Chapter 33 - Chapter 26 - Alfia

Author: so here's the chapter for Yuuya rescuing Alfia, as well as the official mark of her entrance to the series.

As for the next chapter, we would explore her side in the crystal. Like how she developed her trauma and etc. For now, enjoy this one.

∆∆∆∆

The morning sun cut through the gaps of the window blinds, throwing a sharp, golden beam across the floorboards of the bedroom.

Yuuya bolted upright in his bed. His chest heaved violently, his lungs gasping for air as if he had just broken through the surface of a deep, suffocating ocean. Strands of dark hair clung to his sweat drenched forehead, and his heart hammered a frantic, erratic rhythm against his ribs.

He clutched his head, his fingers digging deep into his scalp as a massive, tidal wave of memories crashed through his mind.

The terrifying descent through the sea of fire. The brutal impact on the obsidian stone. The desperate run through the jaws of level seven, perhaps higher, monsters. And finally, the pale, flawless crystal sealing a silver haired mage away into the absolute dark.

It felt so raw. It felt like it had happened only a fraction of a second ago.

His hands shook as he looked down at them. They were normal. No translucent skin, no flickering spectral light, no raw spiritual needles stitching through his soul.

He was back in his current body, in his own bed within the Hestia Familia home.

'System...' Yuuya called out internally, his mental voice trembling, carrying a desperate, raw edge. 'Are you there?'

[I am here, Yuuya.]

The voice that echoed in his mind was no longer the cold, mechanical construct that had issued the warnings in the deep floors.

It was human again. It now has his voice again. It carried a soft, distinct weight, grounding him back to reality.

Yuuya didn't hesitate. He asked the one question that had been clawing at the walls of his chest since the moment his eyes snapped open.

It was a question he had asked more than once during his entire time in Orario, always seeking a different answer, always praying for a loophole.

'The time...' Yuuya whispered, his grip tightening on his bedsheets. 'The time here... does it flow at the exact same rate as Earth? Tell me.'

The silence that followed within his mind lasted for only a heartbeat, but to Yuuya, it felt like an eternity.

[Yes, Yuuya. It flows at the exact same rate. Seven years have passed on Earth, just as they have passed here.]

The answer hit Yuuya like a physical blow to the solar plexus. The air rushed out of his lungs, and he slowly slumped backward against the headboard, his eyes wide and completely vacant as he stared at the ceiling.

Seven years.

All this time, through every trial, every monster, and every single day spent navigating this foreign world, his main motivation had been a single pillar: return to Earth.

Return to the life he had left behind. Return to Akari. He had clung to that hope like a man dying of thirst, using her memory as means to keep his humanity intact.

But now, that pillar didn't just crack—it completely shattered into dust.

Seven years was a lifetime. Back on Earth, the world hadn't frozen in place waiting for a ghost to return from a forgotten battlefield.

Seven years meant the official notices had long been processed. Seven years meant his funeral had passed, the tears had dried, and the people he loved had been forced to pick up the pieces of their broken lives.

Akari. The woman he had held close before marching off to war. The woman he had promised, with absolute certainty, that he would survive and return to.

She had lived seven entire years believing he was dead. The thought of it made a sickening, icy knot form in the center of his stomach.

Had she wept until she couldn't breathe? Had she spent years staring at the door, waiting for a knock that would never come? And worse... had she finally managed to heal? Had she found someone else to hold her hand, someone else to look into those brilliant emerald eyes and give her the future Yuuya had stolen away?

The sheer reality of it was an agonizing, suffocating weight. And now? He's just a broken hearted man.

Yuuya pulled his knees up to his chest, burying his face in his arms. He didn't move. He didn't get out of bed.

An hour passed. Then two.

From outside his bedroom door, the quiet morning was broken by the sound of light, hurried footsteps.

A soft, familiar knock rattled the wood.

"Yuuya?" Hestia's voice called out from the hallway, sounding bright but laced with a hint of concern. "Are you awake in there? Bell and the others are already getting ready for the day. You're usually up by now!"

Yuuya didn't answer. He remained completely motionless, a silent statue shrouded in the shadows of his room.

"Yuuya?" Hestia called out again, her tone shifting, a bit more worried as she jiggled the doorknob, finding it locked from the inside. "Is everything okay? If you're feeling unwell, just tell me!"

Still, silence.

Footsteps shuffled outside. Soon, other voices joined—Bell's polite, anxious questioning, Lili's sharp, assessing tone—all of them hovering outside his sanctuary, calling his name, asking if he needed anything.

Yuuya ignored them all. He couldn't face them. He couldn't look at Bell's pure, innocent face while his own mind was a twisted, chaotic warzone of grief and denial. He just wanted the world to stop. He wanted the ticking of the clock to freeze.

Eventually, realizing he wasn't going to open the door, the muffled voices faded away, their footsteps retreating down the corridor with a heavy, lingering reluctance.

The sun crawled slowly across the sky. The golden beam of morning shifted into the harsh, bright glare of noon, throwing the patterns of the window frame against the far wall.

Then, just as slowly, the light began to bleed into a deep, bruised orange as evening approached.

Yuuya stayed exactly where he was. He didn't eat. He didn't drink. He just existed in a state of absolute, paralyzed shock.

He was in complete denial, his mind desperately trying to construct a different narrative, a way out, a secret trick of the System that would mean he hadn't actually lost seven years of his life. But every logic arc led right back to the same, devastating truth.

The shadows in the room lengthened until the orange light died out completely, plunging the bedroom into a cold, heavy darkness.

The only illumination came from the faint, silver glow of the moon filtering through the blinds.

The System's voice broke the silence, echoing softly, carrying a gentle, almost sorrowful sound.

[Yuuya...]

Yuuya didn't reply. He didn't even shift his position.

[I know... I know I don't truly have the right to say these words to you.] the System murmured, it's voice—the one that Yuuya have which the system decided to use as it's own, is filled with warmth in its tone a stark contrast to the absolute quiet of the room. [I am an entity bound to your soul, a construct designed to guide you. But seeing you like this... it breaks something within our connection. I want you to know that it is fine, Yuuya. It is completely fine for you to move on.]

Yuuya's shoulders trembled slightly beneath his clothes, but he remained silent.

[Sure, you might call it cruel.] The System continued softly. [You might tell me that I don't understand how human emotions work, or that I don't know Akari—that she might actually still be waiting for you, clinging to a shadow for seven long years. And maybe she is. But Yuuya... do not be afraid to let go.]

A faint, bitter breath escaped Yuuya's lips, buried against his knees.

[I know that saying that is infinitely easier said than done.] the System comforted, its voice dropping into a low, empathetic whisper. [You have been with her for all of your life. She was your north star, your home. But think about it, Yuuya. By allowing yourself to let go of the past, by choosing to stop anchoring your soul to a promise that time has already altered... you aren't just allowing yourself to move forward. You are allowing Akari to move forward, too. You are freeing both of your souls from a ghost. In a bittersweet way—it's mercy, not cruelty.]

The words cut deep, tearing through the defenses of his grief, but the emotional shock was simply too massive.

The pain of the realization was a living, breathing entity in his chest, refusing to let him breathe, refusing to let him accept the finality of it.

The hours bled into the deep center of the night. The house around him grew entirely still, the distant creaks of the wooden frame the only signs of life.

Yuuya remained a silent, grieving silhouette on the bed, staring blankly into the dark corner of the room, his mind still trapped in the suffocating loop of his past life.

Suddenly, the System's voice returned. This time, the soft comfort was gone, replaced by a sharp, heavy precision that sliced through his wall of self pity.

[Yuuya, take as much time as you need. But you must remember—personally, I don't want to say this to you right now. I truly don't.] the System said, the words echoing with a solemn weight. [But I have a responsibility to remind you of the reality you created. Remember, Yuuya... Alfia is awake.]

Yuuya's eyes widened slightly in the dark.

[The stasis matrix stopped her illness, and it stopped her physical clock.] the System reminded him, each word deliberate and piercing. [But her mind remains completely untouched. Right now, far beneath your feet, in the deepest, most uncharted depths of the Labyrinth... she is sitting in absolute silence. She cannot move. She cannot speak. Every single second she spends trapped inside that crystal, the more her mind edges closer to the absolute brink of collapse. She is enduring a living purgatory.]

Yuuya's breath caught in his throat.

[So tell me, Yuuya.] the System pressed, forcing him to confront the scales of his choice. [Will you continue to cling to your past life? Will you stay locked in this room, mourning a sliver of a chance that Akari is still waiting for you on the other side of a dimensional boundary? Or will you stand up, look at the world in front of you, and fulfill the seven year promise you made to the woman who trusted you with her entire life?]

Yuuya didn't answer. He closed his eyes tightly as a fresh wave of suffocating silence filled the room.

The question hung in the empty air like a heavy blade, demanding a price he wasn't sure he was strong enough to pay.

He didn't say a word for the rest of the night, listening only to the frantic, panicked rhythm of his own thoughts as the moon slowly traced its path across the sky.

Eventually, the deep black of the night began to soften. A faint, pale light crept over the horizon, slowly dissolving the shadows of the bedroom until the first, true rays of a new morning broke through the window blinds.

Yuuya slowly lowered his legs over the edge of the bed. His movements were stiff, his muscles aching from a full day of absolute immobility.

He stood up, his boots making a faint, solid creak against the floorboards.

He walked over to the window, pulling the blinds back to look out at the city of Orario as it began to wake up. The distant smoke from kitchen fires began to rise, and the faint, ambient hum of citizens and adventurers starting their day drifted up to his ears.

He took a long, deep, and steady breath, the cold morning air clearing the last remnants of the fog in his mind.

"You already know the answer, don't you?" Yuuya said aloud, his voice raw, quiet, but carrying a sudden, crystalline focus that hadn't been there before.

Within his mind, the System remained completely silent, simply listening.

Reason had finally won. The emotional storm hadn't vanished—the ache for Akari and the grief for his lost years would always remain a scar on his soul—but the paralyzing denial was gone.

He was a man built on a simple, stubborn kindness, and he had made a definitive promise to a terrifying, fragile warrior who was currently counting the seconds in the dark for his sake. He couldn't let her down. He wouldn't.

His ultimate plan to return to Earth... it hadn't disappeared. The desire to find a way back across the stars was still burning within his core. But the nature of that journey had completely shifted.

He was no longer chasing a romantic reunion or trying to restart a life that time had already swept away. When he finally found a way back, it would be to settle his remaining debts. He would find his parents, look them in the eyes, and let them know that their son was alive, well, and safe. He would find closure, perhaps take a year or two of a well deserved vacation in his old world, and finally lay his own ghosts to rest.

But more than that... Yuuya was done living for the past.

He let go of the blinds, turning his back on the shadows of the room. He was going to live for the present. He was going to live for the world he was currently standing in, for the Familia that had taken him in, and for the massive, unfinished task waiting for him at the bottom of the world.

His primary objective was now set in stone. He will dive all the way down to the 70th layer of the Labyrinth. He was going to shatter that pale crystal, rescue the woman who had surrendered her fate to his hands, and bring Bell's mother figure back into the light of the sun.

Yuuya unlocked his bedroom door and stepped out into the quiet hallway. The wood felt cold beneath his boots, a stark contrast to the burning intensity that had finally settled over his mind.

As he closed the door behind him, a flutter of white parchment caught his eye. A note was pinned to the center of the wooden panel, the handwriting hastily scribbled in Hestia's distinct, energetic strokes.

He pulled the pin free and read the message.

"Yuuya, stay inside the manor today. Do not go out to the market or the dungeon. The Guild has called an emergency Denatus for this afternoon, and the Gods are demanding answers. Your sudden, unprecedented leap into the ranks of first-class adventurers has caused a massive uproar. They are openly discussing foul play and illegal modifications to your Status. You are the sole person of interest."

Yuuya crumpled the parchment in his fist, the paper crushing tightly into his palm. His immediate instinct was to reject it entirely. He wanted to run.

Every second he wasted standing in this hallway was another second Alfia spent trapped in a dark, suffocating purgatory on the 70th floor. His soul practically screamed at him to bypass the gates, leap into the Labyrinth, and start descending immediately.

But as his fingers tightened around the ruined note, reality forced his hands down. If he vanished into the dungeon without a word, the pantheon of Orario wouldn't just look for him—they would descend upon the Hestia Familia like vultures.

Simply put, he will be giving his familia new problems. And he isn't too fond of the idea.

Glancing down the dark corridor, he listened closely. The deep, steady breathing of Bell and the others echoed faintly behind their respective doors. They were still fast asleep.

Quietly, without making a sound, Yuuya turned and slipped out into the crisp, early morning air, setting his sights directly on the Guild.

The massive limestone lobby of the Guild was unusually vacant at this hour. The grand chandeliers overhead flickered with low, magical light, casting long shadows across the polished marble floor.

Behind the main counter, Eina was buried under a mountain of files, her reading glasses sliding slightly down the bridge of her nose as she aggressively rubbed her temples.

The moment the front doors creaked open, her head snapped up. When her eyes locked onto Yuuya, her expression instantly hardened into a mix of frustration and sheer exhaustion. She dropped her quill and stood up, ready to unleash a lecture.

"Yuuya! Do you have any absolute idea what kind of chaos you've—"

Eina froze. The words died in her throat.

As Yuuya approached the counter, the sheer weight of his presence seemed to alter the air in the room. He wasn't the polite, easygoing adventurer she had grown accustomed to managing.

His face was pale, dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his jaw was set in a hard line. There was a profound sense of guilt radiating from him, mixed with a cold, terrifying urgency that made her skin prickle. The raw seriousness in his posture completely derailed her anger.

"I'm going into the dungeon." Yuuya said, his voice flat, stripped of its usual warmth. "An expedition. Solo. Deep floors."

Eina's breath hitched, her hands instinctively gripping the edge of the wooden counter.

"Solo? To the deep floors? Yuuya, have you lost your mind? You can't just walk into the Labyrinth right now! The Guild has explicitly ordered your confinement until the emergency Denatus this afternoon. Every major god in Orario is assembling specifically to question your status. Your presence is mandatory!"

"I don't care." Yuuya replied, his gaze unwavering, locking onto hers with an intensity that made her step back. "I'm not here to ask for your permission, Eina. I'm giving you a courtesy heads up so the Guild doesn't claim I went missing."

Eina stared at him, her chest heaving as she tried to process the sheer defiance radiating from him. She had managed dozens of stubborn adventurers, but the look in Yuuya's eyes told her that no chains would be enough to hold him back today.

Seeing absolutely no way to convince him otherwise, she let out a long, defeated sigh, her shoulders slumping as she reached for a fresh logging sheet.

"Fine." she whispered, her voice trembling slightly as she dipped her quill into the inkwell. "If you are going to force your way through, I can't physically stop a first-class adventurer. But you have to at least tell me what floor you are targeting. I need a definitive number."

Yuuya blinked, a flicker of genuine surprise breaking through his stoic expression.

"Why? Since when does the Guild care about the specific floor for a solo run? You never demand that from lower level adventurers."

Eina looked up from her paperwork, her expression intensely grave.

"Because you aren't a lower level adventurer anymore, Yuuya. You are a first-class asset. There are fewer than a fifty—last I check there's only around forty—of you in the entire city of Orario, and that's accounting the level 5's. If we're only talking about level 6's, then the number is even lower. If a first-class adventurer goes missing or dies in the deep floors without a trace, it drastically shifts the balance of power and threatens the stability of the entire city. Protocol mandates that the Guild tracks your exact coordinates so an emergency dive team can be deployed if your beacon goes dark."

Yuuya stayed silent, his mind racing. He had parsed through every piece of lore and history available to him before arriving in this world, but this specific administrative rule had never been mentioned anywhere.

The real Orario possessed bureaucratic teeth and structural safety measures that the stories had completely left out. The oversight irritated him; it was a cage disguised as a safety net.

"I'm going to—" Yuuya began, intending to give a vague answer to clear the counter, but his voice was abruptly cut off.

"That will be quite enough, young man."

A sharp, authoritative voice echoed from the side arched doorway of the Guild hall. A tall, impeccably dressed deity stepped into the light. He wore the formal, high collared robes of a Guild executive, his sharp eyes glinting with an unnatural, piercing clarity.

A heavy, oppressive aura of divine insight rolled off his shoulders, instantly recognizable to anyone who had dealt with the administrative gods.

This was a deity explicitly retained by Ouranos to handle internal security—a god whose sole existence was dedicated to discerning the absolute truth and detecting lies from mortals.

The deity crossed his arms, staring down at Yuuya with a smug, patronizing smile.

"Your presence is needed in the Denatus this afternoon, young man. Your acts alone right now is enough to get you punished by the guild. So save us both the trouble and start talking."

The air in the room grew suffocatingly dense. The ticking of the grandfather clock on the wall felt like a hammer striking Yuuya's temples.

He could feel the minutes slipping away. Far below, the silence was consuming Alfia. He was done being handled. He was done being a pawn in their political games.

A loud, sharp click of the tongue cut through the deity's speech.

Eina flinched, her eyes widening in sheer shock. She had never heard Yuuya make a sound like that. The gentle, accommodating young man was entirely gone, replaced by someone who looked capable of tearing the Guild apart with his bare hands.

A dark, furious glare settled onto Yuuya's face, his eyes narrowing into slits as he looked between Eina and the smug god.

"Fine." Yuuya spat out, his voice dropping into a harsh, venomous register that vibrated through the empty lobby. "I'm going into the 70th floor. Solo. For the reason, because I damn feel like to. Happy now?"

Before either of them could utter a syllable of response, Yuuya spun sharply on his heel, his heavy boots slamming against the marble as he marched directly toward the exit.

"Yuuya, wait! The 70th floor?! That's suicide! Stop!" Eina screamed, throwing her weight over the counter, her arms outstretched in a desperate, panicked protest.

But Yuuya didn't even look back. He slammed the oak doors open, stepping out into the sunlight and leaving the Guild hall behind.

Inside, an absolute, petrified silence fell over the room. The Guild issued god stood frozen, his smug smile completely shattered into a mask of pure disbelief, while Eina collapsed back into her chair, trembling.

Around the perimeter of the lobby, dozens of early rising adventurers and staff members who had overheard the declaration stood like statues, their minds utterly broken by the impossible, suicidal claim of the boy who had just walked out.

The market streets of Orario were just beginning to bustle with morning commerce, but for Yuuya, the vibrant colors and shouting vendors were nothing more than background blur.

His footsteps were heavy, purposeful, and entirely detached from the rhythm of the city. He walked into the largest item shop in the central district, the bell above the door chiming softly.

He needs to restock his supply in case the dungeon tries something funny again.

Without a word, he began stacking high grade elixirs, potent dual recovery potions, and antitoxins onto the wooden counter. The shopkeeper, an elderly beastman, looked at the sheer volume of top tier supplies and raised an eyebrow.

"Planning a long trip, kid? This is enough high-grade stuff to fund a mid-sized Familia's expedition to the lower floors."

"Just ring it up..." Yuuya said, his voice flat. He pulled a heavy pouch of valis from his coat and dropped it onto the counter with a solid, echoing thud.

As the shopkeeper began to tally the cost, a breathless adventurer burst through the front door, panting heavily, his eyes wide with frantic energy.

"Hey! Did you hear?! Argentum Vox—the one from the Hestia Familia who just broke the leveling records—he was just at the Guild! He just told Eina Tulle and one of the executive gods that he's diving to the 70th floor! Solo!"

The shopkeeper froze, a bottle of premium mind restorative slipping from his fingers and clattering against the counter. He slowly turned his gaze from the breathless messenger to the man standing right in front of him.

The black hair, the intense, hollow look in the eyes, the massive pile of deep floor survival gear—it clicked instantly. The beastman's jaw dropped, his hands trembling as he looked at Yuuya as if he were already looking at a ghost.

Yuuya didn't say a single word. He calmly swept the purchased potions, went in an alley and put it all into his storage, turned on his heel, and walked out into the street.

Behind him, the spark had already caught fire. Within minutes, the declaration rippled through the central plaza like a shockwave. It passed from mouth to ear, from merchants to adventurers, mutating from a wild rumor into an absolute, verified nightmare.

The city of Orario, built entirely around the conquering of the unknown, had never heard a statement so profoundly arrogant—or so utterly insane.

Deep within the administrative wings of the Pantheon, the silence was suffocating.

In the main records office, towers of parchment and half-filled inkwells sat abandoned on long wooden desks.

Usually, the clerks would be frantically whispering, complaining about the sheer mountain of paperwork Yuuya's sudden, logic defying level up had dumped onto their laps. They hadn't even finished cataloging his new parameters or filing the cross departmental reports required for a new first-class adventurer.

But right now, no one was writing. No one was arguing.

A young human clerk sat at his desk, a half written document in front of him, his quill hovering in the air. A single drop of black ink fell from the tip, landing on the crisp white paper and creating a dark, spreading stain. He didn't even notice.

Next to him, a senior archivist stood frozen, holding a stack of reference binders that she had been carrying before the news reached the room.

Her grip had loosened, but her arms remained locked in place, her eyes staring blankly at the stone floor.

They weren't even despairing over the paperwork anymore. The administrative dread had been entirely swallowed by a profound, paralyzing numbness.

To the Guild, the dungeon wasn't just a monster den; it was worse than that. Every single floor down was a spike in mortality rates.

The current apex of modern achievement belonged entirely to the Loki Familia, who had poured millions of valis, decades of experience, and a number of elite Level 5 and Level 6 executives into reaching the 59th floor.

And now, a lone boy who had reached first-class status just days ago had casually declared a solo descent to the 70th floor. A territory that didn't exist on any modern map.

A place where the background ambient pressure alone could probably crush weak adventurers to death. It wasn't an expedition; it was an unsanctioned, spectacular suicide that shattered every protocol the Guild had established over the last century.

Across the city, inside the towering spires of Twilight Manor, the atmosphere was a volatile mix of disbelief and escalating fury.

In the central strategy room, the high ranking executives of the Loki Familia were gathered around a massive, intricately carved stone table.

A detailed map of the Labyrinth was laid out before them, but the parchment cut off abruptly at the 59th floor, leaving a vast, terrifying expanse of empty white paper beneath it.

"He said what?!"

Loki's screech shattered the tension in the room. The goddess of trickery slammed her clay sake cup onto the stone table, shattering it into fragments as alcohol splashed across the unmapped sections of the dungeon chart.

Her typical closed eye grin was entirely gone, replaced by a sharp, narrowed glare that burned with genuine anger.

"The 70th floor?! Solo?! Is that little Hestia brat completely out of his goddamn mind, or is he just trying to mock everything my children have bled for?!"

At the head of the table, Finn sat perfectly still. His elbows rested on the stone, his chin propped upon his interwoven fingers. His hair shadowed his eyes, but anyone who knew the Captain could see the subtle, rhythmic twitching of his right thumb.

It wasn't a twitch of excitement—it was the warning sign of a strategist whose entire perception of reality had just been violently jarred.

"A solo run to the 70th floor..." Finn murmured, his voice deadly quiet, carrying a weight that forced the rest of the room to listen. "Even if we assume his Level up granted him unprecedented power, the logistics alone make it a statistical impossibility. The terrain below the 60th floor is entirely undocumented. The only information known about the 60th floor until 65th is that it was a glacier territor, which is supposed to start at the 59th floor but changed because of the corrupted spirit. Beyond that... The spawn rates, the environment, the strength of the monsters... a single man cannot carry enough supplies to survive the journey down, let alone the journey back."

"It's an insult, is what it is!" Bete growled, slamming his fist against the wall behind him. The werewolf kicked a nearby chair, his teeth bared in a vicious, frustrated sneer. "The bastard thinks because he got a flashy level up, he's suddenly a god? We barely cleared the 59th floor! I don't care how fast he moves, the deep floors will chew him up and spit his bones out before he even smells the 60th. He's a suicidal piece of trash looking for a glamorous grave!"

(Well Yuuya is a level 8 and that's without Limit Off soooo...)

"Bete, shut your mouth." Riveria snapped, her elegant face unusually pale. The high elf stood by the window, her hands gripping her staff tightly. Her eyes were fixed on the distant silhouette of the Babel tower. "This isn't about arrogance. I saw his eyes when he crossed the plaza earlier. He wasn't looking for fame, and he wasn't looking to boast. There was a desperate, terrifying weight behind his movements. He is running toward something."

"But to the 70th floor, Riveria?" Gareth rumbled, crossing his massive arms over his chest, his thick beard twitching as he shook his head. "Even for a dwarf who values guts, that ain't guts. That's a straight up jump into a meat grinder. If he goes down there alone, there won't even be a body left for the Hestia familia to bury. The dungeon will swallow him whole."

On the other side of the table, Tiona was uncharacteristically quiet. She leaned over the map, her large eyes staring at the blank white space beneath their recorded achievements.

"The 70th floor... Isn't there like a story or a rumor...? That the deepest floor reached by the Zeus and Hera familia are actually the 71st?"

"This isn't a story, Tiona!" Tione hissed, gripping her sister's shoulder, her face twisted in a rare look of genuine dread. "The Zeus and Hera familia had Level 7s and 8s, heck even a Level 9! This is one guy! He's going to die and the Guild has to explain why they let him walk into hell!"

In the corner of the room, completely separate from the shouting, Ais stood motionless. Her hair fell over her face, obscuring her expression, but her fingers were wrapped tightly around the scabbard of Desperate. Her heart was hammering against her ribs, a strange, suffocating sensation rising in her throat.

Why?

Thequestion echoed in her mind over and over again. Why was he looking at the deepest dark of the world with that kind of expression? What did he see down there that made him disregard his own life, his Familia, and the laws of Orario itself?

She had spent her entire life chasing and aiming to be stronger so that she could save her mother and kill OEBD. But Yuuya was moving with an urgency that made her own obsession feel slow. He wasn't climbing the mountain; he was throwing himself off the cliff.

"Finn." Loki said, her voice dropping into a dangerous, gravelly tone as she leaned over the table. "What do we do? If that kid actually crosses into the deep floors, and somehow manages to return alive, the whole balance of Orario goes up in smoke."

Finn slowly raised his head, his sharp blue eyes locking onto the map of the dungeon.

"We do nothing, Loki."

"What?!" Bete yelled.

"We cannot stop him." Finn explained, his voice entirely devoid of emotion. "The Guild cannot stop him. He has already bypassed the administrative red tape by making a public declaration. If we try to physically detain a first-class adventurer who has committed no crime, we risk a civil war between Familias in the middle of the streets. He has made his choice."

Finn stood up, his small stature radiating an undeniable, heavy authority as he adjusted his gauntlets.

"We will watch the Babel gates. If he enters... we wait. But do prepare yourselves, Riveria, Gareth, and the others. If by some impossible miracle the boy breaks the rules of this world and returns from the 70th floor... the Orario we know will change forever."

(I just remembered, Alfia and Riveria have this rivalry. Alfia calling Riveria... grandma...)

∆∆∆∆

The iron gates of the Hearth Manor creaked open, but the usual warmth that greeted Yuuya upon returning home was entirely absent.

Instead, the courtyard was dead silent. The air inside the main hall was so thick with tension it felt like a physical weight, pressing down on the floorboards.

As soon as Yuuya stepped through the threshold, he found them waiting. The entire Hestia Familia was assembled in the parlor. No one was sitting.

Hestia stood at the forefront, her small hands clenched into tight fists at her sides, her face pale. Behind her, Bell looked completely breathless, his eyes wide with a terrifying mixture of confusion and fear. Lili was frantically clutching her clipboard to her chest as if it could shield her from the reality of the situation, while Welf leaned against the wall, his arms crossed and his jaw set in a hard, grim line. Mikoto and Haruhime stood slightly back, their eyes shimmering with unshed tears, their hands intertwined for comfort.

The news from the Guild had traveled faster than a gale. To say they were shocked was an understatement; they looked like they were staring at a man who had already tied a noose around his own neck.

"Big brother..." Bell was the first to speak, his voice cracking as he took a desperate step forward. "Tell me it's a mistake. The rumors in the central plaza... they're saying you told the Guild you're going to the 70th floor. Solo. That can't be true. You just leveled up! Even for you, the deep floors are—"

"It's true, Bell." Yuuya interrupted gently, his voice quiet but carrying an absolute finality that cut right through the boy's panic.

"Are you insane?!" Lili cried out, her voice rising an octave as she stepped around Bell, her eyes frantic. "The 70th floor is uncharted territory! A solo expedition down there isn't an adventure, Yuuya-sama, it's flat out suicide! Please, you have to think about this rationally!"

"Lili is right." Mikoto added, her voice trembling but with a firm resolve. "If there is a foe you must face, or a quest you must fulfill, let us go with you. We are a Familia. We do not let our own march into hell alone."

Yuuya looked at each of them, his heart aching at the sheer amount of love and worry radiating from the people who had taken him in when he had nothing.

But he couldn't let them follow. It's just that, they are not strong enough yet. The horrors of those depths, bringing Level 2s and 3s into the 70th floor would be signing their death warrants within seconds.

"I'm going alone." Yuuya said, his tone unwavering. "And I'm leaving today."

"Why?!"

Hestia's voice suddenly cut through the room, raw and commanding. She marched straight up to Yuuya, forcing him to look down into her tear filled, fiercely protective eyes. She grabbed the lapels of his coat, her fingers digging into the fabric.

"Give me a reason, Yuuya! Why are you throwing your life away like this? Three days ago, you came back after two weeks in the dungeon, wounded and barely alive! Why are you so eager to come back to that place again? Talk to me!"

Yuuya looked down at his goddess, his expression softening with a profound, quiet sadness. He couldn't tell her the truth. Not yet. How could he explain that he had used a cosmic system to alter the past, that he had left a legendary calamity sleeping in a crystal prison, and that he was going to rescue Bell's aunt? If he told them now, it would only breed madness and more questions he couldn't answer.

"I can't give you a straight answer right now, Goddess." Yuuya murmured, placing his hands gently over hers to ease her grip. "But I swear to you, once the time comes... I will tell you all the truth. Every single word of it."

Hestia searched his eyes, looking for any sign of hesitation, any flicker of doubt she could exploit to drag him back to safety. But she found nothing.

His gaze was was determined, focused, and utterly set in its course. She knew him. She knew that once Yuuya truly resolved himself to do something, the heavens themselves couldn't turn his head.

A long, heavy sigh escaped her lips. Her shoulders slumped in total defeat, and she let go of his cloth, stepping back as she wiped a stray tear from her cheek.

"Fine" Hestia whispered, her voice dropping into a dangerous, fiercely maternal growl. "You better come back alive, Yuuya. Do you hear me? Because if you die down there and leave my Familia behind, I will personally request a forced deportation back to Tenkai, and I will find your soul and scold you for all of eternity! I won't give you a single second of peace in the afterlife!"

Despite the crushing gravity of the moment, a small, faint smile tugged at the corner of Yuuya's lips.

"Understood, Goddess. I'll make sure to avoid an eternity of lecturing."

Beside the wall, Welf let out a sharp breath, vigorously scratching the back of his crimson hair as he shook his head.

"Man... even Goddess Hestia gave up. I guess there really is no stopping a stubborn bastard when he gets like this." He let out a defeated sigh, walking past Yuuya toward the forge corridor. "Hold your horses right there. Don't you dare step foot outside this mansion until I get your gear. I'm bringing your armor and the Goliath scarf. You're going to need every single scrap of defense I can provide if you're going into the deep dark."

Yuuya blinked, suddenly realizing something as he looked down at his clothes.

"Wait, Welf... where is Kurotsuki?"

Welf stopped at the doorway, glancing back over his shoulder with a deadpan expression.

"It's sitting right on the rack in your bedroom, genius. You rushed out of here so fast this morning that you completely blew past your own primary weapon. Go grab it while I get the armor."

"Right. Thanks." Yuuya said, rubbing the back of his neck, a bit embarrassed that his mental turmoil over the seven year revelation had caused him to overlook his own blade.

"Yuuya-sama." Lili stepped up, her eyes still watery but her supporter instincts kicking in. "What about your provisions? High-grade potions? Antidotes? Lili can go to the Babel market right now and—"

"There's no need, Lili." Yuuya interrupted softly, offering her a reassuring nod. With a swift mental command, he opened his hidden System interface, making a mental note of the massive stockpile he had just purchased. "I've already fully restocked. Everything is safely stored away inside my inventory."

Lili swallowed hard, nodding reluctantly. She knew about his unique storage capacity, but the thought of him descending into the abyss with only what he could carry in his spatial pocket still made her stomach twist into knots.

Yuuya then turned his gaze toward Haruhime and Mikoto, who were still standing quietly near the kitchen entrance, looking entirely heartbroken.

The heavy, sorrowful atmosphere was suffocating them, and Yuuya knew he couldn't leave his home with everyone looking like they were attending his wake. He needed to give them something to hold onto.

He stepped toward them, his posture relaxing as he intentionally forced a lighthearted, playful tone into his voice.

"Hey, Mikoto, Haruhime." Yuuya called out, offering them the warmest, most assuring smile he could muster. "Before I head out, could you two do me a massive favor and prepare a feast of real food? Pack as much of it as you can." He gave a small chuckle, shaking his head. "To be honest, I've grown completely sick and tired of standard adventurer rations. The thought of eating those dry blocks for the next few days is depressing. I need some of your home cooking to keep me going."

Haruhime sniffled, her fox ears twitching as she looked up at his bright, confident smile. The sheer certainty radiating from his face—the absolute lack of fear—acted like a soothing balm on her frayed nerves.

She wiped her eyes with her sleeve and managed a small, trembling nod.

"Y-Yes, Yuuya-sama! I will prepare the best meals I can right away!"

"We will not let you down." Mikoto said, the grim despair finally lifting from her features. "We will pack enough food to sustain a warrior's spirit!"

As the two girls hurried off into the kitchen to start cooking, Bell walked up to Yuuya's side, his hands still shaking slightly but his eyes locking onto his senior's face.

"Yuuya-bro... just promise me. Promise all of us. You'll come back."

Yuuya placed a heavy, reassuring hand on Bell's shoulder, squeezing it firmly. The boy, the nephew Alfia had abandoned her own life to protect, the child who carried the future of Orario on his shoulders.

"I promise, Bell." Yuuya said, his voice ringing with absolute clarity. "I'm coming back. And when I do, I'm bringing someone very important home with me."

∆∆∆∆

Yuuya stood alone in his bedroom, the door closed against the anxious murmurs of the household below.

On his bed lay the gear Welf had painstakingly brought up—a stark, silent assembly of steel and monster hide that would determine whether he survived the coming descent.

Piece by piece, Yuuya strapped on his armor.

(Just in case you guys forget, Yuuya's armor design is simple. He wore the same armor as Bell but instead of silver white, it's dark colored.)

Finally, he picked up the massive hide of the Goliath. Unfolded, it was large enough to serve as a thick blanket capable of wrapping a grown man from head to toe.

Yuuya meticulously folded the dark grey fabric lengthwise, looping it twice around his neck and over his shoulders. The material trailed down his front and back, snapping cleanly just a few inches above his knees.

With his physical gear equipped, Yuuya turned his attention to his logistics. He held his hand out over the heavy crates of home cooked meals Haruhime and Mikoto had prepared, alongside the rest of his survival supplies.

With a silent mental command, one by one, the massive crates vanished into nothingness, safely tucked away into his pocket dimension storage.

A faint, bittersweet smile crossed his face as he remembered the day he had first shown this ability to Lili. The poor girl had an existential crisis.

It was a secret shared only within the walls of the Hearth Mansion.

The walk down the grand staircase was met with an immediate resurgence of tension. Hestia was already waiting at the bottom, her face twisted in a mask of agonizing worry. As Yuuya walked toward the front entrance, she fell into step right beside him, her small feet hurrying to keep pace with his long, deliberate strides.

"Yuuya, please, just listen to me for one second!" Hestia pleaded, her fingers catching the edge of his folded Goliath scarf. "If you refuse to take Bell or the others, at least let me go to Loki or Freya! We can secure assistance from their adventurers. You don't have to carry this entire burden by yourself!"

Yuuya kept his eyes fixed on the door ahead, his voice calm.

"Other adventurers will only get in the way, Goddess."

"How can you say that?!" Hestia cried out, her voice cracking as she stepped in front of him, forcing him to halt just before the threshold. "I know that even though your registry says Level 6, but your accumulated stats combat power of a Level 8! I know how terrifyingly strong you are! But we are talking about the 70th floor! Raw numbers don't mean anything down there when the environment itself wants you dead!"

Yuuya looked down at his goddess. The raw panic in her eyes was genuine, born from a deep, unconditional love for her children.

He placed a gentle hand on top of her head, his expression softening.

"It's fine, Goddess." Yuuya murmured softly. "A Level 8 is exactly what it takes to survive what's waiting down there. If I bring anyone else, I'll spend more time protecting them than moving forward. Trust me. I will come back."

Hestia bit her lower lip, her eyes shimmering with tears as she slowly lowered her hands. Behind her, Bell, Lili, Welf, Mikoto, and Haruhime stood in a solemn line. No more words of protest were spoken. They had given everything they could.

"Goodbye, Yuuya. You better damn well make sure you return." Welf said, offering a tight, respectful nod.

"Come back to us, Yuuya-sama." Haruhime whispered, clutching her hands against her chest.

Yuuya gave them one last, reassuring nod, turned the handle, and stepped out into the streets of Orario.

The massive plaza surrounding the base of Babel was uncharacteristically quiet as Yuuya approached. The towering structure pierced the sky like a giant needle, but at its grand archway entrance—the literal mouth of the dungeon—a wall of figures stood waiting.

The Loki Familia had taken up position.

Loki herself leaned against a stone pillar, her eyes narrowed into sharp, calculative slits. Front and center stood Finn, his hands resting lightly on his spear, flanked by the towering figure of Gareth and the elegant, imposing presence of Riveria.

Behind them, Bete and the Hiryute twins watched with a profound curiosity.

As Yuuya's black armored silhouette entered the shadow of the archway, Riveria took a single, deliberate step forward, her eyes scanning him.

"You're truly going through with this insanity." Riveria stated, her voice echoing with a cold, maternal sternness. "Look at yourself, Yuuya. You don't even have a support pack. You carry no visible potions on your belt, no secondary rations, and no auxiliary gear. Entering the deep floors without basic logistics isn't a display of bravery. It is suicide in its purest form."

Yuuya didn't stop walking, his gaze remaining entirely detached. He had everything he needed hidden away in the void of his inventory, but he had absolutely no intention of explaining his internal system to the strongest Familia in the city.

"My logistics are taken care of, Nine Hell. It's all in here." Yuuya replied smoothly, his tone even as he tap his head with his thumb.

"And they call me the goddess of trickery." Loki said.

Finn shifted his weight, his sharp eyes locked onto Yuuya's face. The Captain's right thumb gave a subtle, frantic twitch, a visceral reaction to the sheer, oppressive aura radiating from Yuuya.

Despite the suicide claim, Yuuya didn't look like a dead man walking; he looked like a predator entering his own territory.

"Yuuya." Finn called out, his deep voice carrying across the plaza. "The Loki Familia is willing to offer you immediate assistance. No strings attached. No political debts, and no hidden clauses for the Guild. We can personally assist you down to the 50th floor, ensuring you reach the lower depths with your mind and stamina entirely intact. What do you say?"

The offer was staggering. A free, unconditional escort from one of the most powerful familia in Orario was something money couldn't buy.

Yuuya finally halted, standing just a few feet away from the golden haired Captain. He looked Finn dead in the eye, his expression completely blank.

"I appreciate the offer, Captain Finn. Truly." Yuuya said, his voice flat and devoid of any hesitation. "But I will have to decline."

Finn raised an eyebrow, his fingers tightening slightly around his spear.

"May I ask why? Pride is a dangerous companion in the dark."

Yuuya took a slow, deep breath, his eyes narrowing as he let a fraction of his true, overwhelming presence leak into the air. The sheer weight of it made the surrounding Level 6 executives subtly shift into defensive stances.

"It has nothing to do with pride." Yuuya stated bluntly, his voice carrying a cold, undeniable certainty. "Simply put, at the depths I am targeting, your people won't be an asset. They will only hold me back."

A collective, sharp intake of breath echoed through the Loki vanguard. Bete's face twisted into a feral, absolute fury, while Tione's eyes widened in sheer disbelief at the utter disrespect. Even Gareth's jaw tightened beneath his thick beard.

Finn, however, remained entirely frozen. He didn't yell. He didn't command his men to strike. He simply stared at Yuuya, his strategic mind completely reeling from the absolute, unshakeable confidence in the boy's eyes.

Yuuya wasn't insulting them; he genuinely, fundamentally believed that the elite of the Loki Familia were dead weight compared to what he was about to face.

Without waiting for a response, Yuuya stepped past Finn, his black clad shoulder brushing lightly against the Captain's cloak. He marched straight through the grand archway, the darkness of the Babel stairs swallowing his form as he descended into the abyss, leaving the strongest Familia in Orario standing in a stunned, breathless silence.

∆∆∆∆

Yuuya stood at the top of the grand spiral staircase, staring down into the damp, glowing blue abyss of the Labyrinth.

He didn't take a step forward. Instead, he closed his eyes and let out a single, slow breath, and entered the zone to activate Limit Off.

His Level 6 status, despite all still on 0's, but already boasting the raw accumulated attributes of a Level 8, surged upward. The boundaries of his mortal vessel expanded until it finally settled.

Level 11.

He is planning to run at full speed.

"Let's speed this up." Yuuya muttered.

He vanished.

He didn't run; he translated across space. To any entity residing in the upper floors, Yuuya's descent was not a visual event—it was a catastrophe. The sonic boom generated by his movement tore through the first ten floors in a matter of heartbeats.

Kobolds, Goblins, and Killer Ants didn't even have the time to turn their heads before the sheer, compressed wall of air preceding his body hit them. The kinetic displacement alone turned entire packs of monsters into instant bursts of black ash and shattered magic stones, painting the cavern walls in a continuous, violent blur of disintegrating matter.

When a massive wall of Orcs and Silver Backs completely choked a narrow corridor on the 12th floor, Yuuya didn't even slow down. He merely swept his left hand forward, his fingers open.

•Gospel.•

The sonic spell erupted from his palm, fueled by the staggering magic stat of a Level 11. The shockwave didn't just shatter the monsters; it fundamentally altered the geometry of the corridor. The blast obliterated the pack instantly, carving a perfectly smooth, circular tunnel through the bedrock for hundreds of meters ahead, turning solid stone into fine gray dust.

Yuuya shot through the newly forged vacuum without breaking a single sweat, his body moving faster than the sound of his own spell.

The air grew icy cold as he shattered the threshold of the 17th floor and entered the room of the Goliath.

The earth trembled violently as the floor boss, the Goliath, began its scripted birth. Its massive head tore through the rocky wall, its eyes flashing with malice. It unhinged its jaw, preparing to unleash its iconic, paralyzing roar to challenge the intruder.

Yuuya didn't care. He didn't even pause to look at it. To a person of his caliber, the terrifying floor boss of the 17th floor was nothing more than a minor insect blocking a doorway.

He vaulted into the air, crossing the massive chamber in a fraction of a millisecond. He appeared directly in front of the giant's half emerged chest before the sound of his entry could even register.

"Out of my way." Yuuya said, his voice a flat, terrifying whisper.

He slammed both palms flat against the monster's massive sternum.

•Gospel.•

•Gospel.•

The dual cast sonic waves detonated simultaneously. Causing the giant's entire upper torso to detonate outward in a spectacular shower of gray powder and pulverized bone. The shockwave tore straight through its core, shattering its massive magic stone into dust before the creature could even comprehend its own demise.

The gargantuan legs of the beast crumbled into dissolving ash, and Yuuya landed lightly on the far side of the room, immediately sprinting down the stairs toward the 18th floor.

He bypassed the lush, crystalline forests of the Under Resort entirely, veering hard toward the stairs that lead to the next floor down.

Not long after, a colossal, yawning abyss punctured straight through the floorboards of the 18th floor—a perfectly circular, pitch black pit that dropped into the uncharted dark.

Yuuya slid to a halt right at the crumbling edge, the howling updraft from the depths whipping his folded Goliath scarf violently around his shoulders.

He stared down into the void, a flood of quiet reflection washing over his features. Seven years ago, Alfia had stood in this exact spot.

'The dungeon never healed it.' Yuuya thought, his eyes tracking the traces of magical residue still embedded in the crystalline walls of the pit.

When he had first arrived in this world, he had been thoroughly baffled by the existence of this massive shortcut.

But that's all in the past. Now, it was his gateway.

Yuuya stood perfectly still on the precipice, his black boots hovering slightly over the drop. He tightened his grip on the scabbard of Kurotsuki, his gaze piercing through the absolute darkness below.

"Just wait a little longer, Alfia." Yuuya whispered into the howling wind, his voice steady, carrying an absolute focus. "I'm coming for you."

He leaned forward, letting gravity take him.

"For you... I shall fall into hell once more."

His last foot left the rock, and he plummeted into the dark.

The freefall was a chaotic storm of rushing air and passing stone strata. Yuuya stabilized his posture, adjusting his internal gravity to absorb an impact he calculated should have dropped him much deeper into the lower layers.

CRASH.

His boots slammed with force into the solid floor, sending a massive shockwave of displaced water, stones, and shattered blue crystals exploding fifty feet into the air.

Yuuya dropped into a low crouch, his hand punching into the earth to anchor himself as the echoes of his landing reverberated through the massive cavern.

He stood up smoothly, his mastered endurance stat completely neutralizing any damage from the drop. He scanned the roaring, torrential environment of the underground river and the massive waterfalls.

"Floor 27." Yuuya muttered, his voice dripping with intense annoyance. "The hole was supposed to go deeper than this."

[The Labyrinth is a living entity, Yuuya.] the System chimed softly in his mind. [Over the course of seven years, the dungeon shifted its layout and regenerated portions of its lower crust to isolate and seal the scar left by Alfia. Landing here was the maximum depth allowed by the structural changes.]

"Yeah, well, it clearly doesn't want me here." Yuuya said.

Just then, the waters of the Great Falls began to bubble and boil furiously. The entire aqueous basin turned a deep, sickening shade of crimson as the water violently parted.

The dungeon was panicking.

Realizing Yuuya's intentions, the Labyrinth completely broke its own fundamental rules. It entirely bypassed the standard respawn intervals, forcing its ambient mana to coalesce ahead of schedule to summon one of its monster rex.

Two massive, serpentine heads broke through the water, the Amphisbaena—the double headed dragon floor boss unleashed an ear splitting, synchronized shriek that shook the cavern walls.

Yuuya's expression didn't change, but his eyes narrowed into a look of pure venom and spite.

"You again." Yuuya whispered.

He had a deep, visceral hatred for this water snake. The last time he had fought it, the beast had given him the worst headache of his entire career, constantly exploiting the fact that he was fighting solo without a proper foothold on the water.

The dragon opened its maw, a torrential pillar of fire erupted toward him.

Yuuya didn't even bother to dodge. With a push, he blitzed forward, his boots running clean across the surface of the rushing water so fast the liquid didn't even have time to displace beneath his weight.

He bypassed the flames entirely, appearing directly between the two massive, towering necks of the dragon before the creature's brain could even process that he had moved.

He didn't swing his sword. Instead, he reached out with both hands, and wrapped his fingers around the thick, armored skin of both necks, digging his grip deep beneath the scales.

"We're playing on my turf today." Yuuya growled.

With light effort, Yuuya planted his feet onto the dragon's own submerged back, twisted his torso, and heaved.

The colossal, multi-ton double headed water snake was effortlessly ripped completely out of the deep water basin. Its massive tail flailed helplessly in the empty air as Yuuya literally threw the entire floor boss across the massive cavern.

BOOM.

The Amphisbaena crashed heavily onto the dry, rocky shore, its heavy scales shattering against the solid stone as it writhed in sudden, agonizing disorientation. A dragon built for aquatic supremacy was now lying entirely exposed and crippled on dry land.

Yuuya landed lightly right in front of the thrashing beast, his black armor gleaming under the faint light of the crystals. He slowly drew Kurotsuki, the black blade singing with a cold, predatory light.

"Let's see how much you like fighting without a foothold." Yuuya said, his voice dropping into a cruel, unyielding register as he lunged forward to begin the beatdown.

One animal cruelty later...

The broken form of the Amphisbaena lay collapsed across the jagged stone shore, its armored scales shattered and its twin heads twitching in silent, defeated agony.

Yuuya didn't waste a single fraction of a second to deliver a finishing blow or harvest its magic stone. He simply spun on his heel, his black clad silhouette cutting through the mist as he dove down the massive cavern's descending staircase, leaving the crippled floor boss behind in the roaring spray of the Great Falls.

From that moment on, Yuuya stopped fighting.

Moving with the speed that he can currently muster, he became a ghost within the machine. He ignored the lower floors entirely, bypassing the shifting labyrinths of the deep floor.

When monsters materialized from the walls Yuuya didn't even draw Kurotsuki. He altered his trajectory by centimeters, weaving through the half formed claws, jaws, and spiked tails before the creatures could even complete their spawning sequences.

The Labyrinth, a sentient entity driven by a malicious desire to slaughter invaders, tried desperately to adapt. It attempted to predict his path, triggering mass spawn monsters sections ahead of his coordinates.

But his speed is simply too fast. By the time the walls cracked open to release its spawns, Yuuya was already a floor deeper, leaving behind nothing but a vacuum of displaced air that collapsed the freshly spawned monsters into each other.

Eventually, the dungeon gave up.

Realizing the absolute futility of wasting its mana to catch a shadow, the crimson light pulsing within the stone walls faded into a dim, resentful glow.

The spawning pools went entirely dormant, leaving the deep, terrifying corridors ahead of him completely, unnaturally vacant.

Yuuya lost all track of time. In the absolute dark of the deep floors, the concept of day and night completely ceased to exist. His world shrank down to the rhythmic, thunderous beating of his own heart, the blur of dark stone flashing past his periphery, and the singular, obsessive command driving his mind forward: Faster.

Hours, miles, and entire ecosystems of the world melted away into a single, continuous sprint. He didn't tire, he didn't falter, and he didn't slow down until the surrounding architecture underwent a drastic, violent change.

The dark obsidian stone of the deep floors gave way to a suffocating, pale grey rock that seemed to absorb the very concept of light. The pressure spiked, heavy enough to crush the lungs of a lesser adventurer to dust.

He had arrived. The 70th floor.

Yuuya finally skidded to a halt, his boots carving deep, smoking grooves into the ancient stone floor. The silence here was absolute, heavy, and dead.

Suddenly, the floor beneath him trembled. The dungeon, desperate to seize one final, opportunistic chance to eliminate the threat, violently ruptured a massive section of the ceiling right above his head.

A colossal, grotesque nightmare of a monster—a multi-limbed abomination native at this floor—dropped toward him, its massive claws spread wide to tear him to pieces in a surprise ambush.

Yuuya didn't even look up. He merely extended a single, indifferent hand toward the ceiling, his palm open.

•Gospel.•

The compressed wall of sound tore through the air with a crack of thunder, hitting the descending abomination dead center. Making it completely exploded into a fine, black mist, its massive magic stone turning to dust before it could even let out a death rattle. The spell's back blast cleared the ceiling, leaving the wide corridor completely empty once more.

After that final, desperate attempt, the dungeon went completely, utterly silent. No more walls cracked. No more shadows shifted. It had accepted its defeat.

Yuuya lowered his hand, his breathing perfectly steady despite the thousands of flights of stairs he had just conquered. He began to walk. His pace was no longer a frantic; it was slow, deliberate, and quiet, his boots making a soft, rhythmic thud against the bedrock.

He closed his eyes for a brief second, activating his photographic memory. In the darkness of his mind, the silent, empty grey walls around him began to warp, shifting into a vivid, terrifying replay of the past.

Seven years ago, these exact corridors, through the lenses of his perfect recall, Yuuya could see his own past self—sprinting as a sea of roaring monsters chased after.

In his arms, he had been carrying a pale, silver haired woman who was coughing up blood, her fragile body wracked by a terminal illness, her eyes staring up at him with a mixture of awe and total surrender.

He remembered every single twist of the layout and every fracture in the stone where he had slipped.

He followed the exact path of the replay, his physical body tracing the footsteps of his memory like a man walking through a graveyard of his own making.

Finally, the wide corridor opened up into a massive, isolated sanctuary hidden away at the absolute edge of the 70th floor.

Yuuya stopped. His breath hitched in his throat, and the cold, unyielding composure he had maintained during his entire descent completely shattered.

In the center of the quiet, cavernous room stood a massive, monolithic structure of pale, flawless crystal.

It glowed with a faint, ethereal silver light, standing like a beautiful, tragic monument in the middle of hell.

And inside it... she was there.

Alfia remained completely frozen in stasis, looking exactly as she had the moment the crystal had sealed her away seven long years ago.

Her long, silver hair floated around her like a halo, suspended in the timeless matrix.

Her flawless, pale features were peaceful, her long eyelashes resting against her cheeks as if she were merely trapped in a deep, dreamless sleep.

Yuuya's eyes drifted down to her hands, which were clutched tightly against her chest.

Even through the thick, translucent layer of the crystal, he could see it clearly.

Wrapped securely within her delicate, frozen fingers was a ragged, faded piece of black fabric.

It was the scrap of cloth he had ripped from his own shirt seven years ago—a crude, desperate proof of his existence that he had forced into her hand to convince her that he was real, that he wasn't just a dying hallucination of her fading mind.

She had held onto it through the entire stasis.

She had carried his proof into the dark.

Yuuya walked forward.

Each step felt like he was lifting a mountain, his heart hammering violently against his ribs, the sound echoing loudly in his ears.

The overwhelming guilt, the pain of the lost years, and the sheer weight of his promise converged into a single, suffocating knot in his chest.

He stopped right in front of the monolith.

Slowly, hesitantly, he raised his hand flat against the cold, smooth surface of the silver crystal, right over the space where her frozen hands held his past.

"I'm back, Alfia."

Yuuya whispered, his voice cracking slightly in the dead silence of the abyss.

He leaned his forehead against the cold stone, a profound, heavy emotion bleeding into his words.

"I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry it took me so long."

(You guys have no idea how much I wanted to cut the chapter here, to let it end in a cliffhanger which would probably turn into cliffanger xD)

The pale, ethereal glow of the silver monolith flared one last time, casting long, dancing shadows across the grey walls of the 70th floor.

Deep within Yuuya's consciousness, a quiet notification chimed, confirming the unconditional termination of the stasis matrix.

A sharp, microscopic crack snapped through the silence.

In an instant, the flawless surface of the crystal webbed with thousands of brilliant, silver fractures.

The structural integrity of the barrier dissolved entirely, bursting outward in a silent cascade of shimmering, crystalline dust that rained down onto the stone floor like a shower of falling stars.

With the support of the crystal gone, Alfia's limp body immediately fell forward.

Yuuya moved instantly.

He stepped into the collapsing shards, his powerful arms catching her before her knees could even touch the cold bedrock. He pulled her flush against his chest, wrapping his arms around her fragile, slender frame.

She felt impossibly cold, like a statue carved from winter ice. But as Yuuya held her tightly, the overwhelming, radiant heat of his body began to bleed directly through his black armor, enveloping her frozen form in a protective, comforting warmth.

A sharp, ragged gasp tore from Alfia's throat. The stagnant air in her lungs unlocked, her chest heaving violently as the biological gears of her body suddenly surged back to life.

Slowly, agonizingly, her eyes fluttered open. Her heterochromatic eyes, clouded with the fog of a seven year of darkness, unfocused and blank, gradually locked onto the face hovering just inches above hers.

She didn't speak. She didn't scream. She simply stared at him, her gaze wide, unblinking, and utterly paralyzed.

The silence in the room stretched, broken only by the ragged rhythm of her shallow breathing.

Alfia's hands, still weakly clutching the faded, frayed piece of black cloth he had given her seven years ago, trembled violently.

Slowly, her stiff fingers opened, letting the old rag fall to the floor as her hands crawled upward, pressing her palms against the dark chestplate of his armor.

Her fingers hooked into the fabric beneath the plates, gripping it with a fragile, desperate strength.

"Yuuya...?"

Her voice was nothing more than a faint, raspy whisper, her vocal cords raw and unaccustomed to the friction of speech.

Her hands moved weakly across his shoulders, her fingertips tracing the edge of his jaw, the warmth of his skin sending a visible shudder through her entire body.

She was checking the pulse in his neck, feeling the heavy, steady thud of his heartbeat, desperately testing the reality of the flesh beneath her hands.

"Is it... another dream?" she murmured, her eyes swimming with a sudden, overwhelming gloss of moisture. "Are you a hallucination... come to mock me before the dark takes me?"

"I'm real, Alfia." Yuuya said, his voice dropping into a deep, fierce whisper as he tightened his grip around her waist, lifting her slightly to anchor her against him. "I'm right here. Look at me. I'm solid. I'm warm. I'm not going anywhere."

A single, hot tear spilled over the edge of her eyes, cutting a clean path through the pale dust on her cheek.

The realization hit her like a physical blow. The absolute isolation of the last seven years—the terrifying, crushing silence of a mind trapped in a timeless void where she was forced to relive the failures of the Hera Familia, the death of her sister, the child she left on the cabin, and the agonizing fear that the boy who promised to save her was nothing more than a dying hallucination—finally collapsed under the weight of his physical warmth.

The dam broke.

Alfia buried her face directly into the crook of his neck, her forehead pressing hard against his collarbone as a violent, choked sob tore from her chest.

Her entire body began to shake uncontrollably, her fingers tightening into his clothes with a terrifying, white knuckled grip born of pure panic.

She wept openly, her tears soaking rapidly into the fabric of his shirt, the raw, agonizing sounds of her weeping echoing off the silent grey walls of the abyss.

"What took you so long...?" Alfia cried out, her voice cracking into a broken, desperate wail as she clung to him like a drowning soul. "Why did you leave me in the dark?! I was so scared, Yuuya... I was so terrifyingly scared!"

Yuuya held her closer, burying his face into the soft, fragrant cascades of her silver hair, his hand gently cupping the back of her head to press her safely against his shoulder.

He could feel the weight of her trauma—the deep seated scars of a woman who had spent her entire life watching everyone she loved die or leave her behind, now forced to endure seven years of solitary confinement in the deepest throat of hell.

"I thought you forgot..." she sobbed, her breath hitching hysterically as she hid her face deeper into his neck. "I thought... I thought you died. I thought the dungeon claimed you, or that you realized I wasn't worth the burden and chose never to come back! I woke up every day in my mind... and there was only the silence! Why... why did it take so long?!"

"I'm sorry..." Yuuya whispered, his own chest tightening with a profound, agonizing guilt as he rocked her gently in his arms. He let his chin rest against her head, his voice ringing with an absolute, unshakeable certainty that cut through her panic. "I am so incredibly sorry, Alfia. It took me too long to get strong enough to reach you safely. But it's over now. The dark can't touch you anymore."

He pulled back just enough to look down into her tear streaked face, his dark eyes burning with a protective fire. He reached up, using his thumb to gently wipe away the continuous stream of tears falling down her cheeks.

"Everything is fine now." Yuuya promised, his voice low, steady, and full of an absolute authority that demanded, yet also asked for her trust. "I am here. The Hestia Familia is here. We built a home, Alfia. A real home, away from the blood and the quests. I'm not a trick made up by your mind, and I am never going to disappear from your life again. I swear it to you on my soul."

Alfia looked up at him through her blurred vision, her chest still heaving with residual, trembling breaths. The sheer certainty in his eyes—the same terrifyingly stubborn light she had seen seven years ago when he defied the laws of time to pull her from the jaws of death—finally began to quiet the roaring panic in her heart.

She slowly let her head fall back against his chest, her weak fingers still locked firmly into his armor, refusing to let go of the only warmth she had left in the world.

The ambient air of the 70th floor remained suffocatingly heavy, a dead weight that seemed to actively reject the presence of the living.

Yuuya looked down at Alfia, noting the distinct paleness of her skin and the fragile, trembling state of her limbs. Seven years of absolute stasis had preserved her life, but it had left her physical form incredibly weak.

Her muscles were entirely unconditioned; she would require extensive time and careful rehabilitation before she could ever take a single step on her own again.

"We can't stay down here." Yuuya said softly, his voice cutting through the unnatural silence of the cavern. "The atmosphere is too toxic, and you need a real bed. I'm going to carry you out."

Yuuya slowly lowered his posture, kneeling on the cold grey stone while keeping her securely propped against his knee.

"Hold on for just a second. I need to take off the armor. It's too cold and sharp for you to lean against during the trip."

As his hands drifted away from her waist to reach for the buckles of his black chestplate, the sudden loss of his direct physical contact caused Alfia's eyes to widen in a flash of sharp, visceral panic.

The remaining terrors of her seven year isolation rushed back into her mind, and she desperately lunged forward, her weak fingers frantically clawing at his wrists.

"No—don't!" Alfia gasped, her voice trembling violently as she tried to pull his hands back toward her. "Don't let go of me! Please... don't leave me back in the dark... please..."

The reaction immediately made Yuuya's chest tighten.

"Hey, look at me. I'm right here. I'm not going anywhere." Yuuya countered immediately, his tone dropping into a deeply soothing, grounded register.

He paused his movements, leaning his upper body forward so their foreheads almost touched, allowing her to feel the warmth of his breath.

"I am just putting the steel away so you can be comfortable. Two seconds, Alfia. I promise."

Alfia stared into his dark eyes, her frantic breathing gradually slowing as she reluctantly let her grip loosen.

Yuuya worked with practiced efficiency. He rapidly unbuckled all of the armor on his torso, stripping away the defensive gear until he was clad only in his soft, flexible inner shirt.

With a silent mental command, a rift materialized beside him, and the discarded armor pieces vanished cleanly into his pocket dimension storage.

Next, he reached up and unwrapped the massive Goliath scarf from around his neck. Holding it out, he shook the dark grey fabric, allowing it to unfold to its maximum, blanket-like proportions.

He carefully draped the material over Alfia's shoulders, wrapping it securely around her fragile body to shield her from the biting chill and oppressive pressure of the deep floors.

Once she was safely swaddled, Yuuya slid one powerful arm beneath her knees and the other behind her upper back. With an effortless, fluid motion, he lifted her up into a secure bridal style carry, pulling her close against his chest.

"Hold on tight." Yuuya murmured.

He turned toward the exit and began his rapid ascent.

Even while navigating the steep, ascending stone inclines, his speed allowed him to maintain a blindingly fast, completely vibration free stride.

To Alfia, it felt less like traveling through a treacherous dungeon and more like gliding seamlessly through the air.

As they shattered the threshold into the transition corridors, the peace was abruptly shattered. Three massive, grotesque abominations native to the extreme depths tore through the grey masonry ahead, their multi-jointed claws extended to intercept the intruders.

Yuuya didn't even break his stride.

With his hands completely occupied holding Alfia securely against his chest, he merely tilted his chin slightly toward the incoming threats, his eyes narrowing.

•Gospel.•

The aberrations exploded into fine black mist and shattered fragments of magic stones before they could even let out a proper battle cry, the lepell clearing a perfectly smooth path through the dust.

Alfia's head lifted slightly from his shoulder, her heterochromatic eyes widening in absolute, stunned disbelief. She had spent her entire life wielding that exact magic; she knew the specific resonance of her own spell better than anyone alive.

"That... that was my magic..." Alfia whispered, her voice raspy but sharp with an intense, demanding curiosity.

She stared up at his face, her mind reeling from the impossibility of what she had just witnessed.

"How do you possess my Satanas Verion, Yuuya? That spell belongs to me alone. It is fundamentally impossible for a stranger to replicate it."

Yuuya checked the corridor ahead before looking down at her, a lighthearted, playful smirk breaking through his serious expression.

"Well, who knows? Maybe our destiny with each other runs so incredibly deep that my soul just couldn't help but copy yours."

Alfia narrowed her eyes slightly, clearly unsatisfied with the deflective answer, though the faint color returning to her cheeks betrayed her annoyance.

"I promise I will tell you the entire story once we are safely back at the surface." Yuuya added, his smile softening into an assuring expression. "But since you want a clue right now... just remember what I told you seven years ago before you went to sleep. It has everything to do with that 'system' and the voice inside my head."

Alfia went quiet, her eyes reflecting a deep, analytical confusion as she pondered his words, her head slowly resting back down against his chest.

As they pushed higher into the 58th, the brutal reality of her psychological trauma chose that exact moment to rear its head.

From a massive, echoing chasm several corridors away, a distant, agonizing shriek of a dying deep floor monster reverberated through the stone walls—a hollow, ghostly sound that carried the pure malice of the Labyrinth.

The reaction was instantaneous. Alfia flinched violently in his arms, her entire slender frame locking up as a visible tremor ran through her spine.

Her breathing became incredibly shallow and panicked, and her fingers violently clenched into the fabric of his shirt, pulling herself so close to him that there was absolutely no space left between them.

"They're still there..." she whispered frantically, her voice dropping into a terrified, broken murmur as she buried her face entirely into his neck to shut out the environment. "The shadows... the endless screaming... they never stop coming..."

Yuuya felt a sharp pang of sorrow in his chest, realizing the sheer depth of the abandonment issues and psychological scars she was carrying from her time in the dark.

He tightened his grip around her, pressing her securely against his warmth as he accelerated his pace, his voice ringing out with an absolute, unshakeable authority that cut right through her panic.

"Let them roar, Alfia." Yuuya said fiercely, his boots shattering the stone beneath him as he shot up the grand staircase. "They can't touch you anymore. I'm right here, and I am taking you home."

Eventually, Yuuya and Alfia reached the 50th floor. As the crushing pressure of the abyss finally began to ease, the sheer, overwhelming exhaustion of her sudden awakening caught up with Alfia.

Her trembling fingers gradually loosened their grip on his shirt, her heavy silver lashes fluttering shut as a deep, comatose sleep claimed her senses.

Yuuya adjusted his hold on her, shifting her weight slightly to ensure her head rested comfortably against the crook of his shoulder.

With the immediate threat of her psychological panic subdued, he deliberately managed his pace.

Level 11 or not, while sprinting through dozens of treacherous deep floors with a passenger required awareness of his own stamina. He monitored his breathing, his strides becoming long, fluid, and rhythmically precise as he rapidly bypassed the floors.

By the time the lower levels gave way to the familiar, radiant glare of the ceiling crystals, the air grew noticeably crisper. They broke through the threshold into the sprawling, vibrant landscapes of the 18th floor.

Against his chest, Alfia stirred. A soft, fractured sigh escaped her lips as her heterochromatic eyes slowly blinked open, adjusting to the gentle, ambient light of the Under Resort.

Yuuya looked down at her, his face softening as he maintained his steady stride.

"Did you have a good sleep?"

Alfia didn't answer immediately. She simply stared up at him, her gray and green eyes cloudy with residual fatigue, before she gave a microscopic, barely perceptible nod and pressed her cheek closer to his chest.

Knowing that the central settlement of Rivira would be crawling with adventurers, and potentially scouts from the Loki Familia, Yuuya steered completely clear of the paths.

He leaped across a roaring stream and dove deep into the dense, ancient forest on the western edge of the safe zone, weaving through the trees until he found a completely isolated, quiet glen hidden behind a wall of thick, weeping flora.

He slowly lowered his posture, intending to sit against the base of a massive root and place Alfia gently onto the soft, mossy earth beside him so he could sort through their supplies.

The moment her back drifted a mere inch away from his torso, a sharp, frightened whimper caught in her throat. Her eyes snapped wide with immediate, defensive panic. Her weak hands shot upward, her fingers twisting violently back into the fabric of his shirt, anchoring herself to him with every ounce of strength her fragile body could muster.

"No..." Alfia whispered, her voice tight, her gaze darting frantically toward the shadows of the surrounding trees before locking back onto him. "Don't... don't set me down. Don't let me go."

Yuuya paused, looking at the raw, undisguised vulnerability marring the face of the once terrifying Maiden of Silence. The years of tragedy that had shaped her life, combined with the agonizing isolation of her seven years of isolation, had left her fundamentally terrified of being abandoned in the dark again.

A soft, reassuring smile graced his lips. He immediately pulled her back against his chest, wrapping his arm securely around her waist to keep her against his side.

"I won't." Yuuya murmured gently, his voice a steady, unyielding anchor in her turbulent world. "I've got you. I'm right here, Alfia. We're just going to rest for a bit."

Holding her firmly with his left arm, Yuuya extended his right hand over the mossy ground. With a silent mental command, a shimmering, translucent rift cut through the air.

From the frozen timeline of his pocket dimension storage, he pulled a wooden bowl filled with a rich, steaming vegetable and meat soup that Haruhime and Mikoto had prepared just hours prior.

Because time was entirely suspended within his inventory, the broth was still piping hot, emitting a savory, comforting aroma that immediately filled the small glen.

Alfia's eyes drifted toward the steaming bowl, her stomach releasing a faint, traitorous rumble that made her pale cheeks flush with a sudden, sharp tint of embarrassment.

"You need to eat." Yuuya said, lifting a wooden spoon from the tray. "Your body has been stagnant for seven years. You need nutrients to start rebuilding your strength."

Alfia looked at the spoon, her deeply ingrained pride as a first-class adventurer momentarily flaring to life. She didn't want to be a burden; she didn't want to look pathetic.

She slowly pried one of her trembling hands away from his shirt, her stiff fingers reaching out to grasp the handle of the spoon.

"I can... do it myself." she muttered, her jaw setting with a frail semblance of her old determination.

She managed to wrap her fingers around the wood, but the moment she tried to lift the spoon toward the bowl, her unconditioned motor skills utterly failed her.

Her wrist wobbled violently, her muscles refusing to follow the basic commands of her mind. The spoon slipped from her numb fingertips, clattering uselessly against the rim of the bowl.

Alfia froze. Her hand dropped back onto her lap, her silver bangs falling forward to completely shadow her face. A heavy, suffocating wave of frustration and shame washed over her features, her shoulders trembling slightly as she turned her head away from the food.

"I am not hungry..." she whispered coldly, her voice laced with a bitter, defensive edge meant to mask her own self-loathing. "Take it away."

Yuuya didn't pull the bowl back. He didn't mock her, and he didn't pity her. He simply picked up the fallen spoon, scooped a perfect, manageable portion of the warm broth and tender meat, and held it directly in front of her lips.

"Eat for me? Please?" Yuuya asked, his tone dropping into an incredibly soft, pleading register that completely disarmed her defenses.

Alfia glanced back at him through the curtain of her silver hair. She saw no judgment in his dark eyes—only an unconditional, patient warmth that left absolutely no room for her pride to fester.

She bit her lower lip, her resistance entirely melting away under his gaze. Slowly, hesitantly, she parted her lips.

Yuuya carefully guided the spoon forward, ensuring the soup wasn't too hot as he assisted her in taking the first bite. As the rich, savory flavors burst across her tongue, the primal needs of her starved body took over, and she swallowed it down, a faint trace of life returning to her pale complexion.

"Well, how is it?" Asked Yuuya. "Is it good?"

"It... Tastes like life..." Whispered Alfia.

Yuuya laughed softly.

"I'll let Haruhime and Mikoto know."

For the next twenty minutes, the quiet glen was filled only with the gentle rustle of leaves and the steady rhythm of their quiet interaction.

Yuuya assisted her with absolute, meticulous devotion. He blew on each spoonful to cool it perfectly, carefully guiding the food into her mouth.

When a small stray drop of broth threatened to spill down her chin, he used a clean cloth to gently, reverently wipe her mouth before she could even feel embarrassed.

When the bowl was completely empty, he conjured a flask of water from his storage.

Supporting the back of her neck with his palm to steady her head, he tilted the flask against her lips, allowing her to drink at her own pace until her thirst was entirely quenched.

Alfia let out a long, contented breath, her body finally relaxing completely against his chest, the heavy armor of her emotional walls thoroughly dismantled by his care.

The silence of the hidden glen deepened as the rustling canopy overhead filtered the crystalline light into soft, dappled shadows.

The immediate crisis had passed, the food was gone, and the adrenaline that had fueled Yuuya's sprint down to the 70th floor and back finally began to evaporate.

Even with his stats, Yuuya was still fundamentally a human being. The sheer, concentrated expenditure of mental focus, the oppressive atmospheric pressure of the deep floors, and the crushing emotional weight of the rescue finally claimed their toll.

His shoulders slumped slightly against the massive, moss covered tree root, and a heavy, bone deep weariness settled into his eyes. His eyelids grew heavy, the perimeter of his vision blurring as sleep aggressively pulled at his consciousness.

Alfia felt the subtle shift in his posture, her heterochromatic eyes tracking the sudden exhaustion lines marring his face.

"Yuuya...?"

"I need to close my eyes for a little bit..." Yuuya murmured, his voice thick with oncoming sleep.

He looked down at her, seeing the quick flash of apprehension in her gray and green eyes, and he immediately tightened his hold.

"But don't worry. I'm not letting you go. Not again."

With a slow, deliberate movement, Yuuya shifted his weight against the tree. He pulled Alfia entirely into his lap, gathering the sprawling folds of the heavy Goliath scarf and wrapping it securely around both of them like a cocoon.

He intertwined his fingers behind her waist, anchoring her fragile thighs flush against his torso and burying his chin gently into the crown of her silver hair. He locked his limbs in a way that ensured even if his mind went entirely dark, his physical frame would act as a protective vise, keeping her pinned safely against his warmth.

Yet, even as his mind began to drift, the lingering poison of his own guilt refused to let him rest cleanly.

"I'm sorry, Alfia..." Yuuya whispered into the quiet forest, his voice laced with a raw, agonizing sorrow. His fingers twitched slightly against her back. "I am so incredibly sorry. For seven years... you were awake in there, wasn't it? Your mind was conscious in that freezing dark, reliving everything, counting the seconds. And I... I was on the surface. I forgot you. The system wiped my memories, and I lived my life while you were trapped in hell. I should have fought the voice. I should have remembered you. I should have torn the dungeon apart and rescued you so much sooner."

The relentless barrage of his whispered apologies echoed softly in the glen, each word carrying the heavy burden of a man who blamed himself for the flow of time.

Alfia listened to his trembling words, her heart aching at the sheer amount of unnecessary torment he was inflicting upon himself.

She slowly pried her hand away from his shirt, her weak, unconditioned fingers crawling upward until her palm rested flat against his chest, right over the fabric covering his collarbone.

"Stop it, you absolute fool." Alfia chided softly, her voice raspy but carrying a gentle, maternal sternness that brooked no argument.

She looked up through the curtain of her silver bangs, her gaze searching his drooping eyes.

"Do you truly believe I am so blind that I would blame you for this? It is not as though you willfully turned your back on me. It was the voice in your head... the entity you call the system. The memory erasure was the penalty you paid to alter the past and keep my soul from fracturing into nothingness seven years ago. You sacrificed your own mind to purchase my survival."

She let out a soft, fluid breath, her fingers curling slightly into his shirt as she gave a weak, reassuring tug.

"You have shattered the rules of this world to drag me out of the abyss." Alfia murmured, her heterochromatic eyes softening into an expression of profound, quiet reverence. "You have fulfilled your promise. That is more than enough. Now... I command you to rest. Quiet your mind, Yuuya. That is an order."

Yuuya looked down at her one last time, her stern yet fiercely protective gaze acts as the final validation his fractured conscience needed. The guilt in his chest slowly untied itself, melting away under the absolute certainty of her forgiveness.

"Alright..." Yuuya breathed, his voice barely a whisper. "I'm right here..."

His eyes finally closed. Within seconds, his breathing elongated, turning into a deep, rhythmic, and uninterrupted cadence as he fell into a profound, restorative sleep, his arms remaining completely locked around her form.

With Yuuya finally asleep, Alfia was left alone with her thoughts in the quiet sanctuary of the forest.

For the first time in seven long years, the terrifying phantom voices of her past—Meteria's silhouette that was created by her mind blaming her for her fragile health, little Bell who was asking her why she abandoned him in the cabin, the suffocating, absolute silence of the silver crystal, and other more—did not come to claim her mind. There was no darkness here. There was only peace.

She felt entirely safe, completely insulated from the malicious whim of the Labyrinth by the unyielding fortress of his arms.

And then, there was his warmth. Yuuya radiated a comfortable heat that completely drove the residual chill of the 70th floor from her bones, wrapping her in a comfort she hadn't felt since her childhood.

But the truest salvation came from a source no ordinary person could perceive.

Alfia had always been sensitive to sound. Which is one of the reasons why she hated too much noise. Even though sometimes, even when something isn't noisy—if she decided it was noisy, then it is noisy.

Yet now, as she pressed her ear directly against Yuuya's chest, her hearing bypassed the rustle of the wind and the distant murmurs of the dungeon entirely.

Ba-thump. Ba-thump. Ba-thump.

His heartbeat rose to the forefront of her perception. It was a heavy, slow, and staggeringly powerful sound, resonating within him.

To her sensitive ears, the steady, unchanging rhythm wasn't a distraction; it was the best sound she heard in seven years.

It was a symphony of life that drowned out every lingering echo of her trauma, acting as a reminder and a reassurance that he was real, he was alive, and he was right there with her.

The heavy, rhythmic thumping of his heart became her ultimate lullaby.

Alfia's own breathing gradually synchronized with the steady pulse beneath her cheek.

Her heavy silver lashes slowly drifted shut, her body completely melting into his embrace as she allowed the radiant warmth and the music of his heartbeat to pull her down into a deep, dreamless, and genuinely peaceful sleep.

(That reminds me, Yuuya isn't 21 years old anymore. Seven years have passed so that makes him 28. While for Alfia, she was 24 when she was sealed, so that makes her 31 years old—WAIT ALFIA MERCY—

*GOT FCKING OBLITERATED BY A GOSPEL.*