AND SO THE GIRL SETS OFF RUNNING ONCE MORE
The following events took place after Loki Familia withdrew from Knossos and shortly after Finn’s negotiations with Fels and the Xenos on the twelfth floor of the Dungeon.
Nobody spoke a word about how it all made them feel—about the idea of making deals with monsters, even intelligent ones. But as everyone trudged along in contemplative silence, Lefiya suddenly lifted her head.
Something was about to happen. She could feel it.
Reemerging onto the beaten path, Loki Familia came face-to-face with a mangled, scattered mess of monster corpses, as if a black wind had passed through. The corpses formed a trail, leading upward, a path of gore so vivid and distinct that Lefiya swore she could hear in her ears the distant roar of a mad bull.
Something had come through here, on its way up to the surface.
What would become of the boy that something had once fought?
At once, Lefiya started running.
“Lefiya! Where are you going?”
“I’m sorry! I’ve got to reach the surface, right now!”
It was on the ninth floor that Lefiya’s patience finally gave out, and she parted from her comrades. With Riveria’s voice ringing in her ears, she ran and ran, hoping against hope she wouldn’t come across any of the boy’s possessions—or body parts—that made up the trail of destruction she followed. Lefiya shook her head to rid herself of these intrusive thoughts and hurried on. By some miracle, the monsters seemed too terrified to even come near the beast’s wake, and she reached the first floor without encountering any resistance at all.
“………”
When she did, she couldn’t believe her eyes. There was an enormous crater replacing the path leading from the Dungeon entrance, the trail known as Beginning Road. It looked as if a small meteor had struck the earth, and although the Dungeon had already begun to regenerate, it was far from complete. Worried, Lefiya stepped across the cracked ground and made her way to the center of the crater, which was completely empty. There was no one there, just stones and broken magic torches from Babel littering the floor. Lefiya looked up to see a partially destroyed spiral staircase and a faint light.
She set off running once more. She hopped up the fragments of the staircase, into the lowest floor of Babel, past the confused Ganesha Familia guard, and up toward the surface, where she saw…
“Oh no…”
A massive hole had been blown in the side of the wall. It was the first floor of Babel, but even the large stained glass flower in the floor was barely recognizable.
Instead, many healers swarmed the halls, a half-elf had fallen to her knees, and one boy comforted her, holding her hand.
“We have enough healers now! Bring more stretchers!”
“The one who’s been treated with Jewel Gel has a severe spine injury!”
“We can’t lose an adventurer who fought so hard, no matter how foolish he is!”
Lefiya almost couldn’t hear the frantic cries of the healers at that moment. The only thing reflected in her azure irises was the boy and the poor half-elf girl at his feet.
His white hair was slick with blood, hiding his rubellite eyes, but Lefiya could see the teardrops rolling down his cheeks as he sobbed hoarsely, his throat and chest quivering.
They were tears of bitter regret. Tears Lefiya had never seen him shed. She had never seen him weep so openly or so violently despite all the pain and hardship he had endured.
She was shocked. Her voice refused to come out. All she felt was anger—an anger she couldn’t tell came from envy.
He’s going to keep growing.
The boy would weather this defeat and grow stronger than ever before.
He’s going to get past this and keep growing.
This would be a turning point for him. A moment to slip the bonds of his past self.
Her faith was so strong, she almost seemed like an oracle. Lefiya clenched her fingers around her staff and steeled her resolve once more.
“You won’t beat me.”
There was only one worthy of being Bell’s rival, and that was her. There was no need for pity or helping hands. She would have spurned any if the roles were reversed. With that solemn vow engraved upon her heart, Lefiya turned away and ran.
She would not lose to him, either.
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