I love time travel the most!

"what?!"

Hestia instinctively hugged Bell.

The powerful attacker frightened her, and she was also worried that Bell, whom she cared about, would get hurt.

Seeing that the two were afraid, the five people above seemed quite satisfied.

The cat-people continued their threat, clearly annoyed: "This is a warning! If you dare to interfere with that person's flowers, we will kill you!"

Then, with a shout of "Retreat!", the five disappeared into the night.

Swordswoman Ais had no intention of rashly pursuing them, but even after they disappeared from sight, she still did not put down her weapons until Kobayashi nodded to her, signaling that the enemy had gone far away, and she finally breathed a sigh of relief.

She still had the strength to fight the cat people, but once the five of them swarmed her, she wouldn't be able to protect the people behind her.

"Are you injured?"

"No, no."

The attack was clearly targeting her, as if they were deliberately avoiding Belle; aside from their tense expressions, the three of them acted like outsiders.

"Who exactly are those people? Why did they suddenly attack us..."

Bell asked, somewhat uneasy.

Even though he appeared calm and composed at first glance, it was still clear that he was trying to hide his emotions.

The Fiora said calmly, "Night raids are quite common."

"Does it happen often?!"

"Hmm, but it's quite unusual for them to make a move outside the dungeon."

"how come……"

Bell couldn't hold back after hearing that.

These intense battles happen every night; if he were to encounter one, he would be dead long ago!

But there's no need to worry about that.

Bell is not currently involved in the power struggles between the clan factions, so he will not be attacked.

Sword Maiden Ais still believed that she was the enemy's target.

And his mind was racing.

Did they come specifically to attack me when I left my clan alone?

Looking back at the attackers' warnings, it seems that she unknowingly angered that faction during the operation, causing Kobayashi and Bell to be caught in the crossfire.

Hestia asked, "Any suspects involved in your attack, Miss Warren?"

"...There are too many, so I can't think of any examples."

The airheaded swordswoman shook her head, giving an ambiguous answer.

The Loki Familia is the largest faction in the city, and in the process of growing into the largest faction, it is bound to make many enemies.

"You guys really know how to cause trouble."

Hestia was dumbfounded and made a sarcastic remark.

As Sword Maiden Ais spoke to her, she pondered the attacker's actions. Suddenly, she noticed that Kobayashi hadn't spoken a word since earlier and was now standing motionless, which piqued her curiosity.

"Xiaolin, what's wrong?"

"...No, it's nothing."

The sudden shout made Kobayashi, who was looking up, twitch his shoulders. He looked away, shook his head calmly, and quickly caught up.

It looks ordinary, but something just feels off.

Sword Maiden Ais instinctively turned her gaze to the spot where Kobayashi had just been looking up.

The very center of the labyrinth city.

The towering white tower, standing in the moonlight, overlooked her and Kobayashi.

Could it be...!

The cat-people, whose strength was on par with hers, and the four distinctive dwarves reminded her of the encounter between the goddess of beauty and Loki in the deserted tavern.

Putting all the conditions together, the answer seems to be right in front of us.

Sigrún has taught at the Iceland University of the Arts as a part-time lecturer since and was Dean of the Department of Fine Art from -. In – she held a research position at Reykjavík Art Museum focusing on the role of women in Icelandic art. She studied fine art at the Icelandic College of Arts and Crafts and at Pratt Institute, New York, and holds BA and MA degrees in art history and philosophy from the University of Iceland. Sigrún lives and works in Iceland.

The mighty Ota appeared in the middle level.

Although his purpose is unknown, he is indeed currently in the middle management.

This is intelligence obtained by the Loki Familia.

In order to ensure the smooth progress of the clan expedition, all uncertainties must be eliminated as soon as possible, especially since these uncertainties come from that particular clan.

"At first we thought he wouldn't affect our clan's expedition, but now it seems the situation is a little different."

Riveria said with some concern.

When Sword Princess Ais returned to her Familia and recounted her experience of being attacked and her suspicion that Freya's Familia's target was Kobayashi, she obtained this strange information.

"Could it be that the recent events are all related to the Freya Familia?"

Whether it was a strange person or an attack, the mastermind behind it has never been identified.

At this moment, the seemingly unrelated Freya Familia suddenly intervened, inevitably making her suspicious.

"Probably not, that's Freya."

Loki gave a clear answer.

Based on her understanding of that goddess of beauty obsessed with souls, she was probably doing this for some other purpose, and it had nothing to do with the strange man or the expedition.

If that's the case, then it's only Kobayashi.

Recalling his conversation with Freya when Loki met her earlier, and Kobayashi's strange behavior just now.

"Ais...Ais!"

"What's wrong."

"What are you daydreaming about? I'm asking if you're ready for the expedition? You're already familiar with the power of LV6, aren't you?"

"Ah."

Sword Maiden Ais nodded, concealing her inner suspicions.

the other side.

Dungeon level 9.

Ota is giving the minotaur in front of him special training.

Unlike a regular LV2 Minotaur, this one is clearly a level above in both presence and strength.

Nevertheless, he was still unhappy.

Too weak, too weak, too weak!

It falls far short of his goal.

Even though his feet were off the ground and he was being held in the passageway by bull horns, his expression was still one of utter disgust.

A mere minotaur can't hurt him at all.

What angered Ota the most was that this Minotaur still retained the habits of a wild beast.

Even if you give it weapons, even if you teach it how to fight, once it is in danger, the minotaur will subconsciously follow its instincts and use its body to fight.

This won't work!

Monsters have their limits; even the weak can be easily defeated once their weaknesses are exposed.

(Just like when Kobayashi defeated the Headless Horseman)

Therefore, bad habits must be eliminated.

After a brief moment of contemplation, Ota grabbed the Minotaur's horn and, without giving it a chance to break free, unleashed a terrifying force from his wrist, snapping off its prized horn with a crack.

"Hooohoohoohoohoohoohoohoohoo!!!!"

The Minotaur roared in pain, and at the same time, fear once again clouded its heart.

It wanted to escape!

Escape this place, escape this dangerous man.

However, Ota simply watched it indifferently and threw the large sword that had fallen to the side over to it.

"pick it up."

"……Roar."

Even the Minotaur, which wasn't very intelligent, could intuitively tell that this man would never let it go easily.

Unless the goal is achieved.

Filled with anger, Minotaur picked up the greatsword from the ground.

Just as they were about to clash again, a slapping sound suddenly came from the other side of the passageway.

clap clap-

Both the man and the beast looked in that direction.

"Such excellent training. But how come I didn't know that Mr. Ota went from being an adventurer to a trainer? Or are you leaving the Freya Familia to join the Ganesha Familia?"

His flippant tone carried a hint of sarcasm.

A figure emerged from the shadows of the passage; his face could be seen through the magic stone.

"Xiao Lin."

Otta coldly called out his name and asked, "How did you end up here?"

"This is my problem," Kobayashi shrugged. "It's strange that a Level 7 expert would appear in the middle level. If others knew, they would definitely think something was wrong."

Ota remained silent and did not answer.