The air felt suffocating, stirring a sense of dread. Lili didn't understand the connection between the man and the transformed figure and could only stand frozen. Just as Zanis drew closer step by step, a sharp alarm rang out.
"At this hour… an enemy attack?!"
Zanis abandoned Lili and charged down the corridor. The transformed Pallum was useless in combat, allowing Lili to escape unscathed. She knew exactly what that piercing alarm meant. Lili prayed as she quickened her pace.
...
Zanis looked toward the entrance in confusion. The guards were collapsed on the ground, and a white-haired boy stepped into the open space between the warehouses. Impossible to understand. He didn't know this boy, nor could he fathom why the youth would dare break in alone. A rat had slipped into his kingdom, and rage boiled inside Zanis.
"What are you all standing around for? Take him down!"
Members of the Soma Familia rushed forward with blades drawn. The boy slipped past the Level 2 attacks with ease and turned his dagger against the Level 1 adventurers. Metal clashed violently. The blue-violet light dancing along the dagger looked almost demonic as it stole consciousness from one person after another.
"Wh-what…"
Zanis stared down at the fight in disbelief. The boy clearly excelled in chaotic battles, weaving fluidly between swords and spears. It was as if he had memorized everyone's weapons and levels, responding with perfect precision. Damn it, the intel really was leaked… Zanis ground his teeth. Even with this many people, they couldn't pin down a single white-haired brat.
He raised his single-handed sword and leapt down. A ferocious downward slash swept through the battlefield. Several Soma Familia members were thrown to the ground by the shockwave, but the boy dodged easily, as if he'd expected it.
"Not even bothering to tell friend from foe, huh…"
Bell said quietly. With one strike, the man leading the Soma Familia had shown his true nature.
"Who the hell are you?!"
Zanis shouted. If the boy had come for the God Wine, with skill like this he could've just stolen a few bottles and escaped. Not knowing his real objective—that was what made him terrifying.
"Does it really matter who I am?" Bell smiled lightly.
His dagger clashed against the long sword, and the battle began in earnest.
"Trespassing in Soma Familia territory—the Guild won't spare you!"
Zanis tried to invoke authority.
"Eh? But the Soma Familia stole my things. Isn't it normal for me to come take them back?"
Bell glanced at Zanis's sneaky expression and slipped aside to avoid an attack from behind. Compared to that mercenary, this greedy man radiated far less pressure.
Zanis scowled when his ambush failed.
"What did you lose? I can order my people to find it for you. We stop fighting here. How about it?"
He still couldn't read the boy's strength. This warehouse was filled with valuable Divine Wine. Ending the fight as soon as possible was the safest option.
"Hmm… but I forgot what I lost…"
Bell put on a thoughtful look, then twisted and kicked the attacker from earlier to the ground.
"You… you little bastard!"
Realizing he was being mocked, Zanis charged forward in fury. Blades clashed again.
Missing his strike, Bell darted back beneath the watchtower, using the central structure to evade the attackers. Zanis kicked a fallen member of the Soma Familia in frustration.
"Get up! Whoever takes him down gets a whole crate of Divine Wine!"
Greed flashed in the eyes of the Soma Familia. Like starving hounds spotting prey, they threw themselves at Bell without a thought for survival.
Zanis let out a sinister grin. He could tell the boy had been holding back. That mercy would be the weakness that doomed him.
The assault from the Soma Familia grew even more vicious. Bell stepped back, a faint smile still on his lips.
"Firebolt!"
"..."
As Zanis whispered in shock, fiery lightning burst forth.
"Firebolt!..."
A barrage of magic.
Fireballs hissed through the air like vipers, shooting straight toward the warehouses. Within seconds, the flames sank their teeth into the wooden walls and began spreading inward.
"Put out the fire, now!!!"
Zanis screamed at the Soma Familia like his life was on the line.
"Divine wine…"
An adventurer muttered to himself and rushed into the warehouse before the fire could overtake it.
"Right. The Divine Wine."
"Divine Wine!"
The moment the others saw him do it, they went wild and charged the warehouse. Even a flawed bottle was worth a fortune. Divine Wine made anyone's greed overflow.
The flames weren't enough to cause serious damage, but in those flickering tongues of fire, the entire situation spiraled into chaos.
The more frantic the crowd became, the more impossible it was to stop, like a flood breaking loose.
"Everyone stop! I can give you complete Divine Wine—"
Zanis was about to lure them with the very wine that could captivate a person's soul with one sip.
But the boy didn't give him the chance.
A jet-black dagger was already inches from his throat.
"You—?!"
Zanis's face contorted with anger, and the longsword in his hand trembled with rage.
The dagger sliced through the air with a sharp, cutting whistle.
Bell's voice was cold. "Do you remember Liliruca?"
"...Arde?"
Zanis didn't understand why Lili's name would come up at a time like this.
Soma's gentle expression toward Lili flashed through his mind for an instant.
Zanis shoved the thought away with disdain. "As a little lamb to fleece, she wasn't bad."
"Good. As long as you remember. I don't care about your twisted desires."
Bell had heard Lili tell her story before. Born and raised in the Soma Familia, completely alone.
One detail had always bothered him.
He'd been provoking Zanis from the start to confirm his suspicion.
The cold wind couldn't smother the roaring flames.
Bell stared at him with icy eyes. "About Lili's parents… what do you know?"
"?!"
A chilling wave of killing intent surged through Zanis, forcing him to stumble back by instinct.
"Judging by that reaction, looks like you do know something."
Because of their greed for Divine Wine, they supposedly ventured to a floor beyond their abilities. It sounded plausible enough.
But when combined with everything the Soma Familia had done in the shadows, the truth wasn't hard to see.
"He… They were all killed by monsters!"
Zanis felt an oppressive force pierce straight through his soul. He sucked in a shaky breath and hurried to defend himself.
"Truly worthy of being the ruler of the Soma Familia—your people do exactly what you do."
The words landed like judgment from hell, igniting Zanis's fury. There was no way he could let this white-haired boy leave alive.
Driven by anger, Zanis hurled himself forward. Empowered by his Status, he unleashed a barrage of savage swings, each strike crashing down with brutal force.
Yet facing this frenzied assault, Bell actually felt the fight ease up. He caught the opening when Zanis's longsword overextended and slashed several wounds across his body with the dagger.
"Firebolt!"
Just as Zanis plunged fully into madness, fiery thunder burst out alongside the violet-blue glow. The blast chewed through the longsword and sent Zanis flying.
The flames stopped at the front of the warehouse.
As the battle reached its end, the God Soma slowly stepped outside.
"Stop. All of you."
His hair was disheveled. His voice was soft. But every person scrambling in chaos froze instantly.
Lili clung to the hem of Soma's robe, swaying slightly as she followed beside him.
"Looks like you did it, Lili."
Bell offered his quiet congratulations.
"Mm… Bell-sama…"
Tear tracks still marked Lili's cheeks.
When they agreed to work together, Bell had told her, "If you have the resolve to stay true even after drinking the Divine Wine, then take my hand."
Lili had chosen to make that vow.
Her conversation with Soma had been simple. He cared nothing for those weakened by the Divine Wine's allure—aside from brewing, everything else was just noise to him.
But Lili, drunk on Divine Wine yet holding tight to her admiration for Bell, had felt a warmth she'd never known in her life. Lost in that endless haze, she had found herself again.
Soma could not ignore someone like that.
He listened seriously to Lili's plea and learned all the atrocities Zanis had been hiding.
"Young man, Lili… thank you. I truly have gone far astray…"
Soma had never pursued brewing to enable such vile acts. Looking out over the sea of flames, he resolved to rebuild his Familia from the ground up.
...
The moon had risen high.
For both the Soma Familia and the Guild, tonight would be unbearably busy.
Bell and Lili left together.
"Bell-sama… did you predict this outcome from the start?"
Remembering the boy's earlier words, Lili still felt as if she were drifting in a dream.
"You tell me."
Bell-sama hadn't told Lili the truth behind her parents' deaths. Such painful matters were better left to Soma and the Guild.
"Lili, are you going back to the inn tonight?"
"That… that was a lie! What about you, Bell-sama?"
"I've still got two girlfriends waiting for me…"
"Eh… girlfriends… Wait—two?! What do you mean two?! You're definitely lying to Lili!"
"I'm not lying."
...
Under the night sky, the two walked off with laughter on their lips.
That laughter, sincere and bright, was witnessed only by the moon.