Chapter 157: Ryuu's Despair and Regret, Shirou vs. [Calamity] Juggernaut!
Jura Halmer's actions completely exceeded Ryuu's expectations.
She never imagined that her assault on the Rudra Familia would be anticipated, nor did she expect that Jura Halmer, in order to deal with her, would once again unleash the dungeon calamity that had destroyed the entire Astraea Familia.
Five years ago, the Astraea Familia had launched an extermination operation against the Rudra Familia.
With intelligence obtained in advance, they had successfully cornered the enemy on the 27th floor.
However, when the Rudra Familia, with no escape, was about to be annihilated by the Astraea Familia, the cat-man leader of the Rudra Familia, named Jura Halmer, chose to detonate the entire floor.
His original intention may have been mutual destruction with the Astraea Familia. But with the floor's explosion, the unbelievable happened:
Due to the destruction of the 27th floor environment, an unprecedentedly terrifying "calamity" was born within the dungeon.
Its immense power immediately slaughtered several Astraea Familia adventurers. Even the powerful members—Gojouno Kaguya and the pallum Lyra—were nearly annihilated on the spot.
The only ones able to act were the captain, Alise, and Ryuu herself, who had been pushed to the edge of the explosion.
Faced with the monstrous calamity, Ryuu was paralyzed by fear, unable to move.
Alise immediately commanded the severely injured Gojouno Kaguya and Lyra, joining forces to desperately hold back the calamity, buying time for Ryuu to escape.
Ultimately, Ryuu survived alone. All other Familia members were completely wiped out.
In extreme anger and regret, Ryuu became an Avenger.
She frantically hunted down Rudra Familia members and, at the Rudra stronghold, killed everyone except the god Rudra, including the ringleader Jura Halmer.
Afterward, nearly dying, Ryuu was rescued by Syr.
Under Syr's care, Ryuu joined the Hostess of Fertility tavern and became a server.
Initially, Ryuu's hatred had almost extinguished after annihilating the Rudra Familia, but she quickly realized that, even after killing all Rudra members, the god Rudra himself had not been eliminated, allowing the Rudra Familia to gradually regain strength.
In that moment, unprecedented rage surged through Ryuu's body.
She completely lost control, her hatred and resentment taking over, and she mercilessly slaughtered anyone bearing the Rudra Familia mark, even knowing deep down that these victims had nothing to do with those who destroyed the Astraea Familia.
If no one could punish these villains, she would become the weapon of vengeance herself.
Even if it meant abandoning justice and humanity, she would never let them act freely.
From that day, Ryuu became a true avenger.
Right or wrong, guilty or innocent, anyone marked by the Rudra Familia would be mercilessly torn apart. This was her resolve, a commitment she would fulfill at any cost.
Of course, this resolve was not entirely unshakable.
While serving at the Hostess of Fertility, a comfortable life and gentle companions repeatedly made Ryuu question her obsession with revenge. She even considered abandoning her meaningless vendetta to live a normal life.
However, just as her heart began to waver, shocking news shattered her thoughts:
The Goddess of Justice, Astraea, had returned to Orario.
Upon hearing this, Ryuu felt as if a thunderclap had struck her.
Though she did not know why Astraea had returned or whether it related to her, the despair and fury she had once felt reignited instantly.
Ryuu instinctively believed that Astraea returned to witness her path of vengeance.
When Ryuu had decided to assault the Rudra Familia, she had requested the goddess leave Orario to avoid implicating her.
Yes, Astraea left Orario at Ryuu's request.
Before departing, Astraea even told Ryuu: "Abandon justice."
In that moment, Ryuu realized the goddess must have been utterly disappointed in her, abandoning her.
Thus, she abandoned justice completely and became an Avenger.
She now existed as an empty shell, driven solely by her rage.
If she could not even achieve the one thing she could, how could she face the goddess?
With this thought, Ryuu plunged into obsession, recklessly gathering intelligence on the Rudra Familia, once again cornering her enemies.
Yet in the end, she realized: it was not the Rudra Familia that was cornered, but herself.
From the very beginning, she had been trapped in their plan.
"Hehehe… ahahaha!!"
Jura Halmer laughed maniacally.
He bent his body like a seizure, his half-broken cat tail leaping as he mocked:
"You're so foolish, Ryuu Lion. Did you think we wouldn't notice your actions? After all these years, you haven't grown stronger. You've been standing still! Meanwhile, under the fear you brought me, I have never stopped advancing!
Since the Familia was destroyed by you alone, and I barely survived with the god's help, I built an intelligence network, gathering everything about you. I worked day and night, planning endlessly, trying to erase you, the cursed nightmare, from the world!"
Seeing the man who should have been cornered acting frenzied, Ryuu froze, speechless.
Jura Halmer continued smugly:
"I knew I could never match you, even if I trained a lifetime. Not to mention my hand was ruthlessly cut off by you! So, to defeat you, I had only one option: the calamity that destroyed the Astraea Familia!"
"You prepared all this to deal with me?"
"Exactly. Back then, I was half-skeptical that detonating a floor could summon a calamity, but now I know: destroying an entire floor creates a monster capable of annihilation!"
Jura Halmer's face burned with zeal.
"Moreover, I discovered something interesting from the last experience: dungeon floors are connected! Certain floors are considered the same by the dungeon. Through countless scans, I identified floors 25 to 27—they are treated as one!"
"That means if I detonate floors 25 to 27 simultaneously, I can create a calamity covering all three floors. The monster born will be far stronger than the one that annihilated the Astraea Familia five years ago!"
"What…?!" Ryuu's expression changed in disbelief. "Doing that would kill everyone in the dungeon, including you!"
Jura Halmer laughed:
"Then they die! Better than living in the fear you bring—ten thousand times better! Dying with you is sheer delight! But I don't plan to die; once the calamity is born, it instinctively attacks the strongest adventurers first. With many adventurers on these three floors, if I escape in time, I might survive!"
"Bastard…"
Ryuu's face blazed with anger. She rushed forward, but Jura Halmer whipped the ground violently with a whip.
Suddenly, a level 5 monster emerged from the shadows, blocking Ryuu.
"This is…"
"It's a magical item I obtained long ago from the Ikelos Familia—a Tamer's Iron Whip. With it, I can control monsters wearing collars!"
Jura Halmer laughed maniacally.
"All your fault! The fear you gave me drove me to this. For years, I've thought endlessly about how to kill you, Ryuu! Blame your relentless obsession with the Rudra Familia!"
"My fault? The blood debt was yours first!"
"Now you're like us, Ryuu. A killer drowning in blood debts!"
"…."
Jura Halmer's words silenced Ryuu. Years of revenge had stripped her of confidence in justice. She had long doubted herself and her actions.
She could no longer righteously seek vengeance or condemn Jura Halmer as immoral.
Meanwhile, the floor shook violently.
Thud!
Crystals rained from the ceiling. It felt as though an explosion had struck the floor.
The dungeon echoed with screams familiar to Ryuu.
"Stop…!"
Her lips trembled instinctively.
The nightmare from five years ago reappeared, bringing overwhelming despair and pressure.
Jura Halmer laughed:
"It's too late, Ryuu. Too late—the nightmare has returned!"
Boom!!
Unprecedented explosions swept through the dungeon.
The explosives prepared by the Rudra Familia detonated, repeating blasts and fires that shattered every passage.
Burning monsters and melting crystal pillars were torn apart by destructive whirlwinds.
Adventurers on these floors were caught off guard, thrown into chaos.
"Jura Halmer—!?"
Seeing this realization of despair, Ryuu stopped questioning justice. She had no time to react and charged at the madman—but was blocked by a level 5 monster controlled by Jura Halmer.
Jura Halmer sneered:
"Ryuu, ever since you slaughtered me, I've dreamed of you every night for five years! I was terrified and hopeless, feeling there was nowhere to hide! In that despair, I acted to summon the ultimate despair! I wanted to smash that beautiful face of yours, reduce you to kneeling and crying like five years ago! Now I finally can—feel the despair you once felt!"
Jura Halmer's taunts drove Ryuu to lose all reason. Ignoring the monster's attacks, she rushed to kill him despite her injuries.
But she was a step too late.
Before Ryuu could strike and tear Jura Halmer apart, the dungeon calamity was born.
Boom!
As if a final blow, a tremendous explosion erupted, and in the next instant…
The dungeon cried out.
Not the cracking of stone or earthquakes, but a wail like a human woman, sharp and piercing, as if a giant female voice rivaling the world itself had manifested.
Immediately, an unprecedentedly stagnant air spread across the floor, accompanied by adventurers' screams and cries.
"Ah… ahhh… just like back then… again… ahhh, Alise…!"
The moment Ryuu heard that piercing sound, she collapsed to the ground in despair. She clutched her head, completely losing awareness of the outside world, immersed entirely in hopelessness.
Jura Halmer, on the other hand, seemed to want to savor Ryuu's miserable state and therefore did not flee immediately.
Of course, he might have had other motives, deliberately staying behind to witness Ryuu's pale, despair-stricken face.
As the contrast between the frenzied Jura Halmer and the desperate Ryuu formed, suddenly footsteps echoed at the scene.
"What's this?"
Both Jura Halmer and Ryuu were startled by the sound. Instinctively, they turned their heads and saw a red-haired young man stepping out of the shadows, a longsword hanging at his waist.
The moment Ryuu saw him, she recognized him immediately and exclaimed in surprise:
"E-Emiya… why are you here?"
Though Ryuu hadn't seen Shirou in a long time, during the period when Shirou had worked at the Hostess of Fertility, they had met frequently.
Ryuu had always regarded Shirou as arrogant and conceited, yet somehow not detestable.
Looking back, she realized the reason she felt this way was probably because she saw the shadow of her former captain, Alise, in him.
Both were reliable and cheerful, both chose to pursue seemingly unattainable goals without doubting themselves, and both steadfastly continued on their path, even at great cost.
Especially in the moment Shirou stepped forward to confront the God Soma to stop the corruption of humans by divine sake, Ryuu even saw in him the shadow of justice that had long seemed distant to her.
In Ryuu's heart, Shirou had almost become an embodiment of justice.
From that point onward, her dislike for Shirou completely vanished.
Although the shadow of the Astraea Familia made her hesitant to get too close, in her heart, she regarded Shirou as a person worthy of respect, just like her former captain, Alise.
So, upon seeing Shirou appear before her, Ryuu almost instinctively shouted:
"Run, Emiya! Don't come near here! Escape quickly!"
"Run?"
Shirou seemed a little confused by Ryuu's words.
He clearly had no idea about the Rudra Familia's actions across these dungeon floors, nor that a calamity had already been unleashed and could appear at any moment.
Ryuu, however, was extremely anxious, nearly frantically rushing to Shirou and gripping his clothes tightly:
"Get out of here! Even if it's just you alone, run! If you die like Alise did… how could I ever accept it…?"
Hearing Ryuu's words, Shirou paused slightly.
He slowly reached out and touched her head, speaking in a calm voice:
"Ryuu, don't forget, even in the face of harsh reality, you must overcome the fear in your heart and soar."
"Alise… no, Emiya, how do you know that phrase?!"
Ryuu's eyes widened.
Shirou's words were those that Alise had once spoken to her, a memory of their precious moments together that Ryuu had never forgotten.
"…"
Seeing Ryuu's reaction, Shirou felt a little awkward.
He had experienced Alise's dream in a vision, living through her past, and upon seeing Ryuu's expression, he subconsciously spoke Alise's words, unintentionally revealing the connection between Ryuu and Alise.
To prevent shattering Ryuu's fragile hope, he restrained himself from explaining everything and calmly said:
"Don't worry about that, Ryuu. More importantly, what's happening here?"
Ryuu, slightly stunned, immediately explained that the dungeon calamity had been released by the Rudra Familia and would kill all adventurers on these floors.
"I see."
Shirou had seen the calamity before in Alise's memories.
It was a monster named [Juggernaut].
Back then, the Astraea Familia was no weak force—they were only slightly behind the Loki and Freya Familias in strength, with eight level 4 members, and captain Alise was among the best at level 5. Yet in front of Juggernaut, the Astraea Familia had no means to resist, annihilated almost instantly.
Even Alise's all-out effort couldn't stop the monster; she was completely torn apart.
It was evident that Juggernaut's strength was extraordinary, far surpassing any Lone king of the same level—a hunter beyond imagination.
For this reason, when Ryuu realized Juggernaut had been born, she completely lost the ability to resist, consumed by despair.
"Emiya, run! Even if you can't return to the upper levels, as long as you flee deeper, it shouldn't chase you!" Ryuu said desperately.
"Moreover, it was summoned by Jura Halmer and me; anyone unrelated won't be targeted."
"I understand… but it seems it's already too late."
Shirou responded calmly to Ryuu.
At the same moment, a hair-raising sound came from the shadows nearby.
Ryuu froze on the spot, and even Jura Halmer's body twitched instinctively.
The instincts honed from long years of adventuring and survival sounded the highest alarm.
Yet what appeared was not a monster, but a mass of adventurer corpses.
Whether from the Rudra Familia or innocent adventurers, the corpses scattered like snow, forming a flood of death.
Snap!
Then came a sound like a spider's thread being plucked.
Everyone instinctively looked toward the ceiling.
Finally, they saw the true form of the calamity.
It was a grotesque spider-like entity, with countless limbs all backward-jointed, almost no muscles, its body composed entirely of armor-like shells. Its head had complex protrusions resembling beast skulls, and two empty eye sockets glowed with blood-red spheres.
No one knew when it had appeared.
It seemed to materialize from nothing, carrying with it endless death.
Ryuu's mind completely shut down.
Jura Halmer's face, in contrast, grew more excited.
Juggernaut, following its instincts, immediately began attacking the strongest adventurer on the floor—Shirou himself.
Snap!
As its backward-jointed knee extended, its figure disappeared again.
With unnatural speed, no one could track its movements, only feeling the gust of wind as it instantly appeared before Shirou and Ryuu, raising its claws.
"!!!"
The arc of death reflected in Ryuu's eyes.
She had completely resigned herself, feeling powerless over her tragic life—a life entirely meaningless, achieving nothing.
But perhaps that was fine—then she wouldn't have to see the goddess, wouldn't have to face a symbol of justice in such a pitiable state.
Let it end.
Ryuu slowly closed her eyes.
But after a long while, death did not come.
She initially thought she had died too quickly to perceive it, but soon realized that was not the case.
Before Juggernaut's attack could strike her, a pair of hands grabbed the monster's claws.
Shirou had matched Juggernaut's speed, catching its attacking claws, and with a flick, drew his sword [Agaris] and struck.
Slash!
The monster's body was hit directly, flames scorching it back.
At that moment, Ryuu, already in shock, was even more astonished by the aura emanating from Shirou as he swung.
She sensed Alise's presence in him, seeing her shadow, almost believing Alise had come back to life.
But realizing Shirou was clearly male, she forced the illusion away and was again stunned by Shirou's power.
At that moment, neither Jura Halmer nor Ryuu could believe that Juggernaut, the calamity that once effortlessly annihilated the Astraea Familia, had been repelled so easily.
Read ahead and Finish the Fanfiction by supporting me on buymeacoffee com/varietl or ko-fi edwriting