Monsters were scattered here and there.
But there weren't many of them, and none of them were anything special.
"So where's this Forbidden Land, anyway?"
Bid asked suddenly.
"The Forbidden Land is a ruin at the far left edge of the Heisen Great Forest."
"A ruin, huh?"
"Yeah. It's like some kind of city, and there's a temple inside it."
"...So the dungeon anomaly is in that temple."
"That's right."
"Is it a spider?"
"A big one. White body with black spotted markings. Its web is the real problem — the thread it spits out is sticky and you can't move. On top of that, it's fast despite its massive size. Hard body, too. And those six red eyes — you do NOT want to look at them. It has an Evil Eye-type Relic."
"Whoa, Evil Eye-type?"
"You'd only be immobilized for a few seconds, but that was enough to be lethal with this spider."
"The web, huh..."
"Right."
"Seems tough, huh."
This was going to be a hassle.
Nabel murmured.
"Actually, during the First Wave, I saw a similar spider — only smaller."
Is that so.
Garado made a troubled face.
"That... could be a servant, you know."
"Well, there are a lot of spiders around..."
Yeah, that's fair. Spiders do tend to come in swarms.
Or maybe it was what they looked like before the dungeon anomaly.
The dungeon anomaly is, essentially, an error within the dungeon.
Perhaps the error caused them to mutate and grow enormous.
Plenty of theories were possible. But first, we needed to reach the Forbidden Land.
"Still, how far ahead did Torquetam get?"
I couldn't see Torquetam, who had gone on ahead of us.
We were supposed to regroup at the abandoned hunting village up ahead.
Hm? A red dot.
[Danger Discernment] triggered. Monsters approaching from the front.
"Hostiles from the front. Three of them."
The moment I spoke, everyone raised their weapons.
Bidd pulled the folded spear from his hip and assembled it.
"You're using that thing?"
"Might as well."
Bidd's spear was a trident.
The handle was composed of a strange metal that appeared blue despite being silver.
It was practically metallic blue.
The three spearheads had a peculiar shape — the left was the longest, the middle was second, and the right was the third longest.
Black orbs were wedged between the spearheads.
Nabel had Ulfg's sword. Hoss carried a halberd.
I — oh, right. Let me use that one.
First, I grip the knife with its blue, strangely shimmering blade.
The one giving off a liquid-crystal-like luster is Agaro's Knife Modified 3.
I had Riv fix up Modified 2.
The liquid-crystal-like blade shifted between red and green depending on the angle.
Riv said she'd improved the hardness compared to before. Much appreciated.
One more thing... I pick up a pure-white, square rod streaked with blue, red, and black lines.
It looks like nothing more than a plain square rod, but it's the real deal.
A knife bestowed by the knife goddess.
I still can't see the enemy.
Then, Bidd detached the black orb on the right side of the spear.
She set the removed orb a short distance ahead to the right.
Next, she removed the center orb and placed it a short distance ahead in front.
Finally, she removed the left orb and set it a short distance ahead to the left.
"What's that?"
"That should do it."
"What are you doing?"
"You'll find out later."
"I see enemies."
Along with Nabel's voice, what appeared were bears, wolves, and mantises sheathed in crystal.
"Crystal Beasts."
With those words, flame surged through the greatsword Galad wielded.
The greatsword passed down through generations of the Jinryu family—the Flame Flow Blade.
It came with a fire OOPArt as a possession Relic.
Crystal Beasts, huh.
If I remembered right, they were gacha monsters that dropped crystals at random when defeated.
Wait. Were mantises considered beasts?
"That big bear over there is mine and Hoss's."
"Right."
"The wolves are for Nabel and the girl."
"Roger."
"Understood."
So that meant I was handling the mantis.
"The mantis goes to Wof."
"Yes. Um, Galad, could I ask you something?"
"What is it?"
"Is the mantis a beast?"
"...It's a beast."
"So it's a beast."
"Correct. It's a beast."
"...Understood."
The mantis was a beast.
Galad said so. The mantis was a beast.
"Alright. Let's go."
"Ah, hold on a sec!"
Bidd stopped us.
"What is it now, miss?"
"I'll hold them off with this spear—'Palestasia'!"
"Pal-what now?"
"Just watch. You'll see."
And with that, Bidd stepped forward to face the three Crystal Beasts.
The Crystal Beasts had already noticed her and took up defensive stances.
Bidd approached alone.
We watched from behind, wondering if she'd be okay.
At just the right distance, she stopped.
When she readied her spear, the Crystal Beasts moved.
They charged straight at Bidd. Fast.
"Haaaah!"
Bidd thrust her spear into the void with a shout.
The spear tip detached and fired off.
Three tips wavered, shook, and split apart.
They rained down on the Crystal Beasts, finding their marks.
But that alone was only enough for scratches—nothing fatal.
However, thin thread-like wires trailed from the tips.
And black gems had been placed in a ring around the area.
"Take this! Binding Relic — Parestesia's Miniature Garden!"
With a thud, Bidd drove the butt of her spear into the ground.
In an instant, electricity surged through the Crystal Beasts.
From the spear tips, from the black gems—currents lashed out, trapping the Crystal Beasts in place.
"Now!"
At Bidd's cry, we burst forward.
Galad let out a war cry, leaping onto the Crystal Bear and cracking its skull open.
In that opening, Hoss drove the blade of his halberd—glowing with white light—into the Crystal Bear's belly.
That white light... it was the power of the soul that Ence, Axe's father, had shown us.
When had he learned to use it?
[Iai]!
Nabel-senpai slashed at the wolf, but the cut was shallow.
She knew it herself, so she stayed calm and unleashed another [Iai].
The wolf's head fell.
After taking down three of them, Bid deactivated the Relic.
Garado said, while skinning the carcasses.
"Nabel. You're not stepping in deep enough. Try stepping in further."
"Y-yes!"
"She's got good instincts."
"High potential, that one."
"Blue-red crystal."
"This one's a red-green crystal."
"Mine is a red-green crystal too."
I held up the crystal that came from skinning the mantis.
When had I taken down the mantis?
By the time Garado split open the Crystal Bear's skull, I had already finished off the mantis.
Agaro's Knife Modified 3 was devastatingly sharp.
It cleaved clean through the mantis's torso and sickle-arm together like it was nothing.
The other knife I quietly slid back into the holder when Bid had it pinned down.
Sorry about that. But there'll be a next time.
"Awesome as always, Wof!"
Nabel fixed me with sparkling, admiring eyes.
Her wolf ears perked up and down, and her tail wagged back and forth.
Even though she was older than me, I kind of wanted to pat her on the head.
"Here, take this."
Garado handed me a crystal.
Nabel gave me one too.
"Are you sure?"
"We need them to deal with the dungeon's disturbances."
"Thank you."
I took them and checked the crystals in my pouch.
'Red Crystal: 5'
'Blue-Red Crystal: 6'
'Red-Green Crystal: 7'
Huh. More than I expected.
With one more Red Crystal, I could use them for as many times as I needed.
"But with this lineup, the Second's gonna end up being a Crystal Beast, ain't it?"
"Is that so?"
"Yeah, there's a high probability. I got the First's report too, and this year's quality is unusually high compared to normal. That's probably the effect of the dungeon's disturbances. If we don't subdue them soon, Heizen's going to be in real danger."
"I'm also worried about Luma's condition. If we really defeat it, will the curse be lifted?"
"Yeah... it can be lifted. And I've taken out insurance on top of that."
So they're subjugating the "Marked One."
If they defeat it, they'll obtain a "Relic that erases Relics."
All I can do is hope it goes well.
The Heizen Great Forest.
Araya of the Gauro subjugation squad collapsed, coughing up blood.
The elite members of the Gauro subjugation squad and the Kuun Hunt subjugators lay fallen in the surrounding area.
Beyond them stood a beast with a large X-shaped wound prominently displayed on its right flank. The "Marked One."
But this "Marked One" was also gravely wounded.
Multiple legs from a giant white spider with black mottled patterns were pierced into its body.
From the spider's head, the upper half of a woman protruded, and in her hand she gripped a white sword.
The woman had a snow-white body and long hair with mottled patterns.
She had large, drooping red eyes and a beauty mark below her right eye.
An altogether striking and bewitching upper body.
The dungeon's anomaly.
The great white spider's body was not unscathed either.
Several of its legs had been torn off, and some of its six red eyes were crushed.
Its torso had been eaten away, and the woman's upper body also had a hole in her abdomen with blood flowing out.
"Haah... haah... haaah... I finally... made it... this far..."
The woman's upper body murmured. She looked at the white sword in her hand.
"……At this point……I'm the only one……who's still here, aren't I……"
The dungeon's irregularity had been completely seized as a vessel.
The Sword Goddess's daughter, one swing. By Gwene.
Gwene parted ways with Raada and the other daughters.
She clashed with Raada in particular, but was unable to win and fled.
Leaving Heizen behind.
She ventured into the Great Forest, searching for what she needed to make that happen.
Her target was "the Scarred One."
To defeat it and obtain a Relic that could erase other Relics.
With this Relic, she could survive anywhere.
By sheer chance, she had acquired the power needed to defeat "the Scarred One."
She knew the dungeon's irregularity was a dangerous vessel, riddled with uncertainty.
But in terms of raw power, nothing else came close.
And yet the subjugators had suddenly intervened, turning things into a three-way battle — and this was the result.
"……Shall we die together, then……"
"the Scarred One" was still alive, but it was clear it would die soon.
And Gwene's vessel was dying too.
Whichever died first, both were doomed all the same. There would be no winner.
"the Scarred One" moved. Its massive jaws shifted, biting into the woman's upper body.
At that moment, a spider's leg pierced deep into "the Scarred One's" body.
The spider and "the Scarred One" died.
When it bit down, the white sword Gwene entered "the Scarred One's" mouth.
It plunged through the creature's interior and pierced not the heart but the core.
That was the vessel of "the Scarred One's" soul.
After a brief silence.
Small white spiders with black-patterned legs gathered in droves.
Raising their four red eyes toward the two massive corpses, they sprayed silk in unison.
Then it was quiet again, and something began to stir, small and faint.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.
Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump!