Chapter 123: Chapter 123
"Brat. Who’re you calling petty? Say it again, if you’ve got balls!"
"Whoever just answered, obviously."
Kiriya didn’t give an inch, holding Bete’s stare without a flinch.
"What, got a problem with that?"
The guy already had it in for him, so Kiriya saw no point playing the meek, well-mannered newcomer.
With someone like this werewolf—who worshipped strength above all else—the more polite you were, the weaker he would think you were.
Instead of lowering himself, it was better to meet him head-on.
Among adventurers, the real currency had never been manners.
It was strength.
Bete paused, then bared his teeth in a grin.
But his beast eyes stayed ice-cold. "You’ve got some nerve, kid."
"What adventurer doesn’t?"
"Not bad."
Bete rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles. "I’ve been lazing around on the surface too long—my joints are getting stiff. How about you help me work them loose?"
He knew Kiriya had some trick that could jack up his strength and let him take down someone at Level 6.
But Bete was a first-tier adventurer who’d clawed his way up to Level 5 one step at a time.
He had his pride.
Let some brat insult him to his face and take it lying down? He might as well never show his face in Orario again.
"Works for me." Kiriya nodded. "I overdid breakfast a bit anyway. Could use the exercise."
Seeing the two of them genuinely gearing up to fight, Tiona jumped in.
"Hey, hey, hey! We’re on an expedition here! Why are you two going at each other before we’ve even gotten started? Bete, can’t you cool it for once?"
Ais put it plainly too. "Bete. You’re being reckless."
"Hah? Oh, so now it’s all my fault?"
If the two of them had just kept quiet, Bete might’ve let it slide.
But the second they spoke up, it only stoked his temper—especially with Ais opening her mouth to take Kiriya’s side.
In that instant, Bete could almost hear a sharp snapping sound.
That was the thread called reason, breaking clean through.
"Brat—if you’re a man, quit hiding behind women!"
Bete leveled two fingers at Kiriya.
"You’re reading too much into it. Someone like you isn’t worth hiding from."
Kiriya stepped clear of the group and started back the way they’d come. "Come on. Let’s find some open ground so we’re not in anyone’s way."
"Hmph. Scared people’ll watch you embarrass yourself?"
Bete sneered.
"Exactly. Scared your loss’ll be so ugly your reputation collapses on the spot."
Kiriya fired it back without even turning around.
Snap.
Bete’s eye twitched, veins standing out on his forehead.
That did it.
One way or another, he was going to teach this brat a lesson!
"Hey—did the two of you forget something?"
Tione sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose, a headache plainly coming on.
"If two adventurers above Level 5 fight seriously on the upper floors, the Dungeon could react."
"..."
Both Kiriya and Bete stiffened.
They really had let that slip their minds.
The Dungeon wasn’t just some cave. In a sense it was closer to a living labyrinth, complete with its own immune system for dealing with anything out of order.
If Bete and Kiriya cut loose here and let fly with power above Level 5, it could set off the Dungeon’s purge response.
The most obvious result: every monster on the floor going berserk.
Their bodies might blaze with an eerie red light, their strength and speed spiking, and they’d throw themselves at the adventurers with no regard for their own survival.
And if that were the worst of it, it still wouldn’t be enough to give them real pause.
The true danger was that unleashing power far past the floor’s normal ceiling could trigger a "disaster"—forcibly summoning monsters far stronger than anything that had any business appearing there.
In the original story, for instance, when Hestia and the other gods ventured into the Dungeon, the 18th Floor—supposedly a safe zone—spat out an enhanced Goliath that tore through the adventurers there.
At their current strength, if the two of them truly went all-out, the disaster they’d drag in would likely be several times nastier than that enhanced Goliath.
Even in victory, the expedition would pay dearly for it.
Rebellious as Bete was, he wouldn’t gamble with his companions’ lives.
His temper had run away with him for a moment, but now that he’d cooled off, there was no way he’d do anything that reckless.
"No need to fret."
Kiriya strolled over and slung a casual arm around the werewolf’s shoulders.
"We don’t need to cause a huge commotion to decide a winner between us."
As he spoke, a Flying Thunder God mark quietly fastened itself to Bete’s gear.
To keep it out of sight, Kiriya had shrunk it down to the size of a grain of rice and tucked it into a particularly hidden spot.
Not a soul would notice it.
"Hm?"
At Kiriya’s offhand remark, Bete’s mouth twitched, his eyes going sharper than ever. "What’s that supposed to mean?"
"It means I don’t need that magic to handle you. My normal state’s is enough. One move’ll do."
Kiriya raised a single finger, looking completely confident.
"You’re really full of yourself, brat."
Bete’s knuckles cracked, every hair on his ears standing up. He was clearly furious!
"How about a wager?" Kiriya smiled. "One move settles it. Loser has to call the winner big bro. Deal?"
"Hahaha! Your words, kid, not mine."
Bete roared with laughter—because his luck had finally turned, and because Kiriya was so obviously overrating himself!
If Kiriya pulled out that level-boosting magic, Bete would be at least a little wary.
But if the brat was dead set on showing off, on settling it in one move while stuck in his normal state, then he was walking straight into his own grave.
"Hey, handsome—isn’t that pushing it a bit far?" Tione asked, concerned. "This isn’t a game."
"Yeah, yeah."
Tiona nodded fast, like a bird after scattered seed.
Ais said nothing, but her eyes were bright with curiosity as she looked at Kiriya.
The one thing missing from that look was worry.
This boy had a habit of pulling off miracles when the odds said he shouldn’t. So when she heard his claim, doubt wasn’t her first reaction.
Curiosity was.
"Relax. I know exactly what I’m doing."
Kiriya reassured the Hiryute sisters first, then turned back to Bete. "You can all be my witnesses. So how about it, Bete? We on?"
"If you want to call me big bro that badly, who am I to stop you."
Bete sneered. "Just don’t come crying and take it back afterward."
"A man’s word is his bond."
Kiriya walked to a nearby clearing.
Bete followed at once, planting himself about ten meters away.
Seeing the two of them square up, the onlookers lit right up.
They’d figured the expedition would open with a long, dull slog.
Who’d have guessed they’d score a show this good barely out of the gate?
What a nice little surprise!
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