The roar drowned out the entire passageway.
Laurier frantically swung her longsword, forcing back the monsters' assault. She had reached the point of no retreat, the cold walls around her seeming to herald death's arrival. Her slender blade drank the monsters' blood, tinting the beautiful elf's figure with despair.
There was no way out. If she held on here… maybe someone might come…
A stone axe flew from nearby. With no time to even pray, Laurier could only pour everything she had into defending. A sharp whistle sliced past her ear as the axe blade sheared off several strands of hair, those long golden locks instantly swallowed by blood.
A deeper despair crushed Laurier's heart. She couldn't hold them back…
The monsters of the Middle Floors were fundamentally different from those of the Upper Floors, especially in their ranged attacks. The stone axe just thrown came from an Almiraj hiding behind the horde.
A cold premonition flashed through Laurier's mind. She would die here… She could almost see her own cold, inhuman corpse.
No…
I don't want to die…
Laurier gasped for breath as she swung her slender sword again and again. In less than thirty seconds, her eyes were brimming with tears.
Someone… save me…
The monsters' roars and the clash of steel drowned out everything. The only answer to her tiny plea was pain and wounds. In Laurier's eyes, the world had shrunk to this single brutal corner. She was being swallowed by the cold, sinking into endless darkness.
A streak of fiery lightning tore across the passage—purer than anything, fiercer than any flame. The crimson bolt raced through the corridor, lighting up Laurier's vision. With a deafening boom, color returned to the world.
"Firebolt!"
Laurier didn't know why her heart trembled, but the moment she saw the white-haired boy, the despair inside her burst into sudden resolve. Enduring the pain, she braced herself against the wall and swung her slender sword with everything she had.
The Firebolt hadn't wiped out all the monsters, but its brilliance shone like a hero's radiance.
"Firebolt!"
Bell moved with lightning speed, slipping past the Almiraj's attack and charging straight into the monsters' encirclement. His magic wasn't powerful enough to annihilate all of them, so he detonated it at close range, using the Firebolt to draw their attention.
In the blinding firelight, the Almiraj's attacks couldn't harm him at all. In moments, Bell had closed the distance between them.
"Sorry!"
Her wounds were obvious, especially the dark red blood smeared across her legs. Trying to run while holding her hand would only slow them down. Staying put wasn't an option either.
Before the blonde elf could react, Bell lifted her into his arms.
"Wha—?!"
As the girl gasped in surprise, Bell unleashed magic to his right. Taking advantage of the moment when the Almiraj loosened their formation, he jumped toward the nearest pitfall and dropped.
The wind roared past him, the world spinning wildly. Using his dagger and body to soften the landing, Bell managed to reach the fourteenth floor below.
After the heavy impact, Laurier slowly opened her eyes. The white-haired boy was lying on his side, holding her tightly.
"Are you… are you okay?!"
Dropping her elven pride, Laurier immediately checked on him.
"My back's completely numb. There's a healing potion in my left pouch…"
Compared to his cliff dive during the Ais incident, Bell was in far better shape this time. The fall itself hadn't caused much damage. The real reason he couldn't move was the brief, searing pain that had flashed across his back.
"Understood!"
Laurier didn't cling to the warmth of his arms; she quickly slipped out of his hold. Once she found the potion and stood to examine him, she couldn't help but frown.
"You…"
The skin on Bell's back was partly charred and peeling—clearly burned by intense flames. Heart aching at the sight, Laurier ignored her own injuries and hurried to get the potion into his mouth.
With the help of the high-grade potion, Bell's wounds began healing rapidly.
"You were hit by a hellhound's fire breath…"
Only now did Laurier understand why he had carried her in his arms. If he had taken her on his back, she would have been the one burned.
"Those monsters probably got turned into charcoal… didn't expect Salamander Wool to hit that hard."
Bell let out a small laugh, as if the pain seconds ago had already faded.
Eina had warned him: anyone heading into the Middle Floors should at least have one piece of fire-resistant gear. Just to be safe, Bell had prepared one for himself beforehand.
Looks like he'd need to thank Eina properly when he got back.
"You say it so casually… I'm just really glad you're okay."
Thinking back to how he looked earlier still made Laurier uneasy. She accepted the potion he handed her and drank it down in one go.
"Thank you for saving me… and for giving me such a valuable potion…"
Laurier expressed her gratitude honestly and introduced herself. She was part of the Hermes Familia, currently Lv2. Unlike most adventurers, Laurier worked in espionage.
"I usually handle intelligence outside the city. The Familia God probably chose me for this because I'm less likely to be exposed..."
Hermes had instructed Laurier to use her beauty to infiltrate this suspicious Familia and gather information. Remembering her Familia God's words now gave her a headache.
"Anyway, you're so beautiful. Even if you don't do anything, those people will spill their secrets, right? What? Elves can't do things like that? I understand, I understand. Someone as exceptional as Laurier will definitely complete this mission."
Following her Familia God's orders, Laurier returned to the city and successfully slipped into an adventurer party. But when the monsters multiplied to the point they couldn't handle them, those people abandoned her without hesitation.
She had warned them that fleeing with their backs to the monsters would only turn them into easy targets. They ignored every word she said.
"The monsters just kept coming. Even though I'm Lv2, I haven't explored the Dungeon that many times. There was no way for me to break through… and you know what happened after that."
If not for the boy, Laurier would already be a pile of bones.
For a moment, she had believed that such despair was punishment from the Sacred Tree the elves served, retribution for deceiving others to gather intelligence. Yet, in the end, the Sacred Tree had still protected her.
"Please allow me to thank you again for saving my life!"
"We haven't escaped yet. Let's regroup with my companions first." Bell gave her a gentle smile.
"Alright… alright…"
Laurier looked at the white-haired, red-eyed boy. A soft blush bloomed across her fair skin. Then she suddenly remembered Hermes' parting words, full of unspoken meaning.
"Alright, alright, don't be so reluctant. You might just meet your true love."
True love...
At that thought, Laurier found herself unable to look Bell in the eyes.