When I stepped out of the mystical, majestic Grand Temple, a living hell awaited me.
Since the Grand Temple stood at the highest point, I could survey the deepest section to some extent.
Six massive mimics surrounded me on all sides.
There was a familiar mimic box—the puppet box.
I couldn't tell what the others were. They were clearly different—different colors, different shapes.
Were there different types?
"Wait—where's that puppet box?!"
Wasn't it near the campsite?
Were Axe and the others okay?
For now, I carefully wrapped the weakened Mineha in a clean handkerchief.
Then, with no other choice, I placed her gently into my pouch and went looking for Axe and the others.
But I couldn't draw attention. I left the Grand Temple quietly, slowly, and with care.
The surroundings were already crawling with countless puppets and mobile mimics.
Stationary mimics were scattered about too. They were extravagantly ornate, making them easy to spot.
And on top of that—skeletons, lizardmen, kobolds, slimes. Monsters were everywhere.
Tentacles were sprouting from the ground for some reason.
Through Danger Discernment, it all showed up as blazing red-and-black danger zones. Truly a living hell.
Just moments ago, there had been almost nothing here.
I managed to make it near the Temple District to the west.
There was a deep, straight artificial trench running through it, crammed with various white buildings as if filling a gap.
Nearby, the corridors were choked with rubble. Ruins everywhere.
Since it was a trench, there were no entrances at ground level. You had to descend via staircases from above.
Quite a peculiar city.
According to Alexander, the Temple District was a city of believers.
Believers and families of priests had apparently lived there.
The priests themselves, meanwhile, had resided in the temple's living quarters.
I passed through the Temple District and crept along the rubble-strewn corridors, hiding among the debris.
"Still, how did things end up like—whoa!"
A mobile mimic lunged out at me without warning. I dispatched it with Banish.
That attracted puppets. I cut down several while fleeing.
Puppets were easier to deal with than mimics. You could handle them with a knife.
"...Are they safe, I wonder?"
I was anxious. I wanted to get back quickly, but the distance was already great, and with this many obstacles, it would take time.
"Hm?"
I suddenly heard the clash of blades. Someone was fighting. Was it Axe?
Hm? Wait—a sword was dancing through the air above the rubble.
Ah—that monolithic blade!
"...
Heaven Form...
Subaru...
Kelenoblade."
It was a slash so distorted it defied any normal sword trajectory—a right-angle strike.
It cleaved through several puppets in one sweep.
Wait—that technique, that voice—no way!?
"...Mm. Lupinus... leave it to you..."
"Now, Bid!"
"Me!? Ugh, you sure know how to push people around!"
A voice came from behind. I turned just in time to see someone leap right over my head.
In midair, she loosed countless arrows from a shortbow.
Multiple shots struck mimics and puppets alike, felling several of them.
These three... who on earth were they?
The first was a sleepy-looking beauty with a shimmering, short bob of pale peach-colored hair—Riv.
She wore a black jacket over a stark white bodysuit that, as always, looked like it might shatter the entire world's aesthetic.
The second was an elven beauty in full white plate armor, carrying a round greatshield on her back.
Who was that? Ah—Lupinus.
This was the first time I'd seen her since spotting her in town.
And the third—the girl with the drop-shaped earrings who'd vaulted right over me.
I had absolutely no recollection of this one.
A black-haired rabbit-kin with big blue eyes, freckles, and an adorable, charming face.
She wore a leather gauntlet on her right arm, a blue jumper over a black shirt—lightly dressed.
She also had on black leggings.
Strictly speaking, they weren't leggings.
But the material, stretchiness, thinness, and snug fit were all remarkably similar.
So I called them leggings. The tail peeking out from them was, for some reason, white and round.
She'd been called Bid. She had to be a delver too.
Let me think... I was pretty sure another team had been participating, and she was a member of it.
But why were they here...?
They'd been at the dungeon in Hydrangea's city.
They were supposed to be subduing anomalies there.
So why were they in the deepest level of a completely unrelated dungeon?
"Wait a second..."
This bewildering development—something about the suddenness felt oddly familiar.
Hm? Where was Pakira?
"Mm... well done... Bid..."
"I managed to clear the path, at least."
"Ugh, what is even going on!? Where are we? Where's the leader? Where are Kuruton and Romomo!?"
"Mm... Pakira... is... also gone."
Right. Pakira was nowhere to be seen. Why?
"That's exactly what I'd like to know. Either way, we need to find Pakira and Aegis, then regroup with Agaro and the others. We can't afford to be stuck in a place like this."
"Come to think of it, I think there was someone right below me when I jumped."
"Wasn't it a puppet?"
"...Must have been my imagination..."
That was me.
I'd hidden in a hurry and missed my chance to come out.
I'd ended up watching them from among the rubble.
What should I do? When should I make my move?
"Really? Looked like a kid to me."
"Wasn't it a puppet?"
"...My mistake..."
"Fair enough. Oh—Paki!"
Pakira?
Following their gaze, sure enough—there she was.
Waist-length, pale green hair with white streaks woven through it.
Cat ears peeked through her hair, one eye hidden beneath it, and she wore a broad-brimmed hat.
She was clad in a pure white robe with a blue overcoat, cinched by a large black belt.
She wore a white long skirt with a bold blue stripe running down the center. Stylish, actually.
She held a wooden staff with a gemstone set in its tip.
Two white tails—one long, one short—swayed gently behind her.
The beautiful cat-beastkin, Pakira.
It had been a while since I'd last seen her. She looked well.
I waved and hurried toward her. She was tired but looked fine.
I waved to Riv and the others and rushed over—from directly behind me, it happened.
A massive black mimic box rose from the ground's shadow as though surfacing from it.
"Paki—!"
"...!?"
"Behind you, s—!?"
The lid of the black mimic box yawned wide open like a gaping mouth.
It was about to swallow Pakira—and before I knew it, I'd burst out from the rubble.
The three of them were startled by the massive black mimic box, and even more shocked when I appeared.
But none of that mattered.
I activated the Relic Stillness, and at the very instant before Pakira was consumed, I dove in and was swallowed too.
There was no way I could save her in time—not with the speed and timing involved.
So I figured I'd get swallowed too, protect her from inside, and take this thing down.
"This place..."
The inside of the mimic was pitch black.
No right, no left, no up, no down.
I floated with the strange sensation of being submerged in water.
And the only thing I could clearly feel was Pakira—her body's warmth and touch.
Her tails wrapped around my legs and torso.
"W-Wof...?"
(Wof... wof...)
"Pakira... ugh!?"
W-what... was this... the sensation... my consciousness... damn it.
So...
this...
is...
what kind of...
mimic box...
this is.
It was gradually pulling me into darkness. A true black box.
This was bad. In my current state, I couldn't fight back against this.
(...Wof... wof...)
If this continued, Pakira would vanish... Mineha too... and me... No. I could not let that happen.
"I won't allow it!!"
The Relic Stillness calmed me.
It guided me to the optimal solution. So that was another way to use it.
Then I had no doubts.
For just an instant, I used the Relic Generous.
I immediately activated Phantasmagoria.
Countless Banishes were unleashed, piercing through the Black Box and riddling it with holes.
The darkness shattered, and the blue sky and sunlight blazed down upon Pakira and me.
The black mimic box—the Black Box—was defeated.