Riveria's Goal

"and fire is my blood."

"I have created over a thousand blades."

Just as Finn was preparing to make a desperate gamble and unleash his trump-card magic, the hurried chant made him freeze.

An unfamiliar language transformed into a rosy glow. A bud-like shield slowly unfolded, while Lefiya, who had been standing there foolishly, was pulled into the arms of someone who had suddenly appeared.

Within the bright halo, the purple shield bloomed into seven layers—

"Rho Aias!!"

The Conceptual Weapon with absolute defense power against thrown weapons, Emiya Shirou's favorite defensive armament, bloomed in this other world for the first time.

The enormous arm collided with the shield.

Bang!

Dust filled the air. The massive arm bounced back in the direction it had come from and rolled across the ground, its astonishing weight producing a strange, continuous rumble throughout the cave.

Finn let out a breath.

Clearly, that seemingly fragile shield had not been broken by the BOSS's arm.

As the dust gradually dispersed, the mostly intact flower shield dissolved into motes of light. The imposing projectile had shattered two petals through sheer weight before crashing heavily to the ground.

"Trace On!"

Holding the bewildered girl in her arms, Ritsuka leaped backward and hovered briefly in midair. The instant she landed, she called out in a low voice.

Illusory blades formed above her head, then shot forth through the air, piercing the Goliath that Gris the dwarf had pinned down and punching through its massive body.

The BOSS leaned backward and fell onto its backside.

Ritsuka patted Lefiya's trembling back reassuringly before gently releasing her.

False: Emerald Horizon That Opens a Thousand Mountains

An enormous blade—the Divine Construct Mountain Breaker sword—was pulled out one-handed by Ritsuka and smashed viciously down at the Goliath.

Seeing that things were going badly, Finn and Gris had already run off.

Boom—!!

"Uoooooohhh..."

Mountain Breaker nearly spanned the massive hole between the seventeenth and eighteenth floors.

Even the Dungeon trembled faintly.

Even though it was merely a shell, an inferior imitation lacking Mountain Breaker's inherent qualities and properties, its terrifying weight and sharpness still pierced the Goliath's body and nailed it to the wall.

Fragments of rock rained down from the split rock wall.

For a moment, the lone king of the labyrinth, Goliath, seemed like a lamb awaiting slaughter.

"Done. Kill it or carve it up, that's up to you."

Ritsuka clapped her hands, drawing the attention of Finn and Gris, who had been blankly staring at Goliath's miserable state. The two of them blankly nodded as well.

Where had this "monster" come from?

Finn broke out in a slight sweat at Goliath's miserable condition. More importantly, he felt that he might... definitely not be a match for the girl before him. The gap between them might even be rather large.

Leaving aside the shield she had used at the start, that final super-sized greatsword alone was something he could never withstand.

As a Pallum, he stood only around one meter ten tall. That sword was at least more than ten times his height. Even someone built like Goliath had died after taking one hit. If he failed to run, he would probably be smashed into one of those little pancakes he often ate.

But he had never heard of any Familia with such an outrageous adventurer?!

She looked like a warrior, yet her destructive power rivaled that of a mage.

Finn and Gris stared longingly, perhaps contemplating life, while Ritsuka did not linger any longer and turned toward Lefiya, who was sitting on the ground with her legs tucked beneath her.

She had no interest in boys. Helping beautiful girls was far more interesting.

Ritsuka immediately held out a hand to pull the girl up. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine... Thank you..."

Lefiya, an elven girl for sure, stretched out her trembling hand. Only after it was grasped and she was pulled to her feet did her eyes widen.

Just now, she had been held by a stranger?

Her feelings were much the same as Riveria's had been before, but Lefiya did not possess Riveria's mature heart. Her brain began trembling, and she suddenly felt as though something impure had happened.

Still, it was fine. The other person was a girl, and she had probably acted out of kindness without any bad intentions...

Lefiya had yet to notice the crucial point: Ritsuka's personal strength.

Instantly defeating Goliath was nothing much. At most, it was a relatively powerful BOSS among Level 4s. Any Level 4 adventurer with experienced combat skills could potentially solo it. What truly mattered were those weapons and shields she had generated from thin air.

Magic, or a skill?

With such absurd size and destructive power, could that greatsword have been Area Annihilation Magic?

Finn could not make sense of it, nor could he ask. Unless they belonged to the same Familia, asking about another person's abilities violated the rules.

"I am Finn Deimne of the Loki Familia. On behalf of the Loki Familia, I thank you for saving Lefiya."

The moment Finn gave a slight bow, Ritsuka sensed trouble.

Oh, my God, what had she just heard? The Loki Familia?

She swore to the Virgin Mary that she had not deliberately sought out dealings with the Loki Familia. This was utterly terrible, like the apple pie made by the old man at the library next door.

The Loki Familia, one of Orario's Dual Kings.

Getting noticed by a gigantic Familia of that caliber was definitely not a good thing. Freya alone, that lovesick goddess, was already troublesome enough.

There were only two things worth being grateful for. First, Freya still did not know her true background, and no one in the Loki Familia knew her either...

No, Riveria was part of the Loki Familia too.

"It's nothing, just a small favor. I have something to do, so I won't disturb you while you collect your spoils."

Ritsuka had only come over to take a look and see what had caused such a huge commotion. She decisively prepared to slip away.

In any case, she did not care about Goliath's drops.

Ritsuka immediately projected an extremely shoddy Curry Stick and slammed it hard against the ground. "Bye-bye."

"Wait—"

With a boom.

Blinding light filled the massive hollow on the seventeenth floor. Finn, who had just raised his hand, was forced to cover his eyes, and the hollow fell silent for a moment.

A little while later, Finn lowered his hand and sighed.

There was not even a trace of Ritsuka left in the hollow. She had run faster than a rabbit.

"Forget it. I had wanted to invite her and try to recruit that unknown powerhouse."

"Haha... Perhaps she simply doesn't think much of us?"

The cheerful Gris patted Finn on the shoulder and poked a little fun at himself.

If even the Loki Familia was beneath her notice, there was no telling which god she might belong to. As for an ordinary person who had never received a Blessing?

That was impossible. To possess that level of power without a Blessing, only a hero born once in hundreds or thousands of years, like those of legend, could possibly manage it. Ever since the gods descended to the lower world, no one had heard of a similar heroic figure appearing for a long time.

At that moment, Lefiya suddenly stepped forward while holding a Golden Sword, making Finn frown.

"Lefiya, what is this?"

"The girl from before gave it to me before she left. She said it was called—Excalibur Image, Eternal Distant Golden Sword."

PS: Eternal Distant Golden Sword—Excalibur Image, an imitation close to Excalibur.

Source: "Fate/EXTRA CCC"

Riveria's Purpose

The Loki Familia.

Having just finished breakfast, the place had already become lively early in the morning.

"Hey, hey! The expedition is coming soon. Want to go out and have some fun together before then?"

The Amazon girl Tiona shouted excitedly, trying to draw the attention of her companions. Her face was filled with eager anticipation.

The Familia captain, the powerful Pallum Finn, smiled. "Going out? I'll pass. There are still many matters concerning the expedition that need handling. Even if you want to relax, remember to keep your spending under control."

A deep-floor expedition was something only large Familias could undertake. The expenses of a single expedition were often enough to easily cripple most Familias.

The Loki Familia was also under considerable financial pressure in preparation for it.

"Ehh~"

What was the difference between going out without being able to shop like crazy and being a salted fish?

Besides, she had wanted to buy Riveria a gift. Earlier, Riveria had even...

The moment she heard that she could not spend too much money, Tiona became somewhat dejected. Just as she was about to argue, her older sister covered her mouth and dragged her away.

Incidentally, her younger sister Tione was Finn's devoted fan.

Having restrained her little sister from behind, Tione watched Finn leave before finally sighing in relief and tossing Tiona aside.

"Hey, hey! You went too far!"

Because of Tiona, the Familia became noisy once again. The plastic sister duo began fighting.

Riveria and Ais, passing by, exchanged a glance. Ais tilted her head adorably with an utterly confused expression, while Lefiya, following behind them absentmindedly, walked straight into Riveria.

"Ah... S-sorry."

The scene grew even more chaotic.

About two minutes later, Riveria single-handedly suppressed the noisy environment. She sat in a chair, her gaze sweeping sideways.

Tiona and Tione guiltily looked away.

"Relaxing before the expedition is still necessary. An atmosphere that is too tense may also cause problems..."

"Oh yeah, long live Mama Riveria!"

Tiona jumped straight up and raised her arms in a cheer.

The next moment, because of a somewhat taboo word, a frigid gaze quietly descended upon her. Orario's strongest mage had fixed her eyes on Tiona.

The girl could not help shivering.

"What did you just say?"

"N-Nothing. Riveria is truly wise and understanding... It's just that our funds might be somewhat insufficient..."

"The expedition is about to begin. Wouldn't it be better not to waste any extra money?"

Lefiya spoke weakly.

Tiona scratched her cheek. In truth, the reason she wanted to bring the others along was not merely because they got along well. More importantly, after purchasing supplies for the expedition...

She was out of money.

If no one came along, how could she mooch off someone else's things?

"Actually, we can go to some cheaper shops. They don't need to be overly fancy."

"Eh, I have a suggestion."

The Amazon sisters began discussing things together again, as though their earlier fight had never happened. Lefiya, who had been something of a wallflower, joined in as well.

Sitting to one side, Riveria silently watched over the Familia's young members like a mother.

"Um, I want to go to the Dungeon."

With Ais's single sentence, the atmosphere around them instantly changed.

Everyone turned to look at the renowned Sword Princess. As expected, they saw a pair of utterly blank, adorable eyes.

Faced with this atmosphere destroyer, Tiona decisively charged forward and hugged her.