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Yotsuya Miko said, "Honestly, resurrection isn't a big deal. Your world has Naruto and Sasuke, just like Erza's world has Natsu. Main characters always pull off miracles anyway."
Tsunade nodded. "You're not wrong. But I still have to put in effort. I can't dump everything on Naruto."
Misaka Mikoto @-ed Kurumi. "@Tokisaki Kurumi, I'm really not satisfied with your ending. Sure, you came back, but is that really the real you?"
Yotsuya Miko chimed in, "Exactly! Kurumi has to get stronger and rewrite her own story!"
Kurumi smiled. "Thanks, everyone. I will."
The girls kept chatting about their own anime plots, the only exceptions being Luo Hao and Brunhilde, who stayed silent.
Brunhilde was debating whether she should ask the group for help fighting the gods in her own world.
According to her storyline, the humans she chose eventually defeated the gods anyway.If that was destined to succeed, maybe she didn't need outside help.
But it never hurt to prepare for the unexpected.
As for Luo Hao… she was furious.
Alex had sent her an anime called Campione!. After watching it, she discovered she never appeared in the story at all.Not even a cameo. Just a passing mention before disappearing from the narrative.
Not even side-character level.
For someone as proud and high-strung as Luo Hao, how could that not make her angry?
What disgusted her most was that the anime protagonist was from Sakura Country.
Now that she knew the plot, she absolutely refused to let that country give birth to a god-slayer.
As for the gods the male lead was supposed to kill, Luo Hao wasn't planning to compete for them.She wanted to save them for Alex.
…
Danmachi World – Orario
Hestia had finished all four seasons of the anime, plus the light novels and spinoffs. By now she understood the future storyline perfectly.
If she hadn't joined the chat group, her familia would've eventually included Bell, Liliruca, Welf, Mikoto, Haruhime and Ryuu.
Even though the plot had changed, she could still recruit them herself.
The others were optional, but Bell, Haruhime and Ryuu were must-haves.
Of course, her reason for recruiting Bell was nothing like the original. She didn't have a crush on him.The current Hestia only liked Alex, and that wasn't going to change.
Recruiting Bell was purely because his talent was ridiculous.
He went from level 1 to level 5 in just a few months. Passing on a genius like that would be criminal.
Ryuu was the same. Already level 4, then later jumped two whole levels straight to 6.
Help her settle the issue with the Evilus remnants, and she'd definitely join Hestia's familia.
Haruhime, though, was troublesome. That meant clashing with the Ishtar Familia.
In the original, Freya wiped Ishtar out first, which allowed Hestia to recruit Haruhime afterward.
But after reading the novels, Hestia understood something important: Ishtar's familia wasn't nearly as weak as they looked. They had powerful allies outside the city, including several level 6s.
And Freya's familia was another headache. The love goddess liked Bell.
If she recruited Bell, then sooner or later she'd end up fighting Freya.
"What a pain," Hestia groaned, clutching her head in frustration.
She just wanted to recruit a few people who should've been hers to begin with. She didn't expect it to snowball into this many problems.
…
Meanwhile, Alex had no idea that all the girls in the group, after finishing their respective anime, were fired up with plans to grow stronger and rewrite their destinies.
Even Hestia was plotting how to recruit the protagonist, Bell.
He had no bandwidth to check the chat.
Ever since entering the 40th floor, the monsters had increased dramatically.They were all around level 4 and loaded with special abilities.
Fighting them was nothing like the middle or upper floors.The monsters here had clearly undergone a qualitative leap.
Without Merlin's buffs, Alex wasn't sure he'd still be standing.
Morgan and Artoria were holding up a bit better, but with monsters constantly spawning, their stamina and mana were draining fast.
The lower the dungeon went, the bigger it became.The 40th floor was already the size of all Orario.
Which meant trekking to the next floor took ages.
To manage their consumption, the four split into two pairs:
• Alex + Merlin• Morgan + Artoria
When Alex and Merlin fought, Morgan and Artoria rested and recovered, and they swapped when the first pair ran low.
Two alternating teams, advancing little by little.
Three days later, they forced their way from the 40th floor to the 48th.
One more floor down, and they'd reach Balor, the floor boss.
But just as they arrived, they spotted a battle up ahead.
The Loki Familia.
And they were stuck in an irregular situation.
The dungeon was spawning goat-headed monsters like crazy. Their eyes glowed red as they charged at Loki's group in a frenzy.
Loki Familia's Big Three — Finn, Gareth and Riveria — were holding the front.
Their elites — Ais, Tiona, Tione and Bete — guarded the flanks.
The rest were protected inside their formation. Lefiya, the Thousand-Elf, was shaking so badly she couldn't even chant.
Alex's group exchanged a glance and nodded.
In a situation like this, helping was a no-brainer.
If it had been Freya Familia, he wouldn't have lifted a finger.
But Loki Familia had a good reputation, and most of its members were decent and honorable.
Without hesitation, the four jumped into action.
Artoria's holy sword erupted with light. She didn't invoke its true name, only used Mana Burst and sent a massive wave of power slicing outward.
One sweep vaporized countless goat-headed monsters.
The sudden reinforcement shocked Loki's group.
Finn spotted that it was humans helping them and shouted, "Thanks, friends!"
But even as he thanked them, he stayed cautious.
Plenty of adventurers had lured monsters onto others before.Those incidents were called "monster offerings."
Alex simply smiled and looked at Merlin.
Merlin nodded, lifted his staff, and activated his skill: Territory Creation.
The ground rumbled. White walls rose on all sides.
A majestic fortress bloomed into existence like ancient Camelot, sealing everyone safely inside and blocking out the monsters.
Loki Familia stared, dumbstruck.
"What magic is that?" Finn muttered, biting his thumb.
"I've never seen it. Probably not magic, but a skill," Riveria replied.
"My strength… it's higher inside these walls. My defense too," Gareth said, gripping his axe with renewed vigor.
"Amazing skill!" Tiona gasped.
"Perfect. With these walls, I can finally cut loose," Tione growled, eyes glowing with manic excitement.
Earlier she'd had to hold back to protect the others.Now she was unleashed.
Alex stood atop the wall, projected a bow and fired into the sky.
An instant later, a rain of arrows poured down like a storm.
Goat-headed monsters dropped in droves, leaving piles of magic stones.
Morgan followed his rhythm, casting between his volleys.
She swung her staff, and countless beams of light fell from the heavens like meteors, crushing the monsters.
Riveria and Lefiya stared in shock.
Morgan's chant had been unbelievably fast.
It was clearly a long incantation, yet she finished it in just two or three seconds.
"Is that… a chant-speed skill?" Riveria breathed.She desperately wanted it.
Lefiya did too. Imagine being able to fire off spells instantly during battle.
Finn watched silently, frowning.
These four were unquestionably powerful. But how had Orario never heard of them?
He couldn't figure it out.
But now wasn't the time.
As one of the city's two strongest familias, Loki's group would've handled the monsters eventually. It just would've taken longer.
Still, since Alex's team helped, the favor had to be acknowledged.
But they couldn't let themselves look weak either.They'd show their own strength too.
Finn raised the Loki Familia banner and shouted, "Comrades, unleash your power and crush these monsters!"
His familia responded with roaring determination.
Riveria began chanting first.
"Harbinger of the world's end, pure white snow, twilight's herald, gather storm winds… sealed light, frozen earth. Let blizzards sweep thrice again. My name is Alf!"
As her chant ended, the temperature dropped sharply. Snow drifted down.
In seconds, all the monsters outside the walls froze solid, the ground itself glittering under a layer of ice.
"..."
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