Asfi clearly remembered assigning Jose to watch Hermes before heading into the dungeon, tasking him with preventing their god from causing trouble again.

But why was Jose here now?

"Care to explain, Jose?" Asfi's eyes sharpened, a suspicion forming.

"Don't look at me like that, Captain. You know Lord Hermes' nature," Jose said, shrugging helplessly.

Asfi's rising anger faded instantly.

Indeed, their god's unreliable antics were to blame.

Falgar and the others sighed deeply, sharing her frustration.

Orsted and Ais exchanged glances.

Ais looked puzzled, while Orsted was exasperated.

Recalling the Anime, Orsted thought: Could Hermes have snuck into the dungeon?

Given his fearless, troublemaking nature in the Anime, it was plausible.

Orsted opened his mouth to question Jose, but Asfi spoke first.

"Sorry, Teacher, Sword Princess, let's part here. I'll handle the report and won't trouble you further."

Asfi clearly wanted to keep what came next from Orsted and Ais.

Orsted stayed silent, dropping his question.

"Alright," he nodded, turning to Ais. "See you."

Ais nodded back, unopposed.

They parted ways. Orsted and Ais, not resting on the safe floor, headed straight for the 17th floor's entrance.

Asfi's group, led by Jose, went to find Hermes.

"Where's Orsted?" Hermes asked immediately, seeing Jose return with Asfi's group but no Orsted.

His entire reason for coming to the dungeon was Orsted. Without him, this was pointless.

"Teacher and Ais continued to the surface," Asfi said, visibly annoyed.

"Teacher? Since when is Orsted your teacher?" Hermes, no fool, caught her meaning instantly.

But then he froze. "You said Orsted and Ais are heading back?"

"Lord Hermes, why are you here without Guild approval?" Asfi countered, frowning.

Gods sneaking into the dungeon was taboo. If caught, their Familia faced severe Guild punishment.

Hermes ignored her, muttering, "No, this won't do. I came to stir things up for Orsted. I can't let him leave."

With that, he activated the strange orb with a special technique.

A sacred pressure swept out.

Asfi and the others' eyes widened.

"Lord Hermes, you—!" Asfi was speechless.

She'd felt this pressure before—arcanum, the power of a god.

Their god had unleashed divine power in the dungeon. Was he trying to get them killed?

"Stop fooling around, Lord Hermes!" Falgar roared.

The others gritted their teeth, aware of their god's reckless act.

"As you see, you must protect your god now," Hermes said, waving with a smile.

The Hermes Familia glared, itching to knock sense into him but powerless.

Sure enough, the 18th floor shook violently.

A monstrous roar erupted from the passage between the 17th and 18th floors.

The sound carried far, heard by all on the safe floor.

"An earthquake? But didn't Hestia's Familia just defeat Goliath?"

"Why's it back?"

In Rivira, Bors emerged from his shop, staring grimly at the passage.

He knew that roar well, having faced its owner often.

But Goliath was defeated half a day ago, its refresh cycle far from complete. Why now?

And this roar was louder, fiercer than before.

Other shop owners and adventurers spilled out, eyes fixed on the passage.

A stronger tremor hit.

An explosion followed from the ceiling, a massive gap opening.

A huge figure crashed onto the safe floor.

"You're kidding—Goliath broke through the ceiling onto the safe floor!" Bors muttered, incredulous.

Meanwhile, Orsted, rushing toward the 17th floor's entrance with Ais, halted, spotting the massive figure.

His mouth twitched.

Confirmed: that troublemaker was here.

This was likely his doing!

---

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