DanMachi: Heroic Epic of Emiya the Great Hero

Emiya, in a rare moment, spoke to himself amidst the battle with the monsters,'Come on, this fight has just begun!'

Alicia stared at Emiya's back, tightly gripping her magic wand, with ice magic ready to be unleashed at any moment.

"What's going on with that kid?",she murmured, her eyes fixed ahead, speaking in a voice only they could hear.

"Although I think his approach is correct, isn't it a bit too extreme for his age?",Alicia admired Shirou's decisive and sharp actions, but she also had some concerns, fearing that the boy might be heading towards another extreme.

"Shirou…",After a moment of hesitation, Ryuu softly said,"He's a child I rescued from the base of the [Dark Faction]."

Alicia was a trustworthy person, and Ryuu trusted her, not only because Alicia was a noble elf or a member of the highly reputable Loki Familia, but also because they had fought side by side in the past.

They had both struggled through that dark era, but while Alicia had moved on towards a bright future, Ryuu still hadn't completely shaken off the shadows of the past.

"I see.",Alicia responded softly, needing no further explanation. Having dealt with the [Dark Faction] and knowing the nature of those despicable people, she could roughly imagine the backstory.

She sighed lightly,"No wonder the child is so mature."

Alicia's own Loki Familia had a thirteen-year-old child—[Sword Princess] Ais Wallenstein, who had already reached Lv.5. Yet, even so, she was still a mischievous child that gave the Familia's parents headaches.

In comparison, Shirou's behavior was much more composed.

"It's because of his past experiences that he developed such a personality.",Alicia murmured to herself.

Some people torment themselves with their past, wishing the whole world to suffer with them; others transcend their past, forging their former hardships into stronger resolve.

"What a heartbreaking child.",the female elf whispered softly, the figure of the boy becoming clearer in her eyes.

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

Ryuu: "?"

'I should be the one comforting Shirou.',Ryuu thought to herself.

Watching her fellow elf's curvaceous figure radiate maternal light, she was momentarily flustered.

However, Ryuu lowered her head, and though it wasn't exactly a cliff, she could clearly see her own toes—

"Guh…"

The despairing gap in strength made the useless elf let out a cry of defeat.

The number of monsters was rapidly decreasing.

Originally led by two Silverback Apes, the group of monsters, starting from the weakest goblins, was being efficiently slain by Emiya.

Hrunting, the magic sword that tracks the scent of blood and delivers the most suitable slash with just a swing.

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

One Silverback Ape was also taken down, its head severed, while the other Silverback Ape displayed a ferocity completely different from the likes of Orcs and Minotaurs. It didn't turn to flee but instead charged forward even more furiously.

"AH!!!!!!",The Silverback Ape roared as it pounced, while Emiya stood firm, meeting it head-on.

"Ahhhh—",He let out a roar, though much quieter in decibels, his momentum was no less fierce.

However, he didn't actually have the courage to block the Silverback Ape's arm head-on with his sword.

Though the boy's fighting spirit was boiling, his rationality and combat awareness hadn't disappeared.

Emiya sidestepped, dodging the attack while seizing the opportunity of the Silverback Ape's wide-open stance, decisively plunging into its embrace and piercing its chest with a black greatsword.

The monster's heart was pierced, its strong heart pumping out all its blood in one final beat, yet only a very small amount of blood gushed out, while the black sword in the boy's hand turned a deep red.

"Done—"

Pulling out [Fake·Hrunting] from the Silverback Ape's chest, Emiya took slow, deep breaths.

He didn't feel as tired during the fight, but once he relaxed, a wave of fatigue immediately set in.

'I wonder if projecting [Fake·Hrunting] or fighting the Silverback Ape consumed more stamina.'

"Are you okay, Shirou-kun?",Alicia stepped forward, asking with concern.

It seemed that after jointly killing three adventurers from the Soma Familia, the relationship between the two had Invisibly grown closer.

"I'm fine, just a bit tired.",Emiya shook his head.

Two Silverback Apes, a group of goblins and bats—if using a bow and magic sword, it wouldn't be hard to deal with, but purely melee combat, without [Hrunting], would have been quite troublesome.

'I wonder if the experience gained has reached the level of a "great feat."'

"How's Lefiya?",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 her first time experiencing something like this."

While Emiya was fighting the monsters, Ryuu had briefly told Alicia about Emiya's past of being imprisoned by the Dark Faction, leading Alicia to mentally piece together the boy's emotional journey and the formation of his character, which made perfect sense.

'A boy who had been imprisoned and abused by the Dark Faction, instead of giving up on himself or growing to hate the world, became even more resolute against evil and kinder to those around him—what a good child.'

While admiring him, she 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 hug the boy and comfort him, Alicia helped Emiya up.

Ryuu and Lefiya, who had just stopped retching, walked over together.

"Shirou, why did you kill those people…",Lefiya clenched her hands, unable to hold back her question.

The girl voiced the question that had been weighing on her heart.

Both the gentle Alicia and the strong Shirou were objects of admiration in Lefiya's heart, though not as much as the first-ranked [Sword Princess] and the second-ranked Lady Riveria, they were still role models in the girl's heart.

So she couldn't accept at all the sudden display of a side of Alicia and Shirou that was completely different from her impression.

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

Taking the whole world as a benchmark, Alicia, who had weathered decades as an adventurer, Ryuu, who had privately judged countless remnants of the Dark Faction, and Emiya, who had experienced the end of the world in his previous life—these people were the anomalies.

But this was the labyrinth city, the dungeon, where Emiya and the others (the adventurers) were the norm, while Lefiya (the ordinary person) became the anomaly.

Three to one, the rule of majority over minority had already told Lefiya the answer, but the girl's heart couldn't believe it.

"I think it's better for Lefiya to ask her fellow Familia member, Alicia-senpai, about this question... ",Emiya thought for a moment, choosing to push the question to Alicia.

Although he had a good relationship with Lefiya, some things were better explained by a senior from the same Familia, and neither Emiya nor Ryuu should overstep their bounds.

"Lefiya, it's been explained before, those people were 'adventurer hunters' who specialized in ambushing other adventurers in the dungeon.",Alicia, no longer in combat mode, became gentle and patient again.

Lefiya remained silent, she could understand what Alicia meant, but she still couldn't feel at ease.

"Lady Riveria taught us to help other adventurers in the dungeon whenever possible, which doesn't conflict with our actions.",Alicia reached out to ruffle Lefiya's hair, speaking in a gentle tone.

"Lefiya, you're a smart child, 'they had already committed crimes deserving of death,' 'their deaths would save more people,' these meaningless words, I won't repeat them."

"I can only tell you, the dungeon is such a place. You hunt monsters here, you must bear the risk of being killed by monsters; similarly, those who intend to kill others must have the resolve to be killed by others."

Ryuu said in a low voice,"Moreover, those whose minds are addled by alcohol and desire, are they really any different from the monsters of the dungeon?"

As if thinking of something, her clenched fist trembled slightly.

Lefiya said timidly,"But, the guild prohibits attacking other adventurers in the dungeon…"

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

Lefiya: "Of course… not."

"You've experienced too few adventures and battles, Lefiya, you'll understand gradually in the future.",Alicia said,"If you really can't figure it out, you can seek Lady Riveria, her wisdom can answer all the world's doubts."

Only when mentioning "Riveria" did Alicia's eyes shine the brightest, like a devout believer preaching to the masses.

However, Emiya had never met that "Lady Riveria," and could only recall the dazed look of the golden-haired girl, momentarily amused.

ROAR—

A loud sound interrupted Alicia's words.

"What's that sound?",Lefiya was startled back to reality.

"A dragon's roar? The 'Young Dragon' of the 12th floor?",Alicia was surprised,"To encounter such a rare monster, we're really lucky!"

Emiya glanced at the still-projected, blood-absorbed deep red Beowulf (Dragon Slayer) sword [Fake·Hrunting].

"Indeed, very lucky."

[Young Dragon], a dragon-type monster that appears on the 11th and 12th floors of the dungeon.

Although its name includes the word "young," it's only young relative to the dragon-type monsters in the lower and deeper areas of the labyrinth. In reality, the [Young Dragon] stands about 1.5 meters tall, with a body length exceeding 4 meters, making it a giant beast in the upper levels.

The potential ability of the [Young Dragon] reaches the upper level of Lv.2, with its endurance stat reaching the limit of Lv.2, recognized as the de facto labyrinth king (Boss) of the upper levels of the dungeon.

While its potential ability far exceeds that of monsters of the same level, possessing extremely strong endurance is a common trait of labyrinth kings. Taking the 17th floor's labyrinth king, the Giant Goliath, as an example, its potential ability is Lv.4, health bar.

After all, labyrinth kings often have massive bodies, so having higher endurance is quite logical.

However, as a labyrinth king, the [Young Dragon] leaves adventurers with the impression not of strength, but of rarity.

After all, with a potential ability of only Lv.2, no matter how strong, it can't be that strong. What's truly impressive is its extremely low appearance rate and the precious attribute due to its rarity.

Because it's so rare, the [Young Dragon]'s drops are sold by Orario's merchants as collectibles at sky-high prices, to the extent that once there's a sighting of a Young Dragon, some high-level adventurers in need of money will come to the 11th and 12th floors to wait.

Thus, the roar of the Young Dragon excited all nearby adventurers.

"Sounds like a Young Dragon, encountering such a monster is really lucky, if we can get its drops, we'll really hit the jackpot!"

"That roar, it's probably a Young Dragon, let's hurry over, don't let others get there first."

"If we get the Young Dragon's drops, we can make at least a few million valis, forget these bats, let's go find the dragon!"

The adventurers active on the 12th floor weren't just Emiya and his group, the roar of the Young Dragon echoed through the labyrinth, causing many adventurers to drop their current plans and rush towards the source of the dragon's roar.

"Isn't the Young Dragon an Lv.2 Boss? Can we really defeat it?"

"Idiot, there's definitely more than just us coming for the Young Dragon, if it's really too tough, we'll just team up to take it down, then split the money later."

The adventurers active at this level are mostly Lv.1, but having reached the 12th floor, they at least have one relatively high ability stat, the gap between Lv.1 adventurers and Lv.2 monsters can be bridged by numbers.

"The only thing to worry about is if there happens to be a high-level adventurer around, and the Young Dragon gets taken by them alone."

Unfortunately, the adventurers' fears of missing out on their fortune came true.

By the time other adventurers arrived at the sound, they could only see the dragon-type monster trapped by several ice pillars.

"Can I help you?",Alicia coldly glanced at the adventurers who had come seeking, this was already the third group.

"…We heard some noise over here, thought we might be able to help, but since you've already taken care of it, we won't disturb you.",the adventurers came in a hurry and left just as quickly, not wanting to overstay their welcome, fearing the big shot might think they were there to steal the monster.

The rule in the dungeon is that whoever starts the fight with the monster owns it, unless they call for help or the monster escapes, others can't steal the monster, it's an unspoken rule.

The value of the Young Dragon is high enough that some greedy individuals might break this rule, but fortunately, the adventurers were only greedy, not stupid.

Not everyone recognized [Pristine Garden] Alicia, but anyone with eyes and a brain, seeing that the Young Dragon wasn't simply slain but frozen by ice pillars, wouldn't dare have any ill intentions.

To pull off such a feat, one must be at least an Lv.3 mage, these Lv.1 adventurers better not look for trouble.

The adventurers could only come excitedly and leave disappointed, regretting their lost chance at fortune.

"[Pristine Garden], why is a high-level adventurer like you in a place like this?"

There were also adventurers bold enough to strike up a conversation with Alicia, and also a celebrity.

"[Beauty Elite], why are you here?",Alicia retorted, eyeing the woman warily.

[Beauty Elite] Aisha Belka, a combat prostitute from the Ishtar Familia, upgraded to Lv.3 about three years ago, but due to her profession, her fame in Orario surpassed even the veteran Lv.4 adventurer [Pristine Garden] Alicia.

Aisha had the Amazon tribe's signature tan skin and a pair of gorgeous purple eyes, with black hair covering her right eye, adding a mysterious touch to her sexiness.

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

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