With that, Tsubaki casually bent down, picked up the small magic stone left behind by the War Shadow, and flicked it into the air with a light snap of her fingers.
It traced a neat arc through the air.
Tsukuyo raised her hand slightly and caught it cleanly between two slender fingers.
She didn't even tilt her head.
Looking at that, Tsubaki couldn't help scratching her messy hair, the smile at the corner of her mouth no longer held back in the slightest.
"Come to think of it, I'm actually kind of curious where Lord Haimer dug up a bunch of little freaks like you."
"But…"
"Since you're this capable, I can't keep treating you like first-timers who just entered the Dungeon."
"Originally, I was only planning to take you around above the tenth floor and let you get used to the environment."
"But now…"
A grin spread across Tsubaki's face.
"At that level, it's obviously not enough to satisfy a bunch of little monsters like you."
"In that case…"
"I might as well take you deeper and let you play with something a little more worthwhile."
After saying that, Tsubaki led the group onward once more.
This time, their pace was noticeably faster than before.
And because they were moving far too boldly, with absolutely no intention of hiding their presence, trouble came for them the moment they reached the seventh floor.
A dense rustling sound came from the darkness deeper inside the passage, enough to make one's scalp prickle.
Then, more than a dozen scarlet compound eyes lit up in the corridor.
Their red shells gleamed with a metallic sheen, while their sharp scythe-like forelimbs sliced through the air with harsh clacking sounds.
Killer Ants.
There were more than a dozen of them, moving in a pack.
These monsters not only had extremely tough shells, but an ordinary iron sword could even chip or curl if it struck them head-on.
And once they surrounded their prey, their frenzied, relentless aggression was enough to wipe out an unprepared Level 1 party in an instant.
They were troublesome opponents that only began appearing after the seventh floor.
But the one leading the team was Tsubaki, a Level 5.
And after everything she had seen from Amou, Tsukuyo, and the others along the way, Tsubaki wasn't particularly worried that anything would go wrong.
At most, out of habit, she was just about to fulfill her duty as leader and remind them that a Killer Ant's weak point lay in the joints of its armor.
Before she could speak, however, a black figure shot forward first.
Unsurprisingly, it was Amou.
She showed no sign of slowing down at all.
Faced with the Killer Ants swinging their scythes at her, she actually lowered her center of gravity and charged straight into them head-on.
Clang!
A Killer Ant's scythe hacked viciously into her shoulder.
Sparks flew.
Her skin only reddened slightly.
"Too soft."
A fierce, almost manic grin spread across Amou's face.
The next instant, instead of retreating, she pushed forward.
Her pale hand suddenly straightened into a blade, and with a shrill tearing whistle, it stabbed brutally into the gap between the Killer Ant's armor plates.
Pshht!
Her raw strength exploded.
She actually tore off the creature's head together with half its thorax by sheer force.
The moment the Killer Ant died, it instantly turned into black ash.
Amou didn't even blink. On the contrary, she looked even more excited as she lunged at the next one.
She looked like a humanoid tyrannosaur wearing human skin.
Watching that sight again, Tsubaki still found it absurdly unbelievable.
After all, Amou was only Level 1.
Yet even at Level 1, her body was already tough enough to take a Killer Ant's scythe head-on, a weapon sharp enough to cut through stone, and fight back with bare flesh.
If she ever achieved a Great Feat and leveled up in the future…
Just imagining that scene was enough to send a chill down Tsubaki's spine.
At this rate, this girl might end up becoming even more of a monster than the monsters in the Dungeon.
Thinking that, Tsubaki shook her head and casually lifted her foot.
Splat.
The crisp sound was like stepping on an overripe tomato.
A Killer Ant that had tried to take advantage of the chaos and sneak up behind Tsubaki didn't even have time to force out its trademark hiss before its head was crushed flat beneath the heel of her heavy work boot, instantly turning into black ash.
A fingernail-sized magic stone rolled across the ground with a light clink.
Naturally, Tsubaki had no interest in something that small. She simply folded her arms again and continued watching with obvious amusement.
At least for now, these dozen or so Killer Ants, which would be fatal to an ordinary adventuring party, were nothing more than whetstones for this group of little monsters.
Meanwhile, while the killing inside the Dungeon was in full swing, things above ground in Orario were taking a rather different turn.
It was noon, and the sunlight was just right. The towering shadow of Babylon Tower stretched long across the city.
Standing beneath that shadow was Haimer, wearing a somewhat helpless expression.
In his hand was the silver-white spear he had conveniently borrowed from Hephaestus Familia, and he was strolling aimlessly along the stone-paved road of North Main Street.
Ordinarily, now that he had handed his Familia over to a reliable Level 5 like Tsubaki for training, and with his followers steadily beginning to develop, a chief god in his position ought to be enjoying the sights and atmosphere of Orario during this rare stretch of free time.
It should have been a pleasant outing.
But the current situation was a little awkward.
Haimer took one step forward with that silver-white spear in hand.
At once, the bustling crowd split neatly to both sides, as if Moses parting the sea, and forcefully opened up a passage nearly three meters wide for him.
No one dared approach.
The adventurers on the roadside all fell silent, though their expressions also carried a strange hint of eager curiosity, the kind people wore when they wanted to watch trouble unfold from a safe distance.
This was not because Haimer was carrying a spear.
After all, in Orario, adventurers walking the streets with weapons were as common as blades of grass.
The real reason was the person following behind him.
After turning into yet another alley and still failing to shake her off, Haimer finally let out a long sigh, stopped, and turned around.
"I mean…"
"Captain Shakti."
"You've followed me through five streets already. Aren't you tired?"
Standing five paces behind him was an extremely eye-catching adult woman.
She had short dark-blue hair, refined and dignified features, and an air of textbook-perfect righteousness about her.
Her figure was tall and slender, and even beneath tightly worn regulation light armor, her body's near-perfect curves were impossible to hide.
Captain of the Ganesha Familia, Level 5.
Elephant God's Staff, Shakti Varma.
As the officer responsible for maintaining public order throughout all of Orario, Shakti's face alone carried enough intimidation to rival a walking wanted notice.
Fully armed and even wearing gauntlets, she remained completely expressionless in the face of Haimer's questioning.
She inclined her head slightly and performed a standard, impeccably proper greeting, but there was not the slightest hint of retreat in her tone.
"Lord Haimer, please do not misunderstand."
"This was personally instructed by Lord Ganesha."
"If Lord Haimer appears in a densely populated area while carrying a weapon, then in order to prevent any accidents, and also for Lord Haimer's own safety…"
"It is necessary for someone to remain at your side as an escort."
"Escort?"
Haimer raised a brow.
"Looks more like surveillance to me."
"And even if it's protection, there's no need to make it look like I'm being escorted under guard like some criminal, is there?"
"Anyone who didn't know better would think I'm some kind of terrorist planning to blow up Babylon Tower."
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