Lynn and Ais completely ignored the market-stall levels of commotion in the plaza behind them, stepping directly into the cold, oppressive darkness of the Dungeon.
For Lynn, being stared at was common. Back in the Lands Between, almost every living thing wanted his head on a pike. The current glares of jealousy were barely worth a mention.
As for Ais, the gossip of others was no different to her than the wind passing by.
"Today... are we going back to the place from yesterday?" Ais asked, walking beside Lynn. Her voice carried a trace of excitement she hadn't even noticed.
Yesterday's exhilarating battle had given her the first taste of the pleasure of growing under extreme conditions. That feeling was far more addictive than a simple level-up.
"No, today we're going somewhere a bit more... divine," Lynn replied, shaking his head. "The trials my God bestows are unpredictable. One must always be prepared to complete them."
Furthermore, he wanted to be able to wield the Golden Halberd as soon as possible. He needed Runes for stats, and the special trial maps provided far too few. Today, he intended to do some serious farming.
As he spoke, he pulled a perfectly ordinary iron dagger from his waist. He had bought it last night for 500 Valis from a street stall using spare change from monster drops, mainly as a backup. The Bloodhound's Fang was excellent, but sometimes a simple blade was more suited for quick maneuvers.
"Your God... is very strict," Ais said with a thoughtful nod, expressing her understanding.
Not far behind them, in the shadow of a wall, three heads peeked out stealthily.
"Hey, Tiona, did you see that? Ais really went in with that guy!" Tione Hyrute, the Amazon with deep brown hair and revealing clothes, whispered in disbelief.
Beside her, her twin sister Tiona—who looked almost identical but with shorter hair—was excitedly punching the air, her eyes practically sparkling.
"I see it! I see it! So cool! That guy looks totally ordinary, yet he actually made Ais wait for him! He must have some hidden boss energy, right? Is he one of those legendary 'hidden masters'?"
"You idiot! Is that the point?!" Tione rapped her sister on the head. "The point is that Ais is going into the Dungeon alone with a man! That's Ais we're talking about!"
"Ais-sama..." A weak, sobbing voice came from behind them.
The Amazon sisters turned to see the party's elf mage, Lefiya Viridis, hiding behind a pillar. Her hands gripped her staff tightly, her eyes welling with tears as if her most precious treasure had been defiled.
"Ais-sama... she must have been tricked by that suspicious man! His gaze is flighty; he's clearly a villain! We... we have to protect Ais-sama!"
Lefiya bit her lip, her face a mask of grief and determination. Tiona's eyes lit up even more. "Ooh! Stalking? Sounds thrilling! I'm in!"
"You just want to see the drama!" Tione complained, though a look of worry crossed her face as well. "Fine, let's follow them. But deal: we can't let Ais find us, or we'll all get a lecture from Riveria."
"For Ais-sama!" Lefiya raised her staff solemnly.
And so, this temporary "Ais Protection Squad" made up of Loki Familia executives quietly slipped into the Dungeon.
Dungeon, Ninth Floor.
Puch.
Lynn casually drove his cheap new dagger through the neck of a Kobold before skillfully kicking it away. The movement was fluid, as if practiced a thousand times.
"Whew..." Beside him, Ais had just finished her own fight. She hadn't used her usual gale-force speed for a one-hit kill; instead, she had deliberately slowed her rhythm, dancing around a Kobold to observe the trajectory of its every swing.
The moment it missed a vertical cleave and left an opening, she flashed forward and used her sword pommel to strike the back of its neck, knocking it unconscious.
"How was it? Any insights?" Lynn asked, wiping the blood off his dagger with a smile.
Ais tilted her head, her golden eyes shimmering with thought.
"Its attack patterns are simple; there are only three. Vertical cleave, horizontal sweep, and... screaming. Also, every time before it attacks, its right shoulder twitches first."
"Not bad. Good observation skills," Lynn nodded.
Ais looked at Lynn and couldn't help but ask: "Lynn, about that 'roll' you mentioned yesterday... I tried it..."
As she spoke, she mimicked Lynn's movement, dropping low and rolling to the side. However, she was trained in swift, elegant swordplay; committing her entire weight to the ground felt clumsy to her. Though her posture remained graceful, she lost her balance upon landing, stumbling slightly before standing firm.
Lynn chuckled. "You probably shouldn't force yourself to learn that. Your own evasion style is already excellent. No need to use something that feels unnatural."
"It's strange. The movement looks almost identical."
The two chatted while leisurely clearing out the monsters along the path. Lynn found that Ais's learning ability was bordering on the terrifying. In a single morning, she had already begun consciously looking for recovery frames in monster attacks instead of just mindlessly rushing in.
Of course, Lynn wasn't idle either. While guiding Ais, he acted like a true scavenger, tapping on walls and checking every suspicious crevice.
"What are you looking for?" Ais asked curiously.
"Looking for my God's Grace. Sometimes it's hidden in unexpected places," Lynn replied without looking back. He raised his dagger and tapped on a seemingly ordinary rock wall.
Thud. Thud. Clang!
The final tap produced a hollow echo. Lynn's eyes lit up. "Got something."
He took two steps back, faced the wall, and delivered a powerful kick!
Vrrr—!
The rock wall vanished into transparency with a soft hum, revealing a pitch-black opening barely wide enough for one person. A cold, damp aura billowed out from within.
An Illusory Wall!
Ais's pupils constricted. She sensed an uncomfortable aura from the hole—one entirely different from the monsters of the Dungeon.
"Is this... a hidden passage?"
"Should be. We won't know what's inside until we go in," Lynn said, sliding in first. Ais followed without a moment's hesitation.
A hundred meters behind them, the hidden trio of Lefiya, Tiona, and Tione were stunned.
"What... what just happened? Was there always a path there?" Tiona rubbed her eyes.
"How should I know!" Tione's expression turned serious. "I've never seen a wall do that before."
Lefiya's face paled as she gripped her staff, her voice trembling. "That hole... there's definitely nothing good in there! Ais-sama... why did she just walk right in!"
She was on the verge of tears and wanted to rush forward, but Tione caught her arm.
"Calm down, Lefiya! We'll follow and see what's going on. Don't alert them!"
The moment they entered the cave, Ais felt her attributes being suppressed again. This was definitely another of Miyazaki's trials. Instead of being annoyed, Ais felt a flicker of anticipation.
Lynn, however, was unaware of her thoughts.
The interior of the cave was wider than expected—a narrow stone path descending further down. The walls were covered in crude, eerie carvings. After walking several dozen meters, the space opened up.
It was a small underground catacomb. Stone coffins were placed in the center, and several hunched, small monsters brandishing stone picks were wandering about.
Their skin was a sickly pale, their limbs slender, and they wore comical pointed hats. They were creatures Lynn had seen countless times in the Lands Between—Fanged Imps.
"Be careful," Lynn whispered, his eyes as sharp as a hawk's as he scanned every corner of the tomb, especially the ceiling and the shadows of the coffins. "These things are called Fanged Imps. They look stupid, but they're incredibly sneaky. They play dead, they hang from walls, and their attacks carry a... well, a curse-like effect that makes wounds burst with blood."
"Burst?" Ais frowned. An abnormal status like that exists?
Before the words had even settled, the ambush began!
The Imp closest to them, which had been mechanically swinging its stone pick a second ago, snapped its head up to reveal a horrific grin full of sharp teeth. It let out a piercing screech and hurled a suddenly manifested Fire Pot straight at Lynn!
Simultaneously, a smaller shadow plummeted from the ceiling like black lightning, its uniquely shaped hand-axe carving a lethal arc aimed at the top of Ais's head!
Even more insidiously, a statue in the corner that looked identical to the surrounding decor suddenly moved! Its wolf-like head turned, red light igniting in its hollow eye sockets. It raised a curved greatsword larger than its own body and charged with eerie, rapid little steps!
A full-scale, three-dimensional ambush!
"Damn! Talk about a warm welcome!" Lynn cursed, his body reacting faster than his brain.
He stepped to the side, letting the Fire Pot graze his clothes. In the same motion, he flicked a throwing knife. The blade accurately struck the Imp falling from the ceiling, the force of the impact making the small creature stagger in mid-air and breaking its momentum.
Ais's reaction was equally lightning-fast. She didn't look up at the enemy above; the moment Lynn gave the warning, she slid to the side, dropping low. Her rapier, Desperate, swept upward from below, aiming for the wolf-headed Imp charging with the greatsword!
"Don't trade hits!" Lynn roared.
Ais's sword tip met the spine of the heavy greatsword with a clang, sending sparks flying. She felt a heavy, viscous force travel up her blade, numbing her arm. The monster's strength far exceeded its size!
The wolf-headed Imp missed its first strike and immediately shifted its stance, bringing the greatsword down in a vertical smash. The movement was clunky but carried a relentless weight, as if it wouldn't stop until it had pulverized her into a pulp.
Ais pushed off the ground, drifting backward. But the axe-wielding Imp whose momentum had been broken by Lynn's knife had already landed. It rolled once and launched itself like a spring, its twin hand-axes turning into a spinning wheel of unreasonable, rapid-fire slashes!
Ais's path of retreat was instantly sealed.
"Tch!" Lynn saw the opening. He lunged into the fray, using his body to force his way between Ais and the axe-wielding Imp. He raised the battered buckler in his left hand to meet the storm of slashes!
Clang-clang-clang-clang! A series of rapid metallic impacts rang out as sparks sprayed everywhere. Lynn felt his arm vibrate violently as sharp surges of force traveled through the shield.
[Hemorrhage]
An ominous thought crossed his mind. If he could see his bleed bar right now, it would likely be nearly full. He used the momentum of the block to slide back, shouting to Ais who was still dancing around the wolf-headed Imp: "Don't face-tank them! Watch out for the bleed status!"
Ais immediately abandoned her frontal assault. Her combat style shifted, moving at high speed around the wolf-headed Imp. In the heartbeat the Imp staggered after a heavy downward smash, Ais appeared behind it and ran it through!
One after another, more Fanged Imps crawled out from the cracks in the walls and behind the stone coffins.
"They just keep coming!" Lynn growled, pulling Ais behind him. "You handle the ones with the greatswords—they're slow! I'll take the small ones!"
With that, he stopped defending passively. His footwork was erratic—lunging one moment, sliding the next. The Bloodhound's Fang always sliced through at the most awkward angles.
At the entrance of the passage, the hidden trio was watching in a daze.
"What... what are those monsters? Do things like that even exist in the Dungeon?" Lefiya asked, her voice full of confusion. She couldn't understand why Ais was struggling so hard with these creatures.
"Is Ais's speed getting slower?" Tione's expression was incredibly grim.
"That guy is so strong!" Tiona's eyes were glowing.
They watched as Lynn and Ais's coordination grew increasingly seamless under the siege of over a dozen eerie Imps, keeping the tide of the battle firmly under control.
Finally, as Ais decapitated the last Imp, silence returned to the catacomb.
"Whew..." Ais breathed softly. She looked down at a shallow scratch on her arm; it was still seeping blood and felt slightly itchy.
"Feel that? That's Hemorrhage. If you get hit consecutively and the curse builds up, it'll burst, dealing massive damage," Lynn said, walking over to hand her a healing potion.
Lynn walked to the deepest part of the tomb, where an ancient stone chest sat. He reached out and lifted the heavy lid.
[Obtained Whetstone Knife]
A flash of intense joy crossed Lynn's eyes. This was the vital tool from the Lands Between used to swap out weapon skills. He stowed it away without making a scene, explaining to Ais: "A sacred smithing relic of my God. It can stain even ordinary iron with divine radiance."
Right then, golden light coalesced on the floor, forming a faint point of light.
[Site of Grace Discovered: 10th Floor Catacombs]
He habitually sat down by the Site of Grace. However, the moment his mind relaxed, the scene before him twisted without warning.
In its place was a vast expanse of land covered in gray ash. A single golden Miquella's Lily bloomed in the ash, only to be ignited by pitch-black flames tinged with yellow. It withered instantly.
A cold, resolute female voice echoed:
"...Lord of Frenzied Flame..." "...I shall surely find you..." "To deliver unto you—" "Destined Death."
Lynn's pupils constricted, and he snapped back to reality instantly.
He was still sitting by the Site of Grace in the catacomb. Ais was looking at him with concern.
"What's wrong? You look... terrible."
Lynn raised a hand to touch his forehead; his skin was slick with cold sweat.
"It's nothing," he said, slowly standing up. "I just... remembered a promise I haven't kept yet. A very... important promise."
He added in a whisper: "Melina..."
He knew it wasn't a hallucination. The moment he chose to become the Lord of Frenzied Flame and burned the Erdtree, that girl who had accompanied him through everything had made her vow.
Would she really find her way here?
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