"Cheers!"
Surrounded by campfires, the adventurers of the Loki Familia celebrated with joy and ease.
This was the passage between the 24th and 25th floors. After a full day of travel, the Loki Familia had arrived to rest and recover their strength.
"How is it? To everyone's liking?" Shirou asked with a smile, glancing at the group enjoying the soup.
Since he had little to do during the expedition aside from occasionally firing arrows at monsters that got too close, Shirou poured all his energy into cooking, showing off his culinary skills.
"Delicious!"
"Absolutely delicious!"
"Shirou's cooking is the best!"
A faint smile tugged at his lips as the air filled with praise.
This must be the satisfaction a chef feels.
It was a shame he still had unfinished business. Otherwise, he would have wished for Chronoscálion to find him a world full of delicious food to explore.
Maybe he really could, once everything was over.
"Here, Raul!"
Tossing a piece of fruit he had found in the forest to Raul, who was on night watch, Shirou approached him and asked, "How's it going? Everything alright?"
"Don't worry, I've done this countless times," Raul replied with a grin and a thumbs-up. He patted his chest with confidence.
Noticing the damaged walls around Raul, Shirou couldn't help but recall the lessons he had studied in the library.
The dungeon was alive.
After centuries of exploration, adventurers had uncovered some of its rules.
For example, repairing damaged walls took priority over spawning monsters.
Therefore, to rest peacefully at night in floors not designated as safe zones, adventurers would damage the walls around them and monitor the repair process.
Once the walls were nearly restored, they would break them again, effectively preventing monsters from being born.
That was the task of the night watch.
As Finn's most reliable companion in the Second Group, besides Gareth and Shirou, Raul often joined the Loki Familia on expeditions. His eight years of adventuring had made him intimately familiar with every detail.
"Starting tomorrow, the real expedition begins. You'd better rest well and recharge!"
The real expedition?
Shirou gave a slight nod.
The upper twenty-four floors of the dungeon were like a spring stroll for the Loki Familia.
But beyond the twenty-fourth floor, the true expedition began.
The dungeon was divided into twelve levels.
The first twelve floors were the Upper Level. Floors 13 to 24 were the Middle Level. Floors 25 to 36 were the Lower Level. From the 37th floor onward was the Deep Level.
The area beneath the 61st floor remained unknown.
With each level, the monsters' strength increased dramatically.
On the upper floors, all monsters were Level 1. In the middle floors, Level 2. The lower floors held Level 3. In the Deep Levels, monsters ranged from Level 4 to 6.
And remember: monsters respawn endlessly. Even the Loki Familia could suffer devastating losses if they weren't careful.
According to Loki Familia's plan, once the main force broke through the 49th floor and reached the safe zone on the 50th, further exploration would be carried out by small teams.
The main combatants in each team were all Level 5 or higher executives of the Familia, while the rest would set up camp on the 50th floor, awaiting Finn's group's return.
After all, monsters in the Deep Levels were far too powerful for Level 3 and 4 adventurers.
This alone showed the dungeon's terrifying nature.
Consequently, only a few familias in Orario could reach as deep as the 37th floor.
Only six familias had managed to do so: the Loki Familia, the Freya Familia, the Hephaestus Familia, the Ganesha Familia, the Ishtar Familia, and the Astraea Familia—of which only Ryu remained after its destruction.
Of course, there had also been the Zeus and Hera Familias in the past, but that was another era.
"From tomorrow on, the monsters we face will be Level 3, and the pressure on us will rise sharply. Get back and rest early. Tomorrow you'll have a chance to show your skills."
"I know. You take care too, Raul."
After bidding him goodnight, Shirou returned to his tent.
Raul was right. As monster strength increased, the importance of the rearguard skyrocketed.
In the following days, the Loki Familia, under Finn's command, pressed deeper into the dungeon.
As the monsters suddenly grew stronger, Shirou unleashed a ceaseless storm of arrows, always finishing off any creature that slipped past the vanguard.
This left everyone impressed—especially those already familiar with his fighting style.
His stamina, in particular, was simply unbelievable.
Unlike magicians, Shirou could project weapons in advance and store them inside Unlimited Blade Works.
Thus, projecting an infinite number of arrows consumed almost no mana.
This was the source of his incredible endurance.
Overwhelming their foes with sheer might, the group easily passed through the Water City on the 27th floor, lair of the Amphisbaena.
In that battle, Shirou also unveiled his new weapon.
A magically explosive arrow he could project almost infinitely.
He named it Múspellsflamme—the Flame of Muspel.
And its power?
Of course, it was weaker than Caladbolg II, but the fact that he could project it continuously without delay made it even more threatening.
The relentless barrage of Múspellsflamme gradually wore down Amphisbaena.
"And at last..."
"I am the bone of my sword..."
Shirou projected Caladbolg II and let it fly.
"Caladbolg!!!"
The Broken Phantasm instantly vaporized the Floor Boss of Level 5, Amphisbaena, leaving only its massive magic stone as proof of its existence.
Following the pattern of a Floor Boss every ten floors, the battle to defeat Udaeus was about to begin on the first floor of the Deep Level: the 37th floor, the White Palace.
But before that could happen, an endless horde of monsters appeared.
It was a monster banquet.
This was the true horror of the dungeon—you never knew when it would deliver a fatal blow.
A banquet of monsters on the 37th floor.
An unending tide of Level 4 monsters surged forward. At that moment, one of Loki Familia's trump cards was revealed.
The Elven Army!
This elite unit was led by Riveria, a Level 6 and one of Loki Familia's three leaders.
Empowered by Riveria's Elven King's Seal, the combined magic of ten elves fused into one devastating force.
A terrifying surge of magical energy rose above them as the ten elves chanted their spells in unison.
"Fire!"
With Finn's command, the entire vanguard retreated, leaving the stage to Riveria's Elven Army.
Their magic obliterated most of the monsters in an instant.
The few survivors were finished off by Shirou's Múspellsflamme.
---
(End of this chapter)
A/N: Once again, it's clear that the original author of this was a huge DanMachi fanboy. I had to tweak quite a lot here too—like seriously, how could a DanMachi magic arrow be stronger than Caladbolg's Broken Phantasm? They basically placed the arrow at anti-army level, while Caladbolg II got nerfed...
"Hmph. If you really want to be useful, then entertain me, try to throw those pathetic power stones at me. Let's see if even your insolence can amuse a king."