Deep within the Great Azure Falls, a large number of Dark Faction members lay in wait.
Valletta, worried the plan might be disrupted, had split her people across multiple positions so that even if something went wrong, they could still trigger the "Cleaners" and inflict the greatest possible damage on any support forces. To ensure reinforcements were kept trapped inside the Dungeon, she also ordered large quantities of flame stones planted at both the entrance and exit of the Great Azure Falls—exactly the same tactic they'd used against the Astraea Familia before.
"Strange… where did Lady Valletta and 'Great Sever' and 'Angry Serpent' go?"
The lookout who was supposed to wait for Valletta's signal to blow the Falls' entrance had been waiting a long time, yet heard nothing from her side.
"A fight shouldn't be this quiet."
A battle between a Lv.5 and two Lv.4s would never be completely silent. But those waiting for the signal truly hadn't heard a sound.
"Gh—!"
A blade thrust straight through his heart from behind.
Eyes bulging, the adventurer's chest seized with a tearing pain. His strength fled in an instant, and even his voice failed him.
He looked down at the blade jutting from his chest.
"How… from behind…?"
"Lady Valletta… the plan… failed…"
A heart pierced clean through—fatal, especially when the strike came from a Lv.4 in a perfect ambush. In just a moment, all signs of life vanished.
Retracting her curved blade, Tione finally let out a slow breath.
"If we hadn't known their layout, this would've been a pain."
They'd packed the entrance with flame stones—clearly meant to seal every route.
"Exactly the same trick they used on the Astraea Familia."
"Seize the entrances first, then trigger the Dungeon's 'Cleaners.' The best tool for the job, I guess."
Catching her breath, Tione glanced ahead. There were still plenty more to deal with—letting any of them notice would be trouble.
She brushed a finger over the medal resting on her chest. In the next instant, her presence vanished completely.
A Lv.4 assassination wasn't something ordinary adventurers could survive.
Of course, some "assassins" ignored common sense.
"Olà—!!!"
With her twin-bladed greatsword Urga whistling through the air, Tiona laughed as she cleaved seven people clean in half.
Bisected at the waist, they didn't die immediately—especially the hardier adventurers.
"Th-The 'Great Sever'!?"
No one understood why the very target of their ambush now stood at their backs. They understood even less why the nearby support still hadn't reacted.
"Tiona, try to be a little careful," Tsunayoshi said, helpless.
He'd never doubted that Tione would have no trouble with silent kills; expecting Tiona to "assassinate," however, was asking for trouble.
"Hehe~ I knew you'd handle the sneaky stuff for me, Tsunayoshi," Tiona chirped.
She understood perfectly: her style wasn't suited to stealth. So she'd left the "assassination" to Tsunayoshi and focused on straightforward slaughter.
"I really wish you'd pick a better definition for 'assassination,'" Tsunayoshi sighed, shaking his head.
He hadn't used space-type abilities—just layered "sound suppression" with "cognitive interference," then spawned a not-quite-closed, closed space via a conjured "Quiet Beast."
A small soot-black orb drifted in the air overhead.
"What is that…?"
"No—when did it get there!?"
Even the bisected men forgot their pain for a heartbeat, staring wide-eyed at the floating little coal.
Tsunayoshi wasn't interested in explaining. "Tiona."
"On it."
Carrying Urga, Tiona strode up to the severed men and swung once more, finishing what she started. This time, they didn't feel a thing.
The weighty Urga danced loosely in her hands; a flick of her wrists scattered the blood clinging to the twin blades.
"Fuu~ That's better."
The gloom of having been ambushed by a Lv.5 evaporated at once, and Tiona felt her mood lift.
"These guys really are numerous."
"Just like the records from the Great Uprising three years ago—every one of them has flame stones at the waist, ready to blow themselves up at any moment."
"They're insane."
Flipping over a lower half on the ground, they could see a string of flame stones clipped to the belt. Pull the safety and the wearer became a walking bomb.
"Faith in their 'main god's' words drives them to suicide," Tsunayoshi murmured. "Their fate is pitiable, but the path they choose ends in tragedy."
He pitied those whose lives had been twisted by "destiny"—but pity wasn't a reason to show mercy. Their lives might be sad; their deeds were despicable. Because he pitied them, Tsunayoshi struck even harder.
"Don't waste stamina on them," he told Tiona. "End it in one go when you can."
"You and Tione still need strength for Amphisbaena."
"Mm… but there are two of us. Amphisbaena is only one. Will the feat from the hunt really be enough to rank us up?"
"A Lv.5 Amphisbaena alone probably won't. But given the current state of the Great Azure Falls, taking it down will be about as hard as a Lv.6."
The Great Azure Falls had two modes: wet and dry.
Amphisbaena was a water-dragon type. In water, it enjoyed home-field advantage; its composite strength rated a full tier higher. No matter how good an adventurer was in water, fighting a water dragon in its element was a losing proposition.
"Also, Amphisbaena's Red Mist suppresses magic. Even auxiliary magic that lets you move over the surface, or magic blades meant to deal magical damage, will lose a lot of bite."
"You and Tione will be fighting a foe with the terrain on its side. Add in the feats you two banked back at Lv.4, and this should be enough to push your rank up."
To leap one level was an adventurer's venture.
To leap two… that was a venture fit for two adventurers.
(End of Chapter)
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