The Dungeon, Eighteenth Floor.
After a brief period of tidying up, the Loki Familia gathered at their campsite. They had spent the night here and were finally preparing to move again.
"Ah! Finally, we can go back. It's been almost a month since we left, hasn't it!"
Standing with her hands on her hips, Tione stared down the passage leading to the Seventeenth Floor, her voice filled with anticipation.
"We did stay out a bit longer than usual this time," Tione said calmly, glancing at her sister. "But the haul was pretty good."
She summarized it simply, looking at Tiona, who was clearly missing home.
"What do you mean 'a bit longer'? It was way longer than usual, alright?"
Dissatisfied, Tiona trotted over to Ais and leaned close to her ear.
"Ais, what about you? Do you miss life in Orario?"
"Not really," Ais replied flatly. "I still want to keep fighting."
Oh no. Wrong person to ask. Ais is a battle maniac.
Tiona felt an ominous chill run down her spine as she tried to think of how to respond. Before she could, a stern voice rang out from behind them.
"No. Balancing work and rest is essential."
Riveria walked over briskly, her expression serious.
"Even though you're already LV.5, excessive fatigue will still wear down your mind. That will only harm your growth. Don't damage your future for momentary greed, Ais."
She raised her hand and lightly tapped Ais on the head as she spoke.
"Riveria, meanie..."
Ais hugged her head, pouting slightly, though she made no attempt to argue back.
"For you lot, strictness is necessary."
Riveria gave Ais a weary look, then shifted her gaze toward Tiona and Tione.
The moment they noticed, the sisters immediately looked away, whistling innocently and pretending they had nothing to do with the situation.
"Don't be angry, Riveria," Finn said, stepping forward after finishing his instructions. "We're finally heading home. It's better to stay in a good mood, isn't it?"
"Captain!"
Seeing Finn approach, Tione quickly moved closer. With the captain backing her up, Tiona brightened and returned to the earlier topic.
"Exactly! We're going home-this is supposed to be a happy moment. Why be so serious?"
"Tch. Small fries."
Bete's voice cut in coldly.
"You spend all your time thinking about going back. If that's the case, you shouldn't have come at all. You'd be better off guarding the door at home."
"You-Bete!"
Tiona snapped back immediately, glaring at him.
The area instantly grew noisy.
"Honestly... can't you all just calm down?"
Riveria pressed her fingers to her forehead, utterly exasperated.
"You two. Quiet."
She struck her staff heavily against the ground.
The sound echoed sharply.
Under the pressure of her aura, Tiona and Bete froze at once, shutting their mouths and standing stiffly in place, regret written all over their faces.
Making Riveria angry never ended well.
Just as Riveria was about to begin lecturing them-
"Roar-roar-roar!"
A furious roar echoed through the cavern.
"Goliath is resurrected? What timing!"
Tiona's eyes lit up instantly.
"I'll go take down Goliath and clear the way!"
"Me too!"
Seeing Tiona trying to slip away, Bete reacted immediately.
"I'll go as well."
Ais, hearing the word battle, didn't hesitate.
"I'll go too."
In the blink of an eye, the three of them disappeared from Riveria's sight.
"...What a bunch of problem children."
Riveria rubbed her temple, her headache intensifying.
"Hahaha!"
Watching from the side, Finn and Gareth burst into laughter.
Swinging.
Swinging.
Swinging his sword without pause.
Running.
Running.
Running without stopping.
Since entering the middle floors, Shirou had been fighting nonstop.
Monsters fell one after another before him. He kept moving, kept killing, never allowing himself to slow down. Fatigue had already begun to creep into his limbs.
But he couldn't stop.
He was alone.
If he stopped, he would be surrounded. Once surrounded, he would be forced into a desperate struggle.
And once that happened, the Dungeon would take control of the battle.
That was unacceptable.
So he kept moving.
Fortunately, he had prepared plenty of supplies.
Reaching into his backpack, Shirou pulled out a potion and drank it in one motion. A warm sensation spread through his body, and his fatigue seemed to fade away.
Of course, he knew it was an illusion. Potions weren't that miraculous.
Still, they restored a considerable amount of stamina.
These were standard adventurer supplies.
Stamina Potions restored physical strength.
Mind Potions restored mental energy.
Healing injuries required higher-grade potions, and the highest among them was the Elixir.
A single bottle cost an astonishing five hundred thousand Valis.
Far beyond what ordinary adventurers could afford.
"Die!"
Multiple sword armaments were projected at once, streaking forward and piercing through the monster horde ahead of him.
Shirou was now in the latter half of the Fifteenth Floor.
Here, alongside Uni-rabbits and Hellhounds, a new monster had appeared.
MinOttarur.
A powerful monster.
A psychological shadow that haunted Bell in the early days of the original story.
When Bell overcame it, he reached LV.2.
Among LV.2 monsters, MinOttarurs were top-tier-elite existences.
And right now, one stood directly before Shirou.
The massive creature was thick with muscle, towering over him.
Shirou assessed it calmly.
"With my current LV.1 stats... even with Kanshou and Bakuya, it'll be hard to cut through."
"They're short swords, after all."
Then his gaze sharpened.
"Then I'll just face you with stronger Kanshou and Bakuya."
He began silently reciting the inscription engraved into the blades.
"Unbroken, the crane wings; to the great mountain, the mind and technique; across the Yellow River, the mind and technique; only my name is separated from heaven; both heroes part ways."
As reinforcement poured in continuously, the two short swords in his hands began to change.
Their forms expanded.
The blades thickened.
In moments, Kanshou and Bakuya had transformed into massive greatswords, heavy yet perfectly balanced in Shirou's grip.
"Let me see your strength."
He stomped forward.
His body accelerated sharply, appearing before the foremost MinOttarur in an instant. Shirou dodged its attack cleanly and swung.
The blade cut straight through.
The MinOttarur was bisected in a single strike.
"...Doesn't seem like you're that impressive."
Hot blood sprayed across him.
Shirou smiled faintly.
"I'm in a good mood right now. Don't disappoint me."
With that, he charged forward into the enraged roars of the remaining MinOttarurs.
"Ah, this feels great! After a morning workout, I feel totally refreshed!"
At the very front of the group, Tiona cut down MinOttarurs while chatting casually with Ais beside her.
"Mm."
Ais nodded in agreement.
"Don't get careless," Riveria warned from behind. "The passage to the Fifteenth Floor is ahead. It's narrow, and there's a cliff below. Be careful."
"Right!"
Tiona's expression turned serious immediately.
"Still... aren't there too many monsters on that right-side passage? This feels abnormal."
Finn spoke up, his eyes scanning the terrain.
This was the junction leading to the Fifteenth Floor.
Vertical shafts dropped away on both sides, and the only paths forward were stone bridges suspended between cliffs.
There were six or seven of them, all leading downward.
Normally, monsters would appear here.
But never in such numbers.
Hearing Finn's words, the Loki Familia executives instinctively turned their attention toward that stone bridge.
Before anyone could speak-
An arrow shot out from the passage.
It landed squarely on the stone bridge.
Boom!
A violent explosion erupted.
The shockwave was strong enough to be felt even where Finn and the others stood.
The blast was like a signal.
Monsters that survived the explosion surged forward, charging toward the direction the arrow had come from.
"Ugh-ahhh!!!"
With an enraged roar, a young man burst out of the passage, charging headlong into the monster horde.
And in that moment-
At the most dangerous possible timing-
Shirou finally crossed paths with the main pillars of the Loki Familia.
But he didn't notice.
Right now, he had no energy for anything else.
In his eyes-
There was only battle.
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter