"Tanjiro! We're about to embark on our great expedition in this world!"
As he exited the camp, Kairo Retsu slung his left arm over Tanjiro's shoulder and grandly waved forward with his right: "See that? That mutated dungeon ahead? That's where we'll be hunting next!"
"Even though this is your first hunt, Tanjiro, I believe you'll be able to join us in saving this world—perfectly!" Kairo said proudly.
"Understood, Guildmaster!" Tanjiro replied, energized by Kairo's words.
"Good! Love the spirit! Now repeat after me!" Kairo stood akimbo and shouted ahead: "Hunters can do anything!"
"Hunters can do anything!" Tanjiro echoed with a clenched fist.
"..." At that moment, Itsutsumi—now clad in full Felyne gear—covered her ears, trying to block out the noisy shouting of the two hunters, though she still had to follow along behind them.
"Let's go!!!"
Kairo extended his claw and grappled onto a passing wyvern, soaring into the sky. With his other hand, he beckoned Tanjiro to take Itsutsumi and board another wyvern, heading off to track down Marcille and replace her as dungeon master.
However…
What Kairo failed to notice was that the wyvern tamed by the Felynes to be his personal transport was currently watching him with a bewildered expression. Kairo had latched onto a wild Velocidrome from the dungeon instead, now flying further and further away in a wobbly, uncontrolled trajectory...
So, was the Guildmaster just calling it over to watch him fly off using another wyvern?
Meanwhile, on the dungeon's first underground floor, beastkin and adventurers had all been drawn together due to the dungeon's transformation.
Marcille, consciously gathering people for her plan to consume parts of Falin's dragonified body, had started influencing the dungeon in line with her desires.
This convergence also brought its fair share of chaos.
As the elves resolved to seal off the dungeon, arrest Kairo and Laios for attempting to become dungeon masters, and kill Marcille for succeeding at it—the beastkin decisively stood on Laios's side.
"They're the only humans who reason with us! If Laios and the others die, it's no good for us either!" The beastkin chieftain, alongside his sister and kin, raised their weapons and confronted the elves and adventurers. "So of course we'll support Laios!"
Among the adventurers were those Laios had helped before, and they now stepped forward to speak on his behalf. His former teammates—Chilchuck and Namari—also stood by his side.
This conflict made the black-skinned elf leading the elven forces grow agitated: "Short-lived races are all so stubbornly foolish!"
Just as it seemed a battle between elves and beastkin was about to erupt—
A shrill scream rang out from the sky, drawing everyone's attention. At first, they thought it was another attack from harpy-like monsters.
But when the adventurers, elves, and beastkin all looked upward in alarm, they saw a figure hurtling toward them—clinging to the neck of a wildly spiraling Velocidrome that was crashing downward.
"Is that a monster?!"
The elves began readying their spells, preparing to fire the moment they identified the creature.
But then…
As the figure descended, they realized—it was a man clad in strange armor, clutching desperately to the Velocidrome's neck!
"Boom!"
Kairo Retsu, along with the startled and now-exhausted Velocidrome he had grabbed, crashed straight down between the elves and beastkin, gouging a sizable crater into the dungeon floor.
"…?"
The elves were confused but relieved.
It didn't appear to be a monster—just some unlucky adventurer who'd been snatched up by a Velocidrome and dropped from the sky. From that height, he was probably dead and in need of resurrection, they thought.
"What the hell did I hook onto?! Where's my wyvern, damn it?! That little bastard ditched me!!"
But from within the impact dust came a robust, full-throated voice: "What kind of damn dungeon is this?!"
"Guildmaster!!"
Tanjiro, watching from above, was alarmed to see Kairo crash. "Why did the Guildmaster fall?!"
"Does your Guildmaster… do this often?" Itsutsumi licked the back of her paw, peering down at the crash site. "He's really your leader?"
"Mm-hm!" Tanjiro nodded vigorously. "The Guildmaster is the leader of all us Hunters! But… he also told me that Hunters should share joy and camaraderie!"
"You're not worried he's just lying to you?" Itsutsumi followed up skeptically.
"No way."
Tanjiro replied with absolute certainty: "Guildmaster's scent has never once smelled of lies. He and the other Hunters saved so many people trapped in the Infinity Castle… even though they didn't know them. They still did everything they could to minimize casualties."
"Guildmaster is gentle. He never forces his will onto others."
Tanjiro smiled cheerfully as he said it: "We'll definitely succeed!"
While Tanjiro praised Kairo above, the dust on the ground finally settled.
Kairo, now spattered with the blood from the Velocidrome that had died on impact, stood clad in rough armor forged from monster parts—his appearance now slightly terrifying.
"Who are you?!" The black-skinned elf glared at Kairo, warily readying magically levitated daggers in the air.
"Eh? Wait a sec… I've seen your profile before…"
Kairo nonchalantly climbed out of the crater he'd made, ignoring the Velocidrome's remains clinging to his armor. He pulled out a small notebook: "Lemme see here…"
The notebook contained various settings and notes from Delicious in Dungeon—since he couldn't remember too much off the top of his head. After flipping a few pages, Kairo clapped his hands.
"Ah! Got it—Flamella, right? Let's see…"
He looked around at the people standing nearby.
"Oh! Lots of familiar faces here!"
"Since I know who you all are, I guess it's only right I give a bold self-introduction!"
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