DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

Lunova screamed in terror.

However, Ryu acted too quickly; before Lunova could even speak, she had already activated the magic [Five Lights].

This is the slashing magic possessed by Kaguya Gojo, and it is also the technique passed down through generations of the Gojo family—the Iaido sword.

This technique has three stages: the sword-drawing technique "Flash," the combo attack technique "Twin Leaves," and the "Five Lights," which combines the technique with the magic of the same name.

If you only have the magic [Five Lights], you can only unleash one sword light. But if you use it in conjunction with the same-named sword-drawing technique, you can generate five lightning-fast magic slashes from different positions, unleashing an ultimate attack magic that is like a net covering the sky.

【Five Lights】is a secret technique that the Gojo family has perfected over a thousand years since its founding. Due to the Gojo family's unique bloodline inheritance method, many members of the family possess this magic.

Before her death, Kaguya passed on the art of iaido to Ryu, who lived up to her reputation as a "combat genius" and had already honed the skill to the level of "Five Lights".

Five slashes struck Lunova from different directions. Although their power was somewhat reduced, they still left bruises on the physically strong Lv.4 second-level adventurer. Lunova fell down and lost her ability to fight.

Before there was even a moment to mourn Lunova, the one who rushed to the battlefield was—[Black Cat] Kroilolo!

"I surrender, meow! The cat won't fight anymore, meow!"

Kroy decisively threw down her dagger and hastily abandoned the fight.

Anya got up, covered in dust: "Ryu, you idiot, you don't know how to hold back your strength, meow."

"That's right, Ryu is now a Level 5 cat, how could the other cats possibly be a match for you, cat!"

Krooi meowed in dissatisfaction.

Lunova: "I need treatment..."

"Sorry..."

Ryu, no longer in combat mode, immediately realized that she had angered everyone and quickly used healing magic on Anya and the others.

Magic: End of Wendemia

Healing magic inherited from his fellow clan member, Marius.

The healing spell for the entire party takes effect quickly.

Anya and the others recovered quickly from their injuries, but seeing Ryu use [Astraea's Memoirs] again, the girls' eyes became even angrier.

Runova: "I think I've said this more than once, but I still have to say, isn't Ryu's new magic way too cheating?!"

Anya: "Yeah, meow, it's just like Shirou's projection, it's cheating, meow, it's so nice, I want magic like that too, meow."

Chloe: "Ah, seeing Ryu level up like this makes even the cat want to go to the dungeon to train..."

Everyone was originally at Lv.4, but now Ryu has suddenly leveled up to Lv.5, and immediately became the target of everyone's anger.

"You silly fairy, don't make that smug face, meow!"

"I'm not smug at all, and I'm not a stupid fairy!"

Ryukyu refuted this.

"Seele, who holds the record for 'most plates broken in a day' at the tavern?"

Runova looked around at the girls watching them fight.

Seele smiled and said, "It's Ryu."

"What about the second and third records?"

Seele: "Also, it's Ryu."

Liu was instantly stunned by Xier's words. She squatted down on the ground and groaned.

Even after upgrading to Lv.5, Ryu still couldn't shake off the reputation of being a "useless fairy," and even caused more trouble due to her body's maladjustment and lack of coordination.

The time since Ryu's last ability update was too long, and the leap in ability values ​​was too great. In addition, she directly completed the upgrade, making it much more difficult for Ryu to adapt to the new ability than usual.

Moreover, she acquired the extremely complex magic of "Astraea's Memoirs".

[Astraea's Memoirs] allows Ryu to use the magic of her past companions, but she also needs to familiarize herself with those magics to use them properly.

Otherwise, it would be better if it couldn't unleash its full power. For example, with Alisha's additional magic [Red Flower Bloom], Ryu could easily hurt herself when using it now.

In short, Ryu is not yet able to unleash her full potential, and therefore she is undergoing special training through combat.

Anya and the others were training partners that Ryu had found. The three girls were all top-tier Lv.4 second-level adventurers. Normally, if they worked together, they could contend with a first-level adventurer who had just been upgraded to Lv.5.

However, Ryu is not a normal adventurer. She was the strongest tavern waitress at Lv.4, and before upgrading to Lv.5, she accumulated an exaggerated amount of potential ability. Coupled with her magic and skills, her combat power completely exceeded the limits that Anya and the others could handle.

Liu muttered to herself, "In the end, it didn't have any effect on training and getting to know each other at all."

Runova: "You useless fairy, you're really infuriating when you talk like that, you know? If I could beat you, I would definitely..."

Spurred on by Ryu, Lunova has begun to consider upgrading. Her basic stats are more than sufficient, and her highest strength has reached B780, not far from A-rank.

The main difficulty for Lunova to level up lies in acquiring [Great Achievements].

"Ryu, if you want to adapt to your new abilities by fighting strong opponents, here's a good option."

Seele suddenly spoke.

Ryu immediately asked, "What?"

"Tomorrow night, the Loki Familia will be holding a banquet at the [Abundant Mistress] to celebrate [Garden of Purity] Alicia's upgrade to Lv.5."

Seele said, "You can try challenging the strongest members of Loki's Familia."

Ryu's eyes lit up: "Alicia..."

Now that I'm level 5, it's time to settle our old scores!

92

Chapter Ninety-Two: Shifting the Blame Eastward.

Today, the "Abundant Hostess" was more lively than usual, and the second-floor banquet hall, which is rarely open to the public, was also put into use.

"What's going on? Are there usually this many people here?"

In the lobby on the first floor of the tavern, an adventurer asked in bewilderment.

"Don't you know? The Loki Familia is holding a banquet upstairs to celebrate the upgrade of the Garden of Purity."

Another adventurer pointed to the ceiling.

"Oh, I see. The Loki Familia has gained another Level 1 adventurer. As expected of them..."

"If this momentum continues, it feels like it's only a matter of time before the Loki Familia surpasses the Freya Familia."

"Shh, you should be careful what you say..."

The red-haired goddess descended from the second floor, standing in the middle of the stairs with one foot on the handrail.

"Today's mead is on me, everyone, let's celebrate!"

The goddess Loki shouted, and the adventurers on the first floor immediately became excited.

"Oh my god!!! Long live the Loki Familia!!!"

The festive atmosphere permeated the entire tavern, and the adventurers ordered even more food and drinks to contribute more to the [Abundant Mistress] tavern's revenue, causing Boss Mia to grin from ear to ear.

"Ais, why are you wearing a mask?"

Riveria walked up to the girl and asked in confusion.

"No, it's nothing, I just think this mask is really cool..."

Ais adjusted the fox mask on her head and spoke in a guilty voice.

Little Ais was actually worried that Emiya would recognize her, causing her false identity to be exposed in front of Riveria, which would put her in a very difficult situation.

However, Ais didn't know that as the only person wearing a mask, she was actually more eye-catching. Moreover, her hiding was completely pointless; if Emiya were there, he would have discovered her even faster.

Fortunately, Emiya isn't here at all.

"I'm sorry, Princess Riveria, Shirou has an urgent matter to attend to and is unable to attend the banquet. I apologize on his behalf."

Ryu bowed respectfully to the Elf Princess: "Shirou made these sweets to present to you as a token of his appreciation."

However, Ryu, with a serious expression, couldn't help but complain inwardly, "Shirou's 'urgent matter' is actually to go to the entertainment district to take care of a fox-girl..."

Emiya has been very busy these past few days. He spends his days forging iron in the Hephaestus Familia's workshop and his nights in the entertainment district, so Ryu rarely gets to see him.

Ryu was very dissatisfied with this, but when she thought that this was Goddess Astrea's plan, she could only choose to endure and forgive.

"It's alright. Compared to the banquet, business takes priority."

Rivera spoke sensibly, picking up a honey fruit cake and gracefully putting it into her mouth.

"Mmm, it's delicious."

Riveria said, "It was specially made to suit the tastes of our elves."

"Lefia, go and get some for everyone to try."

"Yes, yes, Your Highness Riveria."

Ryu watched as the cute elf girl responded somewhat flusteredly, took the plate from her hand, and then ran towards the direction of [Sword Princess].

"Only among the Loki Familia can I see so many of my own kind."

Ryu couldn't help but think about it.

"Is Shirou-kun not here?"

The star of today's banquet, Miss Alicia, looked somewhat disappointed: "I haven't seen Shirou for many days..."

"I regret to inform you that Shirou cannot attend the banquet today."

As Liu spoke, the corners of her mouth slightly curved upwards—but the angle was too small, so she still appeared expressionless.

At least, she could see Shirou every day, and only a few people, including Haruhime, knew about Haruhime's situation; there was absolutely no way Alicia could know.

Thinking about these things made Liu feel much better.

"Speaking of which, Ryu—"

Alicia looked at the elven girl and lowered her voice, "You... leveled up?"

Whether a level has increased cannot be seen from appearance; Alicia sensed the overflowing magic power emanating from Ryu.

This indicates that Liu's level of advancement this time was exceptionally significant, to the point that she was finding it difficult to adapt to her body after the upgrade in capacity.

Originally, after Alicia leveled up, her magic power was stronger than Ryu's because of the level difference between Lv.5 and Lv.4. But now, Alicia can feel that she has been completely surpassed by Ryu, and the gap is quite large.

"Yes."

Liu nodded: "Keep this a secret for now."

"...Although I don't know what you're going to do."

Alicia said, "Okay, I'll keep it a secret for you."

Besides Alicia, Riveria, who possesses the Fairy King's Seal, should also be able to sense the change in Ryu's magic power and thus determine that Ryu has leveled up. However, Riveria will not ask her directly; if Ryu doesn't say anything, she will assume that this is not true.

"Want to try a match with me?"

Liu was eager to try.

Alicia immediately replied, "I refuse."

Liu asked in confusion, "Why?"

Do you know how many years it took me to level up from Lv.4?

Alicia rolled her eyes at Ryu: "I'm just an ordinary person, not a monster like you who levels up faster than lightning, nor do I have your kind of heaven-defying combat power!"

Even among those of the same level, there are differences. Ais, who has just leveled up, can solo kill a level 6 monster. Young geniuses like [Ferocious Wolf], [Angry Serpent], and [Great Severer] also possess unique skills.

As for Alicia, she is not a genius, at least not a genius like [Sword Princess] and [Swift Wind].

Alicia knew that she was able to level up for two reasons: first, time—she had more experience than Ais and Ryu, and had slowly accumulated enough power over the years; and second, luck—she unexpectedly achieved the feat of "first kill of Black Goliath."

Alicia: "With your talent, you probably already have the combat power of a seasoned Lv.5 right after leveling up. Sorry, I have no interest in being masochistic, at least not with you..."

Ryu: "...I feel like there's something off about what you're saying."

"In short, if you want to fight, don't come to me."

Alicia said, "Even if you defeat me, you won't feel any sense of accomplishment or gain anything... But you can try challenging the geniuses of our clan."

"Whether it's the [Fierce Wolf] or the Amazon sisters, these people are warmongers and would definitely be willing to fight the famous [Gale]."