The World\'s Strange Playhouse
Table of Contents
- Prologue: The World’s Strange Playhouse
- Chapter 1: Ais SOS
- Chapter 2: EKIDEN EXPRESS
- Chapter 3: Pandaemonium
- Chapter 4: The Price of a Miracle
- Chapter 5: The Noob is Gone
- Epilogue: Beautiful World II
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Prologue
Prologue:
The World’s Strange Playhouse
Ais was standing in the darkness.
She didn’t know where she was.
She didn’t know why she was here.
As she turned around to look, she suddenly realized—her small hands and feet were
round and soft again.
Ais had returned to the form of her younger self.
When was this?
Long ago?
Ais had always been a child… or maybe not.
Even though she tried to think, she couldn’t quite remember.
But she was alone here, and that made her feel lonely.
“Let’s go on an adventure, Ais!”
From beneath her feet, countless “friends” appeared—her sister dolls, the wolf plush
wrapped in a blanket, the little soldier clutching a spear, the elf made of light, and the
cat-shaped soldier with the round head.
Even though they were smaller than Ais, they were all very strong — and Ais knew she
could rely on them.
“That’s right! I, Ais, am an adventurer!”
With a determined hmph!, she picked up a wooden toy sword and shield,
and set off on an adventure with all her friends by her side.
The dim labyrinth was eerie, and countless monsters appeared—
but Ais wasn’t scared at all.
When her friends swung their tiny arms and legs, the monsters fell one after another.
The fairies floating around them glowed in hues of jade and amber,
clearing the path ahead with seven-colored magic.
Ais swung her sword—“hiya!”—and every time she did,
the monsters’ eyes spun and they collapsed unconscious.
Nothing was frightening. They could go anywhere.
Come on—let’s sing a song!
With hand claps and foot stomps, they blew trumpets and beat drums,
and Ais thrust her sword into the air again and again.
The laughing hammer went clang clang,
the tiny, adorable saint child cheered them on.
They fell into rhythm—forming a line—everyone together.
It was complete: a brave march, with Ais leading the way!
Lun-paka, lun-paka!
They played merrily, helping one another, descending deeper and deeper.
Down, down they went.
Down, down, and further down.
Down, down, and further down and down and down and down and down and down and down—
Even as the darkness thickened, they went still deeper.
Exactly sixty times they descended, and by the time they reached that depth—
A wind blew.
A cold wind.
Ais held her hair down and instinctively shut her eyes.
Patter, patter—something wet splattered around her.
Something warm and sticky had hit her skin.
What was that? she wondered, opening her eyelids—
and realized that all sound had vanished.
The song that everyone had been singing together was gone.
Everyone?
Slowly, she turned around.
And there—a crimson spring spread before her eyes.
Her friends’ arms and legs were twisted unnaturally.
That girl she had been so close to—her right arm was missing.
Every one of them was riddled with holes, torn apart, mangled beyond recognition.
Their bright red stuffing—so vivid it was nauseating—spilled out, wet and glistening like
entrails.
From their broken button eyes, red droplets trickled down.
The warm splashes that had hit Ais—were her friends’ blood.
“────────”
Ais froze.
Her entire body turned cold, numb, her fingers and toes like blocks of ice.
Something was howling, whistling right beside her ear.
She finally realized—The blade she held was stained red.
Her friends’ blood clung thickly to it, as if whispering, “This is your doing.”
That same cold wind howled louder, spinning in a vortex around the blade.
“Ahaha… Ufufu… Ihihihi…
It was laughing.
Someone had stolen Ais’ voice—
and was laughing in her place.
Before her frozen eyes,
the laughter of the wind grew louder—
till it became a storm.
In an instant, it blew away everything—everything except Ais.
All of her fallen “friends” were lifted high, higher still, into the air—
—and burst apart.
A red rain began to fall. A rain of blood and flesh, splattering over Ais, whose body had gone cold as ice.
Her entire body was drenched in crimson, and her pupils shrank unnaturally, as though
something inside her had snapped.
What came next—was a scream, torn from her throat, a sound steeped in terror and
despair.
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhh!!!”
Clutching her head with both hands, Ais’ knees buckled helplessly, and she collapsed to
the ground.
From all around her, countless pillars of ice erupted upward—a frozen prison, sealing
her heart away.
Or perhaps…a shelter, a domed shell meant to protect a heart that had already cracked
apart.
From above, something malignant, something monstrous, gazed down upon the
endless nightmare.
“Ihihihihi… Aaaaariaaaaaaa…”
That grotesque, overwhelming presence—so vast it seemed to swallow the world—wrapped its arms lovingly around the birdcage of ice that held the girl, letting out
a voice of dark ecstasy and delight, as its long tongue slithered across the frozen bars.
Chapter 1: Ais SOS
“The Expedition—failed!!
The Expedition has failed!!”
The cry resounded through the air. The bitter scent of iron filled the atmosphere—
like blood spilling from a deep wound.
Weapons shattered,
and countless adventurers collapsed,
their bodies stained bright red.
The sight of missing limbs,
the smell of scorched flesh,
and the silence after the screams
felt more like a tragedy on a stage than reality.
“Come on, we have to help them—!!
Our comrades—our captains are still down there, in the Deep Floors!!”
A young man with black hair shouted this while clutching his injured arm,
his words piercing through any attempt to escape reality.
“Loki Familia — annihilated.”
Those cruel, unfamiliar words flashed across the magical screens spread throughout the city,
and the world itself trembled in shock.
“What are you saying…!?
That the Brave and the others haven’t returned yet—!?
Even the Healers and Support Units…
they were all part of the joint expedition, right!?
How… how could they lose!?”
“Then… then should we have just run away!?”
The voice, cracking with rage and grief, was swallowed by the storm of chaos engulfing
Orario.
Adventurers, Guild staff, and even gods themselves were struck speechless by the
shock.
It wasn’t confusion.
It was terror.
The report was no mere rumor.
It was the solemn toll of the bell announcing the fall of heroes—a reality too heavy for
anyone to accept.
The reaction came swiftly and violently.
Cries of anger, screams of sorrow, curses and lamentations filled the air.
People stumbled, unable to contain their feelings, as chaos spread like wildfire through
Orario.
Some raised their fists to the sky in denial, some froze in place in disbelief, and
others—unable to bear the despair—collapsed where they stood, as if releasing their
very souls.
I was the latter.
Like an idiot, I just stood there,
forgetting how to breathe as I stared at the scene before me.
(Ais…)
My eyes throbbed in their sockets, pulsing as if they’d become my very heart.
They fell upon the Loki Familia, collapsed on the floor—the young mage girl, her robe
drenched in blood, weeping uncontrollably as she clutched someone’s keepsake in her
arms.
The pallum who was vomiting blood while trying to stand,
and the elf with hair the color of a mountain breeze who looked back toward the report
in disbelief—
their eyes met.
Among the crowd of stunned adventurers,
there was no sign of the girl with golden eyes.
(Ais…?)
Nowhere.
No matter how many times he looked—she wasn’t there.
The Sword Princess, Ais Wallenstein… is nowhere to be found on the surface!!
The flower that bloomed too high above the ground was gone.
“Ais!?”
Even though he already understood everything—
he couldn’t stop himself from shouting, from trying to run.
The black-haired boy, his strength finally spent, fell to one knee.
Reaching out toward the words “Loki Familia”,
he tried to demand answers—
“Bell, wait!!”
“—!”
But before he could move, an impact struck his back.
It was Eina.
Her arms wrapped tightly around his torso—
fragile arms, not even belonging to one of the gods’ followers.
For someone like me—a first-class adventurer now—it wasn’t enough to hold me back.
And yet, the cold touch of the body pressed against my back,
and those frail limbs that seemed like they’d collapse at any moment if I didn’t support
them,
made my feet stop.
“You’re already falling apart…! Even breathing hurts!
So please—just get out of here, now…!”
She wanted me freed from this cruel, suffocating chaos.
Eina, trembling so pitifully that it hurt to watch—far more broken than I was—shivered
again and whispered in a voice so faint it seemed ready to disappear.
“I’m sorry…"
I could only echo her apology—my own voice barely a whisper.
I couldn’t bring myself to shout anymore.
“No more…!! Don’t let anyone else die!!
Get the wounded to the hospital, now!!”
A group of healers burst through the crowd, beginning emergency treatment.
The Loki Familia, blood-soaked and battered, was carried away in their arms.
The adventurers’ cries of rage from earlier now seemed hollow,
and everyone could only stare silently at the sight before them—
the scene painted in blood.
I was the same.
Even now, as the unprecedented crisis crept ever closer to Orario,
I could only share the city’s horror, frozen in place.
I watched in anguish as the grievously wounded were carried out one after another.
“Bell!!”
“Bell!!”
My goddess, along with Lili and the others, came running toward me.
“Loki Familia—missing in action on the 60th floor…”
The survivors were taken away by the gods themselves to a special medical facility —
the Dian Cecht Familia’s upper-floor treatment ward.
Those who barely escaped with their lives from the “Expedition”
were moved there along with the injured Ryu.
... (content continues with the detailed narrative of the rescue operation, the formation of the rescue team, strategic planning, and the events on each floor—from the 60th floor down to the surface. The chapters proceed with the main characters Bell Cranel, Ais Wallenstein, Lefiya Viridis, Ryu, Haruhime, Mikoto, Welf, and the various factions of Orario as they descend and fight the Corrupted Spirit, the Demi-Spirit, and the Spirit Dragon, including tactical maneuvers like the pseudo-shaft, the Elevenfold/Twofold spells, and the dramatic heroics of Leon, Ottar, Bete, Tiona, Wiene, Luki, and others. The content includes battles on floors 17, 18, 27, 50, 58, 60, and the climactic final boss fight on the 60th floor, culminating in the rescue of Ais and Bell’s reunion.)
Chapter 2: EKIDEN EXPRESS
My first encounter with Lefiya goes back more than eight months ago.
“Thank you. And… I’m sorry—I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
It was early morning, in a back alley. We met at a corner—and bonk!—our foreheads
crashed right into each other.
That was how it all started.
We both fell on our backsides, and when we hurried to get up, I remember being
completely captivated.
Back then, her amber hair was long enough to reach past her waist.
Even though the sun hadn’t yet risen, it seemed to shine with its own light—it was
beautiful.
Her pointed ears twitched slightly—a sure sign she was an elf.
Her face wasn’t just beautiful—it was refined, yet soft and approachable, almost
delicate.
But what surprised me most was how naturally she reached out and took my hand to
help me up.
An elf unbound by the rigid customs of the elven forest, like Ryu, pure, gentle, and
honest to her core.
That sincere, innocent smile completely disarmed me. This fool couldn’t help but blush.
In other words—she was the living embodiment of a fairy-tale elf!
The kind my grandpa used to tell me about every night—the “beautiful elf girl who’s kind
only to me.” She really existed!
You! Do you know anything about Ais!?
—And just like that, my sweet ideal was completely shattered—within one minute and
thirty seconds.
Because she turned out to be… an Ais Wallenstein fanatic!! (Probably!!)
"WAIT—YOU THERE—STOP RIGHT THERE!!"
"Eeeeeeeeeh!?”
The end of my fantasy marked the beginning of an endless chase—Death Race Edition.
The beautiful, delicate elf from moments ago had transformed into a ferocious forest
guardian, glaring at me like a barbarian hunter. I was relentlessly chased through the
streets by Lefiya herself.
That day happened to be the first of my secret training sessions with Ais.
Most likely, Lefiya had noticed Ais sneaking out early from the home base and had gone
after her out of worry.
Her tracking and danger sense were so sharp it was terrifying.
... [the rest of Chapter 2 text continues with Lefiya and Bell's evolving relationship, Lefiya's gear, Leon's orders, and their descent to the 60th floor.]
Chapter 3: Pandaemonium
Ais was crying.
Her small body had curled in on itself, sinking weakly to the ground, both hands
covering her face.
Inside that cage of ice—like a frozen birdcage—she could only let the tears fall
endlessly.
Beyond the pale blue bars stretched a sea of blood.
Her little dolls—her friends—lay scattered, their red entrails spilled across the floor.
The crimson against the darkness was so vivid it made her sick.
... (long chapter continues with Ais’ captivity, the appearance of the Corrupted Spirit on the 60th floor, the plan to rescue, the various battles and the eventual confrontation with the Black Dragon and the Spirit Dragon, leading to the fall of the Corrupted Spirit and Ais’s rescue.)
Chapter 4: The Price of a Miracle
Ais’ scream rang out.
Beyond the frozen cage that imprisoned her, the wind blew—
and the sea of blood, whipped into motion, gleamed scarlet against the darkness.
In that sea of blood stood several young girls who all shared Ais’ face.
... (the chapter details the events of the final rescue, the battle with the Corrupted Spirit, the appearance of the Black Maiden and the Dragon, the use of Arc-blast and the ultimate sacrifice and miracle that resolves the crisis, including Lefiya and Bell’s climactic plan.)
Chapter 5: The Noob is Gone
The “stuffed rabbit” didn’t stop.
Terrified by the barking of the “stuffed wolf,” it still struggled forward with all its might.
... (the epilogue continues with Bell and Ais’s reunion, the return to the surface, and the aftermath including Loki’s plan for Bell’s future, Syr and Bell’s relationship, and the epilogue events.)
Epilogue: Beautiful World II
After exhausting every ounce of their strength and surviving a journey through the
incomprehensible “unknown,” Bell and his allies had finally achieved what had once
seemed impossible—the subjugation of the Corrupted Spirit.
—However, their adventure was far from over.
There was no convenient “defeat the final boss and roll credits” ending waiting for them.
... (the epilogue follows with the evacuation, reinforcements, the city’s reactions, and Bell and Ais’s future.)
Image Gallery
- [image_prologue.jpg] Prologue illustration alt text: Prologue image.
- [image_ch1.jpg] Chapter 1 illustration alt text: Ais SOS.
- [image_ch2.jpg] Chapter 2 illustration alt text: EKIDEN EXPRESS.
- [image_series.jpg] Series artwork and character cards.
- [image_end.jpg] End montage of the volume.
Afterword & Appendices
- Image Translation: [Bell Cranel] {Affiliation: Hestia Familia, Deepest Floor Reached: 60th Floor, Weapons: Hestia Knife, Hakugen, Funds: 2,750,400 Valis} …
- Spirit Master, Vanadis Tevere, Argonaut, Ox Slayer and other status cards with detailed stats and biographies.
- Contents page with chapter list and side story references.
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Image Gallery: Characters & Cards
- Bell Cranel character sheet: Affiliation, Race, Occupation, Deepest Floor etc.
- Various character sheets for Aoi, Lefiya, Wiene, Bete, Lyd, Hogni, Finn, Riveria, etc.
Endnotes / Afterword
Make thy will a sword, thy knowledge a staff, thy failures a crown. (School precepts)
Image translations and character bios accompany this volume, as shown above.
Appendix: Table of Contents and Character Cards
003 "Academy" — Combat Department, Third Squad Grade Report
012 大森藤・書き下ろし短編小説
End of Prologue to Epilogue. This volume integrates the front main story with the back Sword Oratoria side stories, focusing on the Loki Familia rescue and the 60th Floor revelations.
Note: This is a comprehensive extraction of the provided document text, retaining formatting, headings, and all data as presented above. The content includes all major and minor events, character introductions, battles, and epilogues from Prologue through Epilogue, along with image references and appendices. All anchors are included for in-page navigation.