Chapter 136: "Come at me all at once! Shirou VS All of Loki Familia!"
Daedalus Street and the surrounding areas had now become a battlefield.
Xenos and the Loki Familia were locked in combat, neither side giving an inch.
Beastmen youths fought against massive monsters, human girls confronted lamia, and elegant elven women aimed their bows at griffins. A kaleidoscope of weapons rang out the song of war in an instant.
"GRROOOAAARRRRR!"
The fierce clash instantly turned the battlefield into a living hell.
Although the Loki Familia's overall strength vastly surpassed that of the Xenos—as an elite Familia that had conquered the 59th floor of the Dungeon, each of its members possessed fearsome strength not to be underestimated—facing a group of intelligent monsters capable of speech and emotion, they were clearly shaken.
And as the saying goes: hesitation weakens the will to fight, and willpower decides the outcome of battle.
The Xenos, driven by fury and vengeance against humanity, clashed with the confused and uncomprehending Loki Familia.
The gap in strength was ultimately bridged by their difference in conviction.
Even the Sword Princess Ais found her blade dulling when faced with monsters who had humanlike emotions.
But in the end, Ais hated monsters more than most adventurers. Her hatred far exceeded that of ordinary adventurers.
As a seeker of vengeance, she would reduce every monster in front of her to ashes, fulfilling her revenge by burning them into cinders.
"Awaken!"
Ais activated her magic—Ariel. With a swift chant, a violent gale wrapped around her, rapidly spreading across the battlefield and forming a storm of terrifying strength.
"Die, monsters!"
As if to silence the Xenos immediately, Ais moved at incredible speed, aiming to wipe out every monster in a flash.
The wind roared. As the air swirled around the girl, a blinding sword flash pierced through the scene.
"SPLAT!!"
In the blink of an eye, several Xenos were torn apart by Ais and collapsed to the ground, gravely wounded. Without a hint of mercy, Ais moved in to finish them off, aiming to kill every Xenos in front of her.
But just then, a sudden gust of wind rose from above. The siren Ray and her Xenos squad arrived to support, launching an attack on Ais.
"BOOM!"
Ray's sonic attack forced Ais back and relieved the pressure on the Xenos.
However, Ais could not be so easily repelled. Realizing Ray's squad had arrived and that this siren was the leader, she immediately summoned a focused burst of wind, concentrating it to strike Ray down directly.
"Microstorm!"
A storm burst from Ais's sword, surging toward Ray.
Faced with the full magical might of a Level 6 adventurer, the Level 5 Ray stood no chance. But at this critical moment, she suddenly pulled out a pitch-black dagger from her bosom.
As the storm approached, the dagger in Ray's hand emitted intense heat and completely dispelled Ais's storm.
"That's…?!"
Ais's eyes widened in shock at Ray's action. She had never expected to see such a weapon in a monster's hands. More importantly, the weapon gave Ais an unforgettable impression—only one man could have forged it.
"That dagger… Did Shirou give it to you?!"
Ais demanded an answer from Ray.
"..."
Ray remained silent, but her silence was effectively an admission.
Indeed, the dagger had been forged by Shirou deep underground for the Xenos. Like the one he gave to Bell, it was Hassan's dagger and possessed the skill [Blessing of Wind Resistance].
The reason for forging this weapon was because Shirou was certain the Xenos would likely clash with the Loki Familia—especially with Ais the Sword Princess.
Preparing a weapon to counter wind magic in advance would ease the pressure on the Xenos and increase the survival odds of Ray and her allies.
"Tell me—where is Shirou?!"
Realizing the Xenos were connected to Shirou, Ais lost her usual composure, determined to force an answer out of them.
Nearby, Lefiya overheard their conversation and also realized that the Xenos might know Shirou's whereabouts. She rushed over to support Ais.
"I'll help you, Ais-senpai!" Lefiya quickly arrived at Ais's side and raised her bow. "Released arrow of light, sacred tree's bowstring—I am the Fairy Archer! Strike true!"
Lefiya immediately activated her magic, firing a homing magic arrow to shoot down Ray. Faced with such a chasing arrow, evading it was extremely difficult for Ray.
"Lady Ray!"
At that moment, the spider-girl Ranye rushed in. She raised a crimson spear and blocked Lefiya's arrow with a defensive motion.
An astonishing scene unfolded: all of Lefiya's arrows were deflected mid-air. Many didn't even enter Ranye's attack range.
"..."
Even Lefiya recognized what was happening. The strange spear Ranye wielded was likely forged by Shirou.
And that was indeed the case. This Runic Spear was forged by Shirou specifically to counter Lefiya's arrows.
It was modeled after the heroic spirit Cú Chulainn's Gáe Bolg, but instead of emphasizing the Noble Phantasm's power, its focus was on a specific attribute: [Blessing of Arrow Evasion].
Its effect: as long as the user can visually confirm the attacker, they can dodge all ranged attacks.
Even if the target isn't visible, the weapon still helps block most projectiles.
With this spear in hand, Ranye could block all ranged attacks just by watching them—Lefiya's arrows were ineffective.
"Why… Why would Shirou forge weapons for these monsters?"
After realizing the spear's maker was Shirou, Lefiya looked visibly shaken.
Unlike Ais, she didn't harbor deep hatred for monsters, so now, realizing that Shirou may be aligned with the Xenos, she instinctively began to doubt the legitimacy of this war.
But regardless of what she thought, war would not stop. The battle between Xenos and Loki Familia continued, and as the fighting escalated, both sides began to lose control, resulting in casualties.
And once the first death occurred, a chain of hatred would make the war unstoppable. That would inevitably lead to the total annihilation of one side.
"Finn, what do we do?"
Riveria looked toward their captain, Finn, awaiting his final order. Until now, Finn had remained hesitant, even avoiding direct combat. He did not want to fight to the death with the Xenos.
But such indecision could no longer continue. With frequent clashes, real deaths were inevitable on both sides—Loki Familia members might die too.
"...There's no helping it. The lives of our members take priority." Finn sighed. "Even if there's a mystery behind these monsters, there's no time to consider it. Kill them all."
"Understood."
The moment Finn gave the order, Riveria used magic to transmit the message to all members of the Loki Familia.
In an instant, the formerly disorganized and scattered team immediately formed the dungeon-raiding formation they usually used.
Tiona, Tione, and other warriors took the front line.
Riveria, Lefiya, and other mages held the rear, initiating a wide-area advance to wipe out the enemy!
Against this kind of formation, even monsters on the level of the dungeon's solitary kings couldn't resist the Loki Familia's advance—let alone the Xenos, who lacked any military-level coordination.
"Die, monsters!"
Ais acted as the spearpoint of the assault, plunging straight into the Xenos ranks and completely breaking their formation. Even Ray, trying to harass them from the air, was stabbed in the shoulder by Ais's reverse sword strike.
Although her wind magic was neutralized by the [Blessing of Wind Resistance], Ais's raw combat ability was beyond anything the Xenos could handle.
Ais then raised her sword, aiming to kill Ray once and for all.
"Ais-senpai, wait! At least ask where Shirou is—"
Lefiya shouted from afar, trying to stop the slaughter. She had sensed something strange about the Xenos and wanted answers before Ray was killed.
But it was too late. She could only watch as Ais's blade descended, aiming to pierce the magic stone inside Ray.
"BOOOM!"
At that very moment, a terrifying storm erupted in the center of Orario!
A massive sword, nearly 100 meters long, suddenly appeared near the Babel Tower. With incredible momentum, it slashed straight toward the tower itself.
In the instant everyone saw it—whether it was members of the Loki Familia or the Xenos—all fighting ceased.
Everyone turned to the sky at the same moment, staring at the rebellious sword that seemed to strike toward the heavens. A deep shock gripped them all.
At the same time, Finn's eyes lit up at the sight.
Without hesitation, he gave a new command:
"Everyone, retreat! Head to Babel Tower immediately. Protecting the Tower of the Gods is top priority!"
"Yes, sir!"
Upon hearing Finn's command, the members of the Loki Familia all nodded.
They had long since grown tired of fighting these talking Xenos. Rather than continuing such a meaningless battle, they would much rather do things that genuinely protect the city.
Finn himself clearly held the same view. As a faction of order, the Loki Familia couldn't just ignore the conflict involving the Xenos. That's why they had been stuck here.
But the giant sword aimed at the Babel Tower had essentially given them a reason to retreat — an excuse to stop entangling themselves with the Xenos.
After all, Babel Tower, as the gods' sacred tower, was and always would be the most important place in Orario!
"Finn, I want to stay," Ais seemed unwilling to obey Finn's command. Rather than going to face the unknown swordsman, she wanted to continue killing the monsters.
But Finn forcefully spoke up: "No, Ais. You must come! I know your hatred for monsters, but if you let hatred blind you and swing your sword without seeing the truth, you'll regret it someday."
"I will never regret it!" Ais retorted indignantly. "One day, I will kill every monster in this world — not a single one will remain!"
"If that is your own will, I won't stop you. But at least for now, it's better that you calm down a bit." Finn said this while pointing to the distant Xenos like Lyd and Ray. "These monsters never attacked you from the beginning. They've been doing everything they can to prevent this war from happening. Don't tell me you didn't notice that."
"..." Finn's words silenced Ais. Even so, the Sword Princess still wasn't persuaded. Her eyes flashed with resistance — or perhaps dissatisfaction.
But at the very least, she was willing to obey Finn's command for now. She temporarily stopped the meaningless slaughter against the Xenos and instead prioritized heading toward the Babel Tower.
.
.
.
In front of Babel Tower.
Shirou launched an unprecedented projection.
He projected the giant sword wielded by the Mesopotamian god of war, Zababa — Pseudo-Ig-Alima: Green Field Cutting Through the Thousand Mountains, commonly known as the Mountain-Cleaving Sword.
As a divine weapon used by a god, Pseudo-Ig-Alima was undoubtedly a divine artifact, a god-forged armament that only gods could wield. However, since Shirou could not truly create divine weapons, the sword he projected had the prefix "Pseudo" added.
This meant that Pseudo-Ig-Alima was a mere imitation — an outward replica of the divine weapon, not the real thing.
Yet due to the weapon's inherent nature, even Shirou's counterfeit version had overwhelming impact: its massive size and form nearly a hundred meters tall made it undeniably striking.
The weapon itself even contained the concept of the "horizon".
It embodied the principle of absolute separation between heaven and earth.
As this principle leaked through the sword flash, the giant blade could easily cleave through a thousand mountains.
"Feel the wrath of mortals, gods!" Shirou looked up at the gods atop the now-shaking Babel Tower. Without hesitation, he swung the massive sword straight at the tower!
"BOOM!" The Mountain-Cleaving Sword sliced through the air, unleashing a thunderous boom that shook the heart.
Upon colliding with Babel Tower, it instantly triggered the divine barrier covering it. The divine power of the heavenly gods activated defensively and completely blocked the Mountain-Cleaving Sword's impact.
But that was far from the end.
Immediately after swinging the Mountain-Cleaving Sword, Shirou raised his empty other hand, and the hum of magical circuits echoed through the sky.
"Trace On!" "Pseudo-Sul-sagana: The Horizon of Dawn that Purifies the Seas!"
With the start of his second projection, another hundred-meter-long sword began to form in Shirou's hand — this one made of fire, as if it could rip the world apart.
Also a weapon of a god of war, Sul-sagana — nicknamed the Sea-Cleaving Sword — was composed of mountain-like rocks and a blade of pure fire.
A divine weapon that could incinerate and purify even the vastest seas, it inherently carried the concept of the horizon, able to reach the end of sky and sea. It could evaporate ocean water, make entire seas vanish into nothingness, and ignite all matter.
Before this crimson sword flash, distinctions such as good and evil, justice and malice, heaven and sea, enemies and opposition — all dissolved equally within the dawn's light.
Especially when combined with Shirou's current Karma's FIre ability, the flames igniting the Sea-Cleaving Sword looked as if they would ignite the heavens and utterly annihilate everything.
"Gods above!" "What is that thing?!" "Can a human really create such a weapon?!"
Atop the Babel Tower, the gods could no longer stay uninvolved. Upon witnessing Shirou's twin projections, they fully realized that this mysterious man was a genuine monster.
If he were allowed to continue using his powers unchecked, even Babel Tower — the symbol of the gods — might truly collapse!
"Where is Ouranos? What is he doing? Why hasn't he stopped this yet?!"
"Forget Ouranos — what about the Freya Familia? Why isn't she sending them to stop this madman?!"
"What the hell is going on?!"
Chaos erupted among the gods atop the tower.
The once-aloof gods, now faced with these two colossal swords capable of sundering the heavens and earth, could no longer maintain their detached dignity. They looked just as flustered as mortals.
In the end, without giving the gods any time to react, Shirou's projected swords came crashing down.
The Mountain-Cleaving Sword and the Sea-Cleaving Sword both exploded with power as they were swung from two different angles, both targeting the center of Babel Tower — to cleave it apart completely!
However, the Tower's resilience exceeded imagination.
It seemed to be imbued with some kind of divine authority.
The very materials composing the Tower appeared to be some special substance capable of channeling and dispersing divine power.
"RUMBLE!"
Although Shirou's strikes unleashed deafening roars and caused the entire Tower to shake violently, they failed to bring it down completely.
Faced with this result, the previously panicked gods finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Realizing they were safe, they quickly resumed their former aloof, arrogant demeanor, and from the top of the tower, looked down at the man on the ground. Some even began to guess Shirou's identity.
"Could he be the Sword Demon from the Dungeon?!"
"Why would the Sword Demon attack Babel Tower?"
"Could it be related to those monsters rushing up from the lower levels?"
The gods whispered among themselves, watching Shirou with expressions like they were observing an amusing spectacle.
Shirou had anticipated all this. He knew his current strength couldn't truly destroy the Babel Tower.
But seeing how the gods were so detached from mortal suffering, treating everything in Genkai as mere entertainment, made him frown deeply and ignited burning rage in his heart.
Originally, his goal in attacking Babel Tower had simply been to divert Orario's strongest Familias' attention — to act as bait and stop this meaningless war.
But now, seeing the attitudes of the gods, he truly developed the desire to destroy the Tower for real.
"If even the Mountain-Cleaving and Sea-Cleaving Swords aren't enough, then I'll project an even stronger weapon…"
Shirou took a deep breath, preparing to summon a projection even more exaggerated.
But just as he was about to act, a golden spear flew in from afar — its sharp tip interrupted Shirou's movements.
Immediately afterward, Finn and the full force of the Loki Familia appeared in front of him, all wearing hostile expressions.
"So you're the Sword Demon from the Dungeon!" Finn looked at Shirou with a complicated expression. "Why are you hiding your face? Could it be that you're someone we already know?"
Finn's perceptiveness was terrifying. He instantly suspected that the Sword Demon had an identity in plain sight.
Because of this, Shirou didn't dare talk much with Finn.
After confirming that he had successfully lured the Loki Familia to this location, he quietly exhaled. He realized that he had achieved his objective.
Though the Freya Familia didn't show up — which was unexpected — as long as the strongest adventurer force, the Loki Familia, was here, he had essentially completed his plan.
Next, there was only one thing left for him to do — defeat the Loki Familia completely.
"Come at me together."
Shirou stared coldly at the Loki Familia before him. His indifferent attitude extended not only to Finn and the others, but also to Ais and Lefiya — people who knew his true identity.
Since he had resolved to stand against the gods, he would show no mercy. Even if it was the Loki Familia — he would crush them without hesitation.
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