"The vibrations from the dungeon are still continuing but for a while now..."
"It's so quiet, it's hard to believe a war is about to begin." Kaguya and Alise looked around and whispered softly.
The Central Square before dawn was indeed exactly as Alise said, so unnervingly silent that it felt almost unreal. And yet, none dismissed it as the calm before the storm.
From beneath the earth rose a roaring sound, like the growl of a colossal dragon.
Adventurers stood tense, gripping their weapons as though about to face the crashing crest of an unseen tidal wave.
Dawn was breaking.
The final battle, destined to be long and rciless, was about to begin.
Adventurers scattered across Orario held their weapons tightly, ready to protect the City of Heroes.
anwhile, surrounding the city, mbers of evilus raised the corners of their lips in sly satisfaction.
"The ti has co."
Atop the city wall, Olivas licked his lips and pointed his sword nacingly at the white tower.
"Guys, let's go on a killing spree. Today we will end Orario once and for all."
"Oooooooohhhh!!"
Evilus erupted in a thunderous war cry that shook the gray sky itself, a wave of murderous intent rolling toward Orario.
At the sa ti, within the Guild, Finn raised his golden spear high.
His commanding voice rang out across the walls. "Prepare to attack! Orario!!"
"Oooooooohhh!!"
In that mont, the labyrinth city transford into a battlefield, with figures sprinting forward one after another, their footsteps rumbling across the stone.
Then, at the heart of the city, Riveria's voice cut through the chaos. "Expedition team—set off!"
"Follow , little brats!" Gareth's booming voice followed hers.
Together with Riveria at the lead, and Ais at their side, they advanced from the Central Square into the Tower of Babel.
At the rear of this formidable formation was the Astraea Familia. They crossed the great doors of the tower and rushed into the entrance of the underground labyrinth.
The mont they descended into the dungeon, a shift could be felt, the very air itself was different. The boundary between surface and underground was only a thin line, yet it was like stepping into an entirely separate world.
And to Akira and his companions, this change was more palpable than ever.
The first floor of the maze roared with an unprecedented heat, filled with a thunderous chorus of monsters.
"The monsters... they're all excited. No, they're in chaos."
Kaguya's sharp eyes scanned the dungeon as the group advanced, and she imdiately sensed sothing strange.
Lyra, exasperated but half laughing, responded, "Nonsense! Look at my feet, they're shaking nonstop. And those explosions. The whole dungeon feels like it's turning into so twisted festival."
Low-level goblins and other creatures shrieked madly, their howls no longer bestial but spectral, like the wailing of ghosts in a collapsing underworld.
"The vibrations down here are nothing like what we felt on the surface. That thing... it really is going to smash through every floor and co rushing up."
As Neze observed, the tremors underground were different. It felt as though the entire dungeon was cupped in the palm of so vast giant, being shaken up and down like dice. Yet the expedition team had no choice. They pressed forward, deeper and deeper, under the threat of the shuddering earth.
"Roooaaarrrr!"
Monsters, driven to madness, bellowed wildly, their voices filled with raw fear and rage. The instant they detected intruders, the massive monster army erupted into chaos, surging forward in a frenzied tide.
"A large army of monsters is ahead! There are too many!"
"They're panicked, they're running in all directions! Anything they see, they'll attack!"
"Alise! What do we do?!"
Noin, ard with a one-handed sword and small shield, asked.
Celty, the mage, quickly analyzed the situation, while Maryuu, the healer, looked anxiously to their captain for instructions.
The expedition team was built around the Astraea Familia, and so, instinctively, every gaze turned to Alise.
Though they were already marching at high speed, Alise did not falter. Her reply was firm and imdiate. "Ignore them! Leave these monsters to Akira! Our only target is the summoned Greatest Evil!"
Her crimson hair flared in the dungeon's torchlight as she drew her rapier with a ringing sound and slashed forward. In a single swing, three monsters fell at once, blood spraying across the stone.
"Don't slow down! Break through with force! Clear the path of anything that blocks us! Attack!"
"Leave it to !" Akira roared in reply, raising his hand.
"Understood!"
Her command sparked swift responses. mbers of the Astraea Familia echoed her with unwavering resolve.
The dwarves hefted their massive shields, bracing against the monster horde's charge. Humans and elves drew their blades, dwarves hurled flying axes, werewolves unsheathed their twin swords.
And in the blink of an eye, as the two armies clashed, the battlefield split, a watershed of steel and fury carving through the monsters' tide.
"I'm going to do it too."
Following close behind the Astraea Familia was a swordswoman whose figure seed smaller and lighter than anyone else's. Her long blonde hair shimred faintly as she darted past Ryuu and Kaguya.
Ais raised her hands high, gripping a weapon unlike any other, Desperate, an indestructible blade forged with the Durandal attribute.
"Watch closely—"
Her sword swung in a blinding arc. One horizontal slash at impossible speed carved through the swarm like divine judgnt. The monsters ahead didn't simply fall, they were annihilated, bursting into ash that scattered like sand in the wind.
Ais didn't even pause. She readied her blade to unleash another devastating strike when suddenly, a killing intent surged from behind.
Fwooosh!
She glanced sideways just in ti to see an arrow fly past, a shaft of ice laced with thunder, shrieking through the air like a storm. The single arrow carried such destructive force it roared like a teor tearing the heavens apart.
It pierced the tide of monsters, shattering them with lightning and freezing frost in one breath. Countless creatures burst into black dust.
From the gap that opened for an instant, Lyra, with her sharp eyesight, could glimpse clear through to the end of the monstrous horde.
"Well done, Akira!"
"Everyone, push forward!"
The girls couldn't help but cheer, their path had been ripped open, sparing them imasurable struggle.
Behind them, running with deceptive calmness beside Riveria, was Akira himself. Though his legs moved swiftly, his upper body hardly shook, composed as if he were rely strolling. With a casual motion, he loosed another ice arrow.
BOOM!
The penetrating force tore through the enemy lines, scattering the mob and widening the passage again.
Ais' eyes flared. Seizing the chance, her small figure, scarcely larger than a pallum's, slipped into the opening. She spun like a deadly top, cutting down all who stood in her way, then leapt gracefully, her blade dancing mid-air. Wherever she landed, monsters dissolved like wax lting under fla.
Despite the dungeon floors collapsing into chaos, spawning creatures from every level, War Shadows, Killer Ants, Orcs, all converging on the first floor, the expedition advanced as if nothing could slow them. The reason: Akira's arrows. Each shot carved their speed into reality.
"So strong… Could that child already be level 4, like Alise?"
Noin, usually steadfast, covered her mouth in disbelief at the sight of such overwhelming strength from soone so young.
"She's barely taller than , but that strength… And she'll grow taller too!? I'm so jealous, so envious!" Lyra cried out in despair.
"Spare us your useless envy, Lyra." Kaguya muttered coldly, though even her gaze sharpened as she studied Ais' speed and power.
"That kind of ferocity. It looks like she's gained more from this expedition than we realized."
Under Kaguya's watchful eyes, the golden-eyed swordsman pressed on without slowing. Then another golden-haired warrior darted forward, not Ais, but an elf.
"Haaa!"
With a sharp cry, Ryuu's twin blades, the newly forged Alf's Lumina and her old wooden sword, danced together. In just a few strikes, she reduced monsters to nothing but drifting ash.
The speed was so blistering that Lyra's thrown daggers beca aningless, the monsters were already dead before her blades landed. She sighed, sheathing her weapon and retreating to guard the rear, where the mages were struggling to keep pace without even the chance to chant.
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