That night, I told Lilinsya about the boss of the ninetieth floor.

   “Huh, so Aeshma-sama got his behind whooped.” was all she said.

   “Is it me, or you don’t care about what happened to him?” I couldn’t help but notice.

   The Marquis shrugged her shoulders.

   “I don’t. Not one bit.” she confesses. “It’s not like I was serving him, so whether he lives or dies has nothing to do with me.”

   “What if all the Demon Lord kicked it, then? What’s going to happen to Hell?” I ask curiously.

   “Eh, it’s no big deal. Some Marquis will announce that they’ll be the next Demon Lord and try to take the Ritual of Ascension. If they succeed, they’ll choose a Circle to rule over until they die, or usurped by another Daemon.”

   “What if none of them survived?”

   “Then more volunteers will come forth. The whole process will repeat itself until all the Circles are ruled over by a Demon Lord. Trust me, we’ll never run out of volunteers. Most of us are that stupid.”

   “You’re making it sound like that Ritual of Ascension is a very dangerous rite of passage.”

   “That’s because it is. Trust me when I say that getting killed while trying to pass it is an easy way out.”

   “It was that bad, huh?”

   Lilinsya hugs herself and starts trembling uncontrollably.

   “You have no idea. I still remember the one I took when I tried to get promoted from General to Marquis. I barely survived.” she whispers.

   I pat her head gently.

   “There, there. You’ve survived in the end, so you can put that painful past all behind you now.” I comfort her.

   Lilinsya swats my hand away.

   “Can you not treat me like some human child who needs to be comforted?” she demands angrily.

   “Whoops, sorry about that. Here, I’m done. Can you take a look at it?” I ask while pointing at the clone she told me to conjure up.

   “Hmm…”

   Lilinsya looks critically at the clone I made for quite a while.

   “Make it move.” she instructs.

   I wave my left hand and will my clone to do the same.

   “You’ve certainly improved. It looks just like you now, and the movements are more synchronized. Still, this is only one clone, and it doesn’t have any smell. You still have a lot of work to do.”

   Well, I’m making progress, so that’s something at least.

   “This time, try making another one while keeping this one. While you’re at it, continue to tell me more about Greek mythology.”

   “Sure. I haven’t told you about the Minotaur, have I?”

   “You mean that half-man-half-bull thing you fought down there? Nope. Not yet.”

   “Oh, good. Well, buckle up because he has a wild origin.”

   I was about to start when I noticed that Lilinsya’s mood is on the down side.

   “What’s wrong?” I ask her.

   “This dungeon is going to be gone soon, isn’t it?” she asks me quietly.

   “When we defeat its owner, that’ll most likely happen.”

   Lilinsya slumps her shoulders. “Yeah, I thought so.”

   “Why are you that disappointed?”

   “Once this place is gone, you’ll leave here too, won’t you?”

   “...Ah. Well, not immediately. I mean, I’m still not done with the real reason I came to this world. But once that’s done, yup.”

   The Daemon lets out a quiet sigh. She looks sad and dejected and nothing like her usual hyperactive self.

   “I know that this day will come sooner or later, but it’s still depressing.” she says quietly. “Then again, you’ll run out of things to tell me one day, so there’s not much of a difference.”

   I nod my head in understanding.

   “Yeah, I get how you feel. I feel sad too whenever I’m about to clear my favorite game-”

   I look at Lilinsya’s dejected face again.

   “-but I guess your situation is much worse. You’re still not going to tell me what’s up?”

   She shakes her head.

   “All right, I won’t pry anymore then. Tell you what, I’ll bring over some food after I settle my business during the Faylight Festival. While we eat, I’ll tell you about the festivals I have back at my home country.”

   That finally cheered her up.

   “As I thought, your country has festivals too, huh? All right, sold! I want you to tell me everything about them! You hear me? Everything! Boy I can’t wait!”

   “Hey hey hey, remember what I said about distance? You’re being way too close again!”

   Ah, the Faylight Festival. I’m supposed to invite Khriswell to hang out with me during that day, but that’s way easier said than done. Khriswell can’t handle crowds, and I can’t handle festivals in general since the last one I went to was the beginning of my worst trauma.

   Still, I have to try. It’s more than the fact that I have to conquer Khriswell. In the game, she finally decided to open up and become more outgoing after having lots of fun in the festival. If she doesn’t go to the festival, she’ll have difficulty speaking to other people for the rest of her life.

   I went to look for Khriswell the next morning since I figured that the sooner I invite her the better. When I got to the church, I headed straight to her room. I knocked on her door three times and waited. And waited. And waited.

   “Are you looking for someone in that room, Kotaro-san?” someone asked me from behind.

   I was so surprised by the sudden question that I jumped. When I turned around, I saw Beatrice-san standing a few feet away from me. I bowed respectfully at her.

   “Good morning, Beatrice-san.” I greet her. “I’m looking for Khriswell.”

   “Good morning. If you’re looking for Miss Trevand, she’s on kitchen duty today.”

   “Is it okay if you bring me to go see her?”

   “I do not mind one bit, but be warned that Miss Bellone is also on kitchen duty.”

   I grimaced before I could stop myself. It’s not helping that I’m planning to ask Khriswell to go to the Festival with me.

   “I’ll take the chance. Please guide me to the kitchen.”

   “Understood. Right this way.”

   Both Khriswell and Clara were busy cutting vegetables when Beatrice-san and I entered the kitchen. Besides the two of them, there are at least ten other priests and priestesses, all of them being busy in their own stations. Clara was the first one of the duo who noticed me first, and her first reaction was to stand in front of Khriswell. She then points her knife at me.

   “YOU!” she spat. “How dare you show your face here!”

   Khriswell finally notices me as well. Then again, anyone would after hearing Clara’s hysterical screech.

   “You’re overreacting, Clara-chan.” she tells her friend.

   “Am not! Make sure to stay behind me, Khris!”

   Wordlessly, I look at Beatrice-san.

   “Cease the hysterics, Miss Bellone! Is that how a proud priestess of the Church acts?” the Head Priestess chides the young priestess.

   The words of her superior somehow calmed her down. Slowly, she puts her knife on the chopping board she was using.

   “...Sorry.” she apologizes to me extremely grudgingly.

   “It’s fine. Can I talk to Khriswell?”

   “You’re asking the wrong person here.”

   “Right. Can I talk to you for a moment, Khriswell?”

   “Of course. However, I would have to listen to you as I continue with my work here.”

   “Sure, I don’t mind.”

   “Now that things have calmed down, I shall be taking my leave.” Beatrice-san tells me.

   “Thank you for bringing me here, and thank you for your help earlier.”

   After Beatrice-san has left, Clara and Khriswell resume their cutting duty.

   “Now then, what is it that you wanted to talk to me about, Kotaro-san?” Khriswell asks me without looking away from the chopping board.

   “Well, I want to invite you to go to the Faylight Festival with me.”

   Clara scoffs at that.

   “If you’re are friend of Khris, you should know that there’s no way she would go, what with her fear of crowds and all.”

   “Actually, I would love to go.” Khriswell contradicts.

   Everyone in the kitchen stopped working all at the same time and stared at Khriswell.

   “Can you say that again, Khris?” Clara requests softly.

   “I-I’m going to the Faylight Featival…” Khriswell repeats.

   “THAT Khriswell is actually going somewhere with lots of people, unbelievable!”

   “Who exactly is that boy?”

   “Oh, I smell a love story coming up!”

   A priest probably in his thirties claps his hand three times loudly.

   “Keep moving your hands, people! Otherwise, we’ll have nothing to serve for breakfast!” He reminds his peers.

   Upon being reminded by him, everyone resumed their work.

   “Well, I’ll be coming to get you during the night of the festival. Seen you then.” I tell Khriswell.

   Khriswell stops her work and looks at me straight in the eyes.

   “Yes, I’ll be waiting, Kotaro-san.” she tells me bashfully.

   Clara lets out a loud gasp of surprise.

   “Are you actually looking someone in the eyes, Khris? You?”

   “You’re overreacting again, Clara-chan.” Khriswell tells her friend without looking her in the eyes.

   “The heck I am! Why don’t you say that while looking at me?”

   “Um, uh…”

   “Gah! Seriously? We’ve been friends for more than ten years, you know?”

   Since my presence might further complicate things, I decided to leave.

   All right, Khriswell agreed to hang out with me at the festival. The next step is to come up with a plan so that she could have as much fun as possible. Hopefully, she’ll become more outgoing after this outing.

   I waste no time going back to my room at Twilight’s Rest where my girlfriends are waiting. I need to come up with a date plan, which is why I asked them to gather there before I left the Church. Yes, I know. I’m supposed to come up with the plan myself, but I can’t help it. Even though this is my fourth date, I can’t help but being nervous-

   “Testing testing, one two three. Can you all hear me? Heck, even if you can’t, I’m going to keep on talking anyway.”

   I was stopped at my track by that all-too-familiar voice that’s coming from the sky. It’s Kamei’s.

   “This is a bit sudden, but I’m going to let out most of the monsters I’ve been keeping inside the dungeons.” the dungeon master announces. “Yup. Do your best to survive. That’s all I have to say.”

   A few seconds later, I hear loud screeches, roars and other inhuman sounds coming from multiple places.

   Oh, boy.

   I take a quick look around me. There are quite a number of humans, elves, dwarfs and other races standing nearby. All of them are just standing there with a dumbfounded look on their faces.

   “What are all of you still doing here?” I demand as loudly as possible.

   My shout got their attention, and now all of them are looking at me.

   “Go and find someplace to hide! The Church, an adventurer’s guild, the knight’s barrack, anywhere with people who can protect you! NOW GO!” I instruct while pulling out one of Gravitas out of thin air.

   Thankfully, my words got to them, and they fled the street en masse.

   “Kotaro!”

   I look towards the direction where the voice came from. It was Ichika. Kaede and Maya are also with her. All of them are running towards me with their weapons brought out.

   “Where should we head to?” Ichika asks me.

   “Let’s go to the North Gate.”

   The reason I chose here is simple. It’s the nearest gate from our location, and all the monsters that came out from the dungeon will have to go through here before they could enter the city. But then, I could only walk two steps before a thought stopped me.

   Why did Kamei choose to release his monsters now? What’s up with his timing?

   “Kotaro-senpai? What’s wrong?” Maya asks me.

   “...On second thought, we’re heading to the Church first.”

   “Is it because we most likely need a healer?”

   “...Oh, that too.”

   As we’re running towards the Church, we see more and more people heading to the deeper part of the city. Eventually, we managed to reach our destination.

   Quite a number of civilians are heading inside as we watch. Some priests and priestesses are busy ushering them inside, while others are about to head out. I see Khriswell and Clara being two of the latter, with Khriswell holding her pistol and Clara her mace. I wave my hand at them to get their attention.

   “The four of us are going to defend the North Gate. Can the two of you come and help out?” I request when they got close.

   “Of course!” Khriswell agrees immediately.

   “...Sure.” Clara agrees as well, although she looks extremely reluctant.

   “Thanks. Now, let’s go.”

   When we reached the North Gate, the first wave of the monsters had just arrived. For now, it’s a huge group of goblins all with the Levels between 1 to 14. We waste no time in cutting down their numbers along with adventurers and knights who’re already there.

   “Remember to save your bullets and only aim for those that attack you.” I instruct Khriswell.

   “I understand!”

   A goblin leaps at her. Before he could get her, she aims her pistol at his head and pulls the trigger.

   BANG!

   The goblin went down without a sound. Without allowing Khriswell to catch a breath, two more goblins are charging towards her.

   “Eek!”

   I stepped in and sliced one of the goblins into two. Clara took care of the other one by smashing his head with her mace.

   “Be more careful, Khris!”

   “Right! Thank you, Clara-chan!”

   “No need to thank me! I’m your eternal protector, after all!”

   “In your dreams! That role is mine!” I protest.

   “I’ll fight you for it!”

   “Fine, bring it on-”

   “Can the two of you focus on something that actually matters?” Kaede interrupts.

   “Whoops. Guess we’re postponing the fight, Bellone.” I tell Clara.

   “Bah, you know and I know that I’m going to win anyway.”

   “Now those are fighting words.”

   “Indeed they are. What are you going to do-”

   “FOCUS!”

   While we were busy, the second wave arrived. This time, it’s a huge group of orcs. Similar to the goblins, the only thing impressive about them are their numbers. Still, it would be bad if they end up going near the citizens.

   Except they’re much more interested in attacking Khriswell. Them and every other subsequent monster that arrived.

   All of them are so fixated on the priestess to the point that the rest of us might as well be invisible to them. If an attack doesn't kill them, they’ll just brush off the wound and continue to try and go near her.

   “Is it me, or are all these monsters only interested in getting to Khriswell-san?” Maya asks after this has been going on for almost half an hour.

   “Indeed, that would be the case!” Ichika agrees.

   As I thought, the monsters were sent by Kamei to kill Khriswell. The dungeon master wants to prevent me from conquering her and going to the next world. I was right to bring her along.

   “We’re forming a circle with Khriswell in the middle!” I instruct.

   When I gave out the instruction, I was only talking to my girlfriends and the priestess duo. Therefore, I was absolutely not expecting all the nearby knights and adventurers to join the formation. The ones with the heavy armors and shields are forming the outer circle, those with weapons that have long reaches like spears are forming the second layer, the third layer consists of mages, while the final layer consists of Khriswell herself and others who don’t fit in the former categories.

   As time goes by, more and more monsters appear, but they’re being mowed down just as quickly. Eventually, they stopped coming altogether. Unfortunately, we still can’t take a break yet as we have to help out in other parts of the city. It was later afternoon by the time we defeated all the monsters that came out of the dungeon. For better or worse, none of the boss monsters appeared, and from what I see no monsters from floor ninetieth and below appeared either. Even so, the casualties were huge. All of the knights who were guarding the entrances of the dungeons were killed. Three adventurers and two other knights lost their lives as well. Hundreds of others are suffering from light to grave injuries, but all of them were healed by priests and priestesses.

   And guess what? The same thing happened the next morning, only Kamei didn’t even bother to make an announcement this time. As the knights were fully prepared and posted lots of guards in front of the entrances, there weren’t as many casualties as last night. Even so, Catherina had enough. She summoned my girlfriends and I along with several famous adventurers to the barrack.

   “We will join hands and take down the dungeons once and for all!” she announced.

   One of the adventurers raises up his hand. His name is Lucas Reid, the strongest adventurer of the adventurer’s guild Aquagarde. My girlfriends and I and his party went for a few quests together, sometimes with Darum-san and his party too, so we’re pretty close.

   “Who’s going to lead the joint party?” he asked Catherina.

   “Who else is there but me?” the paladin asks with a really bewildered expression.

   Instead of replying, Lucas-san looks at me. I notice that several other adventurers are also staring at me. Similar to Lucas-san, my party is also quite close with theirs.

   “Whoa whoa whoa fellas, you’re not serious, are you?” I ask them.

   “Don’t worry Kotaro-kun, you’ll do absolutely fine.” Lucas-san assures.

   “He’s right, lad! Just lead us like how you lead us during the quests we took together, and you’ll do just fine!” Darum-san agrees.

   “That’s how it is. If Kotaro-kun is not the leader, I’m not going to cooperate.” Lucas-san tells Catherina.

   The adventurers who looked at me agreed as well.

   Catherina looked at me silently for a few seconds. She has a complicated expression on her face, no doubt debating in her mind whether to comply with the adventurers’ request.

    “Very well.” she agreed extremely grudgingly eventually.

   Suddenly, I became the leader of a huge group. Hooray.