“Graaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!”
The adventurers clutched their heads. The creature’s roar shook every last pebble on the eighteenth floor. Even Alfia gave a slight grimace, while the monster rose into the cavernous space and spread its crooked wings, shedding black motes.
“Wh-what is that?!” cried Neze.
“Some kind of winged serpent… Is that a dragon?!” yelled Alize. “How does something that big manage to fly?!”
“It’s disgusting…” said Kaguya. “I think I’m going to throw up! I’ve never seen a monster so hideous!”
Its head alone was enormous and misshapen, with a ragged jaw resembling that of a demon spawned from the deepest abyss. The creature itself was massive, but its limbs were thin and spindly, like a chimerical amalgamation of a snake and a malnourished human. It was only after much difficulty that Alize correctly identified it as a dragon—a creature that stood at the top of the monster food chain as an apex predator.
“An anomaly born from divine transgression on the thirty-seventh floor. As for a name…how about Delphyne?”
The dark god named the beast on the advent of its ascent.
“Can you see that hole, children? It goes all the way down to hell.”
He spoke with excitement, brandishing his divine might.
“That right there is a gate and symbol of the underworld, my friends. And we’re taking it all the way to the top. Once Babel falls and the Age of Gods is over, only then can a true legend be born.”
“Grh…!”
“Yes…an Age of Chaos.”
As Lyu watched on, Erebus flashed a twisted smile.
“Rejoice. And die. Accept the oblivion I offer you. This new world has no need for the light of justice.”
As if agreeing with his words, the creature from below, Delphyne, let out an ear-shattering roar. The god was calm, but his followers were already panicking.
“L-Lord Erebus!” one of them said. “H-hurry and get to safety!”
“W-we will not be able to keep you safe much longe—”
It only took an instant. The whole world flashed black and crimson, and all that remained of the Evils lieutenant was his arm and the echo of his words.
“E-eeeek!”
The other Evils fell over themselves. Erebus, on the other hand, merely cast a glance over his shoulder.
“A little close for comfort, that one,” he said without a care. “I suppose it is me you’re after, isn’t it?”
Smoke still billowing from its mouth and nostrils, Delphyne glared at the dark god.
“Very well, then. This is your last job, my followers. Get me safely to Alfia’s side, and it’s all over.”
“…!”
“We can’t let the leading man make such an undignified exit so ahead of schedule. Else this show would turn into a comedy.”
Erebus’s followers had given their lives to see him this far, and they were prepared to sacrifice more still. They let out a terrified yell, steeling themselves to pay the ultimate price. Fire rained down from the heavens, but the cultists spared no opportunity to martyr themselves, throwing themselves in front of their god and becoming cinders in his place.
“Hmm. I was not expecting to see a beast so vile,” said Alfia. “Truth be told, I doubted Erebus’s words. But it seems there is no end to the mysteries this Dungeon can bring forth.”
Alfia stood and watched the monster, evaluating it, while the flames bathed her pale skin in a scarlet light. Meanwhile, the adventurers dripped with sweat. With the creature’s arrival, the temperature on the eighteenth floor had spiked, but that wasn’t the only reason. Now that they had seen with their own eyes the undeniable proof of the beast’s ability to smash through floors, they quickly realized that time was running out.
“Blast!” growled Gareth. “That thing doesn’t care what side anyone is on! And its power is unbelievable…not only did it burrow a tunnel between floors, but all of Under Resort will soon crumble at this rate!”
“We have to fight it!” yelled Riveria. “But Alfia’s still a danger as well…”
It was at that moment, while Finn’s two most trusted lieutenants gazed up at the avatar of destruction circling overhead, that it happened.
The pair suddenly heard a wind. They turned to see Aiz, her sword rattling in her hands, her shoulders rising and falling with every heated breath. She looked like she’d lost her mind.
That thing… That thing… That thing…!!
It was like she’d come face-to-face with an archnemesis she’d sworn to get revenge on. There was no light of reason in her eyes, just anger—a burning, seething fury.
The world blinked in and out of focus. Her magical energy spilled forth like a storm. And the beating of her tiny heart rang in her ears and refused to stop.
“Aaaaaaaaaaghhh!!”
Her hair fluttered out behind her like a glittering golden trail as she threw herself at the dragon.
“Aiz?! Wait, come back!!”
The girl couldn’t hear Riveria’s plea. She was the wind. Words had no meaning for her now.
Standing between her and her target were hordes of monsters driven equally mad by the roaring flames and overwhelming fear.
The girl slaughtered all of them. Her golden eyes glimmered in the dark like the flashing steel of her blade.
“Ruuuuuughhh?!”
A violent tempest. Severed limbs. Gouts of flames and showers of blood.
Lyu and the other girls stood slack-jawed with shock, as that magic-infused whirlwind tore through all it touched.
“Out of my way! Out of my WAAAYYY!!”
Nothing could divert the young Aiz. She moved like an arrow in flight. Soon, the wall of monsters blocking her path was gone, and she came upon Erebus fleeing Delphyne alongside his followers.
“Oh. Didn’t expect to see you here,” the dark god said, chuckling. “Come to help your old foe, have you? Much apprec—”
But the young girl ignored even the god’s words. She sailed right past him, slicing an oncoming fireball in half. The sliced projectile scorched the air to the left and right, leaving Erebus startled but unharmed.
“…Are you not even listening to me? You’re a genuine agent of chaos in a little girl’s clothes.”
The dark god’s surprise, however, lasted only for a moment, before his lips formed a smile once more.
“Excellent timing. Your heroic sacrifice will grant me just enough time to reach safety. Time for me to get moving. Let’s see, where around here offers the grandest view?”
Erebus scanned the ruins of the eighteenth floor. His divine eyes picked out a cliff that looked relatively undamaged.
“Ah, my VIP seat,” he said. “Perfect for watching the end run its course.”
Alongside what few of his devout followers remained, Erebus headed straight for it.