DanMachi: The Epic of the Heroic Spirits of Emiya Shirou

"I haven't seen her smile so happily in a long time..."

Beside him, a dark elf with chocolate-colored skin and pure white hair sat on a boulder, expressionlessly munching on dry bread.

"Do not touch the score without permission, lest it create discordant noises in the established opera."

The dark elf spoke incomprehensible words, but the golden-haired elf understood what he meant.

—Do not act on your own initiative or do anything outside of your assigned tasks.

The two of them, Level 6 adventurers of Freya's Familia, the "Black and White Knights," had only one duty today: to protect the safety of a specific target, nothing more.

"...I know what I'm doing."

"The White Elf's Wand," Hedin Serland said in a calm voice.

Hegnirragna, the Black Demon Sword, glanced at Hedin's retreating figure before remaining silent.

127

Chapter 127 The Strange Movements of the Great Tree Sea

"Hegni, what do you think of that boy's abilities, as a [Swordsman]?"

Hedin asked.

【Black Demon Sword】Hegni Ragnar, he is the man known as the "Swordsman Throne" of the labyrinth city of Orario. Although 【Sword Maiden】is closely following, at least before Ais levels up, Lv.6 Hegni is the strongest swordsman in the city.

At the same time, he is also one of the few people in the city who possess the development ability of "Swordsman".

Although many adventurers use swords as their primary weapon, the development potential of the [Swordsman] is not common, and it is proof that an adventurer has top-notch talent and achievements in the field of swordsmanship.

"On the stage of this world, if there is a crown for the sword, it is destined to be this person."

Hegny still spoke differently from most people, but this sentence was easy to understand.

Translation: In this world, that person possesses the strongest swordsmanship.

"He doesn't have the potential to develop into a [Swordsman]."

Hedin continued speaking, his voice remaining calm.

Emiya is currently at level 2, and he can only have one development ability at this time. Clearly, his development ability must be in the production category, either [Forging] or [Mysticism].

Hegney: "The medals bestowed by God are the end of the thread of cause and effect spun by the sons of man, not the beginning."

Translation: Development ability is a result, not a cause. Adventurers gain development ability because of their talents, not the other way around.

"Of course I knew that, I'm just a little surprised—"

Hedin: "Hmm?"

His voice was interrupted by the sudden and unusual event.

"This is the roar of a dragon lurking deep within the earth."

Hegney: "A negligible amount of noise."

Translation: There was an earthquake, but the tremors were slight.

"Earthquakes near Orario are quite rare."

Hedin began, "Is it an underground city, or...?"

On the other side, Emiya and the others also sensed this unusual situation.

In particular, Anya and Chloe, being cat-people, are exceptionally sensitive to earthquakes.

"Earthquake, meow!"

"Is it some kind of disturbance in the dungeon?"

"Why are there so many unusual occurrences in the dungeon lately?"

Not long ago, Orario experienced a minor earthquake due to an anomaly in the dungeon, and Emiya and Ryu were witnesses to that incident.

This tremor was much milder than the one before.

"Let's go back first, everyone."

Seele said, "The city gates might close earlier today."

"Okay, let's go back first."

As he spoke, Emiya looked toward the labyrinth city, toward the Tower of Babel.

"Could it be some kind of disturbance in the dungeon?"

"It's not an anomaly in the dungeon."

Deep within the guild's altar, an aged male deity spoke these words.

He had white hair and blue eyes, wore a white robe, a black hooded cloak, and laurel wood shoes.

Uranus, the god of the sky, holds the most special position among the many gods of the labyrinth city. He was among the first gods to descend from the divine realm to the mortal world, and the first supreme god to bestow "divine grace" upon the mortals and establish a kinship.

It was thanks to the efforts of Him and a group of gods and their kin that people were able to stop the monsters from attacking and build a fortress to defend against the "Great Void" that kept spewing out monsters. This fortress is the prototype of the labyrinth city of Orario.

Therefore, Uranus is also known as the "creator god of Orario".

His former retinue no longer exists; in its place, Uranus has become the guild master, spending his days in prayer to the dungeon from the guild's underground altar. He uses his powerful divine might to suppress the dungeon, preventing monsters from frequently entering and leaving the surface as they did in the [Ancient] era.

He has been doing this work for a thousand years.

Although a thousand years is but a fleeting moment for a god with endless life, and many gods take Uranus's contributions lightly, he is still respected by people, especially by guild members.

At the same time, Uranus is undoubtedly the god who knows the dungeons best in the world.

"Isn't this an anomaly in the dungeon?"

Another god standing in front of Uranus spoke, tilting his head as if deep in thought.

"By the way, are you surprised to see me, Uranus?"

The male deity asked with a smile.

"I thought Loki would come looking for me first, but I didn't expect it to be you."

Uranus paused for a moment: "Hermes."

Appearing before Uranus was Hermes, the traveler god, with a composed expression.

“I don’t think you need to worry. Loki will probably arrive soon. Almost all of her children are in the dungeon. She must be frantic after something like this happened.”

Hermes chuckled and said:

"So, I need to find out the situation as soon as possible before you get entangled with her."

Hermes looked at Uranus: "You said it wasn't something unusual about the underground city, so was it just a normal earthquake, or—"

The Traveler's God paused for a moment, then adopted a serious tone: "Where... is there a problem?"

The anomalies in the dungeons are dangerous, but to be honest, because of Orario's existence, the problems in the dungeons are not so scary.

This god of travelers knew that many regions in this world harbored hidden dangers that could lead to even greater crises.

This isn't because those places have anything more terrifying than the dungeons, but because the risk tolerance outside of Orario is too poor.

Outside of Orario, there is no place with dozens of Level 1 adventurers who can move around at any time. In fact, in most areas, it is difficult to find even a Level 4 adventurer.

"It seems that those are indeed the places where the problem lies."

Looking at Uranus's expression, Hermes already knew the answer.

"Which one? 'Herasvarg' from [Aurora Icefield], 'Gugalana' from [Storm Wilderness], 'Yamata no Orochi' from [Sakura Island], or 'Andaris' from [Great Tree Sea]? It can't be [Dragon Valley]..."

It is the [Great Sea of ​​Trees]

Uranus said, "The power that caused the dungeon to resonate comes from that direction. I think it's because the strange activity in the dungeon not long ago awakened that monster."

Some time ago, the dungeon reacted violently to the invasion of a "god". Since then, the guild has been secretly investigating, but so far, they have not been able to find out which god violated the rules and entered the dungeon.

Ultimately, the only conclusion that it might be the work of a deity from a "dark faction" is meaningless.

"The Scorpio of the Great Tree Sea, huh? He's a particularly troublesome fellow..."

Hermes sighed.

"Please, Hermes."

"I know, I'll check the situation."

The God of Travelers flicked the brim of his hat, activated the power of the magical artifact, and his figure vanished.

"You should deal with your own troubles first, Uranus."

Hermes smiled and said, "I'm off."

"Uranus! What on earth is going on?!"

Loki's voice echoed throughout the guild.

128

Chapter 128 Ancient Monsters and the Moon Goddess.

Perhaps the fact that multiple adventurers leveled up to Lv.5 in such a short period of time used up too much luck, as the Loki Familia has indeed been experiencing some misfortune recently.

Just like now, the expedition, which had been planned and prepared in advance, not only failed to achieve great success and break records, but also failed to even reach the deep zone. It can be said that it ended right at the beginning.

The only achievement was the seventeenth floor of the labyrinth, the Lone King, the magic stone of the giant Goliath, and his loot—thanks to Ais and the others running fast enough, they managed to kill Goliath before the expedition had to end.

However, it was a regular Goliath, not the Lv.5 Black Goliath that Alicia had seen.

Because it has been attacked so many times, the [Goliath's Fang] dropped by ordinary Goliaths is no longer very valuable.

Then, the underground city began to shake, and the tremors were more pronounced in the underground city than on the surface.

Although the tremors lasted only a short time, Finn, the leader of the Loki Familia, made a decisive decision: the expedition was to be halted, and everyone was to immediately set off to return to the surface via the same route.

He and Riveria personally went out to catch up with Ais and the others who had set off earlier, and forcibly brought them back.

Although the young adventurers, especially [Sword Maiden] Ais, were very unwilling, they had no choice but to accept this outcome.

Subsequent events proved that Finn had been overthinking things; after the brief tremor, nothing unusual happened in the dungeon.

However, Captain Finn and Goddess Loki firmly decided to suspend the expedition, and the day of its resumption seemed to be far away.

The only consolation was that, although the expedition was halted, the guild reopened the dungeon entrance the next day after confirming that there were no unusual occurrences in the dungeon. Goddess Loki did not restrict the members from entering the dungeon, but only prohibited them from going to the deeper areas on their own.

As a result, the Loki Familia adventurers vented their frustration over the halted expedition on the monsters in the middle and upper levels. The monsters before the 27th level suffered heavy casualties, and even the Labyrinth King, the two-headed dragon Amphisbina, was slain by the Amazon sisters, who were skilled in naval warfare.

The two-headed dragon Amphisbina's potential ability is Lv.5, especially in water battles. Since most adventurers' combat power is limited in water, it is considered to have a difficulty level of Lv.6 in water battle environments.

However, the Amazon sisters of the Loki Familia all possess the rare ability [Diving], a skill that not only grants them the ability to "breathe underwater" but also provides a combat advantage in naval battles. Therefore, the two-headed dragon Amphisbane is not a difficult enemy for them to deal with.

"The group members have been holding a grudge lately."

Finn returned to the clan's camp, his tone as calm as ever.

"They also wanted to help alleviate the pressure on their families."

Riveria said, "Because the expedition was suspended, our current debt problem is quite serious."

The rewards of the expedition are extremely considerable, but the initial investment is also astonishingly large. Medicines, equipment, magic swords, and other magical items—all these things add up to an enormous sum.

Moreover, these preparations are crucial to the success or failure of the expedition and even the lives of the adventurers; none of them can be omitted, and no carelessness is allowed in terms of quality.

The current situation for the Loki Familia is this: the initial investment has already been made, but the project has been suspended due to unforeseen circumstances, and there is no return to be seen in the short term.

Moreover, much of this investment came from other clans. For example, the Dean Clan produced a large quantity of healing and mental potions for the Loki Clan at a friendly discount, and allowed them to keep track of the costs.

The same goes for equipment; the Granuit Familia sold a batch of spare weapons to the Loki Familia at a low price for their use during the expedition.

Not to mention the borrowed 400 million Fali magic sword spiral sword and the super weapon that hasn't been paid for yet, which costs 600 million Fali.

Other clans do this partly because of the Loki Familia's reputation and the long-standing cooperative relationship, and partly because they anticipate the results of their expeditions—most of the rare items the Loki Familia obtains in the depths of the dungeons will eventually end up in the hands of these major production-oriented clans.

Of course, the Loki Familia will not lose out either. What they gain from the expedition is something even more valuable: the reputation and honor of the Familia, and most importantly, the abilities and achievements of its members.

It can be said that production-oriented clans make sure-fire investments by leveraging the Loki clan's forces, or that the Loki clan uses these clans' resources to cultivate its own members. In short, cooperation with these clans is crucial for the Loki clan.

"Fortunately, I have communicated with the leaders of the Deankat Familia, the Gunut Familia, and the Hephaestus Familia. They understand the special circumstances and are willing to continue to support our subsequent expeditions."

Finn said.