"Come on!" Bell pleaded. "Please let me join you! Just give me a chance! I'll become strong if you only give me—"

His constant pleading earned him a boot to the face. The Adventurer who opened the door had refused him admittance into the house and to speak with their patron god. When Bell tried to convince the man, he had enough.

By the time Bell could see straight again and sit up, the door had been slammed shut.

He sat there for a moment, groaning more from the disappointment than from the pain. This hadn't been the first familia he had tried to enter. Not even the second. Or tenth.

He had arrived in the city of Orario a few days ago in hopes of becoming an Adventurer. However, no one wanted him. Today was his last chance. He didn't have the money to stay at any of the inns and had maybe enough for one more meal.

"Wow!" someone said at his side. "That's like the fifth time I've seen that happen to you today!"

Bell rubbed his face as he turned his head to look at whoever spoke.

It was a woman. He couldn't see much about her due to the dark cloak and drawn hood. He could only see a pair of glowing blue eyes within the shadow.

Even this much covered… he knew she was breathtakingly beautiful. He could only see the bottom of her chin, the glowing eyes, and her bare feet. But it was the way she moved and the way the cloak hugged around her body did he know she was inhumanly lovely.

He also had this feeling of dread coursing through the back of his mind. A primal instinct was telling him this woman was extremely dangerous. She was powerful to the point running away would mean nothing.

"W-Who are you?" he asked.

She looked around. The roads were mostly empty in this district of Orario. But she gestured for him to follow him around the corner. She took nimble steps around the corner of the building, leaned around the corner when she noticed he wasn't following, and gestured for him to come again.

Bell should have ran at this point. But… was it the scarce beautify underneath that cloak that compelled him? Or was it the loveliness of her voice? He couldn't tell nor could it pay it any mind. He found himself getting off the ground and hurrying after her.

"Quick question," the woman spun suddenly and began to walk backwards. "Does the name Leviathan mean anything to you?"

Bell blinked once. "Um… Yes. My grandpa told me stories about it. It, along with the Behemoth, were two of the monsters created in the lowest pits of the Dungeon."

"So this new generation still knows…" she said, rubbing a dainty hand under her chin. She nodded a few times to herself. "Okay then! But do you know anything about them? Like what they look like?"

He could only offer an apologetic shake of his head. There was a drawing of both monsters in the book his grandpa gave him. But his grandpa also swore that's not what they looked like.

"Then there's hope for the four of us after all!" the woman said suddenly, pumping a fist into the air before retracting it. She coughed into the hand. "Okay. New question! I saw you get rejected by these heroes all day. Five of them even kicked you out their door. What's so special about joining a pack of meatheads? There's nothing cute about them at all!"

They stopped at an open juncture within the alleyway. She leapt up, her body almost floating as she took a seat on top of one of the stacked crates. She crossed her leg under the cloak, letting it rise up enough for him to see the smoothness of her ankle and calve.

Bell blushed as he lowered his head, trying his hardest to not look at the exposed skin. "Y-You saw that? Wait, miss, are you new to Orario or something?"

"Or something," she nodded a few times. She lifted her hands and began to turn her head to check her body. "We all decided to stop laying around. It's my first time stepping foot into human settlement. There's so much I wanted to learn I couldn't resist!"

"You… You're a goddess?!"

It made sense to him now. Why he felt she was the most beautiful thing he had come across equally as how she was the most dangerous. She was a goddess! She had descended from Heaven to enter the mortal plane.

Instantly, he was on his hands and knees with his head nearly touching the ground. "I'm sorry for my rudeness! I didn't know!"

"A goddess… huh…" she muttered with her voice dropping in pitch. "Neh, it's fine, it's fine. You don't need to grovel like that. But can you answer my question?"

"Yes, Ma'am!" he lifted his head instantly.

He told her what he knew. It wasn't much, considering he was still new to the city and only knew what his grandpa had told him. But he did the best he could.

He told her about the Adventurers and their duty to traverse the Dungeon. He told her about how the gods and goddesses entered the human realm in order to grant their blessings to the mortals. Together, they formed familias.

"They said I'm just a newbie…" he said at the end. "That I can't even be a Supporter for them."

"Need experience for work; need work for experience," she muttered with complete understanding. She nodded her head a few times.

Then, she leaned forward, pressing her hands against the edge of the crate as she looked down.

"I have an idea! How about you join my family instead?!"

He stared up at her, transfixed by her words.

"M-Me?" he asked, pointing at himself for assurance.

She nodded a few times.

"B-But, I'm just a newb!" he argued.

"So am I!" she countered. "Eh, in a manner of speaking anyways. I happen to know a lot about the heroes. First time I've heard them be called Adventurers though. Anywho, I can teach you everything I know! I have many servants but you'd be the first to legitimately join my family!"

He kept staring up at her, wondering if this was some sort of joke. Doubts filled him as he recalled every instance for the past three days where he was rejected by every familia.

But here she was. This new goddess who just descended from Heaven had asked him to join her familia. He would be her first child.

"Then… please take good care of me," he said as he bowed to her.

"Yes!" she cheered, bringing her fist up into the air hard enough to send her flying off the crate. She froze in midair in the same pose. "I just scored myself a cute trap!"

Out of seemingly nowhere, a fanfare orchestra played a few notes. Bell had no idea where they came from and the rest of the alleyway was dead quiet afterwards.

She hopped down onto the floor without making a sound. Instantly, she rushed up to him and wrapped her arms around one of his.

His face turned scarlet as he felt her breasts push up against his arm.

"Let's go then!" she cheered while pointing outwards. "I'm going to take you back to my place so we can seal the contract! Oh, I can't wait! Wait until you meet my So-tan! You two are going to be the best of friends, I know it!"

Without warning, something red glowed brightly underneath their feet. A series of patterns and symbols carved their way onto the dirt ground. They glowed with magic energy as a high-pitch whine began to sing as the light brightened.

When the light flashed, Bell felt every fiber of his being compress and get sucked into a tube no thicker than his pinky. Lights and colors flashed before his eyes as he went into a series of directions he didn't know were possible.

He wasn't sure if he screamed or not. The only thing he could hear was.

"Whhhheeeeeeeeeeeee!" she cheered as she pulled him along this monstrous transportation spell.

0-0-0

"I never get tired of that!" she hopped and twirled around like a dancer as soon as they reappeared. "It's also pretty convenient. It would take heroes months to get this deep into the— hey, hey, are you okay there?"

Bell made a noise. It had tried to become a word but his mind couldn't finish the process. All he could do was hug the ground and pray the ceiling wasn't going to sweep him away. Beautiful, merciful, solid ground.

"Huh, weird," commented the woman. "I've never gotten sick from a teleportation circle. Maybe it's a human thing? You'll get used to it… probably."

He shivered a few more times to himself. She knelt down and rubbed his back until he was coherent again.

"I thought… gods couldn't use their miracles…" he said between breaths.

"Technically speaking, it's magic," she retorted. She tapped a finger on her chin as she thought aloud, "But, just in case, what Uranus doesn't know won't hurt him. Right?"

When he looked up, he found himself in a large room. He had to blink to make sure this was real and that his mind wasn't left in the alleyway for birds to pick at.

The room itself was three times as large as the lobby of the inn he had been staying at. And the furnishings were so neat and clean and lavish he was suddenly terrified of touching anything. There was a large bed that could fit a whole family with a veil draped over it in stands. A few dressers and wardrobes with mirrors were tucked in rows at its side. And thick fur carpet neighbored the bed and the doorway to the next room.

In front of the bed was a couch, a loveseat, a small table in front of them, and another couch across of the entire setting. They formed a small lobby of its own. And to the distant wall were a few rows of shelves full of books and glass casings containing small figurines.

The entire room was decorated with white frills and pink ribbons. The walls were painted in a mix of them. If anything, the room more so resembled a princess' than a goddess'.

"There, there," she patted his back one last time. "Feeling better?"

"…I think," he said weakly.

"That's good then!" she chirped and bounced back to her feet. "Well come on. Onto the couch. There are some things we still need to go over before signing the contract! Sebastian! We need some tea!"

She shouted at the wall as she made her way towards one of the couches. She plopped down, wiggled her hips until she found her comfortable spot, and patted the cushion beside her for him to join.

When he did, sitting upright and stiffly while trying to not embarrass himself further, there came a few taps against the door… followed by the cawing of a crow.

The doorknob wriggled a few times as though the person on the other side couldn't get it to fully turn. After a few seconds, it clicked open and a silver cart rolled on in with an exquisite tea set and plates of fruits and cheese. But the one pushing the cart…

"What in the world?!" Bell shrieked.

It was a man, in a sense. A man in a pressed butler's suit. But everything about this man was completely wrong!

His arms were black feathered wings. And he had the head of a crow. On the top of his head were curved horns like a ram's.

"Be nice," the woman scolded him with a wag of her finger. "I happen to think Sebastian is the most handsome of the Crow Demons! He's a little sensitive his beak is slanted weirdly, so try to pretend you didn't notice."

She leaned in close to him about that last part. Because, yes, the fact his beak was somewhat crooked as though it had taken a beating was the obvious problem in front of them! Crow Demon?! This thing was a monster?!

Sebastian picked up the instruments with his beak and began to prepare the first cup of tea. He waddled forward very much like a real-sized crow, and extended himself for Bell to take. Bell took it in silence as he watched Sebastian work.

When the woman received her own cup, Sebastian cawed.

"Oh, you're right!" the woman bounced around in her seat as she failed to realize something. "How rude of me. I forgot it was on. Thank you, Sebastian."

She placed the cup down onto the small table in order to free her hands. She withdrew the hood and shook her head a few times for her hair to fall freely.

Bell completely forgot about the Crow Demon as he was lost by the goddess sitting beside him. She was beautiful beyond words. She looked not that much older than him, especially with the childish glint in her sapphire eyes or the playful smile on her pink lips. Her hair was long and silken black, tied up in two twin-tails that fell to the small of her back.

Sebastian cawed again.

"Yes, that'll be all," the woman said to him. "Thank you, Sebastian."

The Crow Demon bobbled its head in what Bell could assume to be a bow before hopping away and flapping its wings out the door.

"Now then," the woman began. "To business."

She put her hands together and pulled as though something was already in her grasp. And there it was, appearing by the hand gesture alone. A roll of paper appeared with another flash of red light. Bell watched with amazement as words began to write themselves onto the scroll in fanciful script.

She handed it to Bell while explaining, "This is the contract. It lists the terms both you and I will be following once you join my family. I will be providing you with room and board, an allowance for personal spending which will increase the harder you work, and health and life insurance. We also include dental. Do you know anyone who has that?! I sure didn't find any orthodontist on the surface world!"

He could only stare at her for a moment. He couldn't read the contract. It wasn't written in Common, the most basic language spoken by the farmers and traders and most inhabitants of Orario. It was written in a foreign language with a bunch of jagged lines and a few swirls.

He also didn't know what dental or ortho… whatever she just said meant. They were pretty big words to him.

"In exchange," she said next once the words began to settle. "You will be acting as my representative. You will be the public face of my family. You will be my extension to the surface world. Anything you do will reflect back on me. Now, those are the general terms of the contract Luci-tan came up with. We can go over my personal terms afterwards. Do you agree so far?"

"…Then, if I sign this, I'll get to become an Adventurer?" he asked.

She stared at him, blinking once. "An Adventurer, huh?"

He nearly had a spasm as she leaned forward. He pushed himself back and she pressed forward. Her eyes bored into his, never allowing the space between them to dwarf until his back hit the armrest. She was practically crawling on top of him at this point.

"Is that your wish?" she asked in a sultry voice.

He gulped. The room suddenly felt hot as the blood rushed to his face. This close he could smell her. And she smelt so fantastic it was making his head spin.

"More than anything," he said when he could. "It's my dream to become an Adventurer. I always wanted to be a hero like the ones my grandpa told me about."

"A hero…" she said.

The room suddenly went cold. He could have sworn her eyes were glowing brighter than they normally would. All the playfulness in her voice had washed away. It was as though he had insulted her in the worst possible way.

She got off of him and sat back in her previous spot, wiggling her hips again until she got the perfect comfortable spot. She rubbed the bottom of her chin in thought. "No, no. This could still work out. An Adventurer, huh? Okeydokey! Sure! Let's make it happen! If that is my adorable new Piece's wish then I will make you into one of the greatest of Adventurers!

"I will make Zeus roll in his grave for this irony!" she finished with an excited smile on her face and shaking her fist up at the ceiling.

"Um… Miss Goddess?" Bell called out to her. "Did you know Zeus or something back in—"

"Don't call me that," she snapped at him. She caught what she had done and chose to sip on her tea. She muttered between sips, "It's not cute. And I know Zeus better than anyone, including his many wives. He and I, you can say, were very intimate with each other. I am the great and powerful Levia… erm…"

Her brows scrunched up as she looked up at the ceiling.

"Levia…?" he asked. He wasn't familiar with this goddess in legend.

"Se… ra… fall," she said suddenly as she eyed the figurines in the glass case. And then she blinked and snapped a finger. "Oh! Yes! I like that very much! Henceforth you shall call me Serafall! Not Goddess this or that. Just Serafall! Is that understood?"

"I can't do that!" Bell argued. "You are a goddess and I'm just a human. I can't just call you something like that so easily! It's disrespectful."

"It's fine since I'm giving you permission," she waved at him. "Now, say it with me. Se-ra-fall~"

His lips thinned. She kept staring at him, expecting him to go along with his demand. She wasn't going to let go of this.

"S-Serafall…" Bell said with a bit of a blush. It felt like he had stepped on so many taboos.

She squealed and clapped her hands a few times. "That's great! Say it again!"

"…Serafall," he said with a bit more confidence.

"Again!" she said with her cheeks turning red.

"Serafall."

"Again!" she panted.

"Serafall!"

"Ahn… A-Again!" she was struggling to catch her breath as a trickle of red ran down her nose. Her hands were pressed between her thighs as she was wiggling around in her seat. She caught her behavior and quickly sat upright, pulling out a napkin from the same mysticism she used to conjure the contract, and wiped her nose clean.

Bell's face was as red as a tomato. He had never seen any girls from the village make an expression like that. It was a new sight to him and he wasn't sure how he was supposed to be feeling about it. But it stirred a craving within him he couldn't understand.

"Right, so, terms of the contract," the woman, Serafall, gestured back at the slip of paper still in Bell's hands. "Usually I would have you go back to the surface world and hunt the greed of humanity. But… I'm too interested in the surface world. If you join my family, I will be having you telling me everything about the humans! Not just the heroes… Adventurers, I mean. I'm talking about the working class and merchants and thespians and nobles and everyone and everything! I want to learn it all!"

She had her fists clutched close to her chest as she was bouncing around in her seat. Stars were twinkling in her eyes. Literally!

He looked at the contract once more. He gawked at it as a few of the lines were erased and rewritten. They were being edited right before his eyes to, presumably since he couldn't read it, include what Serafall had just demanded of him.

"Then… I'll get to become an Adventurer?" he asked one final time to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

"Of course!" she smiled at him. "Go out there and have some fun! Meet some other heroes. Go to taverns and talk to the wenches. Get hammered and talk to the miners and merchants getting off their shifts! I want to know what the surface people talk about and what they do! I want to know what they wear! What do they think is cute?!"

She was bouncing around again in her seat from excitement.

"Yes!" he said to her with equal excitement. "I'll gladly join your familia. Do you have a quill so I can sign— Ow!"

Something pricked his finger. He must have given himself a papercut by the edge of the contract. A speck of his blood dotted a corner of the contract, soiling that spot. He was afraid he had stained it and she would need to make a new one to keep the pristine documentation.

But… he watched as that tiny dot of his blood sank into the paper.

His name appeared at the bottom of the contract. It was written in the messy Common script of his personal handwriting. And it was in the same shade as the blood he had spilt.

"That'll do nicely," Serafall said as she retrieved the contract from his hands. She rolled it up and pressed her hands together. The contract vanished. "Now then. What Piece should I give you? A Pawn might be too plebian for my first Piece. Maybe a Knight? Or…?"

He didn't know what she was talking about.

"I have just the thing," she said as she came to her mind. She put her hands together and mimed the opening of a box.

And, lo, a wooden box appeared in her hands. Inside were a set of game pieces he had seen some of the people in the inn playing in the lobby. He didn't know the name of the game or how it worked. But these were those same pieces.

She drew out the tallest piece with a crown on the top.

"You shall be my Queen!" she announced. "You are my first after all. It's only fair you get the most special of pieces. Besides, it fits you perfectly as the trap character!

"Now, I'm going to need you to strip."

He blinked at that. "Um… what?"

"Strip!" she said again, putting her hands on her hips. "Shirt off. Come on, come on. I need to take a look at what's under the hood! Only then will your transformation to the dark side be complete!"

"W-W-Why do I need to get naked?" he asked with a newfound pressure of blood cramming into his face.

"Don't worry, I'll be too!" she assured. She realized what she said, nodded to herself, and quickly stood. "Bee-tan said clothes interfere with the blending of energies. So the more nude the better!"

His mouth fell open and would have hit the floor if it was possible. In another flash, her cloak was gone. She hadn't been wearing anything underneath… or she had dismissed those clothes as well.

She stood completely naked in front of Bell. Her figure was turned slightly away from her, giving him a bountiful view of her bubbly rear and the fullness of her right breast. She was just as tall as he was but her body had been fully developed.

She was curvaceous with a slender neck, large and perky breasts, a tight waist, full hips with a round posterior, and milky smooth thighs.

She was gorgeous. She took the breath away from him.

She was also the first woman he had seen naked.

The impression had been too much. His naïve mind couldn't withstand it. He had forgotten to breathe and it made the room spin the longer he stared at her.

He couldn't hear what she was saying to him. Everything went black.

0-0-0

"Hngh…" Bell mumbled as soon as he started to stir. His stomach growled. It meant it was time to get out of bed and start his day.

Did he have enough money to feed himself today? He might not if he had spent the last of his money sleeping in a bed. He would have to check his purse and see what the damage was.

But when he tried to sit up, something was keeping him down.

The first thing he did was scowl up at the ceiling in bafflement. The room at the inn was only a few celch higher than standing height. The one he woken in was taller than the two-story inn altogether. And there was an elegant veil draped around the frame of the bed.

The bed was also extremely comfortable. A little too comfortable. It was hurting his back on how well he sank into the softness.

He turned his head and tried to see further into the room.

His eyes dropped down onto the thing resting on his shoulder. A pair of sapphire eyes were staring right back at him.

"Good morning," the black-haired beauty said to him in a sweet voice.

"…Good morning," he replied out of autonomous courtesy than anything else. His mind was still struggling to catch up.

And, in an instant, the realization struck him hard enough to physically lurch. He remembered everything that had happened to him before blacking out.

"S-S-S-S-Serafall!" his face heated up as he tried to shirk away.

"I don't think so~" she chimed, tightening her grip on him with both her arms and legs. "I'm not done transferring my energy so you're going to have to hold still. I'll even let you keep squeezing my toosh since you like it so much."

He didn't know what she was talking about. In reaction, his right hand squeezed. The fingers sank into a firm and squishy material.

Serafall let out a purr. She nuzzled her head deeper into the crane of his neck.

The entire situation made him start to shake from nerves. It was hardly the first day and his goddess was naked in bed with him. And he had molested one of her most special places!

He was conflicted on what he should do. Should he take responsibility as a man?! But this was a goddess! It's not like he could have married her! And what about her? Why was she clinging onto him so much? Did she like him that way?! He didn't understand nor knew how to react.

"It's almost done, so stop squirming," she told him. She ran a finger across his chest, making him shiver in a new way. "You're pretty ticklish aren't you, Bell? That's cute~"

"D-Done with what?" he asked, trying to keep his mind distracted by anything but the feeling of her naked body pressed against his.

"You're to be my Queen, remember?" she answered. "The Evil Piece I implanted into you will share my energies with yours. This will make you stronger than you can imagine. This is how I am going to make you into the best hero ever."

"Implant…? Wait! You mean that thing you showed me is inside of me?!"

"Yup!" she chirped as though nothing was wrong. "Don't worry about it! It's completely harmless. Bee-tan designed them himself. They're supposed to just… dissolve, I guess you could say. I think. I don't know. I wasn't paying much attention when he was explaining it to me, honestly. I might have misheard him."

She took a deep breath of air before snuggling closer to him. He stiffened by the notion.

"Why don't you tell me a story?" she whispered. "I only know your name and your wish. Tell me about yourself. Where did you come from?"

He considered it, if only to keep his mind off the feeling of his arm being devoured by the gap of her breasts.

He told her about the small farming village he grew up in. He told her how he was raised by his grandpa, how he was too young to remember his parents. They were Adventurers from what his grandpa had told him but nothing else.

It was only because of the death of his grandpa did he decide to become an Adventurer. He left the village and entered Orario. And that was how he met Serafall.

"Hmm," was all Serafall said as she rested her head against his shoulder. Her eyes were closed as her fingers continued to play along his chest.

"Um… Serafall?" he spoke up timidly. "Exactly how much longer will this take?"

She didn't answer right away.

"Truthfully, I've been done for a while. I just wanted to stay like this for a bit. The bed is so big. And it's pretty lonely down here. The only ones who ever make it down here… they're not very nice to me."

It sounded like she had something more to say about it. But she let her voice drift off.

"Welp, doesn't mean we should let the night waste away!" she said suddenly, perking up and sitting up on her knees. It made the blanket fall off of her. "Rise and shine! There's work to be done!"

He squealed and used the pillow to hide his tender bits while shying his eyes away from her nude form. "W-W-Work? Now? And night? It's nighttime? What are we going to be doing?"

He was afraid of the answer.

"You said you wanted to be an Adventurer!" she told him, leaping off of the bed and heading straight for her dresser. "We're going down to the Guild and getting yourself registered. They close in an hour so we need to hurry. That's the price of being nocturnal, I guess."

She threw open her dresser… and just stared at it. Every draw she opened and shut was empty. She went to the wardrobe and pulled open the doors. Again, they were empty.

"Oh that's right…" she muttered below her breath. "I don't have any clothes. Bell, what sort of clothes would the head of a familia wear?"

He was probably the last person to ask. He hadn't been able to meet with a single god so he had no idea what sort of clothes they wore. Especially if they were going to have a meeting with a Guild official.

"Um… a dress?" he suggested.

"A dress…?" Serafall tilted her head as she thought. She went over to the display case of figurines and pulled something out. "You mean like this one?"

"I-I don't know!" he said. He couldn't look at it because then he would be able to see Serafall's nude figure. He wasn't prepared for that again. "I guess?"

"I think the King of Knights is a little too formal…" Serfall muttered. She began to rummage through her collection. "Maybe Red Saber? But I don't like wearing panties so maybe not… Oh, I know!"

Another series of lines and symbols appeared below her feet, forming into a full circle. Light lit up the room as the circle lifted off the ground, spinning as it traveled through her. Bell thought she was going to disappear, but instead did clothes appear on her body.

She wore boots with stockings, a frilly skirt that was scandalously short, a tight blouse being stretched by the size of her breasts, and a bonnet on the top of her head.

Almost everything about the outfit was made out of pink material.

"Perfect!" she twirled around, gazing herself over. "You know I once saw a hero wear something like this a long time ago. Except there was armored plating and it was in an ugly shade of green. Don't you think pink is so much cuter?"

"Um… Serafall?" he called out to her as he looked around the room. "Where are my clothes?"

"Oh I had Sebastian take care of those," she waved it off. "Come here, come here. I'll dress you. I know what real heroes look like so don't worry! You're going to look so cool!"

"C-Can't you just do that with me here?" he asked, using the blanket to cover himself.

"Well I suppose I could come over there…" she muttered in thought. "But I'd still need you to stand or I won't know how to make the clothes fit at all."

He frowned at that, grabbed the pillow, and crawled out of bed. He slouched as he walked towards her. The only thing saving his modesty was the pillow at his front.

"Lose the pillow," she said instantly. "It's going to get in the way."

"But…" he tried to argue.

"Bell," she smiled sweetly at him. "You've already seen me naked. And I've seen you naked. We've shared in some skinship. Right? That's what you humans use to gain trust? Skinship? I heard you do that when you bathe together."

"Only when you're the same gender!" he told her.

She gasped and flinched. "S-Same gender?! You mean boys with other boys scrub each other's naughty bits like… like… l-like…"

She put her hands to her cheeks and let out a slight chuckle. Drool began to leak down her lips as her eyes glazed over with some sort of perverse fantasy he couldn't see.

"That's not how it works…" he muttered.

"Regardless," she snapped back to reality and faced him. "I need you to remove the pillow or I won't be able to get right measurements for your clothes. Hurry up. The Guild will close soon as this rate."

"…Can't we just go in the morning?" he asked. "When they open? And when I'll have my clothes back."

"…I'm not a morning person," she said while looking away. "Bell, if you want to be an Adventurer, you're going to have to listen to what I say. I can't support you if you don't listen."

He couldn't argue with that. This was his goddess from now on.

He scrunched his eyes and tossed aside the pillow. He covered his manhood with his hands and hoped it was enough. He felt his face flaring up.

"Oh, nice!" Serafall said with appreciation. It made him flush more. He heard her light footsteps dance around him. "Nice, nice, nice. Very nice. Yes. I can work with this. I can totally work with this…

"And I can also make you some clothes!"

…Wait. And make clothes?! What kind of work was she talking about before?!

He heard the whine of her divine powers activating followed by the flashing of light on the other side of his eyelids.

"Okay, you can open your eyes now," she called out to him.

The first thing he saw was Serafall with her hands on her hips and a proud grin splitting her face. She gestured for him to look at the mirror at his side.

He turned… and then leapt back.

"These are girl's clothes!" he shrieked.

"I know!" Serafall cooed, gushing at his appearance. "Isn't it perfect?! You look so pretty!"

She had dressed him in a similar fashion to hers. Frills, ribbons, and bonnet included. The only exception would be the armored plating she had mentioned before, making it look like a real Adventurer's garb. And, it wasn't pink. It was blue.

"I can't wear this!" he argued. "I'm a man!"

"I've noticed," she said with a coy smile as her eyes dropped below his waist. "Believe me I've noticed."

He shirked away and put his hands over his crotch. Yet, it felt like she could still see through him.

"But you're also so pretty!" Serafall appeared at his side and held his shoulders so he couldn't move away from the mirror. "A lot of girls wish they look as cute as you do! It would be such a waste to not rub it in their faces— I mean, to not show the world how beautiful you are!

"Besides, there's no time to change," she added while dragging him away from the mirror and towards one corner of the room.

She pulled him in front of a chest he could have sworn wasn't there before. She left him standing to the side while she flipped open the lid and began to rummage through them. An assortment of swords and strange instruments were crammed into it. She pulled a few out and chucking them aside in dismissal.

"Now what to give you…?" she muttered to herself. "Excalibur? No. A Kaleidostick? Nah. The Storm Regalia? Nuh-uh. Derflinger? Definitely not. Wait. When did I get the Tessaiga? Won't work anyways…"

Bell was awestruck as each and every one of the weapons she drew were magnificent. He had seen a few weapons on display in the markets and they were nothing compared to these!

…Except maybe the rusty blade and the pair of high-heeled boots.

"Ah ha!" said Serafall. She had reached deep into the chest to the point she was leaning into the chest with her butt sticking up. She pulled a straight sword from the pile before patting down her skirt.

"This is for you," she said while handing the straight sword into his hands. "I have the perfect weapon for a hero like you! This is the Sunlight Straight Sword. It belonged to a legendary warrior who went on a grand adventure in search of his personal sun. He took on the likes of gods and demons and helped changed the fate of all existence beside the Chosen One."

Bell was a gaping fish as he stared at the sword in his hands. "W-What can it do? Can it channel his strength through me? Can I shoot sunfire from its edge?!"

"Nope," Serafall said with a chipper tone. She shrugged at him. "The guy was great. His sword is pretty normal. Just watch."

She took the sword from him… and bent it until it snapped.

Bell let out a scream.

"Oh relax, I can fix this. Watch," she said while putting the two pieces together. Red light glowed along the broken edge until the two were sealed together. There wasn't even a mark left.

She handed it back to him. He cradled it close to his chest.

"Armor, check!" Serafall pulled out a note and quill from seemingly nowhere. "Weapon, check. Now all that's left is to register you to the Guild, become the greatest Adventurer ever, and raise Zeus from the grave so I could make him eat my success. Alright, let's go!"

"S-Serafall, what do you have against… Wait! Hold on! I'm not mentally prepared for another—"

Before he could do anything about it, she grabbed his hand and swept him away in another flash of red light.

0-0-0

"Thank you for coming, have a nice evening," Eina Tulle said to the Adventurer she had been managing. She didn't call on the next person in line just yet. She had to organize the paperwork before she could take on anyone else.

"Next please," she called out once things were ready.

"Finally!" a spry black-haired girl— no, a woman; her boobs were bigger than Eina's— skipped towards the front of her booth. She dragged a white-haired girl… against her will by the looks of things.

No. That wasn't quite right. The one with black hair could hardly be compared to Eina in any way. She didn't exactly exude the presence of a goddess. But she had an aura of magnificence that transcended any other Adventurer Eina had come to meet. If anything, this woman was something in-between.

But what did that mean?

The two of them were dressed in identical outfits. The black-haired girl wore the dress of a battle mage without any of the armor. The other wore the more advanced version of the outfit.

"Good evening," Eina greeted them. "What can the Guild do for you?"

"Hello!" the black-haired girl saluted and winked. "I'm Serafall— Oh! That's so much fun to say! I would like to register my adorable new family member as an Adventurer!"

"H-Hello…" said the white-haired girl when Serafall pulled her in close for a hug. She was shaking with a flushed face and couldn't meet Eina's gaze.

"A new Adventurer?" Eina mused. But her hands were already moving to pull out the appropriate forms from behind the booth. "I'm terribly sorry but I'm confused about one detail. Are you saying you are her patron deity?"

The white-haired girl looked stricken. She hung her head and began to sulk.

"I am the head of the Serafall Peerage, thank you very much!" Serafall puffed her chest out and said proudly. "Bell is my first member and it was his wish to become an Adventurer. So here we are!"

Serafall… Peerage? Why did she choose to say that instead of—

Wait. What else did she just say?

"S-Serafall!" the white-haired girl shook Serafall a few times. "Not so loud!"

"Bell! Be proud!" Serafall turned and gave her child a supportive thumbs-up. "You're cuter than anyone else here! You've already been getting a few admirers~"

She pointed at a few Adventurers waiting in line by the Exchange. A group of them were ogling Serafall and Bell. One whistled, the other jabbed at his companion, and the aforementioned companion blushed and quickly looked away.

"Yoohoo~" waved Serafall to them.

Bell shrank and shivered hard enough for her armor to rattle.

Eina began to blush. The boy was prettier than her! How was that fair?!

No, that wasn't the reason she should be so distraught. By the looks of things, he had been dressed against his will by his patron goddess. He had been forced to masquerade as a girl.

"So Ms. Guild Expert," Serafall spun back around to address Eina. "What do we need to get Bell here started?"

Eina slid a few of the papers through the window while she explained, "Please go to room 3 right over there; I will be with you shortly. While you wait, please fill out these sheets. Thank you."

Serafall accepted the papers and began to flip through them with a clinical look (though she stuck her tongue out halfway through) as she moved to the side of the Pantheon building.

Eina gestured for the next member in line, filed his order for a quest completion, and repeated the performance for the next few Adventurers. It was half an hour before the lines began to thin out and she handed off the rest of the work to Misha… who whined about it, as usual.

Eina excused herself to see to the new formation of this familia and a goddess she was unfamiliar with.

The box room she had given them was soundproof. No amount of magic could penetrate through it. There were a few cushioned chairs and a table in the middle of the room. It was built to be small and compact for Adventurers to discuss important matters with their advisors.

She found Serafall and Bell huddled close together on one side. Bell did the writing while Serafall told him what to write. She might not be able to read and write the Common language just yet, thus leaving matters to her child.

"Thank you for waiting," Eina said as she took a seat in front of them. "Can I get you anything? Tea or coffee?"

"No thank you," Serafall answered with a sweet smile. "We just finished filling out the forms. Bell, please hand them over to the nice lady."

Bell looked at the stack of papers and his goddess with an unsure expression. He bowed his head in an apologetic manner as he slid the papers forward.

Eina accepted them and began to skim through them. She blinked as a few of the details were… questionable. Now she understood Bell's hesitation.

"You listed your place of residency as… 'Serafall's Castle'," Eina lowered the sheet to look at the goddess. "I'm sorry but we can't accept this. We need a listed address for contact information."

"It's fine, it's fine," Serafall giggled and waved a hand at Eina.

Eina sighed, "I'm afraid it's not. The Guild requires a registered address of the city in order to—"

"It's fine," Serafall said again.

Eina stared into those blue orbs, trying to make her point across. But… the longer she stared into those eyes of hers… the less she felt inclined to listen to Guild protocol. It was as though something was entering her mind and overwriting the very foundations of her principles.

"Very well," she said as she eyed the rest of the document. "This means on the chance something were to happen to the Adventurer then the Guild would have no means of contacting you."

"I'll set up a PO box as soon as possible," Serafall said instantly.

"…A what?" Eina blinked at that.

"Have they not invented the post office yet?" Serafall asked her child. "I've been unaware of the surface world since Archmage Aladdin. Human settlement should have advanced enough to at least devise a Pony Express, right?!"

Bell could only offer her a confused smile.

"Philistines…" Serafall muttered under her breath. She rummaged through her pockets until she pulled out a slip of paper with magic engravings inked out. She slid it across the table, "Should anything happen to Bell, make a note of it and attach it to this. Mutter my name and wish for the message to get through. That's the important part; wish for it!"

Eina accepted the magic tag, flipped it over and raised a brow as the same instructions were written on the back, and put it to the side to put it in their collective file.

"Bell, do you have any experience at all in combat?" Eina asked next, also noticing this section of the application was empty.

"I, uh, ran into a goblin in the fields back in my village," he answered timidly. "I threw a rock at it. It scared me and I ended up running back to the village before the chief's son killed it."

Serafall patted his head with another one of her cheery smiles while he bowed his head in shame.

Eina nodded in understanding. "That's quite alright. Many who come to Orario have had similar experiences against monsters. You'd be surprised how many go in blindly without coming across a single monster beforehand. But now that you know, I can tell you of all the dangers the Dungeon has to offer.

"The Dungeon is not a place where you can reach glory and wealth instantly, Mr… Cranel. Most who come here believe so and wind up dead within the first month. The Dungeon is extremely dangerous even in its earliest floors. And the deeper you go will there be threats even the most experienced of Adventurers would fall to. It takes extreme caution and preparations to step into the Dungeon."

"She's right, y'know," Serafall added in. "The Dungeon is home to a lot of monsters. Goblins and kobalds might be the weakest, but they can kick your fine tush easily if you don't pay attention."

Bell responded better to his goddess than to Eina's advice. He nodded a few times at her words.

"Oh! Ms. Guild Worker!" Serafall leaned forward and raised her hand like a schoolgirl. "You've worked at the Guild for a long time, right?! What do you normally see heroes do that can help my Bell as a newbie?"

…Heroes? She must have meant Adventurers.

Eina considered the question for a moment, "I would have to say… to constantly remain vigilant and to keep track of your surroundings. To be prepared for every problem. Bring a spare weapon, healing potions, and to go in with a full party to watch your back.

"But if Mr. Cranel is a solo Adventurer? I must advise not going in at all."

"W-What?" Bell asked.

"Bell, don't listen to her," Serfall waved Eina off. "There was a guy who fought Behemoth and he was a solo player. They called him the Black Swordsman and he had nothing but a cloak and dual sabers. He didn't get a chance to use any of his healing potions. He didn't live, sure, but he still did it. Imagine how far you can go on your own! I believe in you!"

"You should listen!" Eina interjected. "Many Adventurers go down there thinking they can conquer it because they were the best swordsman of their village! Do you have any idea how many death reports we get in the Guild daily because of this?"

"…This generation is pretty weak," Serafall said with a whimsical smirk hidden behind her hand. "My Bell will be nothing like that. His wish was to become the greatest Adventurer ever and I will make it happen or my name isn't Serafall."

This was nothing more than the delusions of a goddess who thought her child was something special. Eina had seen it before countless times. She would need to talk to Bell without his goddess present to make her point.

"All we need is to finish the registration," Serafall said, locking eyes on Eina once more. "Is there anything else you need to complete the process?"

Eina opened her mouth but no words came. She did have more to say but the words fell short from being expressed. She couldn't say anything about the urgency of his safety.

"Everything… seems to be in order," Eina said eventually. She fixed her glasses as she eyed the application once more. "He has the appropriate equipment. However, I will need to cross your name with the archives. I am unfamiliar with your name and there have been many who come to the Guild pretending to be gods. I do not doubt your divinity because your presence is so… whelming, but I need to make sure."

Serafall's entire visage shifted.

"You don't need to do that," she waved it off with another smile. "Ms. Half-Elf, I insist you don't need to stress yourself with that much work. Why don't you just file it away as complete?"

Eina lowered the sheet and considered it for a moment.

"Why don't you go buy yourself a nice meal after this?"

"…I could go for some steak," she muttered to herself as a hunger for red meat overcame her.

"And you could totally go for a new pair of shoes! You can never go wrong with some shoes!"

"…I do need some new work clothes," she muttered again.

She didn't know why she was saying these things in front of new clients. But what did it matter?

"So is everything A-okay?" Serafall asked.

Eina blinked as though she had snapped out of a daydream. How embarrassing! Why was she daydreaming in the work environment?!

"Y-Yes!" she said while trying to regain her composure. "That is everything. Mr. Cranel, congratulations in becoming an Adventurer. Please come to me if you are ever in need of advice. The Guild is open from dawn to midnight and I am here from dawn to noon and again from fourth hour to the tenth. Do you have any questions?"

Bell opened his mouth.

He jolted in his seat as Serafall's hand reached under the table. He and Serafall exchanged glances. His face turned red while her smile intensified.

"No, I think that'll be all," Serafall answered in his stead. "Thank you very much for your time, Ms. Guild Worker."

"Eina," she responded. "My name is Eina Tulle and I am happy to be of assistance."

"Well, thank you Eina-tan. I trust Bell can come to you whenever he is in need of something?"

"But of course," Eina nodded sagely.

"Come Bell!" Serafall said as she quickly rose out of her seat. "The night is still young and I'm hungry! I saw this super-cute maid café while I was busy stalking you this afternoon! Let's go check it out!"

"Can we please walk there?!" Bell asked with tears threatening to fall from his eyes. "Please? I don't think I can handle another trip like how we got here again."

"…It's only down the street," Serafall assured. "I'm not that lazy to not walk."

They gathered themselves and started to head out the door.

"Oh, thank you Miss Eina," Bell turned and bowed at her. "Please take good care of me from now on. I hope to meet your standards as an Adventurer!"

Eina tried to suppress the blush. She had almost forgotten Bell was really a boy dressed in girl's attire. His voice was so light it made her think a younger girl had asked her for the same thing.

Really, it should be illegal for someone like him to be like this.

"Come on, Bell!" Serafall tugged on his arm.

He couldn't protest as he was dragged out of the box room and eventually out of the Guild. Eina was left to handle the paperwork.

Never once did she question why she was going against protocol and enter the Serafall Peerage into the archives.

0-0-0

"Bell…" Serafall hesitated as she gave out a long yawn. "It's so late! Why can't you go into the Dungeon in the evening like a normal person?"

It was the crack of dawn when he prepared for his day. Serafall dressed him in the same magical girl attire as before, given him his Sunlight Sword, and teleported him into one of the alleys near Babylon Tower.

Bell couldn't answer. He had one hand resting on the wall as he was puking his breakfast. Her teleportation magic still did a number of things to his sense of vertigo.

"I guess it's fine since the sun isn't up yet…" Serafall grumbled as she let out another yawn. "Alrighty. Today is your first day as an Adventurer. Are you ready?"

She didn't sound as chipper as usual. She sounded tired. As far as he knew, she had stayed up throughout the entire night.

"I think so," he said once he started to feel better. He stood up straight as he eyed his equipment. He had his sword. He had his rations and potions Serfall gave him. He had his armor… no matter how scandalous it was. And he had his magically enchanted backpack that could carry more load than its actual square space.

"They grow up so fast," Serafall sniffed. "It seems like just yesterday I saw you get a boot to the face after getting rejected. Welp! Time to get moving! Oh, wait, here before you go!"

She stepped up close and took his hand. She drew something inside his palm with her index finger.

Red light shimmered in what he recognized as the same pattern of magic she used in order to teleport them.

"This is my family crest," she explained. "All you need to do is focus your desires onto your hand, wish you were back home, and then fwoosh!"

She made a gesture of her hand shooting across the sky, signifying he would be teleported away like normal.

"…Can't you just tell me where we're staying?" he asked, almost desperately. "I can walk there. Please?"

"Sure, but it'll take you months to reach me and I'm pretty sure everything in-between would kill you," Serafall answered. "I don't exactly live close. But it's still within the city limits. It's… complicated. The easiest way to reach me is through this magic circle. Trust me."

His shoulders slacked. He wasn't a fan of this transportation system. While, sure, it was extraordinarily convenient and something he had never heard about before— revolutionary even! And now he was being told he could use it like magic! Oh how he always wanted to use magic!

But he hated the feeling of being squeezed through reality like toothpaste and the aftereffects once he was back on solid ground. It was enough for him to shove away all the benefits and wish there was another way.

"Good luck!" Serafall cheered him on with a sleepy tone. She raised her fist half-heartedly as she yawned again. "Fight on! I'll be cheering you on… in my dreams."

She waved a hand at the pavement to their side. Another magic circle began to light up the alleyway as she headed towards it.

"I'll do my best, Serafall!" Bell said to her as he gripped the hilt of his sword. "I'll make you proud! Thank you for everything you've given me! I won't let you down!"

"I know you won't, Bell," she said to him with another one of her loving smiles that took the breath away from him. "I'll wait for you at home. Have a nice day."

She stepped into the circle. The light flashed and she was gone.

Bell adjusted the grip on his backpack, took a deep breath, and stepped out of the alleyway to join the crowd of Adventurers heading towards the Dungeon.

"Hey there cutie," one Adventurer said once he noticed Bell was walking beside them. "You joining up with some friends or going in solo? Why don't you join up with us?"

Bell shuddered. Oh how he wished Serafall had given him more manly clothing!

0-0-0

It was outnumbered. These two-legged monsters kept hacking away at them with their steel and enchantments. Its brothers were dying. There was nothing it could do.

So it fled, knowing it would be the last of its clan. Lord Glasya-Lobalas had just spoken in high regard of them to his master. In the name of Asmodeus, the legacy must live on!

"Hey!" one of them shouted. "That one's getting away!"

"I'm on it," the worst of them all answered in her callous tone.

The Minotaur ran harder. It had thought it was running as fast as it could but its body went into overdrive after hearing the golden-haired death rushing towards it. Nothing but pure survival instincts were driving it. It didn't care about pleasing its masters and defending the Dungeon from these monsters or avenging its brethren. All it cared about was seeing the next day.

It ran through the Dungeon, knocking the lesser ones aside as it navigated through the hallways of its home. It kept going, reaching closer towards the surface in its desperation to elude the golden death. Many a time did it run into monsters but these leapt away in fear of the Minotaur. They were nothing compared to the golden death but the Minotaur didn't have time to deal with them.

"Hello…?" a voice called out. "Is… Is someone there?"

The Minotaur hesitated, sliding on its hooves until coming to an abrupt halt. Its nostrils flared as it sniffed the air. The golden death wasn't far behind it. She would quickly approach.

But this smell…

Impossible!

"Has anyone seen any monsters around here?" the voice called out. "I can't seem to find a single one…"

The Minotaur considered its options. The golden death was still upon it. But… this stench. This miasma. He couldn't ignore it.

He took a chance to enter another corridor. It would lead him closer to the surface world, where the stench and the origin of the voice came from.

He was close to the source. Goblins and kobalds fled as the stench was at its peak. They were hiding from the source for they knew what it was. They had no chance against it. These lesser ones would never dare to oppose it even when they had the advantage of numbers.

"What's that noise coming… OOWAH?!"

The Minotaur rushed forward from the hallway. It came across a youngling in likeness to the monsters. It wore their second skins, branded their steel, and spoke in their tongue. But its guise could not deceive the Minotaur. It knew what it was just as the lesser ones did.

It reeked of the Leviathan, one of the Demon Lords of the Dungeon.

This could be one of her spawn. It could be her offspring. This was a blueblood, prince of the Dungeon.

What was it doing all the way up here, so close to the surface world? The monsters would surely detect him and eradicate him just as they did with the Minotaur's clan.

The golden death was just around the corner.

The Minotaur disregarded its own safety in this moment. There was now a higher priority than to ensure the safety of his clan. It needed to ensure the spawn of the Leviathan survived. These monsters were too much for it as it was now. It was still a newborn. It needed to live!

"Somebody help!" the Leviathan's spawn cried out.

It must have sensed the approach of the golden death. Its senses were sharper than the Minotaur's.

The Minotaur approached and lifted him up off the floor. Just then, the golden death turned from the corner. She hesitated as it had seen the spawn of the Leviathan.

It had seen the Leviathan's spawn! The Minotaur couldn't hope to hide its presence this time! It had no choice but to flee and pray it could escape!

So it did, running with all its might through the Dungeon's hallways.

"Help!" screamed the child. "Save me! Save me! SAVE ME!"

The Minotaur tried harder to obey the command. It could feel the fear in the child's words. The golden death was approaching faster now that the hallways were more narrow and offered less turns. They were dangerously approaching the surface world.

…And then, they ran into a dead end.

No! This cannot be!

The Minotaur tossed the child off its shoulder and pressed it against the wall. It turned and lowered its stance, raising its fist in one last testament of defiance.

The golden death trotted until its steps were light. She branded her steel and cautiously approached the two of them.

The Minotaur let out a feral cry of defiance. With its last breath would it defend the child of the Leviathan!

DEATH TO THE SURFACE MONSTERS!

0-0-0

Aiz Wallenstein followed the Minotaur for two reasons. One, it was a matter of professional pride. She never let a target (read: excelia) get out of her reach and she wasn't going to let this happen now. For another, she was afraid with the way it was fleeing would it start attacking the lesser experienced Adventurers.

Her fears became reality as it had picked up this little girl and taken it as a hostage. Now she had no choice but to play cautious. One wrong move and the Minotaur would crush her like a bug.

The chase came to an abrupt halt as it had nowhere left to go. It was caught in a corner. But that could either mean it would execute the girl out of outrage or continue to use her as a shield. The Minotaur was a clever creature compared to the other monsters that spawned in the Dungeon.

Instead, it had done neither. It had disregarded the girl and challenged Aiz in one last attempt to get free. Perhaps this was another part of its plan; to get past Aiz so she would be more concerned with the girl and let it escape.

She didn't, of course. She hacked it into pieces before it could take off in its charge. All she needed was one step to kick off the ground and she was upon it in an instant, crossing over the several meders in a single bound.

…Unfortunately, the blood of the Minotaur had splashed all over the poor girl. Her blue dress was in ruins. And it was such a shame. It was a really cute outfit.

"Are you alright?" Aiz asked, not knowing what else to ask in this situation.

The girl was frightened beyond words. She had to be a new Adventurer with the way she carried herself. She was stunned silent and continued to shiver and cry from the traumatizing experience. While the Minotaur was nothing compared to Aiz, it was still a Level Two monster and an entire tier above newbie Adventurers.

"I… I… I… I think so," the girl said after a few attempts. She hadn't even realized the blood of the beast was drenching her clothes and skin.

Aiz wasn't sure what else to do in this situation. Normally, the smart thing to do would to ask herself what she would do. But Tiona and Riveria both told her to do the exact opposite. Something about it being too inhumane.

She didn't understand what they meant. And because of this was she conflicted on what to do. She ended up lowering her gaze while mentally berating herself over this.

But… upon her eyes glancing from the girl's face and moving towards the floor… she noticed something off. By the position she had been forced onto, her legs were sprawled and her skirt was pressed upwards. It gave Aiz a view of the girl's underclothes. Striped panties; a little flashy but nothing too distracting.

However… what made her blink was the odd shape the panties took. Rather, what they were hiding.

Realization donned on her like a bolt of lightning from the heavens.

"You're a boy," she said in a flat tone.

In fairness, it was her normal tone. They always said it was too crass or too blunt. But she had yet to figure out how to say anything in a different tone. It was always either too flat or less flat. She had yet to learn to command her voice to sound as expressive as someone's like Tiona's or even her patron goddess, Loki.

She meant it to be nothing more than an observation. And her words were genuinely surprising and… uprising. She felt something stir up within herself.

She no longer saw this person as a girl but now as a boy. A boy who was dressed in girl's garments.

Her cheeks flushed as something… warm swept through her. It came so abruptly it felt like she was going to get knocked off her feet.

She had never seen something so… cute before.

The boy didn't take it in the same regard. His complexion paled. His eyes squinted as his body shook. He broke out in a new wave of sobbing.

And then he dashed out of the hallway and nearly knocking her over in his haste to get away.

Aiz wanted to get him to stop. She wanted to learn more about this boy! She wanted to know why he was dressed like a girl and if he could get her to say a few things! She was so intrigued by him!

But she couldn't. All she could do was lift one hand towards his direction while the command to get him to stop fell short. He was already out of earshot before she knew it.

She lowered her hand and puffed her cheeks in utter disappointment.

What was this boy's name…? She had to know.

0-0-0

"How many do we have left?" one of the generals commanded. "We need a headcount."

"Sir! We have two legions with five and three squadrons each," one Supporter answered immediately. "We've lost three hundred and ninety since the raid began. We have only two hundred and fifty remaining. Twenty of them are Level 5 while you and the commander are Level 6."

The general cursed and slammed a fist against the wall. "That damn Sitri bastard! He took our best men in that last fight!"

"This can still work," said the commander. "Alert the troops. We continue our march. Our goal is around the corner! In the name of the Thor Familia, we will vanquish the Leviathan where Zeus had failed!"

The Supporter saluted and went to relay the message.

"This will work," the commander said to the last of his two generals. The second had remained silent as his entire legion was wiped out. "We have elves from the forest and sorcerers and shamans from the Oriental islands. We have five Cruzzo weapons still at our disposal. All we need to do is maintain morality and victory can still be ours. Are you with me?"

"I swore myself to you, my liege," the first general answered without hesitation.

"…To death," responded the second as he saluted.

The commander nodded with both sympathy and relief to his childhood friends. They had come here to Orario not seeking glory but relief for their village. They had dreams of saving their village from Ares and had been able to amass an army to challenge the war god.

Now they would take the head of the Leviathan and make their names known throughout the entire world. Ares would never again dare to challenge them after they made walls out of the carcass of the Mother of Sin.

Half a day later, with their troops rested and their weapons mended, the Thor Familia ventured deeper into the Dungeon. Monsters appeared in equal power to Monster Rexes as grunts. But they were quickly dealt with. They marched further with minimal casualties.

Finally, they managed to make their way to the gates of the Leviathan's castle. They sieged it, battled more of its guardians, and made its way to the doorstep of its throne room.

"This is it men!" the commander raised his holy sword. It shimmered with the divine lightning blessed by his patron god. "To victory! To glory! To Valhalla!"

A chorus of screams and bellows was his answer. They blew open the doors and flooded the throne. They spread out into formation. The tanks in the front, the ballistics and damagers behind them, and the healers in the far back. The commander and his generals took the very front with their immaculate weapons drawn.

…But something was wrong.

The throne was empty.

At the center of the throne, which was really nothing more than a black pit that seemed to reach as far out as the depths as Hellheim, was a single spotlight. It shone down to a small wooden post with a slip of paper nailed to the front of it.

One of the generals hesitated to approach with a few of his bodyguards at his flank. He took it… and froze. He stared long at it. It wasn't until the commander called for him did he come back to the land of the living. He rushed back to hand it to the commander.

The note read:

Levia-tan is out at the moment! Sorry for the inconvenience!

The commander didn't know how to take it. The Leviathan… was gone? How could this be? Where did it go? How could it just leave?! Were the legends wrong; did Zeus actually succeed in slaying the beast and falsify his testimony?

Regardless, the Leviathan wasn't here.

"…We're finished," the commander said as realization donned on him.

Oh how he had put everything into this quest. To slay the Leviathan! Not only would they be known in legend throughout all of history, but the rewards would have been astronomical! The drop items he would have received from the Leviathan plus the bounty from the Guild would have rewarded the Thor Familia with enough money to live as kings!

Now… they were in heavy debt. They had taken several loans on the promise they were to slay the Leviathan. Many had believed in them, such as a few large name familia like the Hephaestus Familia. Weapons and armors that would be recorded in legend had been fabricated for each and every one of his soldiers. Adventurers and mercenaries from other familia had joined in his quest with the promise of being paid a hefty sum as well as being a part of history.

They had spent two years trying to reach this deep into the Dungeon! Some of the men left with pregnant lovers!

And now, they had no means to repay that debt. It didn't matter on how much spare change they had picked up on their quest here.

Even the Sitri Demon, the lieutenant of the Leviathan and the last boss they had fought, wouldn't be able to cover all of their expenses.

Thor Familia was doomed to collapse.

"Where have you fled to, LEVIATHAN?!" cried the commander in outrage.

As if responding to his outcry, the Dungeon began to rumble. The darkness of the throne room began to wane as though the shadows were living constructs who desired to flee from a greater threat.

Cold sweat flashed through the commander and his men as he felt impending doom.

Was this the Leviathan who had come to answer his call?

No. It wasn't.

A great red dragon appeared out of nowhere. It simply appeared from the walls of the Dungeon as though it had swam through its foundations in a fluid current.

"The Apocalypse Dragon!" several of his soldiers cried out in fear.

These men hadn't been afraid of the Leviathan. But no Adventurer could be afraid of the greatest beast who swam through the Dungeon.

It was a random monster, one who always appeared in any floor. It came wherever it pleased and without warning. There was no way to find it. There was no way to prepare for it. Even the greatest of Adventurers fell to it when it arrived.

Thor Familia was no exception.

Even they, who had been in battle formation, stood no chance as the great dragon wiped out two-thirds of their forces by simply passing by.

"Thor… forgive me…" the commander whispered as he drew upon his last breath.

The Apocalypse Dragon kept flying until it sank into the walls opposite of where it had come from. It had been completely ignorant of the men it had wiped out in its travels. Nor had it cared even if it could notice their screams.

In a matter of seconds was the throne of the Leviathan silent.