Early the next morning, Hestia woke up stretching lazily, cheerfully greeted Noir, then told him she was going to attend a divine meeting and would not be back for the next few days.
Watching Hestia hurry off in a rush, Noir finished washing up and prepared to head out as well.
After putting on the light armor he had bought yesterday, taking his weapon, checking his potions and bandages, he pushed open the door and left the room.
Blue Papilio, a rare species that appears on Floors 7 through 9 of the Dungeon. Its four translucent blue wings scatter glittering scales as it flies, and despite being a monster, its graceful form is beautiful enough to make people lose themselves in a daze.
Noir gripped one of its pairs of wings tightly and, without mercy, cut it in half with a swing of his sword.
Picking up the magic stone the Blue Papilio had dropped, he felt slightly dizzy.
From the pouch strapped to his leg, Noir took out an antidote and drank it down.
"It seems this is my limit for now."
Gazing at the many scratches on his armor, Noir, standing on the ninth floor, let out a heavy sigh.
Even though he had been as careful as possible to avoid monster attacks, he still found himself getting struck again and again.
Suddenly, Noir sensed a monster appear behind him. Before he could even turn around, a powerful force pulled at his leg.
Caught completely off guard, Noir was pulled to the ground and dragged backward, only to be swallowed whole by a Giant Frog.
At the same time, Killer Ants, War Shadows, Moss Huge, and various other monsters suddenly appeared in large numbers.
In an instant, the situation turned extremely dangerous.
"Haha!"
Before a scream could leave his throat, a blade burning with black flames thrust out through the Giant Frog's forehead. A moment later, a hand reached through the wound, gripped hard, and tore violently to either side.
The Giant Frog was ripped cleanly in half, then immediately devoured by black flames.
A figure cloaked in black fire slowly emerged.
A dark blur flashed before Noir. A sharp claw slashed toward his shoulder, trying to tear him apart.
Yet the claw only managed to break his skin before being stopped by hardened muscle.
Noir reversed his grip on the sword hilt and, without hesitation, drove the blade straight into the War Shadow's heart.
"Die!"
The War Shadow engulfed in black flames did not even leave a magic stone behind.
His crimson eyes fixed on the monster horde closing in around him, and Noir let out a cold, expressionless laugh.
"That's more like it. If none of you want to kill me, how could I possibly bring myself to kill you?"
With his reason no longer able to restrain the blazing fury within him, Noir charged straight into the mass of monsters.
A short while later.
The black flames dispersed, and Noir sat on the ground, panting as he drank down a stamina potion.
Something was wrong.
When Monster Parties had appeared inside the goblin nest before, that could at least be explained as some kind of regional trap.
But now he was on a proper path on the ninth floor.
How could a Monster Party possibly appear here?
If Monster Parties could really occur as high as the ninth floor, then the highest floor recorded in the Guild's documents for such phenomena would not be the tenth, it would be the ninth.
Suddenly, a strange smell drifted into his nose, and Noir rubbed the tip of it.
He had not noticed it while fighting just now, but now that things had gone quiet, the faint stench became obvious.
Following the direction where the smell was strongest, Noir made his way to an unremarkable corner.
Looking at the lump of flesh on the ground, pulsing like a beating heart, Noir fell silent.
Without warning, towering black flames erupted from his body.
The black fire, which had calmed down after drinking its fill of monster blood, now raged with terrifying violence.
Bait.
A tool made by adventurers to lure monsters.
Does this world really hate me that much? Why does it have to keep targeting me? When I watched the anime, weren't most of the people in it supposed to be good? Why? Why is it like this?!
"AAAAAHHHHH!!"
A hysterical roar burst from the depths of Noir's throat.
Tap
Just as he teetered on the edge of completely losing control, Noir heard the footsteps of several people approaching.
His crimson eyes shifted, and he turned toward the sound, charging straight at it.
At that moment, Noir wanted only one thing.
To kill every person in this world.
...
"I'm sorry, Ais. I caused trouble again."
Clutching her staff, Lefiya spoke in a dispirited voice to Ais.
"Haha, Lefiya, you're just too timid."
Tiona laughed as she spoke.
"And whose fault was that? You're the idiot who let one monster slip through."
Tione smacked her foolish younger sister on the head.
"Well, what can I do? It's so boring fighting weak monsters all the time."
"It's fine. I'll protect Lefiya properly."
Ais replied to Lefiya in her usual flat tone.
"Uu... I'll work harder. I'll definitely become someone who can help you, Ais."
It had already been three years since Ais reached Level 5, and lately her stat growth had slowed more and more. Sometimes, after an entire expedition into the Dungeon, her growth amounted to little more than a single digit. All of this had only made her more anxious.
She wanted to become stronger.
Naturally, her frequent trips into the Dungeon had caught the attention of Finn, Riveria, and the others.
So Finn had the sisters Tione and Tiona, along with Lefiya, accompany Ais into the Dungeon.
On one hand, they could look out for one another. On the other, it was his hope that the three of them might ease Ais's mood.
This time, the four of them had already spent two or three days in the Dungeon and were currently on their way back to the surface.
Suddenly, a roar came from not far away.
The three instantly drew their weapons in alarm, while Lefiya also raised her staff and asked nervously, "W-What's going on?"
"No idea. Something's coming."
Ais cautiously looked around, sensing the presence of a monster.
"Finally, something interesting. Don't any of you interfere. I'm taking this one."
Tiona's eyes lit up, and she raised her weapon, the Great Twinblade Urga.
This enormous double-bladed sword was a first-class weapon, forged by craftsmen who spared no rare materials and labored without rest.
"Hey, idiot Tiona, don't let your guard down."
Even though they were still on the upper floors, Tione still reminded her foolish sister, afraid she might trip in a gutter and embarrass herself.
"It's fine, it's fine."
Seeing the figure wrapped in black flames charging straight toward them, Tiona lifted her weapon and rushed forward with delight.
The instant he saw Tiona, the already violent black flames around Noir flared three times higher.
"It's you again, Amazons!"
A hoarse roar escaped him.
Tiona had not expected the attacker to be human, and she froze for a split second.
Then she met Noir's crimson eyes, eyes filled with hatred so intense and savage that it was as if he wanted to tear her apart with his teeth.
In the blink of an eye, his sword had already reached her pupil, as though it would pierce straight through it the next instant.
"Ah!"
Lefiya cried out in fright at the sight before her.
But the gap between the two was simply too great.
Tiona's Great Twinblade struck second yet arrived first, smashing Noir away from the side.
That single casual blow from a Level 5 sent Noir flying sideways.
As he felt his ribs breaking one after another, Noir's entire body crashed heavily into the wall, scattering debris everywhere.
Puh!!!
A mouthful of blood burst from his lips, and his vision began to blur.
Even though every part of his body screamed that it had reached its limit, Noir, who at that moment wanted only to kill the Amazon before him, forced himself upright again through sheer pain.
He took one step forward, about to charge again, then his body pitched forward, and he collapsed unconscious.
"So it was a person. I thought it was some unknown monster."
Only after knocking him away did Tiona belatedly realize what had happened.
"But wow, those eyes just now were really scary!"
"Hey, Tiona, your weapon."
Lefiya suddenly pointed at Tiona's Great Twinblade.
Tiona lowered her head and saw that on one edge of Urga, a cluster of black flames was still burning.
"Ah! My Urga!"
Tiona frantically swung the weapon around, trying to put out the black flames clinging to it.
But it was useless.
She could only watch helplessly as her beloved Urga was burned through, leaving behind a gap the size of a fist.
Ais and Tione then walked over together to where Noir had fallen.
Watching the black flames die out and Noir lying there unconscious on the ground, Ais blinked, then turned to Tione and asked, "What do we do?"
Tione had originally wanted to say that since he attacked first, they should just leave him there.
But when she met Ais's eyes, she hesitated for a moment before finally saying, "For now... let's take him back up."
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