DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

Emiya, unusually, spoke to himself during the battle:

"Come on, this battle has only just begun!"

·

Alicia stared at Emiya's retreating figure, her wand gripping tightly in her hand, her ice magic poised to strike at any moment.

"What exactly happened to that child?" she whispered, her eyes fixed on the distance.

"While I think what he did was right, wasn't it a bit too extreme for his age?"

Alicia admired Shirou's decisive and ruthless approach, but she was also somewhat worried that the child might go to the other extreme.

“Shirou…” After hesitating for a moment, Ryu said softly, “He is a child I rescued from the stronghold of the Dark Faction.”

Alicia is a trustworthy person, and Ryu trusts her, not only because Alicia is a noble elf or belongs to the highly reputable Loki Familia, but also because they have a history of fighting side by side.

They both struggled through that dark era, but the difference is that Alicia has emerged from it and begun to move towards a bright future, while Ryu has still not been able to completely escape the shadows of the past.

“I see.” Alicia responded softly. No further explanation was needed. Having dealt with the Dark Faction before and knowing the true nature of those despicable people, she could roughly imagine the cause and effect of the matter.

She sighed softly, "No wonder that child is so mature."

Alicia's own Loki Familia also has a thirteen-year-old child—[Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein. Her level has reached Lv.5, but even so, she is still a troublesome child who gives the "parents" of the Familia a headache.

In contrast, Shirou's performance was much more composed.

"It's because of her past experiences that she developed this personality," Alicia murmured to herself.

Some people torment themselves with the past, wishing the whole world were as miserable as they are; others, however, transcend the past and forge their past suffering into a stronger awakening.

"What a pitiful child," the female elf murmured, the boy's figure becoming clearer in her eyes.

Alicia: "I want to hold him in my arms and comfort him properly~"

Ryu: ?!

"I should be the one comforting Shirou," Ryu thought to herself.

Seeing her fellow clansmen's plump and radiant bodies glow with maternal radiance, she was immediately filled with panic.

However, when Liu looked down, although it wasn't exactly a sheer cliff, she could still clearly see her toes—

"Gu..."

This despairing disparity in strength caused the useless fairy to let out a defeated lament.

Chapter Thirty-Eight: The Young Dragon

The number of monsters is rapidly decreasing.

The monster group, originally led by two silverback apes, was being slaughtered by Emiya with extremely high efficiency, starting with the weakest little brats.

The Red Plains Hound is a demonic sword that tracks down enemies by the scent of blood and delivers the most appropriate strike with a mere swing.

With each strike, the blade absorbs blood, emitting a crimson glow.

One silverback ape was also knocked down and its head was cut off. Another silverback ape displayed a ferocity completely different from that of the pig-headed orcs and the minotaur. Instead of turning around and running away, it charged forward in even more fury.

"Ah ...

"Aaaaaah—" came out with a roar that was much quieter in decibels, but whose momentum was in no way inferior.

However, he didn't actually have the courage to directly block the silverback ape's arm with his sword.

Although the boy was filled with fighting spirit, his rationality and fighting awareness had not disappeared.

Emiya dodged the attack by turning to the side, and seizing the opportunity when the silverback ape was wide open, he decisively threw himself into its arms and pierced the silverback ape's chest with his black greatsword.

The monster's heart was pierced, and its powerful heart beat one last time with the force of pumping all the blood in its body out, but only a very small amount of blood flowed out. At the same time, the black sword in the boy's hand turned completely crimson.

"Finish--"

Emiya slowly took a deep breath as he pulled the [Pseudo-Red Wilderness] from the silverback ape's chest.

I wasn't that tired during the fight, but as soon as I relaxed, I immediately felt a wave of fatigue.

"I wonder which consumes more energy, projecting the [Pseudo-Red Plains Hound] or fighting the Silverback Ape."

"Are you alright, Shirou-kun?" Alicia stepped forward and asked with concern.

It seems that after joining forces to kill three adventurers from the Soma Familia, the two have grown much closer without anyone noticing.

"It's nothing, I'm just a little tired." Emiya shook his head.

Two silverback apes, a group of imps and bats—if you use a bow and magic sword, it shouldn't be too difficult to deal with them. But if you're just killing them in close combat, it'll be quite troublesome without the Red Plains Hound.

I wonder if the experience points I've gained have reached the level of "great achievement".

"How is Lefia?" Emiya asked.

“At a time like this, your first reaction is to care about others. You really are…” Alicia shook her head: “That child is different from you. This is the first time she has experienced something like this.”

While Emiya was fighting the monster, Ryu briefly told Alicia about Emiya's experience of being imprisoned by the Dark Faction. Alicia then filled in the blanks in her mind to understand the boy's mental journey and the reasons for his personality, and the logic was very coherent.

A boy who was imprisoned and abused by the dark faction did not give up on himself or become hateful of the world. Instead, he became even more righteous and gentler to those around him. What a wonderful child!

While admiring him, I couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache for him.

He's experienced so much at such a young age...

Suppressing the urge to immediately pull the boy into her arms and comfort him, Alicia helped Emiya up.

Ryu walked over with Lefia, who had barely stopped gagging.

"Shirou, why did you kill those people..." Lefia clenched her hands and couldn't help but ask.

The girl asked the question that had been on her mind.

Whether it's the gentle Alicia or the strong Shirou, they are both objects of Lefia's "admiration." Although they are not as good as the first-ranked [Sword Princess] and the second-ranked Princess Riveria, they are still role models in the hearts of young girls.

Therefore, she could not accept that her sister Alicia and Shirou suddenly showed a side of themselves that was completely different from what she had imagined.

However, to be honest, the elf girl's reaction was normal.

Based on the entire world, the real outliers are Alicia, who has experienced decades of trials and tribulations as an adventurer; Ryu, who has lynched countless remnants of the dark faction; and Emiya, who experienced the apocalypse in his previous life.

But this is a labyrinth city, an underground city. Here, Emiya and the others (adventurers) are normal, while Lefia (an ordinary person) is the outcast.

The rule of majority, with a ratio of three to one, had already given Lefia the answer, but the girl's heart couldn't believe the result.

"I think it would be better for Lefia to ask her senior, Alicia, who is from the same familia, about this issue." After thinking for a moment, Emiya decided to pass the question on to Alicia.

Although he and Lefia have a good relationship, there are some things that should only be told to her by her seniors from the same clan. Neither Emiya nor Ryu should overstep their bounds.

“Lefia, as I explained before, those people are ‘adventure hunters’ who specifically target and harm other adventurers in the dungeon.” When not in combat mode, Alicia became gentle and patient again.

Lefia remained silent. She understood what Alicia meant, but she still couldn't feel at ease.

“Princess Rivera taught us to help other adventurers in the dungeon whenever possible, which doesn’t conflict with our approach,” Alicia said gently, ruffling Lefia’s hair.

“Lefia, you are a smart child. I won’t go into the meaningless things like ‘they committed sins deserving of death’ or ‘their death will save more people’.”

"All I can tell you is that this is what the dungeon is like. If you hunt monsters here, you have to accept the risk of being killed by them; similarly, those who intend to kill others should be prepared to be killed themselves!"

Ryu said in a low voice, "Besides, what's the difference between those guys whose brains are burned by alcohol and lust and the monsters in the dungeon?"

As if she had thought of something, her clenched fist trembled slightly.

Lefia's tone was timid: "But the guild forbids attacking other adventurers in dungeons..."

Alicia: "So, are you going to report us to the guild?"

Lefia: "Of course...no."

"You haven't experienced enough adventures and battles, Lefia. You'll gradually understand in the future," Alicia said.

"If you really can't figure it out, you can go to Princess Riveria. Her wisdom can answer all the world's questions!"

Only when "Riviria" is mentioned does Alicia's eyes light up the most, almost like a devout believer preaching to the people.

However, Emiya had never met "Princess Riveria" and could only recall the blonde girl's dazed appearance, which made him chuckle.

"Roar--"

A loud noise interrupted Alicia's words.

"What was that sound?" Lefia was startled back to her senses.

"A dragon's roar? A 'baby dragon' from the 12th floor?" Alicia exclaimed in surprise, "We're so lucky to have encountered such a rare monster!"

Emiya glanced at Beowulf's (the Dragon Slayer's) sword, [False Red Hound], whose projection had not yet been deactivated and had turned crimson due to absorbing too much blood.

"Indeed, I'm very lucky."

Chapter Thirty-Nine: Divinity

【Young Dragon】 is a dragon-type monster that appears on the eleventh and twelfth floors of the dungeon.

Although its name contains the word "young," it is only young in comparison to the dragon-type monsters in the lower and deeper areas of the labyrinth. In reality, the [Young Dragon] is about 1.5 meters tall and more than 4 meters long, making it a "giant" in the upper areas.

The potential of the [Young Dragon] has reached Lv.2, with its durability value reaching the Lv.2 limit. It is considered to be the de facto boss of the upper dungeon area.

While possessing potential abilities far exceeding those of monsters of the same level, they also have extremely strong durability. This is a common characteristic of the Lonely Bosses in the Labyrinth. For example, the Lonely Boss Goliath on the seventeenth floor has a potential ability of Lv.4, but its durability has reached the level of Lv.5.

In gaming terms, it's like a "boss with an exceptionally long health bar."

After all, the Lone King of the Labyrinth often has a huge size, so it makes sense that it would have higher durability.

However, as a solitary king of the labyrinth, the most striking impression the [Young Dragon] leaves on adventurers is not its power, but its rarity.

After all, its potential ability is only at the Lv.2 level, so even if it is strong, it won't be that strong. What is impressive is its extremely low occurrence rate and the "precious" attribute caused by its rarity.

Because they are so rare, the loot dropped by the [Young Dragon] has been sold as collectibles by merchants in Orario at exorbitant prices. As a result, whenever there is news of a Young Dragon sighting, some high-level adventurers who are short of money will come to the eleventh and twelfth floors to wait for it.

So the roar of the young dragon excited all the adventurers nearby.

"It sounds like a baby dragon. It's so lucky to encounter such a monster. If I can get any loot, I'll really hit the jackpot!"

"That roar is very likely from a young dragon. Let's hurry over there before others get there first."

"If we get the loot from the baby dragon, we can earn at least several million falies. Forget about these bats, let's hurry and find the dragon!"

......

Emiya and his group weren't the only adventurers active on the twelfth floor. The roar of the young dragon echoed throughout the labyrinth, causing many adventurers to abandon their plans and rush towards the source of the roar.

"Isn't the baby dragon a level 2 boss? Can we really defeat it?"

"Idiot, we're not the only ones after the baby dragon. If things get really bad, we can team up and take it down together, then split the loot."

Most adventurers in this level of activity are Lv.1, but to reach the twelfth floor, they must have at least one relatively high stat. The gap between Lv.1 adventurers and Lv.2 monsters can be bridged by sheer numbers.

"The only thing to worry about is that there are high-level adventurers around, and the baby dragon will be monopolized by someone else."

Unfortunately, the thing that the adventurers who were dreaming of getting rich worried about actually happened.

When other adventurers arrived at the sound, all they could see was a dragon-shaped monster trapped and killed by a few ice pillars.

"What is it?" Alicia glanced coldly at the adventurers who had come to find her; this was the third group already.

"...Hearing the commotion over here, we thought we could come and help. Since you've already solved it, we won't disturb you any longer." The adventurers arrived in a hurry and left briskly, without any hesitation, afraid that this big shot would think they were trying to steal the monster.

Whoever starts hunting a monster first gets to keep it. Unless someone calls for help or the monster runs away, no one else can steal the monster. This is an unspoken rule in the dungeon.

The value of baby dragons is so high that some greedy people might break this rule, but fortunately, the adventurers are just greedy, not stupid.

Not everyone knows Alicia of the Pure White Garden, but anyone who isn't blind and has a sound mind will stop having bad thoughts once they see that the baby dragon wasn't simply killed by a knife, but frozen by an ice pillar.

Only a mage of level 3 or higher could pull this off; these level 1 adventurers should just stay away and cause trouble.

The adventurers arrived full of excitement but left disappointed, regretting that they had missed a great opportunity to make a fortune.

"【Garden of Purity】, why would a high-level adventurer like you be in a place like this?"

Some adventurers even dared to speak to Alicia, and she was quite a celebrity.

“【Lijie】, why are you here?” Alicia asked back, staring warily at the woman in front of her.

【Lijie】Aisha Belleka, a battle prostitute in the Ishtar Familia, was promoted to Lv.3 advanced adventurer about three years ago. However, due to her profession, her reputation in Orario surpasses that of the veteran Lv.4 adventurer 【Pure White Garden】Alisia.

Aisha has the distinctive tan skin of the Amazons and a pair of beautiful purple eyes. Her long black hair covers her right eye, adding a touch of mystery to her sensuality.

She was dressed in the style of a brothel dancer, with gold rings and various decorations around her chest and abdomen. Her overall attire was very revealing, with large areas of chocolate-colored skin exposed, making it seem as if she was only wearing underwear.