Legarda and Freya joining the expedition was purely by chance.
The two of them had been moving steadily east from Imenia, choosing only the most dangerous regions to purge monsters, when they stopped briefly in the capital—and happened to meet Hio, who was at the imperial palace.
It was then that he invited them to join the expedition.
He judged the possibility low, but there was still a chance they might encounter Kreutzwald right away.
When it came to powerhouses on their level, the more they had in preparation for the worst, the better.
"······To think there was a dragon in Arileia···."
That was Antipus’s first impression upon facing Legarda and Freya.
After all, it had not been long since even Antipus—and Hio as well—had uncovered Arileia’s secret.
That was how extraordinary the power of Legarda, who had guarded Arileia, truly was.
Thud—
Freya landed on the ground and immediately transformed into the form of a small human, then came pattering over, while Legarda slowly walked after her.
"This is my first time entering this cursed demon realm myself."
"It probably won’t be as bad as you think. Still, don’t let your guard down too much."
"As if I would. The hell from a thousand years ago is still vivid in my mind."
"···Right."
Only four people stood before the black, wavering Abyss Gate.
Antipus and Hio, Legarda and Freya.
A strange combination that seemed as though it could never have come together.
There was no sign whatsoever of any troops to support them, nor even a knight order held in reserve just in case.
As though even that would be inefficient, all of them had been committed to the continent’s restoration and normalization.
And then, at that moment, another presence rapidly drew closer from afar.
A golden lion mounted atop a warhorse.
Vitalianus appeared, clad in gleaming silver armor and even wearing his beloved golden sword.
"You’re a little late."
At a glance, it was clear he had been on a battlefield until moments ago and had moved as soon as he heard the news of the 71st Floor.
Upon arrival, he dismounted, exchanged greetings with Hio, and then swept his gaze over the faces gathered there.
"So these are the new expedition members. I see some familiar faces."
Vitalianus’s gaze passed over Legarda and Freya, whom he had met quite often after Arileia’s upheaval, and finally settled on Antipus.
Of course, that lasted only a moment, and he soon turned his eyes back to Hio and asked.
As if treating him like someone who wasn’t there.
"It seems one person has yet to arrive."
"She’s the farthest away, after all."
"Was it said that she was active in Pieria?"
"That’s right. She’ll be here soon."
"Huh··· I thought Pieria’s movements were unusual. So that was why······."
Vitalianus nodded as if he understood.
He had seen Airaitz in person, fought against her as well, and even knew that what she had obtained was the Authority of an old god, so he had no choice but to understand.
"Uncle Sword Saint!"
"It has been a while, Lady Freya. And Sir Legarda."
Freya, Legarda, and Vitalianus exchanged greetings and conversed.
Compared to the previous assaults, which had begun surrounded by countless knights and soldiers and overflowing with tension, it was an exceedingly peaceful sight.
Then, after some time had passed.
"······."
"······."
The voices that had been calmly going back and forth stopped all at once.
Because the sky had been dyed crimson.
An indistinct presence was spreading over it.
Everyone, including Hio, turned their gaze upward.
A single person began descending through the clouds stained pink.
She drifted down gracefully, her airy crimson garments fluttering.
"Hio."
The moment she discovered Hio, she shot down like a lightning bolt and nestled tightly into his arms.
The newly born goddess of love, who had succeeded Venus, the god of beauty and love.
Needless to say, it was Airaitz.
"···What Authority did you learn?"
"Ah, this? I just picked one at random from among the Authorities with the name Venus attached to it."
"Right. There was that method."
Unlike Hio, who had been newly created under the name of the God of Patience and Magic, Airaitz had inherited Venus’s power and individuality as they were.
If an Authority in the Authority Shop had the name “Venus” attached, she could simply buy it without much thought.
Perhaps the only thing she needed to worry about was the price.
Thinking about it that way, there might have been a god of patience and magic in the past as well.
Only, it had not been known, and Hio simply did not know of it.
Well, matters regarding Authorities could be considered later.
"Anyway··· everyone’s gathered now."
With Airaitz as the last to arrive, every member of the newly formed expedition had assembled.
In that case, there was nothing more to prepare; they could enter the 71st Floor immediately.
Hio moved forward and stood directly before the Abyss Gate. Before entering, he met each person’s eyes one by one and spoke.
"With this many people gathered, success in the assault is a given."
There were no fewer than three users of Will and one dragon.
Two Authority users, and even Antipus, representative of the possessed, had gathered, so success in the assault was only natural.
"What we need to do is clear it and come back out as quickly as possible."
The goals were to shorten the time as much as possible and, if possible, look for traces of the suicide squad.
And if, by any chance, they encountered Kreutzwald.
"We all have plenty of things to do, don’t we?"
To kill him immediately on the spot.
For that purpose, the expedition entered the 71st Floor of the Abyss.
* * *
「You have entered Abyss Gate - 71st Floor.」
「Entry of God of Patience and Magic - ‘Hio Pavlenko’ and 5 others confirmed.」
「‘Door of Memory’ is activating.」
They maintained a suitable level of tension and raised their power as soon as they entered the 71st Floor, but battle did not break out immediately.
The aberrations they had expected were nowhere to be seen, the aura of the abyss was not as foul as they had thought, and they could sense no presence of Abyss monsters either.
"The scenery is rather bizarre."
The scenery, however, was strange.
It was not a sky covered in a dark abyss, but a normal sky.
An ordinary sky with night and day, with the sun and moon hanging in it.
······Only.
"Do night and day coexist here?"
On one side of a single split point was night, and on the other was day.
That was not the only strange phenomenon.
The clouds on one side moved rapidly, as if fast-forwarded, while the sky on the opposite side was still, as though frozen in place.
Half of the lake below was bubbling and boiling, while the other half was frozen cold.
One tree had lost all its leaves and stood bare, while right beside it, another was full of spring blossoms.
"What······ kind of space is this?"
A space where night and day coexisted, where summer and winter coexisted.
To put it simply, it was a place where time was twisted.
"Wow! This is amazing!"
"I sense no presence of monsters."
"Is this another type as well?"
"······I’ve never seen a type like this."
"Troublesome. At this rate, even figuring out the condition for successfully clearing it will be a problem."
If so, they had to consider their plan of finishing the assault in the shortest time and returning immediately to have already fallen apart.
If it had been the type filled with ordinary Abyss monsters or aberrations, or the type where all they needed to do was deal with a boss-class monster, their combat strength would have resolved it in an instant.
"Let’s move for now."
The expedition slowly advanced while spreading their senses through the surroundings.
Of course, that was slow by their standards; they were still moving at a sufficiently fast speed.
The scenery they passed was nothing short of bizarre.
Not only did time seem twisted, but architectural styles they had never seen before coexisted with buildings from the present day.
Even the same building was half so old it looked ready to collapse, while the other half was as clean as a newly constructed structure.
How long had they been moving like that?
"There’s something over there."
What appeared before the expedition amid the strange distortion of time was a door.
Six doors, each exuding a sense of incongruity at a glance.
They were not connected to any building, merely standing alone in the middle of the road—purple doors surging with a strange energy that even someone who did not use Will could feel.
"Of all things, there are exactly six."
As Vitalianus said, the number of doors placed at regular intervals, as though someone had deliberately set them there, was six.
There were six members of the expedition, including Hio.
There were also six purple doors that had appeared before them.
What could that possibly mean?
"It means each of us is to enter one and resolve whatever is inside, then come out."
"Like during the Floor of Breakthrough?"
"The feeling is different from then."
The expedition stood before the doors and began examining them thoroughly in their own ways.
Hio also focused his senses and examined a door, and the conclusion he soon reached was this.
"This is divinity."
The energy flowing from the door was a kind of divinity.
To be slightly more precise, it felt not like divine power, but like a portion of an Authority.
The only ones here who could sense that should have been Airaitz and Hio.
Just as expected, the others tilted their heads at Hio’s words, but Airaitz alone nodded.
"That’s right. An Authority."
The power of an old god.
With this, did the hypothesis that the Abyss Gate was an arrangement left by the old gods fit even better?
"Well, since it’s openly telling us to go in separately, I suppose each of us has to try entering."
"No. I’m going with Hio."
After Hio familiarly peeled off Airaitz as she clung to him, the gazes of the other four were fixed on him.
Freya’s eyes shone with curiosity and excitement, while Legarda’s gaze concealed a hint of worry beneath its calm indifference.
Vitalianus was as confident as ever, and Antipus held quite complicated emotions.
"······Tch."
Finally, Airaitz reluctantly stood before the remaining door, and preparations were complete.
There was no need for any special words.
"See you in a little while."
Hio was the first to pull the handle of the purple door, and a brilliant cluster of five-colored light poured out.
And in a moment that could be called almost simultaneous with that, he vanished along with the light.
The purple door disappeared without a trace as well, leaving only an empty space behind.
"Then I shall be going as well."
Vitalianus was the next to open a door.
He too vanished along with a cluster of five-colored light.
"Tch, how annoying."
Immediately after, Airaitz also pulled the door handle with a clearly irritated expression.
"I’ll be going too! See you later!"
Freya hopped up, opened the door, and disappeared. Legarda, who had been watching her, also opened his door after her.
The last person remaining was Antipus.
Starting with Hio, everyone had opened their doors and vanished in an instant, leaving Antipus alone.
How could they have not even the slightest fear?
Of course, he was not afraid either.
His thoughts were simply a little complicated.
"······Let’s go."
Knowing that he had to set aside the present complexity for now, Antipus placed his hand on the final door handle and pulled with all his strength.
Again, a brilliant cluster of five-colored light poured out.
「You have passed through ‘Beltesia’s Door of Memory.’」
「Ruler - ‘Antipus Framan’ confirmed.」
「Recreating memory.」
The light faded, and the unknown messages gradually grew faint.
Antipus’s eyes slowly opened.
The first thing that entered his sight was a space covered in abyss, a space that could well be called the abyss itself.
Himself, standing at its center.
And.
—Meaningless void. Abyss.
Hundreds of divinities surrounding him.
Hundreds of sacred stars glittering and illuminating the abyss.
—O master of it.
They were merely still, yet the presence each one emitted was enough to suffocate him.
It felt as though he might cough up blood.
—Accept annihilation.
It was a scene from a memory he could not understand.