Dungeon and Magic

"Cheers!"

Around the rising flames, the adventurers of Loki Familia were celebrating with ease and joy.

This was the passage between the 24th and 25th floors. After a day of travel, Loki Familia, who had arrived directly, was resting.

"How is it? Does it suit everyone's taste?"

Shirou Emiya asked with a smile as he watched everyone drinking soup.

Since there was nothing for him to do as a rear guard during the day and they had been traveling all along, Shirou Emiya had gone all out when cooking, showing off his skills.

"Delicious!"

"It's simply exquisite!"

"Shirou's cooking is the best!"

Hearing the many praises coming from all around, the corners of Shirou Emiya's mouth curved into a slight smile.

This was probably the satisfaction of a chef.

It was a shame he still had things he wanted to accomplish. Otherwise, he really wished the Distant Timepiece could find him a world of gourmet food to explore.

Perhaps he could do it after everything was over.

"Here, Raul!"

Tossing a fruit he found in the forest to Raul, who was on watch, Shirou Emiya walked over and asked, "How is it? Is everything stable?"

"Don't worry, I've done this countless times."

Smiling, Raul gave a thumbs-up and patted his chest confidently.

Looking at the broken walls around Raul, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but recall the knowledge he had learned from the library.

The Dungeon was alive.

After hundreds of years of exploration by adventurers, they had managed to figure out some of the Dungeon's rules.

For example, the Dungeon prioritized repairing damaged walls over hatching monsters.

Therefore, to rest safely at night in a non-safe floor, adventurers had to destroy the surrounding walls and then monitor their repair.

When the walls were almost repaired, they would destroy them again. This effectively hindered the birth of monsters.

And this was the job of the night watchman.

As the second-in-command member most trusted by Finn and the others before Shirou Emiya, Raul had frequently accompanied Loki Familia on expeditions. His eight years of adventuring experience made him intimately familiar with all the details of expeditions.

"From tomorrow onwards, it's the real expedition. You should get a good rest and conserve your energy!"

The real expedition?

Shirou Emiya nodded slightly.

The top twenty-four floors of the Dungeon were like a spring outing for Loki Familia.

But after the 24th floor, it was the real expedition.

According to the Dungeon's classification, every twelve floors belonged to a stratum.

The first twelve floors were the upper stratum, floors 13 to 24 were the middle stratum, floors 25 to 36 were the lower stratum, floors 37 to 48 were the deep stratum, and floors 49 to 60 were the ultra-deep stratum.

As for the areas below the 60th floor, they were called unknown floors.

With each stratum crossed, the monsters' strength increased by leaps and bounds.

The monsters in the upper stratum were LV.1, while those in the middle stratum were LV.2. In the lower stratum, the monsters were all LV.3, the deep stratum monsters were LV.4, and the ultra-deep stratum monsters were LV.5.

The monsters in the unknown floors and beyond were all LV.6 or higher.

It was important to remember that the number of monsters was constantly refreshing. In such a death trap, even Loki Familia could suffer heavy losses if they were not careful.

According to Loki Familia's plan, after the main force broke through the 49th floor and reached the safe floor of the 50th, the subsequent exploration would be carried out in small teams.

The main combat members of the teams were all LV.5 or higher Loki Familia executives. The others would set up camp on the 50th floor and wait for Finn and the others to return from their exploration.

After all, the monsters in the ultra-deep stratum were LV.5 monsters.

This showed the terror of the Dungeon.

As a result, in the entire Orario, only a few Familias could reach the deep stratum of the 37th floor.

These were Loki Familia, Freya Familia, Hephaestus Familia, Ganesha Familia, Ista Familia, and Astrea Familia, which was annihilated and only Lyu remained.

Of course, if we go further back, there were Zeus Familia and Hera Familia, but that was already another era.

In the era when Loki and Freya reigned supreme, there were only these six Familias.

"From tomorrow onwards, the monsters we will face will reach LV.3, and the pressure we encounter will increase sharply. Go back and rest early, as you'll have a chance to shine tomorrow."

"I understand. You be careful too, Raul!"

After saying goodbye, Shirou Emiya returned to his tent.

Raul was right. As the monsters' abilities increased, the importance of the rear guards would increase linearly.

As a Magic Sword Shooter, he also needed to rest well!

In the following days, under Finn's command, the Loki Familia party rapidly delved deeper into the Dungeon.

As the strength of the surrounding monsters suddenly increased, Shirou Emiya unleashed his full power as he had wished.

Waves of Illusionary Collapse swept through the monster horde, destroying all the monsters around them.

This made everyone look at Shirou Emiya's firepower with newfound respect.

Especially his stamina, which was simply unyielding.

Unlike these Mages, Shirou Emiya could project weapons beforehand and store them in Unlimited Blade Works.

Therefore, his Illusionary Collapse hardly consumed any of his Magic Power.

This was the reason for his tremendous stamina.

Under the overwhelming power of everyone's strength, they smoothly passed through the Water Labyrinth on the 27th floor, where the Floor Master, the Twin-Headed Dragon, resided.

In this battle, Shirou Emiya also used his new weapon for the first time.

A magic sword he projected.

"Super Illusionary Collapse!"

This was the new name Shirou Emiya had given it specifically to distinguish it from Illusionary Collapse.

As for its power?

Looking at the rising mushroom cloud, Shirou Emiya couldn't help but exclaim.

"Now this is a real nuclear blast!"

The destructive power of this single attack was likely on par with Black Saber's Excalibur.

In short, it was the power of an A-rank Anti-City Noble Phantasm.

The LV. 5 Floor Master, the Twin-Headed Dragon, was directly vaporized by Shirou Emiya's Super Illusionary Collapse, leaving behind only a giant Magic Stone to bear witness to its existence.

See, this is what magic is!

Unfortunately, Shirou Emiya's "magic" power, which he was so proud of, didn't last long. In the conquest battle on the 37th floor, he was taught a harsh lesson.

Following the pattern of a Floor Master appearing every ten floors, on the first floor of the deeper levels, the 37th floor White Magic Labyrinth, the battle against the Floor Master Udaios was about to commence.

But before that, an endless army of monsters stood in their path.

It was a Monster Feast.

This was the terror of the Dungeon, striking a fatal blow when you least expected it.

A Monster Feast from the 37th floor.

An endless horde of LV. 4 monsters surged forward, and at this moment, one of Loki Familia's trump cards was revealed.

The Elf Squad!

This was an elite unit led by Riveria, one of Loki Familia's Three Greats and an LV. 6 Adventurer.

Under the amplification of Riveria's Elf King's Seal, ten elves unleashed a coordinated magic attack.

Terrifying Magic Power surged above their heads as the ten elves chanted their spells together.

"All troops, retreat!"

With Finn's loud shout, all the vanguard forces withdrew, leaving the stage to Riveria's Elf Squad.

The baptism of magic began.

"High-Class Excalibur!"

"Volley Fire Javelin!"

"Ice Cone Great Blade!"

"Lightning Light Arrow!"

"."

Endless Magic Power ravaged the land, destroying everything in sight.

Looking at the elves' magic, the slight pride Shirou Emiya had just felt instantly vanished.

This was true magic!