DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

When some adventurers encounter monsters they can't handle, they will deliberately head towards the location of other adventurers while fleeing, diverting the trouble to other adventurers so that they can shield them from the monsters. This is called "Monster Offering".

Under normal circumstances, being "given a gift from a monster" is a desperate measure to survive.

If that's the case, from the perspective of adventurers like the Loki Familia, they wouldn't mind lending a hand.

However, sometimes, some unscrupulous adventurers will deliberately use this method to frame others.

There are even individuals who make a living from this; they enter dungeons not to kill monsters, but to seize the "legacy" of other adventurers.

"A monster is offered as a gift" is precisely the trick these people are best at.

"Hehe, my little beauties, these gifts are yours now. Work hard to protect us..." the man shouted as he charged toward them.

"Wait a minute, boss, those elves are from Loki's Familia: Garden of Purity and Gale..."

"What, [Gale]?! Damn it, run—" The leader's face changed drastically, and fear was visible to the naked eye.

"""really"""

This is the shared sentiment of the three people besides the elf girl Lefia.

Emiya sighed softly, feeling no anger or resentment, only deep sorrow.

"Freeze, lock of winter."

"Projection begins (Trace, on)."

"Swoosh—" That was the sound of Ryu drawing her sword, but she then pressed the katana back into its sheath.

Three male adventurers were buried in solid ice from their knees to their feet. The leader of them had his knee pierced by an arrow before he was frozen.

Alicia's ice magic actually helped stop his bleeding.

"Ouch, you bastards, what are you doing!"

"Why, why did you do this?!"

"No, let me go, I don't want to die!"

"You little elven bitch, let me go! No, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I promise I'll never do it again, ah—"

The silverback ape that caught up slapped an adventurer into a bloody pulp.

"Ouch, it hurts so much! You damned bitches, I curse you to die a horrible death!" Another man was stabbed in the abdomen by the maze imp's claws. He was spitting blood and howling in pain, his face looking like a demon.

"Whoosh!" An arrow pierced his forehead, and Emiya ended his suffering prematurely.

After all, he once dreamed of being a "partner of justice." Although his dream has changed, Emiya is still kind-hearted and doesn't like to see people suffer.

Alicia looked at the boy with disbelief. She was already surprised by his decisive act of shooting through the boy's knee, but this arrow was even more shocking.

“At least it will alleviate his pain,” Emiya said softly.

"She's really decisive...decisive like a child..." Alicia said, her tone a mix of surprise and admiration.

The last man also fell into the hands of the silverback ape. Compared to the maze imp, the silverback ape had this advantage: a punch to the head meant he wouldn't have to suffer anymore.

"W-why..."

A trembling voice came from the middle of the group. It was Lefia, who was protected in the center by Emiya and Alicia in front and Ryu behind.

"Why... why kill them..." Lefia asked incredulously.

“There’s something wrong with the taste.” That was the answer from Alicia, a veteran adventurer and a senior member of the Loki Familia’s elf magic squad.

“You have emotional problems.” This was the answer from Shirou Emiya, a man who had survived the apocalypse.

"There's something wrong with the person." This was the answer from [Swift Wind], the lawnmower from the Dark Faction, a Level 1 wanted criminal.

“Because I worked as a hunter in my hometown for a while, I’m very sensitive to the smell of ‘beast blood.’ They have chunks of blood on their bodies, and that bloody smell is what attracts monsters the most,” Alicia explained.

“When you encounter high-level adventurers, your first reaction isn’t relief at escaping death, but anger at your plans falling apart and fear of having done something wrong.” As he spoke, Shirou projected his twin swords: “It should be said that their malice was all too obvious from the very beginning.”

"Moreover, the smell on them is definitely off; it's probably not just bloody flesh."

"Besides the smell of blood, there's also the smell of alcohol and herbs used to attract monsters. I've seen these people before; they're adventurers from the Soma Familia." Ryu said coldly, "The Soma Familia isn't a faction of darkness, but it's not far off."

In dealing with the Dark Faction, this person is the true expert; Ryu is extremely familiar with the Soma Familia.

The Soma Familia is a faction of Soma, the god of wine. Soma is a reclusive god who doesn't care about managing his family at all and only focuses on researching winemaking. The members of the Soma Familia are also living up to the god of wine's duties, being a group of drunkards who live a life of debauchery.

Because the gods don't interfere, the actual leader of the Familia is Chanis Lustra, the Level 2 leader and strongest member of the Familia. Under his leadership, the Soma Familia has expanded to a size that ranks among the top in all of Orario. However, there are only two Level 2 members; the rest are all Level 1 lower-ranking adventurers, and almost all of them are despicable drunkards.

Although recognized as a legitimate family by the guild, the Soma family has a terrible reputation in Orario. They are known for being the most notorious for petty theft, illegal merchants, and thugs.

However, even when the Dark Faction was at its peak, the Soma Familia did not openly join them. In addition, they were very generous in paying the guild fees with the profits from selling alcohol, so their status as a legitimate family remained unshaken.

In Ryu's view, aside from the fact that Soma wasn't an evil god, there was probably only one reason why the Soma Familia hadn't joined the Dark Faction: "You think you're worthy to drool over the breeding station?"

Putting aside the fact that the core of the Dark Faction is primarily a world-destroying cult, or at the very least, terrorists, the question remains whether the Soma Familia, a bunch of local thugs, would lower their prestige. A family with so many members, yet upon closer inspection, only has two Lv.2 members—weaker than the farming Demeter Familia or the fishing Nyod Familia. Why would the Dark Faction bother with them?

It would be better to treat the Soma Familia like livestock and harvest them regularly. Throughout the chaotic period in Orario, whether intentionally or unintentionally, whether they were actually robbed or it was tacitly agreed upon, the Soma Familia provided a lot of money to the Dark Faction. Often, entire warehouses of fine wine would be stolen by the Dark Faction and then sold outside Orario in exchange for funds from the Dark Faction.

Ryu didn't wipe out the Soma Familia for two reasons: first, while the Soma Familia was disgusting, there was no concrete evidence that they had committed any major evils, and in principle, they were also victims; second, the Familia was indeed so weak that it didn't inspire any interest.

Unexpectedly, the Soma Familia's business had expanded to include setting traps in the dungeon, and they just happened to run into them.

But before she could make a move, her fellow female elf and boy beat her to it.

Alicia, a member of the same clan, was someone who had personally experienced the Dark Ages. Ryu had witnessed her fighting bloody battles in the Dark Faction's stronghold.

There were even rumors circulating among the Orario elves that during the "Great Conflict," Alicia, as a member of Loki's Familia's elf magic force, made many controversial decisions "behind" Princess Riveria's back.

For example, ignoring the hostages used as bait, the organization's mages bombarded the strongholds of the Dark Faction that had been set up with traps and ambushes.

Whether these things are true or false is impossible to verify, but in any case, there is no need to question Alicia's resolve as an "adventurer".

In contrast, Emiya's decisiveness completely exceeded Ryu's expectations.

She was surprised by this, but also felt a little worried and heartbroken.

"Shirou, is it because of your past experiences that you have such a resolve...?" Ryu has never forgotten that she rescued that child from the stronghold of the Dark Faction.

Actually, considering their ages, the elf girl named Lefia's reaction was more normal.

"Why...why did you do this..." Lefia looked at Shirou and Alicia with disbelief. "Even if they brought monsters, they couldn't threaten us..."

"The monster is coming, stop talking nonsense." Alicia interrupted her directly: "Either hide quickly, or pick up your staff and fight."

She gave Lefia a calm look, but it was a million times more terrifying than when the girl mentioned her age.

"How could I possibly be in the mood to fight under these circumstances..."

Lefia didn't dare say those words aloud.

The usually gentle elf sister suddenly became so stern after switching to battle mode, a stark contrast that left Lefia bewildered and at a loss.

"Emiya-kun, are you going to take the lead?" Alicia's tone softened as she spoke to Emiya, who was not of the same race.

"Hmm, such a group of monsters is a rare and valuable 'experience point' for me. Senior Alicia, please help me keep them in check."

The female elf nodded: "No problem... Shirou-kun can call me Alicia-neechan."

"Then I'll leave it to you, Sister Alicia."

Emiya raised his twin swords and charged towards the horde of monsters.

"Lefia, if you feel like vomiting, just vomit. This is the first time you've seen a corpse killed by humans, isn't it?" Alicia sighed softly after glancing at Lefia.

Actually, before Alicia spoke, Lefia didn't clearly realize anything. She just vaguely felt some discomfort in her abdomen. However, after hearing Alicia's words, she instantly felt something surge up along with a feeling of dizziness.

"vomit..."

With Alicia in front and Ryu behind, these two elves, who had personally traversed Orario's dark period, allowed the young elf girl to kneel on the ground and vomit.

All he did was protect the girl closely and watch the boy clashing with the monsters ahead.

Chapter Thirty-Seven: The Red Plains Hound

When his first sword strike landed on the silverback ape's arm, only slightly penetrating the white ape's fur and muscle, Emiya knew that his battle would not be so simple.

He can easily pierce the eyes of the silverback ape with his archery skills, and the projected magic sword can also break through its tough fur. However, if he only uses ordinary swords for close combat, Emiya will face the problem that he has not received the God's Grace for long enough and his basic ability value is not high.

The racial differences between monsters and humans are becoming increasingly apparent, especially now that Shirou is using his weakest points, Strength and Agility, to challenge the monster's strengths, Defense and Durability, which are among the strongest in Lv.1.

If it weren't for the two Level 4 adventurers behind him, Emiya wouldn't have taken such a risk to hone his skills through this dangerous battle.

He dodged the silverback ape's furious attack by stepping back, and at the same time threw the longsword in his left hand, piercing through a little imp that pounced on him.

He swung his longsword in his right hand, the blade slicing smoothly across the silverback ape's arm.

The blade pierced through the tough hide, but was stuck by the incredibly resilient muscles and bones.

The silverback ape roared in pain, but its instincts also gave it a sense of joy, as the adventurer before it was about to be forced to relinquish his weapon.

Common sense dictates that adventurers who lose their weapons will have their combat effectiveness greatly reduced.

Emiya's expression remained calm. He didn't let go; instead, he twisted it sharply.

The longsword shattered, and the fragments became lodged in the ape monster's Achilles tendon and bones.

Giving up both weapons outright is a luxurious combat tactic that only a [Projection] mage like him can use.

"In close combat, it's even harder to hit a vital spot than with an arrow..."

The maze goblins are no problem. These hordes of monsters have limited individual combat power and low defense. They are good at using their numerical advantage and individual sacrifice to surround and attack clumsy vanguards, but they are most afraid of skillful swordsmen like Emiya.

However, to kill the silverback ape in close combat, he needs a more powerful weapon.

Two more longswords were projected, and Shirou began chanting while dodging the silverback ape.

He naturally employed the "parallel chanting," considered an "advanced technique," to simultaneously engage in combat and chanting.

“Identification creates ideas.”

He parried the little devil's attack and then thrust out with his other hand.

"Imagine the basic framework."

The two swords were wielded together, forming a silver ring that slashed down the bat monsters that tried to approach.

"Replication constitutes material,"

Imitation manufacturing techniques,

Share your growth experiences.

Using the silverback ape's injured arm, which greatly reduced its threat level, as an obstacle, it evaded the attack of another ape.

"Reproduce accumulated years and months"

Overcoming and completing many projects──

At this very moment, the sword that embodies all of fantasy is complete—

Emiya unleashed a dim black sword light, and black and red blood blossomed amidst the monster's wails.

This time, his strike severed the silverback ape's sturdy arm.

It was a wild and beautiful sword, full of power and sharpness, over 1.5 meters long, and the whole sword seemed to exude a demonic madness.

[Pseudo-Hrunting II] Projection successful.

"Right now, I can only project the empty shell of a Noble Phantasm." Emiya swung his longsword, but the blood on it was not shaken off; instead, it merged into the blade, causing the longsword to emit a dark red glow.

"However, for these monsters, even an empty shell without any contents is more than enough."

The owner of the Hrunting is Beowulf, the protagonist of Beowulf, the oldest narrative poem in English literature.

Beowulf is one of the most famous monster hunters and dragon slayers in mythology.

"Boom!" Emiya's heart pounded violently.

"That feeling is back—"

This strange state, which only occurred once when the [Pseudo-Ariádnē Apólito Adis Ⅱ] was first projected, and which Shirou could not reproduce no matter how he tried afterward, has appeared again.

"The effect of the skill [?????? (Roadless Valhalla)] is activated."

"Temporarily gained the development ability [Hunter] I"

"Temporarily gains the ability to develop [Berserk] I"

"Temporarily acquired the skill [Pseudo-Dragon Slayer (Dragon Slayer II)]"

His blood was flowing faster, and the fatigue caused by the massive consumption of magic power was replaced by the excitement brought by the battle. Emiya opened his mouth and exhaled a hot breath.