The Epic Story of the Heroic Spirit of Emiya Giant Warrior

It seemed like a girl's surprised cry.

In the dungeon, humans can be more terrifying than monsters. At least, there's detailed information about the monsters on each floor. But with humans, you never know who you might encounter.

The girl was a few centimeters shorter than Shirou, looking at most twelve or thirteen years old. She looked at Shirou.

"You're amazing!" the girl said expressionlessly, but her jewel-like eyes sparkled.

She had slaughtered the Minotaurs from the thirteenth to the sixteenth floor of the dungeon, leaving a river of blood. Her backpack was almost full, so Ais thought of trying her luck on the twelfth floor.

After all, the Goliath respawns every few weeks and is then defeated. Over time, the 'Goliath Fang' is no longer a rare material.

A few million valis could buy a hundred thousand fried potato balls, Ais thought, excitedly coming to the twelfth floor to look for young dragons.

"Emiya Shirou, the one Reafeia mentioned..." Little Ais immediately remembered. Red hair, projection, archery, swordsmanship... the characteristics were very obvious, the person the elf girl had mentioned.

"Emiya Shirou, very likely possesses swordsmanship stronger than mine!"

Ais might be a bit scatterbrained in other areas, but she was exceptionally sensitive at times like these, and her intuition was frighteningly accurate.

This boy's swordsmanship was stronger than her own.

One might say that he was stronger than anyone else in this world. Except for those gods who had sealed their divine power, Shirou Emiya, in the realm of swordsmanship, surpassed the level of 'humanity'.

The reason Ais received the title 'Sword Princess' was twofold: first, her outward personality resembled a cold sword, and second, because in swordsmanship, Ais stood at the pinnacle of this world.

In terms of swordsmanship level and attainment, whether it was the Lv.6 'Black Demon Swordsman' or the Lv.7 'Warrior', both were beneath Ais.

"Compared to me, this boy is the one truly loved by 'the sword'. One could even say he is the concept of 'the sword' itself."

The girl felt genuine joy, and the worries about her debt were completely forgotten. Looking at the boy walking towards her, she had only one thought: to immediately perform the secret technique of a 720-degree front flip into a prostrate position and shout: "Master, I want to learn swordsmanship."

"It is extremely rude to inquire about the abilities or techniques of others. You will bring shame upon the Loki Familia, upon me."

"Riveria, don't interfere with me at a time like this..."

The other person looked like just a little girl, and Shirou didn't sense any malice. Moreover, judging by her attire, she seemed to be a supporter.

In reality, Ais and Shirou were similar, both engaging in adventure activities alone. It's just that Ais's level was high enough to also do the work of a supporter, while Shirou, because he wasn't short on money, could forgo the spoils, so he naturally didn't need a supporter.

After all, even if you become an adventurer at 12, 6 years would have passed, so you should be 18 now.

Who would have thought that Ais started adventuring at 7, and is now only 13, even looking younger than her actual age because of her baby face.

Ais's situation was: showing her cute side to everyone, and leaving the torment to Riveria.

"Supporters are generally the weakest members of the team, that's common sense. And this little supporter in front of me seems to be alone?"

Even though he had resolved not to be a 'Hero of Justice' anymore, Shirou was still an upright person and couldn't bear to see such a thing.

"Yes," Ais nodded. The Loki Familia's companions were indeed not here, most likely at Twilight Manor at the headquarters.

"Made a mistake, being punished..." Ais replied, even though she still had no expression, the dust on her little face revealed a look of loss.

It's just that, with a black dragon-type enemy appearing before her, little Ais really couldn't control herself. By the time she regained her senses, her body had already subconsciously rushed into the vertical tunnel.

"My name is Emiya Shirou, from the Hephaestus Familia. May I ask for your name?"

"He didn't recognize me?" Little Ais, who was used to being a big star, was stunned: "There's still someone in Orario who doesn't know me?"

Actually, if she thought about it seriously, she would know that this approach was completely unreliable, but Ais, who was single-minded and hotheaded at the moment, had already given up on thinking.

Riveria always says I'm not good, but I'm actually very obedient!

Next time Riveria scolds me, I must retort!

Ais was thinking these things in her head, while still maintaining a blank expression, only her eyes becoming more and more guilty, a drop of cold sweat running down her forehead.

Gently tidying the slightly messy golden hair on the girl's forehead, Shirou gently rubbed the small red handprint on her right cheek.

Ais raised her slightly red pretty face: "I... I'm fine."

"At least wipe your hands clean before eating," he handed her a handkerchief: "Miss Riveria, take off your gauntlets first and wipe your hands yourself."

Chapter 26: The Death of the Minotaur

As a monster with a dominant position in this stratum, the Minotaur possesses top-tier Lv.2 strength and endurance. Although it has the disadvantage of not being very agile, it only needs simple and crude movements to pose a fatal threat to adventurers active in this stratum.

And today, the Minotaurs were slaughtered by a high-level adventurer who didn't play by the rules.

The Minotaurs could only denounce the humans for not having any martial ethics—a Lv.2 adventurer, I'm not afraid no matter how many come. We fight at the same level, it's my ability to tear you to pieces, it's your ability to chop me into beef. If my head falls off, it's a big scar, and I'll be a good bull again in eighteen years.

Instead of going to the deep stratum to confront Udaeus and make a name for yourself, you're holed up here bullying Minotaurs?

The clever Minotaurs realized that the grim reaper was coming for them, and at this time, they should do the opposite.

Only by going to the upper stratum could they find a way to survive.

Then, on the 12th floor, Shirou, leading Ais, encountered the Minotaur.

The monsters in the dungeon will occasionally break through the stratum restrictions and come to adjacent strata, but the Minotaur is a monster from around the fifteenth floor, and this is the twelfth floor.

The girl claimed to be Riveria from the Demeter Familia: the truly famous Riveria in the city is that highly respected Lv.6 adventurer, the Elf Royal, the Loki Familia's vice-captain, 'Nine Magic Princess'.

As for the Demeter Familia, Shirou Emiya did know about this faction, because he and Ryu had bought vegetables together at their store.

If the Ganesha Familia has the most adventurers, then the Demeter Familia has the most members, but most of them are farmers who may never enter the dungeon even once in their lives. The Demeter Familia also has many adventurers, but their levels are generally not high.

Originally intending to take "Miss Riveria" back to the surface, he didn't expect to encounter such a dangerous and powerful monster as the Minotaur.

And at this moment, the Minotaur in front of the boy and girl was completely enraged.

Damn it, I'll fight you!

The Minotaur let out a earth-shattering roar, and then charged forward with a determination to die.

「Skill 【Oath under the Snow】 activated」

「When acting to protect others, attack power and durability are increased, and the effects of magic and skills are enhanced.」

Theseus, the legendary King of Athens, and also a hero in Greek mythology, his name often makes people think of the philosophical concept of the Ship of Theseus.

With the magic sword in hand, Shirou Emiya raised the sword tip and pointed it towards the maze wall behind him.

A delicate figure peeked out from behind the wall. She had beautiful long golden hair, carried an oversized package disproportionate to her size, and was munching on french fries. Because she was peeking while leaning against the wall, her cute little face was smudged with dust, which only made her appearance more vivid.

Chapter 25 Ais: I'm such a genius

The golden-haired girl was Ais Wallenstein, the genius swordswoman of the Loki Familia.

She wanted to try her luck to see if she could find a young dragon on the twelfth floor.

Things are valued for their rarity. Because young dragons are rare, their dropped items are no longer treated as mere materials, but as collectibles. Their price is even higher than the dropped items of the Lv.4 Labyrinth King, the giant Goliath.

If she was lucky enough to encounter a young dragon, and then lucky enough to obtain its dropped item, she might earn several million valis in one go.

However, instead of finding a young dragon, she found that boy.

Lefiya had said at the time: "I feel that Emiya-kun's swordsmanship is as amazing as Ais-san's."

However, the perceptive Ais immediately realized that Lefiya's opinion might be influenced by the fact that they both belonged to the Loki Familia. Because Ais and Lefiya were closer, Lefiya would think that Emiya-kun's swordsmanship was comparable to her own.

But the real Ais, having witnessed Shirou Emiya's swordsmanship with her own eyes, even if it was just a simple slaying of a few weak and fragile Orcs, immediately realized it.

His swordsmanship was like that of a [God]... No, it didn't seem to have reached that realm yet. It should be said that it was an existence in the [Heroic Spirit] realm.

Even though she was only Lv.5, and there were several adventurers above Lv.6 in the city, those people were only stronger than Ais in terms of physical strength and ability scores.

It was because she saw through this point that the gods gave Ais the title of [Sword Princess].

Therefore, Ais immediately realized the essence of Emiya's swordsmanship. Unlike Lefiya's cluelessness, and unlike Raul's ambiguity, the little Ais instantly understood this matter with her understanding of the sword.

As long as she could learn Shirou Emiya's sword techniques, she could become stronger, and she would be one step closer to realizing her long-cherished wish.

However, just as the girl was about to display a tiger-pouncing-on-the-ground-style prostration, Riveria's voice appeared in her ear.

Little Ais forcibly restrained herself. She was a little surprised herself—why, clearly, for me, becoming stronger is the most important thing.

At this moment, Shirou Emiya, who had already arrived in front of Ais, put away the magic sword.

Ais was carrying a large backpack that almost symbolized the identity of a supporter. She didn't have a sword at this time, but was holding french fries in her hand. The [Sword Princess]'s sharp aura was completely suppressed, and she looked like just an ordinary cute girl, which led Shirou to misjudge her situation.

Shirou also didn't recognize the other party's identity. He knew that there was a genius in the labyrinth city with the title of [Sword Princess], a super genius who leveled up to Lv.2 in one year and broke through to Lv.5 in six years, but he subconsciously thought that the [Sword Princess] should already be an adult.

A little over ten years old, this is a very delicate age. Sometimes she is so cute that people want to hold her in their palms, and sometimes she is so willful that parents can't help but want to whip her.

Shirou thought: "I'm afraid it's another one of those nasty adventurers who abandon their supporters when they encounter danger. Moreover, it's too much to let such a small child be a supporter."

"Hello, are you separated from your teammates?" Shirou asked, "Why are you alone?"

At the same time, Ais suddenly had an idea.

Riveria won't let me go find Emiya, saying it will affect the Familia's reputation, but now, Mr. Emiya is taking the initiative to come to me, Riveria can't say anything, right?

She actually realized that her actions had caused huge trouble to her Familia's companions, not only the failure of the expedition and the loss of property, but also put her companions in danger.

"As expected, is she a child abandoned by her companions..." Shirou thought, as he walked up to the girl and asked in as kind a tone as possible.

Then, she immediately had a flash of inspiration.

Riveria said that challenging or asking Shirou for advice would shame the Loki Familia. Then, wouldn't it be fine if I disguised myself so Shirou wouldn't know I'm Ais from the Loki Familia?

What she's thinking now is:

That way, Riveria won't have anything to say!

I'm really a little genius, not the idiot Riveria said I am.

I'm already grown up, I don't need Riveria to meddle so much.

"Slap," little Ais slapped herself on the back of the head.

Ais's inner voice: "Crap, I wanted to use a fake name, but Riveria has been on my mind, I've thought about this name so many times, I accidentally blurted it out!"

Looking at the girl's sudden strange behavior, Shirou's eyes were very concerned.

He took out a handkerchief from his satchel, held Ais's cheek with one hand, and used the other hand to wipe away the dust from her hair and cheeks.

He politely asked, "Miss Riveria, are you alright?"

"Um." Shirou said, taking the french fries from little Ais's hand and looking down at the girl's not-so-clean hand armor, he sighed softly.

Under Shirou's gaze, Ais subconsciously nodded obediently: "Yes."

Today was a nightmare for the strongest monster on the sixteenth floor of the dungeon, the Minotaur.

Immense strength, copper head and iron bones, able to paralyze Lv.1 adventurers with fear with just a war cry, this is the Minotaur, a nightmare-like existence for low-level adventurers.

One sword to kill one, the magic stone and dropped item [Minotaur Horn] thrown into the bag, and then another sword to kill the next one, the white-gold figure wandered through the maze like a god of death, reaping the lives of the Minotaurs.

But isn't it a bit much for a high-level adventurer to exterminate a species? He runs so fast, like a gust of wind, killing cows is easier than cutting wheat.

The Minotaurs slaughtered by Ais also learned to be smart. One of them ran away as soon as he saw Ais, and finally barely escaped by sacrificing all his companions.

Rush up and kill the low-level human adventurers!

·

"Minotaur? How could a mid-level monster appear here?" Shirou Emiya immediately projected a longsword, maintaining a vigilant stance.

The fact that a Minotaur would run all the way here is definitely an [abnormal situation].

"Riveria, hide behind me." Shirou Emiya stood in front of Ais.

However, Shirou, who had not been an adventurer for long, did not know this person.

He knew about [Sword Princess] because the goddess had mentioned [Sword Princess]'s fastest leveling record.

Demeter is the Greek goddess of agriculture, grain, and harvest. The Demeter Familia is also a production-type Familia that cultivates grain, fruits, and vegetables.

The Demeter Familia maintains good relations with almost all other Familias, after all, they are responsible for more than half of Orario's food supply. In a sense, this is the most important Familia in the labyrinth city.

Ais's first reaction when she saw the Minotaur was to draw her sword, but Shirou immediately stood in front of her, causing her to subconsciously stop the movement in her hand.

Minotaur: It's you again, I ran all the way to the twelfth floor and you still won't let me go, are you going to exterminate us!

Then, he immediately ate a magic sword attack.

Throwing away the Frost Magic Sword taken from the satchel, Shirou glanced at the girl behind him who was so nervous that she was expressionless. He took a deep breath and stared at the Minotaur.

At this moment, facing the Minotaur, the moment Shirou's fighting spirit reached its peak, the name of a person appeared in his mind—