The raging wind drove the sword dance onward as Alicia stared at the gaping hole blasted open by the Valgang Dragon and began weaving her freezing Magic.
"Freeze, binding chains of winter!"
A mournful song rang out, and blue and white orbs of light appeared in the air.
Born in the White Ice Forest Fanache, Alicia chanted a Magic she knew well. This time, however, casting it filled her with pain.
The more decisive the young man's commands became, the firmer his gaze was, the more that unbearably tragic reality tore at Alicia's heart.
"Hail Dust!!"
The chant was completed, and countless spheres of light rained down along countless paths.
Bitter cold spread outward, like the freezing hail that ravaged the northern reaches of the continent.
Before the wide-area attack Magic, the incoming Wyverns and Viola monsters were all buried beneath frost.
But it was far too weak.
It could not freeze the whole passage. It could not even wipe out the Wyverns beating their wings through the air.
"?!"
As Alicia wept, cursing her own powerlessness, a clear, delicate voice rang out beside her.
"Wynn Fimbulvetr!"
Riveria forced herself to her feet and chanted frost Magic.
Three blizzards descended. The passage entrances on both sides, and even the huge hollow at the center of the room, were washed in the blue-white glow of ice crystals.
Riveria had not heard Bell's words, but the moment she saw Alicia's Magic, she understood what the boy intended.
Now that the threat of the Valgang Dragon was gone, they had to face Juggernaut's sudden attack here.
Even tortured by pain, Bell Cranel's thoughts remained perfectly clear.
Before Juggernaut's ambush, Bell and the others had learned from Ryuu the general conditions behind the Calamity's birth. They had been wary of the monster all along, yet they still had not managed to respond in time.
Because of the Dungeon's malice, the party had to deal with the other monsters and could not pull their formation together. And with threats coming from every direction, the moment they kept moving, they would give Juggernaut an opening.
The Calamity's speed was beyond imagination.
Running was pointless.
The moment they turned their backs on Juggernaut, someone would surely die beneath its claws in the next strike.
Even if they clung to hope and waited for rescue, this party's chance of survival was vanishingly small.
The boy knew this was where they had to settle the fight. That was why he had told Alicia to seal both sides of the passage.
"Bell…"
Riveria stared at the boy's back, a fragile murmur slipping from her lips.
She did not know what to say.
An apology?
A few words could never express the guilt in her heart.
She was a Level 6 first-tier Adventurer, yet she had ended up being protected by the boy. If the wound had been one that could heal, Riveria might have told herself to think about everything else once the crisis had passed.
But the reality was that Bell Cranel had lost his right arm.
For a boy who longed to become a hero, how cruel must that be?
Bell was intelligent. He must have known that with his Status, he could not block an attack that swift. The moment he sensed Juggernaut coming, Bell could have stayed out of it and protected himself.
But he did not.
In that brief instant, the boy stepped forward without hesitation and saved Riveria's life.
Was that the resolve of someone who dreamed of becoming a hero, or was it because of the affection growing between them?
Riveria did not know the answer. The only thing that was clear was that she had dragged the boy down.
What affection had given birth to was an endless, desolate nightmare.
When her dear friend Aina had been bedridden with illness and forced to abandon their journey, Riveria had felt something similar.
But this time, the grief cut far deeper.
Riveria looked at the boy's back, at the place where his right arm was gone, and felt as if a great hole had opened in her own heart.
Even [Nine Hell]'s experience could not fill it.
That young, ignorant elf princess had fallen into a dark hole.
One floor.
Two floors…
The vast hollow seemed to have no end. It clouded her thoughts and swallowed everything.
The elf princess wanted to cry, but no sound would come out.
Lefiya had already rushed over and was sobbing uncontrollably. Tiny tears also drifted around Ryuu and Alicia.
Riveria could not cry.
Ais was fighting. Bell was giving orders.
Riveria absolutely could not show weakness now.
Her heart screamed.
Her body trembled.
Only her tears refused to fall.
Riveria was not foolish. It was precisely because she was rational that she was tormented by the nobility of an Elf.
When Juggernaut attacked, the boy reacted at once, but there was very little he could do.
Either protect himself, or risk himself to save her.
In Riveria's eyes, those two choices sat on opposite ends of a scale, and the boy had chosen the latter.
But what about her?
The question was not what Riveria would have done if their positions were reversed. It was whether she could accept the reality before her.
The answer, of course, was no. Riveria could not bear the sight of the boy losing his arm for her sake.
But what about the other side?
The boy survived by a hair's breadth, while Riveria herself died on the spot.
Could she accept that?
Riveria remembered her dearest friend, cherished her companions, and most importantly, she loved Bell.
She could not cut away any of those bonds.
There were still so many things she had to do.
Could she accept her own death?
For the noble emerald Elf, the answer to that question was also no.
If she pursued that thought any further, then in Riveria's mind, it seemed to mean she valued her own life more than the boy's arm.
It was an unbearably twisted way to think. After all, Juggernaut was the source of all this despair.
Yet noble, kind Riveria had fallen into that chaotic spiral of thought.
Despicable.
Selfish.
Those accusations bloomed inside her heart.
In Riveria's eyes, it was as if she herself were the one who had caused this tragedy.
The taste of blood spread across the corner of her mouth, and her breathing grew harsher and harsher.
Even though Riveria had relied on muscle memory to chant the frost Magic with practiced ease, the eyes she turned toward the boy were filled with turmoil.
Bell saw through it.
If he had been in her place, he would surely have been drowned by endless guilt too.
He strode forward and held out his left hand.
"Help me take off this ring."
Bell placed the pale blue magical item before Riveria.
"…"
Tears shimmered in Riveria's eyes.
She obeyed Bell and removed the matching ring.
"Make sure you keep it safe. I plan to wear it for the rest of my life. As long as the ring is fine, that's enough. After all, I love her so much it's hopeless."
Bell reached out with his left hand and, from a blind spot in her vision, caught a single tear from the emerald Elf.
He did not stop. He simply continued forward as naturally as could be, grabbing the red scarf draped behind Riveria.
"Mm…"
Riveria's reply trembled slightly.
The next second, the bell rang.