The Dungeon, Eighteenth Floor.
After tidying up, the Loki Familia, who had camped here for the night, were gathering.
"Ah! Finally, we can go back. It's been about a month since we left, hasn't it!"
Tione stood with hands on her hips, her voice full of anticipation as she looked toward the passage leading to the Seventeenth Floor.
"Indeed, we've been out a bit longer than usual this time, but the haul has been quite good."
As the older sister, Tione summarized their thoughts, glancing at her clearly homesick sister, Tiona.
"What do you mean 'a bit longer'? It's much longer, alright?"
Dissatisfied with her sister's remark, Tiona ran behind Ais, leaned close to her ear, and whispered,
"Ais, what about you? Do you miss life in Orario?"
"Not really. I still want to keep fighting!"
Ais replied flatly, her voice devoid of emotion.
Oh no, asked the wrong person. Ais is a battle maniac!
Tiona, feeling an ominous premonition and unsure how to continue, suddenly heard Riveria's stern voice from behind:
"No, balancing work and rest is essential."
"Even though you're already LV.5, excessive fatigue will still destroy your mind, which is detrimental to your growth. Don't damage your future for a moment's greed, Ais!"
Riveria briskly approached Ais and lightly tapped her head, admonishing her.
"Riveria, meanie!"
Ais, knowing she couldn't defy Riveria, hugged her head and pouted.
"For you lot, strictness is necessary."
Riveria gave Ais an exasperated look, then shifted her gaze to Tiona and Tione.
Seeing this, the two immediately looked away, pretending not to notice and whistled cheerfully.
"Don't be angry, Riveria. We're finally going home; it's better to be happy, isn't it?"
Finn, having completed his instructions, stepped forward and interjected, looking at the gathered members.
"Captain!"
Seeing Finn, Tione quickly moved closer to him. Tiona, seeing the captain's support, happily brought up the old topic again:
"Exactly! This is a joyous time to go home, why be so serious?"
"Typical small fries. You spend all your time wanting to go back, you shouldn't have come in the first place. You'd be better off guarding the door at home!"
"You, Bete!"
Seeing Bete mock her, Tiona immediately retorted in anger.
Suddenly, the area became exceptionally lively.
"Honestly, can't you just settle down? Always bickering."
Riveria massaged her forehead, utterly helpless.
"You two, quiet down!"
Striking her staff heavily on the ground, Riveria shouted sternly.
Under her imposing aura, Tiona and Bete, who were arguing, immediately shut their mouths, standing in place and regretting their actions uneasily.
Angering Riveria would not end well.
Just as Riveria was about to lecture them, a furious roar suddenly echoed:
"Roar, roar, roar!"
"Goliath is resurrected? What a coincidence!"
Seeing this, Tiona immediately shouted,
"I'll go defeat Goliath and clear the way for everyone!"
Bete, seeing Tiona planning to slip away, quickly said,
"Me too!"
And Ais, seeing a battle, also said,
"I'll go too!"
Soon, the trio vanished from Riveria's sight.
Looking at this scene, Riveria sighed with a headache,
"What a bunch of problem children!"
"Hahaha!"
Finn and Gareth, watching from the side, burst into laughter.
---
Swinging, swinging, endlessly swinging his sword!
Running, running, endlessly running!
Shirou, who had been fighting constantly since entering the middle floors, relentlessly slew the monsters in front of him.
Never stopping, he felt fatigue setting in. But he couldn't stop.
He was alone; once he stopped, he would be surrounded and fall into a desperate struggle.
In that case, the battle would be dictated by the Dungeon, which would be extremely bad for him.
Therefore, he couldn't stop. Fortunately, he had brought plenty of supplies.
Pulling a potion from his backpack and downing it, Shirou distinctly felt warmth spread through his body, and his fatigue vanished.
Of course, this was just an illusion; the potion's effect couldn't be that good.
But it still provided Shirou with a significant amount of stamina.
These were common potions used by adventurers: Stamina Potions for restoring physical stamina, and Mind Potions for restoring mental energy.
Healing injuries required higher-grade potions, and the highest-grade potion was called the Elixir.
A single bottle of Elixir cost a staggering 500,000 Valis, far beyond the means of ordinary adventurers.
"Die!"
Several sword-armaments were projected, instantly piercing the monster horde before him.
Shirou was currently in the latter half of the Fifteenth Floor. Here, in addition to Uni-rabbits and Hellhounds, a new monster had appeared: the MinOttarur.
This was an extremely powerful monster, a psychological shadow for the protagonist Bell in the early parts of the original story.
When he overcame this shadow, he reached LV.2.
Among all LV.2 monsters, MinOttarurs were top-tier, considered elite monsters.
And now, a MinOttarur stood before Shirou.
Staring at the colossal, muscular monster opposite him, Shirou's mind raced:
"With my current LV.1 stats, even with Kanshou and Bakuya, it would be hard to cut him through, especially since Kanshou and Bakuya are short swords."
"Then! I'll face him with stronger Kanshou and Bakuya!"
"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 he silently recited the inscription etched into Kanshou and Bakuya, with his continuous reinforcement, the two short swords in his hands began to undergo massive changes.
The short swords visibly transformed into two greatswords, swinging powerfully in Shirou's hands.
"Let me see your strength!"
Stomping his foot, Shirou suddenly accelerated, quickly appearing in front of the foremost MinOttarur.
As his body dodged its attack, Shirou directly bisected it with a single sword stroke.
"Doesn't seem like you're that great either, huh?"
Feeling the hot blood spray from the MinOttarur, Shirou's lips curled into a slight smile.
"I'm on a high right now; don't disappoint me!"
With that, he charged forward amidst the MinOttarurs' enraged roars.
---
"Ah, this feels great! After a morning workout, I really feel refreshed!"
Walking at the very front of the party, Tiona was slaying the MinOttarurs in front of her while chatting with Ais beside her.
"Mm."
Ais nodded in agreement.
"Don't get careless. The passage to the Fifteenth Floor is next. The path is narrow, and there's a cliff below. Be very careful!"
Riveria, behind them, immediately warned Tiona, who was distracted during the fight.
"Right!"
Tiona instantly became serious.
"Speaking of which, aren't there too many monsters in that right passage? It's a bit abnormal!"
Finn, who had been constantly observing their surroundings, said seriously.
This was a connecting point to the passage leading to the Fifteenth Floor. The area was surrounded by vertical shafts leading to lower levels, and the only available passages resembled stone bridges suspended between two cliffs.
There were about six or seven such stone bridges here, all leading to the Fifteenth Floor.
Normally, there were monsters on them, but never this many.
Hearing Finn's concern, the Loki Familia executives leading the way couldn't help but look towards that stone bridge. But before they could analyze or speak, an arrow shot from that passage, flying onto the stone bridge.
Boom!
A violent explosion instantly erupted, and the intense blast was felt even by Finn and the others.
The sudden explosion seemed to be the signal for battle. The monsters not affected by the blast charged forward, one after another, towards the direction from which the arrow was fired.
"Ugh ahhh!!!"
Accompanied by an enraged roar, a young man's figure burst out of the passage, charging directly into the monster horde opposite him.
And at this incredibly perilous moment, Shirou finally met the main pillars of his Familia.
But at this moment, he had no energy to pay attention to anything else.
Right now, in his eyes, there was only battle!
--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!
Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter