The Epic Story of the Heroic Spirit of Emiya Giant Warrior

“Freeze, Lock of the Winter!”

The power of short incantations is often inferior to long-form magic, but it excels in flexibility and casting speed.

“Shirou, do your best to project a magic sword.” While attacking, Alicia commanded, “Ryū, I'll hold this place, you quickly go to Shirou's side!”

“Projection, start (Trace on)!”

The mental strain was simply too great. Even though he was drinking high-grade elixirs like water, Emiya still felt as if countless needles were shaking inside his head.

Skill 【Oath under the Snow】 activated

Throwing the projected magic sword on the ground, Emiya tried his best to take out the last bottle of high-grade healing potion from his satchel.

“—Shirou.”

“First... heal a bit...”

Seeing the elven girl's originally fair skin become a bloody mess, Emiya couldn't help but feel a tightness in his chest, and his headache became even more intense.

“Roar!!!”

A roar far more violent than before interrupted Ryū's words. The shocking sound echoed throughout the empty room. Haruhime even needed to cover her ears to avoid being directly stunned.

As the roar continued, the black Goliath's originally tight, solid, and metallic-colored skin was becoming dull and withered, as if it had aged decades in a matter of seconds. At the same time, the muscles and skin on its right leg were rapidly regenerating and recovering.

Because once it lost its ability to move, the Goliath's advantage of its massive size would turn into a disadvantage, turning it into a living target that could only be beaten. Even if Alicia and Ryū's attack power was lacking, they could slowly grind it to death.

But real combat is not a game. "Crippling a leg" and "overall life force decline" are completely different concepts!

Even if the black Goliath's overall abilities, especially its defense, were reduced due to the overall loss of life force, it was nothing compared to the strategic value of a leg.

The room they were in now would only produce Goliaths and could not give birth to other monsters. This was certain and the reason why adventurers had to face the Goliaths here.

【Monster Summon】!

Lv.5 Potential Ability, plus the special abilities of 【Roar】, 【Self-Recovery】, and 【Monster Summon】.

Without a doubt, this black Goliath was a Labyrinth Lone King with a subjugation difficulty of Lv.6.

For example, the Twin-Headed Dragon with a Potential Ability of Lv.5. Its ability value in aquatic combat is actually still Lv.5, but the adventurers' strength would be greatly limited in an aquatic environment, so the subjugation difficulty is rated as Lv.6.

The black Goliath's own Potential Ability was Lv.5, and after 【Monster Summon】 was activated, the subjugation difficulty rose to Lv.6.

Alicia's originally beautiful and tidy orange-gold hair was completely disheveled. She could no longer maintain her usual composure.

Once the monsters broke in, not only would Emiya and the others be doomed, but Alicia and Ryū would also be unable to withstand the black Goliath while facing the monsters' siege.

But, could Alicia really contend with the black Goliath alone? Even if she could hold out against the Goliath, so what? Alicia's short incantation magic was too weak, she had no means of killing the giant. Was she going to compete with the Goliath in endurance?

In terms of "power of a single strike", this magic is definitely among the pinnacle of all attack magic in the entire city.

As long as Lefiya could smoothly complete the incantation of 【High-Grade Victory Sword】 and accurately hit the upper body of the black Goliath, with its power, even a Lv.5 upper-tier Goliath specialized in strength and endurance would lose most of its life!

Ryū would block the other monsters, Alicia and Emiya would restrain the black Goliath, and Lefiya would chant magic to kill it.

“I... I...” Lefiya's heart was beating so fast that Emiya could hear it. Her hands gripping the magic staff were constantly trembling. Let alone chanting magic, she couldn't even speak clearly now.

She seemed like she should cast the magic, but everyone in the Ishtar Familia had told her that she must never reveal that magic in front of outsiders.

And at this very moment, while Haruhime and Lefiya were still trembling and hesitating, Emiya acted.

He pulled Ryū into his arms and kissed the elven girl's lips tightly.

Ryū's brain short-circuited due to the sudden and unexpected event, and her body completely froze. She felt the hot and sweet scent spreading in her mouth.

“Ryū, you go help Alicia over there. I'll block the monsters here. I will protect you.”

When having a close bond with the object of protection, all abilities are enhanced beyond the domain, the growth of ability values is accelerated, the upper limit of ability values is broken, and the effects of magic and skills are enhanced beyond the domain.

Even the black Goliath seemed to be stunned for a moment.

And what shocked them even more was the change that was happening to Emiya.

Vast and intense magic power surged from his body, and a powerful sense of strength burst forth from the inside out. His deep red hair danced in the air, as if a wave of energy was rising from within him.

“Alicia, what are you doing—” Ryū roared as she rushed towards the black Goliath.

Alicia hugged Emiya, closed her eyes, and kissed him.

“Alicia!!!!!”

The background sound was Ryū's roar, and the sound of her newly dyed green hair dancing wildly in the air as she violently slashed the black Goliath with her katana.

Skill effects increase according to the number and strength of bonds.

“We'll leave our backs to you, Shirou.” Alicia turned her head, not letting the boy see her expression.

Alicia turned around and charged towards the black Goliath, while Emiya rushed towards the other direction—the entrance of the huge room.

Recreate the accumulated years

At this very moment, complete the gathering of the phantasms' sword───

Even though from the perspective of a projection, this is still a fake, but this time, what he projected was no longer an empty shell without contents.

Magic power and will formed the contents of the Noble Phantasm. The giant bow gradually transformed its shape, turning into a terrifying giant axe.

All kinds of handheld weapons, or various martial arts performed only by hand, can, in a sense, be transformed into objects of the 【Style: Tsubame Gaeshi】 technique.

Maximizing the power of the weapon, it can display various forms ranging from anti-personnel to anti-army, and even enough to siege castles depending on the situation.

「Temporarily gained Development Ability 【Madness】 I」

The first to rush into the cave was a black-haired wolf-like creature, a mid-level monster known as a Hellhound.

Aria launched a magic spell with a short incantation, sending ice cones towards the black Goliath's massive maw, interrupting its [Roar] once again.

The magic swords that Shirou fired with his bow couldn't penetrate the black Goliath's tough hide; both she and Ryu, both Level 4 adventurers, needed to personally deliver the magic swords into the black Goliath's body.

Shirou pressed one hand to his head, while projecting a deep crimson flame magic sword with the other. His expression twisted from the intense headache.

"Hold on, I need to, help Ryu and Aria..."

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

"Projection, start (Trace on)!"

Ryu rushed in front of the boy, grabbing the magic sword, but Shirou seized her hand, pouring healing potion onto Ryu's injured left hand.

"It's alright, for adventurers, this kind of injury is nothing. Thanks to Shirou's projection, we've already found the path to victory—"

The terrifying sound waves even forced Aria to temporarily evade their sharp edge, retreating several steps, otherwise, she felt like her eardrums would be pierced.

This roar from the black Goliath wasn't simply venting emotions, nor was it using the long-range magic attack, [Roar].

"It's recovering from injuries by consuming its overall life force, how can it have this kind of ability!" Aria felt a trace of despair rising in her heart.

Critically injuring the giant's right leg, crippling its mobility, was a significant achievement for her and Ryu.

But now, because of the black Goliath's sudden burst of self-healing ability, Aria's original plan had completely fallen apart.

If viewing this subjugation battle from the perspective of a 'video game,' then at this time, the Goliath's total life force (HP) hadn't increased, and even had additional losses from forcibly recovering its severely injured leg.

And what made Aria even more despairing was the subsequent sound.

"Moo! ! !"

"Roar! ! !"

"Awoo! ! !"

Coming from the passage leading into the giant room, were the cries of various monsters.

However, monsters can move; they were answering the black Goliath's call.

Following [Roar] and [Self-Repair], the black Goliath once again demonstrated special abilities that ordinary Goliaths didn't have, and it was also the most disastrous ability for adventurers—

—

A monster's potential ability and subjugation difficulty are two evaluation dimensions.

And like the Floor 49 Boss, the One-Eyed Magic King Balor, its potential ability is Level 7, but its battlefield has numerous Behemoth monsters of at least Level 4 strength. When subjugating Balor, one must simultaneously face the siege of these monsters, making it have a Level 8 subjugation difficulty.

Chapter 45: [Oath of Protection]

"Ryu, go guard the entrance, don't let any other monsters in!" Aria roared.

Ryu bit her lip. She looked at the entrance to the room, where the monster roars were becoming more and more distinct, and then turned to look at Aria.

It could be said that as long as they were surrounded by a group of monsters, their demise was inevitable!

"Ryu, you go guard the entrance! Lefiya, move, get moving!" Aria shouted hysterically while attacking the giant:

"[High-Level Victory Sword]! Use that magic! ! !"

[High-Level Victory Sword]—this was one of the powerful magic spells mastered by Loki Familia's Vice Captain, [Nine Hell]. Aria clearly remembered that this magic had been engraved in Lefiya's [Elf Ring].

That's right, this was the only way out. Lefiya, at Level 2, surpassed Aria, a Level 4, and even Ryu in terms of pure magical firepower!

As the commander, Aria had instantly found the path to victory, but the problem was—

Ordinary Goliaths were already her psychological shadow, let alone such a terrifying black Goliath!

On the other side, Haruhime was also trembling. She hugged the unconscious Aisha: "W-what should I do..."

"Lord Shirou, what should I do—" Haruhime looked at Shirou, hoping that figure could give her courage.

"I don't know if this will work, I can only gamble." He said softly, suddenly stepping forward, grabbing Ryu's shoulder with his left hand, and embracing Ryu's head from behind with his right hand.

To maintain his sanity, Shirou had already bitten his tongue raw, the two's first kiss tasted of blood.

[Oath Under the Snow] skill effect activated.

Skill effects increase according to the number and strength of bonds.

·

At the moment Shirou suddenly kissed Ryu, the whole world seemed to suddenly quiet down.

Lefiya was dumbfounded, Haruhime covered her eyes with both hands, but her fingers were spread wide, and Aria, who had just turned around to tell Ryu to act quickly, was also stunned.

Aria was the first to react:

"...Ryu, switch!"

"Eh?"

Ryu was still stunned, but Aria had already rushed over. Seeing that there was no one in front of it to stop it, the black Goliath immediately tried to release [Roar], but Ryu hurriedly threw the magic sword to interrupt it.

"Although I'm not quite sure what your skill or magic is all about, but, this should do it, right."

[Oath Under the Snow] skill effect activated.

When having a close bond with the protected target, all abilities are greatly enhanced, the growth of ability values is accelerated, the upper limit of ability values is broken, and the effects of magic and skills are greatly enhanced.

"Yes, I will protect you, this is my [Oath]."

"Analyze creation concept

Determine basic framework

Replicate constituent materials

Imitate manufacturing techniques

Share growth experience

Surpass, complete numerous processes ───

"[Hound of Black Heaven]!"

Shirou's left hand grasped the jet-black greatsword.

"[Shoot Down the Hundred Heads]!" Along with the boy's low roar, vast magic power poured into the heavy bow held in his right hand, giving this projection, which was about to reach its time limit, new power.

[Nine Lives], Axe-Sword Form!

At this moment, more than a bow and arrow, Shirou needed a more simple and brutal power.

「Skill [????? (Roadless Valhalla)] effect activated.」

「Temporarily gained development ability [Hunter] H」

「Temporarily gained skill [Valor]」

「Temporarily gained skill [Indomitable]」