she first found out, hearing that Lady Riveria was also there, as a fellow Elf, she naturally couldn't imagine that the other party would do anything "improper" to Isagi.
But thinking about it, she just couldn't fall asleep no matter what.
Thus, in the end, Ryuu told her Goddess, and subsequently decided to run over to watch.
Just in case?!
She had already fallen behind before; the Elf girl didn't want to fall behind again!!
Holding such thoughts.
Under such a bright winter night, the girl quickly entered the massive building of the Loki Familia, formed by the "fusion" of a western-style mansion and a high tower.
Reasonably speaking.
She should have just walked in openly, called for Goddess Loki, asked where Isagi was, and then gone to find the young boy.
However, it was already late at night.
The Loki Familia residence had basically extinguished all lights. Even Goddess Loki herself was asleep!
Ryuu clung to the outside of the divine chamber's balcony, looking at the red-haired Goddess hugging a wine jar and sleeping soundly on the bed. Clearly, everyone was very reassured, thinking that with Riveria watching, nothing would happen.
Even Loki herself thought so.
She felt it wasn't good to wake up a deity, but in that case, how could she find Isagi?
She couldn't possibly search room by room, right!
That would be too stupid...
However, Ryuu really was such an idiot.
Quietly, sneaking into the corridor, Ryuu began to observe the situation inside room by room.
The Loki Familia residence was very large.
After all, there were many people in the Familia. But relying on the intelligence obtained from Tiona before coming, Ryuu quickly found the floor where the "Guest Rooms" were located, and then checked them one by one.
Finally!
Ryuu pushed open a door and smelled a familiar scent.
That was the fragrance the golden-haired girl always emitted. After all, they had been teammates several times, adventuring in the Dungeon together, and usually trained together often.
So Ryuu was very familiar with it!
Plus, seeing that it was mixed with an unfamiliar scent, there couldn't be a mistake.
It should be Lady Riveria!
Thinking so, what Ryuu didn't quite understand was that the light wasn't on in the room, so what was the situation now?
Speaking of which.
She only heard that after falling asleep, Isagi seemed to go to a place called the [Dark Hall], and then others could also enter to fight Monsters inside or something.
Then, is it so quiet now because they are all sleeping?
It really was!
By the bright starlight and moonlight, Ryuu, who had quietly entered the room, saw a scene that made her disbelieve her eyes!
Isagi was indeed sleeping.
However, lying on top of the boy was not only Ais but also Riveria.
"?!"
The massive impact momentarily made Ryuu think there was something wrong with her brain, or that she had seen something wrong.
Thus.
She wanted to walk a bit closer to confirm. As a result, she had just arrived by the bedside.
Like the other two fellows, suddenly, her vision went black. She was directly pulled inside by that completely irresistible force.
The girl's light body also fell down along with it.
A muffled sound.
Isagi, in his sleep, felt the pressure on his body increase a bit again, but it seemed to be okay?
Mn—
And at the same time.
Not long after, the young boy who had originally been among the stars watching the "Mother and Daughter" pair fight the Tiger Vanguard in the blood pool suddenly saw the pitch-black Giant Eagle throw another slender Elf girl onto that Floating Continent.
Just nicely, it was also before the Land Temple outside the "Crouching Tiger Temple."
Ryuu was currently still a bit dizzy.
Only hearing a considerable commotion and a thick scent of blood coming from the stone steps ahead, the Elf girl ascended the steps almost instinctively.
As a result, she hadn't walked a few steps when she heard a very magnificent sound coming from the distance.
"Keep the monkey head for wine, send the rest to the Great King!"
Following that.
Two golden monkey hairs floated down from the distance, passed her, and went to the Land Temple behind her.
Ais and Riveria appeared instantly, giving the Elf girl a small scare.
What is the situation?
And why did both of them look filled with "grief and indignation," their pretty faces flushed red, with expressions of great unconvinced defiance?!
What is all this—
"What exactly are you three doing!!"
____
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