Twilight Manor
"So beautiful."
"Which familia is he from?"
The gods and goddesses were fascinated by the display of ice magic from the blue spearman.
Just as he was about to take off his mask, the scene shifted to Ais Wallenstein tearing through hordes of rats with her wind enchantment.
"Oh come on!!!"
"That bastard Hermes!"
"Remove this doll! We want to see the blue spearman!"
"Who's calling my Ais-tan a doll?" Loki's roar silenced the protests.
While the gods clamored to discover the spearman's identity, Hestia already knew. She was watching Akira's ranking on the list—at the instant the flying blue spearman used ice magic, she saw Akira's kill count skyrocket.
Hearing the outrageous offers of goddesses around her, Hestia nervously hoped no one would notice.
"Hestia."
"Eeep!" Hestia squeaked as Hephaestus placed a palm on her shoulder.
"Hestia, wasn't that Akira-kun?" Hephaestus leaned in to whisper.
"How…"
"His spear—it isn't like anything I've ever seen before," Hephaestus replied. Seeing Hestia's worry, she added reassuringly, "Don't worry. Only Tsubaki and I have seen it up close."
Hephaestus remembered another goddess who had been present during her exchange with Ottar—but telling Hestia that would only cause unnecessary worry.
'I hope she isn't too interested in him,' Hephaestus thought as the scene shifted to Riveria, cleansing the last of the rats with her fiery magic.
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Folkvangr
"Akira-kun is really full of surprises," Freya said, gazing at the heroic soul shining brightly in the crystal's light.
"What do you think, Ottar? How much potential does Akira have?"
Remembering their earlier exchange, Ottar replied, "He is experienced and well-trained. He's going to become strong."
"It's such a shame that shine is temporary," Freya sighed.
"My goddess, I have a request," Ottar said.
Freya's interest piqued. After granting his request, she watched him leave and murmured, "Akira-kun, you really do bring unexpected surprises."
Outside her castle, the adventurers were giving their all to ensure not a single rat passed them.
Naaza shot down another rat trying to ambush an adventurer. With her bow and arrow, she supported the fighters from afar, staying far from any monster.
CRACK!!
The ground beneath her split apart. She jumped, but the crumbling earth gave way, and she fell into the abyss. She managed to stabilize herself and landed on her knees.
Looking around, she saw a dark underground structure with tunnels stretching in every direction. The exit to the surface was far above.
Screech!!!
Naaza readied her bow, hearing the rats scurrying all around her while the darkness hid their forms. Her hands trembled as fear began to take over.
'If you want help, just ask for it, will you?' She remembered Akira's words.
"Help me! Anyone!" Her voice echoed through the tunnels. She looked up, but only the dark clouds above answered, pouring rain down on her face.
"What was I thinking…" Naaza muttered, trying to steady her bow arm.
She remembered how confident Akira had been fighting those hordes of monsters. If a stupid, reckless man like him could survive, then so could she.
"I'll return and tell Akira-kun his advice is stupid," she said with a quivering voice.
She aimed toward the front as red eyes gleamed in the darkness. When the rats poured out, she loosed an arrow, piercing three at once. She fired rapidly, killing many. When her arrows ran out, she drew her backup knife and prepared for melee combat.
"Aarghhh" With a scream to decrease her fear she swings her knife.
Bang!!!
A cloud of dust exploded in front of her. She shielded her eyes.
SHING!!!!
The dust cleared to reveal Kashima Ouka, wielding an axe, and Mikoto, swinging her katana to bisect the remaining rats.
"Why…?" Naaza was confused—this was the same group that had abandoned her earlier.
"I said I would be in your debt, and I meant it," Ouka said, pulling his axe from the ground. "Sorry Mikoto, you had to suffer for my decisions."
"No, it was a team decision. We are all indebted. I'm sure everyone feels the same," Mikoto replied, sheathing her katana.
"Of course we do. We're just as much at fault." Hitachi Chigusa said, slipping along the wall to reach them.
"That's why we'll repay that debt together," Asuka added, landing carefully with her heavy bag.
"You guys..." Ouka left them behind because it was dangerous but seeing their determination he couldn't help but feel it would be insult to their resolve if he didn't let them help.
"Okay," he relented. "Naaza-san, I know it's shameless to ask, but can you fight with us?"
"Three years," Naaza murmured.
"Huh?"
"You'll buy potions exclusively from me for three years," she said firmly.
"Okay. If that's what it takes," Ouka agreed.
He took a shield from Asuka. "I'll be in front. Mikoto, behind me. Naaza, Chigusa, and Asuka—stay together and watch our backs."
Naaza accepted a fresh quiver of arrows from Asuka, feeling an odd sense of relief despite the dire situation.
Above ground, Heith Velvet—the leader of Andhrímnir—looked down the hole to see Takemikazuchi fighting below. She didn't like that there were so many underground tunnels for the rats to travel through. The thought of rat blood spilling inside the castle was unacceptable to her; she would make sure the fight stayed in the training grounds.
Noticing that the rats were drawn to blood, she decided it had to be spilled in large amounts to serve as bait. Activating her Earth Gullveig magic, which constantly healed those affected, she ordered, "Einherjar, stop defending!! Focus only on attacking!"
With her magic making them functionally immortal, the Einherjar attacked recklessly. They broke ranks and dove into the oncoming rat waves, focused only on killing as many as they could before Heith Velvet's mind reached its limit.
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Guild.
"Hermes, what is the meaning of this? Are you trying to hide something?" The sultry voice of Ishtar caused Hermes to sweat bullets.
Hermes gave a hollow laugh. "Actually, I'm not the one controlling it."
"Hmm…" Ishtar gave him a doubtful gaze.
Hermes got on his knees and grabbed her legs. "Believe me, my Arcanum is only fueling it. I have no control over it."
Placing his head on her lap, he complained, "I'm missing all these heroic moments."
"Oh, I'll believe you—because you know what the cost of lying to me would be." Ishtar cupped his face, forcing him to look into her eyes.
Nervous, Hermes nodded. And as if to prove his innocence, the scene on the screen shifted to an unfamiliar place—the gods and civilians had never seen it, but to experienced adventurers, it was a familiar sight.
"What is this place?" Ishtar muttered.
The screen showed a large forest filled with trees and crystals. In the center stood a giant tree.
"Under Resort…" someone muttered.
Ishtar turned to see the brown-haired half-elf receptionist who spoke earlier. "Why do you think it's the 18th floor? Have you ever visited it?"
"No, Ishtar-sama, I have not—but it's the only place it could be," Eina replied politely.
"Explain."
"The rules stated by the voice clearly tell us the fights will all be in Orario. And as we can see, there's light coming from above—that's only possible on the 18th floor." Eina sounded confident in her conjecture.
"18th floor, huh… Let's see which adventurer is strong enough to appear." Ishtar swirled her wine glass in anticipation—but when the fighter appeared on the screen, she froze.
"Impossible… That's a Minotaur…" Hermes sat up from her lap.
A Minotaur carrying a large kitchen knife, the handle wrapped in cloth, was ripping apart the waves of rats. Unlike every adventurer they'd seen before, who struggled against the rat wave, the Minotaur was utterly dominating it.
He let the knife handle slip and caught the cloth connecting the handle, spinning the knife as it sliced through the attacking rats.
When the rats realized it was impossible to defeat the monster, they decided to go all-in with one massive attack. The horde from all over the 18th floor gathered together, forming an enormous wave.
The Minotaur caught the blade by the handle, bending his knee and pointing the blade to the side. Blue magic particles began collecting along the knife's edge.
As the wave reached its peak, the Minotaur huffed and swung diagonally—performing one of the most famous attacks in anime history: Getsuga Tenshō.
The blue magic attack engulfed the wave, vaporizing every rat in its path. In an instant, the entire rat swarm was reduced to ashes.
"GRAAAGHHH!"
No matter how their logic denied it, the bellowing figure of the Minotaur standing in the middle of the devastated battlefield looked… heroic.
The ranking list changed—it now had a new leader.
Rank — Name — Kill Score — Achievements — Total Score
1 — Asterius — 1,004,971 — 300 — 1,305
2 — Riveria Ljos Alf — 784,879 — 300 — 1,085
3 — Hedin Selland — 666,257 — 0 — 666
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