Danmachi: Is It Wrong to Be the Main Character in Orario?

The three who had jumped away stared wide-eyed at the scene.

"Lefiya!?"

They couldn't reach her in time and could only watch helplessly as the vine shot toward Lefiya, powerless to intervene.

"Ah..."

As she watched the vine flying straight at her, Lefiya felt like everything had slowed down. She could see the details of the vine clearly now. At its tip, the freezing effect had begun to spread, gradually creeping along its entire length.

What a pity. Truly, such a pity.

'I'm going to die...'

Lefiya knew that the nearness of death had distorted her perception of time, making her hypersensitive. Yet she was filled with frustration. It had only just begun—how could it end here?

But that was the reality of being an Adventurer. None of them could ever say with certainty that they would survive.

Voices rang in her ears—Ais and the others—and her gaze finally landed on Ais, who was rushing toward her.

'Ais, I can't go on like you...'

In the face of death, there was no more room for hesitation. All that remained was regret, and the quiet acceptance of the end.

Lefiya didn't close her eyes. She simply waited for this distorted sense of time to pass, for her life to come to its conclusion.

"Lefiya!!!"

The emotionless "Sword Princess," doll-like in her expression, watched helplessly as the vine hurtled toward Lefiya—just like that day with her mother and father.

Ais bit her lip hard. Even at the cost of suffering magic backlash, she tried to push her body to move faster.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't reach her.

Just a little more... Just a little more...

The vine continued freezing rapidly, but the front tip maintained its deadly speed. Maybe, just maybe, if she waited a little longer, it would lose all momentum from the freezing and shatter on its own.

But there was no time left.

The suspended sense of time slowly resumed, reality pressing forward once more.

"Crack!"

Just as all hope seemed lost, a sharp sound rang out from where Lefiya stood. A stone pillar suddenly shot up from the ground, striking the vine aimed at her head.

"Thud!"

With a dull thud, the vine was violently knocked off course by the pillar, dragging Lefiya back from the edge of death.

She stared blankly at the pillar in front of her, then collapsed to the ground, her body going limp. Tears streamed from her eyes uncontrollably. It was her first time coming this close to death.

"Lefiya!"

"Ais... Ais... Wahhh!!"

Her head turned mechanically toward the voice. When she saw Ais standing beside her, the dam broke. Overwhelmed, she burst into tears.

"It's okay... It's okay... You're safe now."

Seeing Lefiya like this, Ais grew flustered. She tried to comfort her the only way she knew how, clumsily offering reassurance.

Even as she consoled Lefiya, Ais's eyes remained on the stone pillar that had risen at the last second. If it hadn't intercepted the vine, Lefiya would have already died. But now, a new question stirred in Ais's heart...

'Who did this?'

"Lefiya, are you okay?"

Tiona, who landed just after, quickly crouched down to check on Lefiya's condition. But Lefiya was only sobbing, unable to respond.

"She's just in shock."

At least she was still crying—that meant she was alive. Tiona's worry eased a little. It was normal to break down after surviving something like that. Anyone would react the same way after escaping death.

"She's not just scared. Ais, you're the fastest. Hurry back and grab a bottle of Elixir. If not, the wound on Lefiya's waist will get out of control."

Ais reacted instantly. She saw the injury—Lefiya's right waist had been pierced clean through. She jumped to her feet, wind immediately wrapping around her.

"I'll be back soon!"

She leapt high and raced toward the Familia from the highest point, urgency in every movement. Lefiya's condition was dire—if she didn't move fast, that wound could kill her.

"Tiona, help bandage Lefiya. I'll check if there are still any threats nearby…"

Tiona tore strips from her skirt without hesitation, quickly wrapping them around Lefiya's waist. She did her best to slow the bleeding and keep Lefiya stable as long as possible.

Meanwhile, her older sister Tione scouted the area for any remaining danger.

...

From a distance, Bell watched with some surprise.

'The mages of the Loki Familia really are powerful. Those new Viola variants must be at least Level 4, yet they were taken down with a single blow...'

Magic that surpassed one's level—Bell was genuinely impressed. For someone like Lefiya, still at Level 3, to unleash such a powerful spell even while nearly on death's door… it was no small feat.

'If the elf using the spell had more combat experience, they might have gotten through this without a single injury. With that kind of potential, no wonder she's the protagonist of the side story.'

After that bit of praise, Bell turned his thoughts to what might come next.

'Now there's no way Loki-sama can avoid getting involved. With one of her own children caught up in this, she'll dig into everything until the truth is exposed. Whatever's hiding behind all this—it's going to be dragged into the light.'

At least now, he didn't have to worry about attracting Evilus's attention himself.

Given the scale of Loki Familia, once they took notice, those lunatics—whether they liked it or not—would be forced to turn their attention to them.

'With Loki-sama leading the investigation, it'll draw even more attention. Evilus needs to be taken apart piece by piece.'

Bell didn't know how many Evilus-aligned gods were hiding among the others, but at least one target was clear.

Dionysus.

He was the instigator of it all, the god determined to plunge the world into chaos.

There was no point worrying about the others for now. The key was that Dionysus couldn't be allowed to slip away. There were plenty of mad gods, but any god with a desire to end the world had to be dealt with—otherwise, Bell feared things would only get worse from here.