Past the fog-choked twelfth floor, stepping into the [middle floors] meant dark, wood-toned rock walls, their uneven surfaces stretching away down a long slope, with faint, dull phosphorescence flickering hazily in the deepest reaches.
This stretch of consecutive floors, known within the middle floors as the [Rock Cavern Labyrinth], was famous for its tangled terrain and the countless deadly vertical shafts that dropped straight to the levels below.
And yet, at this moment, through those silent and treacherous cavern passages, a crimson figure was flashing past like lightning.
Thirteenth floor.
Fourteenth floor.
Fifteenth floor.
Alise had not chosen the cautious, probing advance of an ordinary adventurer.
Her feet touched down light as sparks on vertical rock faces, on jutting stalactites, even on the skulls of monsters.
She burned through the dark like a human bonfire, and every swing of the one-handed sword in her grip, the [Crimson Vow], came with a bursting roar that reduced anything foolish enough to block her path to ash.
[Magic: Devourer (monster eater) activated] [Abilities acquired: Hellhound Transformation, Killer Rabbit Transformation] [Development Ability acquisition progress: 40%] The permanently active Devourer (monster eater) swept up every monster carcass and magic stone fragment caught in their wake and licked the whole corridor clean.
The notification chimes flickered through his mind, but they did nothing at all for Artorias’s current condition — because he was about to be stuffed to the point of vomiting.
“Move aside, move aside!
The Wings of Justice of the Astrea Familia, Alise Lovell, is coming through — !” Flame crackled and popped in the air around her.
The red-haired girl laughed as she ran, wrapped head to toe in fire, ignoring gravity entirely as she leapt straight down into bottomless vertical shafts.
This underground labyrinth, which ordinary adventurers had to creep through inch by inch, might as well have been an empty hallway.
A battle-hardened second-class adventurer, riding the Dungeon’s countless holes and chasms straight down at breakneck speed to reach her target floor as fast as possible.
[Crimson Flower Stitchwort] The exclusive magic of the Level 3 adventurer Alise.
It granted her a fire attribute enchantment while also carrying a finishing-move-style terminal chant.
When that magic was brought to its full effect and paired with Alise’s own two skills, [Righteous Blossom, Crimson Bloom] and [Righteous Battle, Righteous Flame], even a Level 3 like her could stand against a Level 4 opponent without giving an inch.
Meanwhile, Artorias, forced to experience firsthand what could only be called the Alise Express, clung for dear life to that smooth head of red hair, both long ears blown flat and straight back by the wind pressure.
So fast.
So strong.
In nearly every respect she surpassed Kaguya on that day.
That was Artorias’s first impression, watching the girl work from his front-row seat.
If that leader of the Evils faction, another Level 3, had been utterly helpless against Kaguya’s swordsmanship, then Alise going all out was the exact opposite approach — raw power, brute numbers, throw a brick hard enough and it flies.
And this rampaging, monster-mowing charge only came to a halt at the edge of the safe zone on the sixteenth floor.
“All right, let’s take a short break here.” She picked a flat slab of rock to sit on, took water and dry rations out of her pack, and split off part of her own boxed lunch for Artorias.
“Whew, that went surprisingly smoothly!
No [Monster Party] with monsters swarming us, no [Collapse] with the ground caving in — not one thing on the whole way down.” Alise gulped down water from her canteen, wiped her mouth with zero regard for appearances, and marveled at how well the trip had gone.
“Lucky you can turn into a little monster like that, Ari.” “Otherwise we’d probably still be creeping along the proper route around the thirteenth floor, playing hide-and-seek with the Minotaurs.” Incidentally, for reasons unknown, the nickname Alise had settled on for Artorias happened to be identical to the voice assistant built into a certain nation’s best-selling phone in his previous life.
The first time she called him that, the corner of his mouth twitched violently.
But resistance proved useless, and he had been forced to accept a nickname that gave him crushing deja vu every single time he heard it.
“…Don’t say things like that, you’re basically planting a flag.
Wouldn’t it be nice if nothing happened at all until we hit the twentieth floor?” Artorias took the rice ball Alise handed over, gnawed at it in silence, and rolled his eyes at her.
Unlike his other monster forms, which were built for combat, small monsters like the Stitch Rabbit cost almost nothing in magic to maintain, which made them perfect for long hauls like this.
What he had not expected was for Alise to catch that offhand remark and lean in, eyes shining.
“Oho!
Flag?
You know that word too?” What he had not expected was for Alise to catch that offhand remark and lean in, eyes suddenly shining, that delicate face right in front of his nose.
“I never guessed you’d know a thing or two about the strange jargon the gods from the other world are always throwing around, Ari~” “…I heard it from the adventurers who explore the Dungeon.
Nothing strange about that, is there?” Artorias lied without so much as a flicker.
“Oh, I see, I see.
You heard it somewhere.” Alise didn’t press further.
She nodded thoughtfully, then switched right back to that ever-present sunny smile.
“Speaking of which, you really bailed me out back there, Ari.” “If you hadn’t spoken up, that skeleton called Fels probably wouldn’t have wanted me involved at all.” That sage had a distinctly delicate attitude toward adventurers, one that hadn’t shifted in the slightest even after learning she was the captain of the Astrea Familia.
“It’s nothing.
I’ve never been to the middle floors anyway, and having a high-level adventurer along as escort is more than I could ask for.” Artorias swallowed the last bite of rice ball, his tone flat.
“Besides, compared to some mysterious [sage] I’ve just met, a member of the Astrea Familia I’ve already dealt with is a lot more trustworthy.” “Heh heh, sounds like Kaguya left you with a pretty good impression~” Alise grinned, pleased with herself.
“She was all right.” He avoided her frank gaze.
Artorias already knew what fate awaited Alise Lovell, standing there in front of him, and the Astrea Familia she belonged to.
But if he was making contact with them this early, maybe he could do something for these girls who were destined to walk toward that ending.
He kept the thought to himself.
He only watched Alise eating and drinking her fill in front of him, and felt the weight of it settle in.
… After a short rest, Alise stood, brushed the dust off her skirt, and let her expression sharpen a little.
“All right, break’s over.
Next up is the Floor 17 — that’s the hunting ground of the upper floors’ Floor Master.” She rubbed her chin, thinking it over with a trace of annoyance.
“Hmm… if it were just me passing through, no problem at all.
But protecting you and speeding through at the same time — if anything unusual comes up it’ll get troublesome fast.
One careless moment and I might even pick up an injury.” The Solitary King of the Labyrinth that guarded the Floor 17 — the giant, Goliath.
Born out of the towering white barrier that dominated the whole Floor 17, the [Wall of Grief].
Its potential rating was Level 4.
Guild strategy guidelines recommended it be fought only by a party containing multiple Level 3 and Level 2 adventurers.
It was also an opponent the Astrea Familia had beaten countless times over the course of their Expeditions.
Of course, for a battle-hardened group like the Astrea Familia, it had long since become an old opponent they had put down more times than anyone could count.
“Still, as I recall from the Guild’s strategy data, it shouldn’t be time for the Floor Master to respawn yet.” Alise adjusted her gear as she spoke, easy as ever.
“Who knows, maybe nothing at all will happen when we cross~” “…It’d be nice if that were true.” As they talked, the closer they drew to the Floor 17, the heavier the sense of foreboding sat on Artorias.
… “Well now.
Turns out I really can jinx a thing.” Standing at the enormous floor entrance, Alise took in the sight before her and let out a helpless, wry laugh.
“It would’ve been lovely if this leg went as smoothly as all the others, but you can’t have everything, can you?
The Dungeon isn’t letting us off.” Unlike the hall around them, built of coarse, jagged rock, what stood before them was pure white from top to bottom, without a single dent or the mark of any tool — the final barrier guarding the Floor 17.
The [Wall of Grief].
And then — Crack.
Crack.
That lightning-shaped fissure splitting the smooth white surface, letting a heavy roar come crashing down.
An omen of disaster.
As if it had timed their arrival to the minute, the Solitary King of the Labyrinth was born punctually out of the Wall of Grief.
Skin of deep black, eyes blood red, seven meters tall — the giant came howling into the world out of the Dungeon itself, planted squarely across the only road they could take.
“Quick question, Ari.
Do you want to turn around and go back?” Alise didn’t look back.
She simply rested a hand lightly on the hilt at her waist, and there wasn’t a trace of fear in her voice — only a spark of eagerness.
“You’ve got to be joking.” Perched on her head, Artorias had no intention of backing down.
“We’ve come this far.
Where’s the sense in getting scared off by some oversized doorman?” “It’s just an upper floors Floor Master.
Perfect as a little exercise to settle my stomach.” “Beautifully said!
You sound exactly like a veteran adventurer.” Alise’s smile blazed brighter, and a fierce fire kindled in those red eyes.
“Ari, you’re more and more my kind of guy.” Shiiing — !!
The [Crimson Vow] left its sheath in the girl’s hand, its point leveled straight at the arrogant giant.
Crimson flame surged toward the ceiling, matching the giant’s Roar (howl) head-on.
“Then let’s do this — the two of us are going to bring down a Floor Master!” ____ 👻🔥Walnut-chan on Pa+reon for more!🔥👻 🔥 New history: Zenless Zone Zero: