DanMachi: Heroic Epic of Emiya the Great Hero

"As long as Captain Finn receives news of an earthquake in the dungeon, he will definitely send a rescue team immediately, and everything will be fine soon."

"Th-that's great," Hearing this, Lefiya let out a long sigh of relief, her legs went weak, and she sat down on the ground.

However, the expressions of Ryuu and Shirou remained unchanged.

Emiya looked at Alicia with a meaningful glance,'Sister Alicia, is what you said true?'

Alicia shook her head at a very slight angle, then glanced lightly towards Lefiya,'It's false, just to let Lefiya relax a bit. Captain Finn won't arrive that quickly.'

Emiya nodded, indicating that he understood. He slung the giant heavy bow [Fake·Nine Lives II] behind his back, closed his eyes, and thought for a moment.

「Skill [Mind's Eye] effect activated.」

He raised his head and spoke.

"This should be the 17th floor."

"How did you determine that?",Ryuu asked.

"I haven't entered the middle floors, but I've heard from seniors in the familia that the 17th floor is taller compared to other floors in the middle area.",Emiya replied,"Besides that, it's just intuition."

"I believe Shirou.",Ryuu said, looking at Alicia.

As high-level adventurers, some things didn't need words; a glance was enough to understand.

"I actually have the same feeling. After all, this floor is noticeably a bit too tall...",Alicia looked at the boy,"Shirou, you've expended the most physical and mental energy. Rest as quickly as possible."

Emiya nodded,"I've already taken a high-grade elixir. I still have one mana potion and two high-grade healing potions left. It will take some time for the elixir to take effect."

"Does the Hephaestus Familia directly provide so many high-grade potions to a Lv.1 newcomer? Well, you guys are rich and can afford to be extravagant...",Alicia couldn't help but sigh.

Then she looked at Lefiya and sighed softly,"Lefiya, if we need to defeat the Giant Goliath, can you join the battle?"

Hearing the name "Goliath," Lefiya was completely stunned,"G-Goliath? No, I can't, I can't..."

It was the Giant Goliath that wiped out Lefiya's squad when she was still in the [School District], leaving her with psychological trauma that hasn't fully healed to this day.

"I understand... Then stay close to Shirou and make sure to protect yourself. If the enemy is the Dungeon King, Ryuu and I might not be able to spare any attention for you.",Alicia replied decisively.

"Wait, Sister Alicia, why are we suddenly fighting Goliath?",Lefiya hurriedly asked.

"If the dungeon has sent us to the 17th floor, it must be to use Goliath against us.",Alicia said rationally,"Even if Goliath hasn't been reborn yet, the dungeon will forcibly create one. This is the 'malice of the dungeon'."

"Probably the path to the 18th floor is already blocked."

Ryuu: "Although Goliath is always born in the large room at the center of the 17th floor, it has the ability to break through walls and move to other rooms."

In the past, when she was in the Astraea Familia, Ryuu had participated in battles against the Giant Goliath multiple times, so she was very familiar with the information about this Dungeon King.

Other rooms on the 17th floor spawn Lv.2 monsters, such as Minotaurs, Hellhounds, Tiger Claws, etc. Once these monsters gather, even high-level adventurers need to take them seriously.

Especially Hellhounds, whose flame breath power can stack with their numbers, making them one of the most threatening monsters in the middle floors.

However, the large room where the Giant Goliath resides only spawns that one Dungeon King.

"Right, compared to other places, facing Goliath at its birthplace is actually the best choice. In that open room, no other monsters will spawn.",Alicia nodded.

"If there's no Goliath blocking the way, that would be great. As long as we can reach the safe zone on the 18th floor, we can breathe a sigh of relief."

For now, she could only set Lefiya aside. As the eldest among everyone present, she naturally took on the responsibility of command, so she temporarily didn't have extra energy to focus on Lefiya's psychological issues.

If Lefiya could rally her spirits, her super-tier firepower would definitely make her a useful combatant—Lefiya at Lv.2, with her individual magic firepower, surpassed Alicia at Lv.4 and might even rival Ryuu.

But rather than betting on the uncertain probability of the girl rallying, she preferred to focus her mind on command and deployment, practically increasing the chances of success.

"The specific situation is still uncertain, but no matter what, we need to be mentally prepared to defeat Goliath.",Alicia said.

She said this because, based on Alicia's judgment, with her and [Gale]'s strength, as long as nothing unexpected happens, defeating a Lv.4 Goliath wouldn't be too difficult.

This judgment wasn't arrogance but a reasonable analysis of combat strength. Alicia was a top-tier Lv.4, Ryuu's strength surpassed hers, and although Emiya was only Lv.1, his extraordinary archery skills allowed him to contribute more than most Lv.2 adventurers.

If Lefiya could overcome her psychological barriers and fully unleash her magic firepower, not just Goliath, but even the Dungeon King of the 27th floor—the Twin-Headed Dragon Amphisbaena—could be confronted, as long as it wasn't a water battle.

[TL/N: The Twin-Headed Dragon has a potential ability of Lv.5, with water battles at Lv.6 difficulty.]

"The Giant Goliath is a Dungeon King with super endurance. My ice magic won't be very effective against it, so Ryuu, you'll be in charge of the main attack."

"Shirou, I'm counting on you to protect yourself and Lefiya. If there's a chance, try shooting Goliath's eyes; that's where you have a chance to break through its defense."

"Ryuu, your magic...",Alicia looked at her fellow elf.

"My highest stats are agility and magic power. I have a light and wind attribute annihilation magic, with a medium-length chant.",Ryuu spoke, succinctly summarizing her information.

"My main weapon is a Tachi, and I have the 'parallel chanting' technique that allows me to prepare magic while fighting. My magic can be chanted quickly when stationary, but parallel chanting reduces efficiency."

Like Alicia, Ryuu was an all-around warrior with both magic and close combat abilities. Alicia had one more skill in archery than Ryuu, but against Goliath, she would probably have to take on the vanguard role.

"Ryuu, Sister Alicia, here, take these.",Emiya took out six small golden and silver daggers from his bag.

"These are... magic swords?"

"Yes, the golden ones are fire attribute, the silver ones are thunder attribute. Each can be used two to three times, with power equivalent to a Lv.2 magician's attack."

"You actually carry magic swords worth millions of valis into the dungeon...",Alicia couldn't help but envy the wealth of the Hephaestus Familia.

'As expected of the largest arms dealer in the city, just how rich are you guys?'

Actually, Emiya brought fewer today. If he were exploring alone, he would have brought at least one medium-sized magic sword of Lv.4.

Alicia and Ryuu didn't refuse, accepting the magic swords and distributing them.

"Shirou, can your projection create magic swords?",Alicia thought for a moment and asked.

Emiya replied,"I can project magic swords, but it consumes a lot of mana. However, the projected magic swords are the same as regular ones and can be activated instantly without cost."

"In that case, Shirou, take these two elixirs. You need mental energy more than I do.",Alicia handed a small glass bottle to the boy,"I took a small sip from this one earlier, don't mind it. Sister isn't as wealthy as you, I take small sips of high-grade elixirs instead of drinking a whole bottle at once."

Ryuu was alert, 'Indirect kiss?'

But seeing the serious expressions on Alicia and Shirou's faces, now didn't seem to be the time to consider such things.

"...Why don't I have any high-grade elixirs on me?",Ryuu muttered in a voice so low only she could hear.

Alicia: "Lefiya, if you can't fight, hand over all the elixirs you're carrying to Shirou."

"Eh? Yes!"

As a magician, Lefiya also had the habit of carrying elixirs with her. Two unopened potions fell into Emiya's hands.

"Now, let's head to the [Wall of Grief] where Goliath is born..."

Alicia raised her head because the dungeon shook again, and the ceiling not far away cracked once more.

"Did someone else fall down?"

———

[Dungeon, 12th floor]

Aisha used her fists to beat an Armadillo to near death. This monster had a hard shell but was fragile inside. Its defense was the highest in the upper floors, and a typical Lv.1 adventurer couldn't defeat it alone in close combat.

The Armadillo, like the Silverback Ape, was considered the strongest monster in the upper floors. The Silverback Ape's strength was in attack, while the Armadillo's was in defense. For lower-level adventurers, the Armadillo was less deadly but harder to defeat.

However, in front of Lv.3 Aisha, the Armadillo's famously sturdy shell was like paper. After a series of punches, the Armadillo was on its last breath, clearly not going to survive.

"Haruhime, come quickly. I've brought the monster to near death. You finish it off."

Aisha stood up and let out a long breath. Suppressing the desire to fight at full strength and patiently bringing the monster to the brink of death was as frustrating for Aisha as dressing up all night only to meet an impotent client.

Compared to that, she'd rather have a fierce fight with another Lv.3 monster.

But there was no helping it; this job had fallen to her.

The Ishtar Familia's team for this trip consisted of six people: two Lv.3s, three Lv.2s, and one Lv.1.

The three Lv.2 adventurers were responsible for keeping watch from a distance, ensuring no one approached. The two Lv.3s, one was tasked with capturing monsters from the dungeon, and the other with carefully weakening them.

The last Lv.1 girl's task was to "reap the rewards."

"O-okay, thank you, Sister Aisha," said the girl named Haruhime in a soft voice.

She was an extremely beautiful fox-girl with long golden hair, emerald-green eyes that were enchanting, fox ears and a tail covered in beautiful golden fur, the tail large and fluffy enough to make all other fox-people jealous.

Even though she was in the dungeon, the fox-girl still wore a kimono and wooden sandals. Despite her seductive appearance, her movements were clumsy, giving off a contrasting sense of adorable awkwardness.

"Although the experience gained this way is minimal, there's no other choice," Aisha said, "Hurry over, we're running out of time!"

"Yes!",The fox-girl hurried over, "Um, Sister Aisha, what should I do?"

"Use the knife, stab here," Aisha pointed to a crack on the Armadillo's shell made by her fist, her tone full of irritation.

Haruhime took out a small dagger-shaped knife from her bosom, took a deep breath, and then thrust the knife—

'Eh, I hadn't stabbed yet~'

Haruhime was afraid she'd miss, so she pulled the knife back to aim.

She repeated this action three times.

Aisha felt her blood pressure rising and shouted, "Hurry up and do it!"

"Yes!" ,The fox-girl yelped and thrust the knife out, but she instinctively closed her eyes.

Then, unsurprisingly, she missed.

Even though the Armadillo's shell had been shattered by Aisha's punches, Haruhime still managed to hit the remaining hard shell.

Not only did she fail to stab it, but her hand also went numb from the impact, and she nearly dropped the knife.

And at this moment, after being half-dead for half a day, the Armadillo finally died, unable to rest in peace.

Once again, half a day's work was wasted.

Aisha felt the veins on her head throbbing. Haruhime might achieve a feat never before accomplished: driving a Lv.3 high-level adventurer to death by frustration.

"Haruhime, you... forget it..."

Looking at the trembling fox-girl, Aisha didn't want to say anything more.

"You really aren't suited for the dungeon. You should just stay in the familia from now on," she sighed and said.

"...Yes," Haruhime's voice was downcast.

Aisha wanted to pat the fox-girl's head, but her hand hovered in the air for a long time before finally lowering.

"Let's go, Haruhime. We're heading back. The Loki Familia's [Pristine Garden] is on the 12th floor. To avoid complications, let's call it a day here."

The high-level adventurers of the Loki Familia had put a lot of pressure on Aisha and her team. To prevent any incidents, they had been carefully avoiding them.

There was no helping it. Haruhime's existence was the Ishtar Familia's biggest secret. If this secret were discovered by the Loki Familia, the Ishtar Familia might be wiped out.

Aisha didn't want to be skewered by the [Braver] Finn. Although she thought it might be thrilling to be beaten up by the handsome Pallum, her Lv.3 body probably couldn't handle it.

"Yes," Haruhime stood up with her head down. At that moment, the ground suddenly shook, causing the girl to fall to the ground unprepared.

"What's going on? An earthquake? But this is the dungeon!",Aisha's expression immediately turned grim.

"This is an [Irregular]. Haruhime, quickly, we need to leave now!"

An Irregular was a sudden occurrence in the dungeon that often challenged the feats adventurers had built up over time.

Under the management of the Guild and the efforts of various exploration familias, Orario had not only thoroughly analyzed the upper, middle, and lower floors of the dungeon but also compiled the terrain, monsters, and precautions of each floor into manuals, teaching this knowledge to other adventurers, greatly reducing the mortality rate.

However, even so, the dungeon was still full of dangers. The self-aware dungeon would bare its fangs when adventurers let their guard down, triggering situations that shouldn't happen, such as monsters appearing on floors they shouldn't be on, monsters having abilities they shouldn't possess, etc. These situations were collectively referred to as "Irregulars."

The ground shook more violently. Aisha immediately reached out to grab Haruhime, but she was a bit too late.

The ground where Haruhime had fallen cracked open, and the girl, with a panicked expression, fell down.

Among all "Irregulars," this was the worst—[Floor Collapse] and [Vertical Cave], which shouldn't appear on this floor.

Gritting her teeth, Aisha jumped into the hole that had opened in the ground.

"Damn it, this 'pitfall' doesn't lead to the 13th floor but goes deeper. What the hell is the dungeon doing?"

Aisha desperately grabbed Haruhime, holding the fox-girl tightly in her arms. She turned in mid-air, positioning herself to land back-first.

Boom—

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