Chapter 131: Shirou Instantly Defeats the Ikelos Familia – The Xenos Are Shocked!
The power of the Kazikli Bey - Bloodstained Demon King was activated, and numerous stakes emerged from the ground, covering the area where Felvis stood. Even as a Level 7, Felvis couldn't destroy this endless barrage of stakes, which slowed her movement and gave Shirou a chance to escape.
That's how it was supposed to go.
"Boom!"
However, just as Shirou intended to flee in the chaos, a giant man-eating flower in the distance suddenly extended its tendrils and launched a sudden attack. "Bang!" The massive mutant plant used its trunk to destroy many of the stakes created by Shirou's Kazikli Bey.
Felvis seized the opportunity, rapidly closing the distance between herself and Shirou. In an instant, they were face to face. "So fast!" Shirou's eyes widened at Felvis's speed. In his weakened state, he couldn't dodge her attack. Her rapier tore into his shoulder, and blood flowed.
This wasn't due to Shirou's carelessness—Felvis's strength was simply beyond his expectations.
Her power wasn't merely the result of turning into a monster—it was forged through relentless training and countless battles.
"Die!" Felvis struck at Shirou, but he easily blocked her.
In close combat, Shirou's "mind's eye" was a wall that nearly no adventurer could overcome—not even a Level 7 like Felvis.
This situation made Felvis extremely agitated. She couldn't comprehend why she couldn't finish off the man before her.
Shirou, however, came to a realization through the battle. Looking at Felvis, he couldn't help but speak:
"As I thought, you're not some villain, Felvis. You're not a monster. You're not a puppet of the Corrupt Spirit. You're just like a human—longing for something, seeking something."
"Shut up."
"You shouldn't be here. You shouldn't be associating with Enyo. Whatever it is you desire, you should achieve it through other means."
"I said shut up..."
"If you desire something from me, then say it! I might be able to help you! Instead of passively surviving and doing things you don't want to do, you should look for a chance to resist!"
"Damn it... What do you know about me?!"
Shirou's words clearly struck a nerve. The black-haired elf girl suddenly raised her rapier and lifted her short sword like a staff, beginning to chant a spell.
"Stop disturbing me with your words! Just die already, Emiya Shirou!" "Sweep away the enemy—Holy Staff of Purging Evil!"
Felvis's attack came head-on. The burning magic released from her hands alone was enough to overwhelm high-level adventurers.
At the same time, the mutant plants gathered from all directions, attempting to finish Shirou off in one fell swoop. Facing a Level 7 and a dungeon floor boss at once, Shirou had no chance of winning in his current condition.
His only option was to escape.
However, Felvis's magic disrupted even his escape, making it extremely difficult to flee from right under her nose.
"This is bad..." Shirou took a deep breath and realized that he might have to kill Felvis to survive. He had to completely defeat her to stand a chance.
But he didn't truly want to do that. Shirou could feel that Felvis wasn't evil. She wasn't some embodiment of malice, just someone who stood on the wrong side.
If possible, Shirou wished to understand her more deeply, to learn about her desires, her thoughts, and perhaps—save this girl who had fallen into darkness. More importantly, Felvis had once saved him from the Ikelos Familia.
Regardless of her reasons, Shirou would never forget that life-saving act.
Yet now, he didn't have the luxury to think like that. If he didn't kill her, he'd die.
With his goals still unfulfilled, Shirou had to make the cruel choice to abandon all naive thoughts.
"Trace... On—"
Shirou was about to switch to a more offensive weapon, abandoning the Bloodstained Demon King, which was too hesitant and indecisive.
Just then, something happened that neither he, Felvis, nor Dionysus expected.
"Rumble—!"
The water surface on the 27th floor, originally overrun by mutant plants, suddenly surged with great force. At the same time, a massive monster burst out of the water and appeared before everyone present.
"Labyrinth Floor Boss? Amphisbaena!?" Dionysus was dumbfounded to see the boss of the 27th floor reappear. "Impossible! This can't be happening! Amphisbaena was just defeated recently—how can it already be back?!"
Felvis was equally stunned.
What shocked her even more was that the two-headed dragon Amphisbaena, upon appearing, immediately attacked her—completely ignoring Shirou.
It was as if Amphisbaena was on Shirou's side, attacking Felvis to protect him!
But such an absurd idea was impossible to believe. No one would ever believe that a dungeon floor boss would fight for a human.
Regardless of belief, Felvis was now under attack from Amphisbaena. The dual-element magic released from the dragon's two heads overwhelmed even Level 7 Felvis, forcing her to abandon her assault on Shirou.
With Felvis distracted by the boss, Shirou—who had been in a desperate situation—finally had room to breathe. Now only facing the mutant plants, he managed to break free and escape the danger of the 27th floor.
"It showed up again..." Before leaving, Shirou glanced back at the newly appeared Labyrinth Floor Boss, who seemed to have come just to save him. He had complicated feelings.
But regardless of how he felt, he had no time to confirm any theories. He had to get away from here as soon as possible.
Only by escaping and regaining his strength could he return and fight again.
Then, no matter the opponent—be it god or man—he would defeat them all! And perhaps... he could still save the girl named Felvis.
"Wait for me!"
Taking one last look at Felvis, now shrouded in despair and as lifeless as a corpse, Shirou took a deep breath and dove deeper into the dungeon.
After running for some time, Shirou finally collapsed from exhaustion. As he gritted his teeth and struggled to stand, a group of monsters suddenly emerged from all directions.
Surrounded and in a severely weakened state, Shirou was truly at death's door. Even for him, fighting this many monsters like this was near suicide.
But just as he prepared for a last stand, one of the monsters spoke:
"You carry that child's scent... what is your relationship to her?"
"That child...? Wait, you can talk?!" Shirou looked up and saw that the speaker was a bird-woman with green hair and feathers covering her body.
Her eyes weren't filled with a monster's madness but glowed with clear reason. She was undoubtedly a Xenos—a rational monster—just like Wiene.
Looking around, Shirou noticed that although the surrounding monsters had seen him, none of them showed hostility. Instead, they regarded him as a human would.
That's when Shirou realized—he hadn't stumbled into a monster's lair. He had encountered a group of Xenos.
Although the first contact wasn't smooth, neither side initiated an attack. As communication gradually progressed, Shirou and the Xenos came to understand that neither side was an enemy.
Shirou had been lucky. He had encountered a group led by a singer-type bird-woman named Ray.
As a moderate within the Xenos organization, the singer bird Ray is a kind-hearted Xenos who willingly believes in the goodwill of humans.
So when she sensed Wiene's scent on Shirou, she did not suspect that he had kidnapped her.
Instead, she asked about his relationship with Wiene.
After Shirou gave a simple account of his encounter and time spent with Wiene, Ray believed his words and was willing to trust that he was a kind human.
Afterward, Ray brought Shirou to a safe zone hidden within the Dungeon's labyrinth.
These safe zones are extremely rare and remote—even veteran adventurers struggle to know them all.
However, the Xenos, leveraging their monster traits, had explored most of the safe zones on each floor and used them as bases.
Thus, Shirou temporarily settled in the Xenos' stronghold.
His overly exhausted body finally no longer had to endure painful battles, allowing him to rest in safety and recover his strength and mana.
During this time, Shirou also came into contact with many Xenos, including Ray, and got to know several of them.
Xenos are incredibly similar to humans—though they have monstrous appearances, each has a distinct personality and nature.
Some, like Ray, are fond of humans and believe in their goodwill. Others, however, hate and despise humans, harboring anger toward Shirou as well.
The more Shirou interacted with the Xenos, the more thankful he was that the first Xenos he met was Ray. Otherwise, he probably would have had to fight them in that first encounter.
Even if Shirou could have won, with no supplies and traveling through the Dungeon, it's uncertain whether he could have survived, let alone recovered as well as he had.
Shirou didn't know how long he had stayed in the Xenos camp. There was no sun in the Dungeon, so he couldn't judge the time at all.
He only felt he had been underground for a long time. Even his battered body had recovered about 70–80%.
One day, a Xenos approached him as usual.
"Hey, human! Here's your food for the day. Eat it with gratitude!" "Thanks, Ranye." "Hmph! Don't get cocky—I hate you humans the most!"
The speaker was a female Arachne—a spider-type Xenos with the upper body of a woman and the lower body of a spider.
She wore an adventurer's armor on her upper half, with long snow-white hair flowing beneath her helmet, and flawless white skin like a human.
Even by human standards, she was a beautiful woman—though not actually human.
"If you could speak a little more gently, Ranye, you'd probably be more popular." "Why should I be gentle with despicable humans!"
Though Ranye's words were full of irritation, she brought Shirou food on time every day—clearly a case of saying one thing and doing another.
Of course, she was likely sympathetic toward Shirou's injuries as well.
"Ray hasn't been around much lately," Shirou said while eating a meal of various meats and fruits, casually chatting with the spider girl. "Is she busy with something?"
"Tch, it's because of your disgusting human poachers again." Ranye glared at Shirou angrily. "Several of our kind have been captured again. They've probably already become playthings for your kind!"
Upon hearing that, Shirou immediately realized it was most likely the work of the Ikelos Familia.
He had nearly died at the hands of Dix from that Familia not long ago—this would be a good chance to settle the score.
Shirou stood up from the ground and stretched lightly. Feeling better than ever, he looked at Ranye and said:
"Take me to Ray. I might be able to help you deal with the poachers."
"Who needs help from a disgusting human like you!"
Though Ranye complained, she still agreed and led Shirou to Ray. If not for her spider body, her contradictory yet tsundere personality might've made her very popular on the surface.
Shirou thought this to himself and smiled as he followed Ranye.
The two soon found Ray. When she heard that Shirou wanted to help deal with the poachers, Ray appeared conflicted and hesitantly said:
"This is an internal matter for the Xenos. We shouldn't rely on you, Shirou... Besides, those poachers are very strong. You could be in danger."
"Don't worry. I can protect myself."
Shirou didn't make empty promises. He knew it was better to prove himself through action rather than words. Seeing his resolve, Ray hesitated but ultimately agreed.
This showed how serious the crisis facing the Xenos was—they had no choice but to seek every bit of help they could get.
So Ray assigned Shirou to a small team and had him accompany them in tracking down the poachers.
"Can't believe Lady Ray actually trusts a suspicious guy like you!"
Ranye clearly disapproved of Shirou joining the team and showed it on her face.
"Why do you hate humans so much?" Shirou asked her.
"Because humans are cruel, cunning bastards! They can't be trusted and shouldn't be approached!"
"...Ranye, have you ever actually met a human?"
"I've met those damn poachers!"
Shirou frowned at her response. From her tone, he sensed something was off.
It seemed like Ranye had never really interacted with humans yet held deep-rooted hatred and rejection toward them. That kind of baseless hostility felt very unnatural.
That's when Shirou finally understood why, for so many years, no adventurers besides the Ikelos Familia had come into contact with the Xenos.
The Xenos probably, like Ranye, had an instinctive aversion to humans and kept their distance—thus remaining undiscovered.
Whether or not their hostility was justified, this aversion only benefited one being:
The god Ouranos, who wanted to conceal the Xenos' existence.
It could be inferred that this hostility toward humans had likely been planted by Ouranos himself.
So, back to the fundamental question: Why did Ouranos do this? Why did he want to keep the Xenos isolated from humans? What value did the Xenos' existence hold for him?
Shirou was filled with questions.
Just as he was pondering these thoughts, Ranye suddenly trembled. At the same time, the other Xenos on the team became visibly tense.
"What's wrong?" "I... I hear it... a companion is calling for help..."
It seemed that Xenos had sharper hearing than humans. They could all hear something that Shirou could not.
"What should we do, Ranye?"
All eyes turned to her, waiting for her decision. After a brief moment of deliberation between going back for reinforcements or immediate rescue, Ranye chose the latter.
The poachers moved unpredictably. If they didn't act now, they might not get another chance.
"Let's go!"
She led the Xenos toward a certain direction on the floor. Shirou followed close behind, though the others kept their distance—clearly, they still didn't consider him one of their own because he was human.
The group soon reached a massive vertical fissure. Without hesitation, Ranye charged in.
There, they saw a slender body chained to a thick tree trunk.
It was a red-haired birdwoman, her wings bloodied, her whole body crucified with her head hanging limp. Wounds from stabs and slashes covered her body, and her clothes were soaked in blood.
Everyone present—including Shirou—took a sharp breath at the cruel scene, furious at the brutality.
"Free her immediately!"
Ranye couldn't contain her emotions and gave the order to rescue the birdgirl.
But just as they moved, the birdgirl lifted her head with all her strength and cried out:
"Run! Quickly!"
The moment her voice fell, all the Xenos' expressions changed.
A group of adventurers emerged from the shadows.
"Didn't expect monsters to help their own kind." The leader laughed. "Even more united than adventurers, huh?"
Nearly twenty adventurers appeared, peeling off bark-colored camouflage and throwing aside scent-masking pouches, surrounding the Xenos.
The leader chuckled: "Man, this bait tactic Captain Dix taught us works like a charm."
Hearing this, even the dullest person could understand what was happening.
Ranye looked at the surrounding adventurers, her face a mix of confusion and fury—but rather than fear, she prepared to fight.
Though outnumbered, the Xenos were individually powerful and had a fighting chance.
However, before they could act, one adventurer placed a sword to the birdgirl's neck and shouted:
"Stop right there! If you don't want her dead, drop your weapons and stop resisting!"
"You filthy, despicable humans!"
The Xenos were filled with rage—but concern for their comrade outweighed everything.
After a brief moment of hesitation, all of them—including Ranye—lowered their weapons and gave up resistance.
"Hahaha, easy! That was way too easy!" The leader laughed again. "Captain Dix was right—these monster freaks are dumber than dirt!"
Their words made the Xenos seethe with fury, but for their companion's sake, they endured.
"Now, everyone, get into the cages nicely." The Ikelos Familia adventurers sneered mockingly at them.
Though hesitant, the Xenos were willing to sacrifice themselves for their comrade and prepared to comply.
But just before they could be fully subdued— Shirou's voice rang out cold and low.
"I can't bear to watch this any longer... At this point, it's hard to tell who the real monsters are."
Hearing his voice, the adventurers finally noticed a human among the Xenos.
Just as they were about to question his identity, Shirou raised his right hand and issued a cold command:
"Trace On - Full projection!" "Die, you scum!"
The moment he spoke, countless swords materialized in midair. Like divine spears of judgment, they rained down at terrifying speed upon the Ikelos Familia adventurers!
Screams erupted in rapid succession— Within moments, all but one of the adventurers lay dead.
That survivor had been spared by Shirou intentionally, to gather intel. Everyone else, regardless of level, had been instantly annihilated.
The scene was so overwhelming that even the remaining Ikelos Familia member and all the Xenos were left utterly stunned.