[Dungeon, Eighteenth Floor, Rivira]
The space was deep underground , yet as bright as the daylight outside. Snow-white and azure crystals bloomed like chrysanthemums at the top of the space, creating a beautiful "sky."
In this underground world full of natural landscapes like forests, lakes, and giant trees, adventurers walked unhurriedly.
Ryuu, holding a white bouquet, arrived before a cemetery with swords, staves, and various weapons stuck into the ground.
In the past, every time she came here, Ryuu would always say to them, ("Sorry, it's been so long since I came to see everyone.")
("Sorry, I shamed 'Justice.'")
("Sorry, I let down everyone's hopes.")
("Sorry, at that time, it was all my fault.")
However, this time, what Ryuu said was, "Thank you."
A breeze blew past, the forest rustling, yet it seemed like the girls were softly laughing.
Ryuu stood in the middle of the forest, light passing through the shade and falling on her. She gently held the white flowers, feeling the warmth of the light.
Emiya saw one illusory figure after another walk toward her, spreading their arms and embracing Ryuu.
Then, in the blink of an eye, there was clearly only Ryuu alone.
After a while, Ryuu wiped away her tears and came to Emiya's side.
"Let's go," Riveria said, and Ryuu nodded.
Not far from the place where Ryuu placed the relics of the Astraea Familia, there was also a simple grave, in which only one person was buried.
At that time, she had fallen, as "Absolute Evil," at the hands of the adventurers on the side of "Justice."
As the ones involved, Riveria and Ryuu were among the few who could still find this place.
[Silence] Alfia was buried here.
No gravestone, no tomb, only a sapling much shorter than the towering trees around it, growing strong.
Emiya placed a white flower under the small tree.
Then, he looked at the sapling and smiled gently, projecting a golden crown.
[Queen of Heaven's Crown]
"You would look beautiful wearing this," He adjusted the crown to the proper height according to his memory of Alfia's figure.
"Mm, I think so too."
Emiya froze.
'Was that… an illusion?'
———
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Ryuu Lion
Lv.6
Strength: I0→E
Endurance: I0→F
Dexterity: I0→ C
Agility: I0→C
Magic: I0→ B
—: Magic :—
[Astraea Record] → [Star Summon]
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Also, Ryuu's great feat had already qualified.
In other words, if there was no higher requirement for ability values, she could directly level up now and become another Lv.7 after Finn.
When Demeter updated Ryuu's ability values, she thought she remembered wrong, "Huh? Wasn't Ryuu at Lv.5 last time, and didn't level up?"
It was the same for Haruhime. Since she was only Lv.2, her ability values rose faster, and her Magic had already reached A rank; she could directly level up to Lv.3.
Riveria's case was better, only her Magic rose from D to A, so she couldn't level up.
As for Emiya—
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Emiya Shirou
Lv.5
Strength: SSS1608
Endurance: SSS1422
Dexterity: SSS1493
Agility: SS1102
Magic: SSS1520
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[Innocent Monster] gained special anti-divinity effect for goddesses.
Hephaestus: "..."
The goddess rubbed her eyes.
Just to be sure, she looked again.
Still the same, all abilities SS or above, four at SSS (over 1300), with the highest Strength over 1600.
"Although I didn't find anything abnormal, Shirou, this is too strange this time," Hephaestus circled around him several times, poking at his muscles.
"I'm starting to suspect, did some goddess inject you with divine power?"
Of course, such a thing was impossible. The traces of divine power were obvious. While Shirou was entangled with many divine blessings, there was indeed no trace of divine power.
However, to the goddess's questioning, Shirou felt a bit guilty.
He didn't know whether the "blessing" Hera gave him counted as such.
It probably didn't use divine power, but the Queen of Heaven's way of granting blessings was indeed rather special.
Shirou didn't hide it from Hephaestus and truthfully told her about his time travel.
"So, of your Development Ability [Fate]… this is the effect?", Hephaestus felt an even bigger headache.
Originally, seeing the newly added [Goddess Slayer] effect in Shirou's skill made her startled, but now she felt a bit disappointed.
"In any case, you absolutely can't level up right away. Otherwise, it will cause huge trouble."
Before, Shirou's leveling up every two or three months was already shocking, but this time, it had been less than a week since reaching Lv.5.
This was no longer something that "the unknown" of the lower world could explain. If the gods found out, a Familia war would be the least of it, some might recklessly use divine power.
For example, if Ishtar decided to risk being sent back to the heavens just to forcibly "charm" Shirou's soul, that would be bad.
"Shirou, what do you think? Not level up for now, or level up and conceal it…", the goddess asked helplessly.
Leveling up should still be done, stalling with such ability values would be too wasteful.
As for hiding it, Shirou had an idea, "How about… traveling?"
"Traveling?", Hephaestus quickly understood his meaning.
"Yeah, travel… and then hunt a 'Primordial Monster' again," Shirou added.
That way, the feat for leveling up could be explained.
"Good idea," She nodded, "As for a suitable Primordial Monster… the nearest should be Lochness of [Falling Moon Lake]."
Shirou: "Mm, let's do that then."
With the strategy decided, the goddess sighed and updated his ability values.
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Emiya Shirou
Lv.5 → Lv.6
Strength: SSS1608 → I0
Endurance: SSS1422 → I0
Dexterity: SSS1493 → I0
Agility: SS1102 → I0
Magic: SSS1520 → I0
—: Development Abilities :—
[Mystery] E→D, [Smith] E→D, [Dominion] G→E, [Fate] I→G, [Martial Refinement] I
— Temporarily gains Development Abilities like [Swordsman], [Archer], [Lancer], [Brawler]... depending on the weapon type in use.]
—: Magic :—
[Unlimited Blade Works]
—: Skills :—
[Oath under the Snow]
[Knight of Goddess]
[Roadless Valhalla]
[Innocent Monster] →[End of Anything]
— Undecipherable, known to integrate all effects of [Innocent Monster].
[Mind's Eye · True]
[Loki Familia, Twilight Manor]
"Riveria, you don't need to explain," Loki lightly waved her hand, stopping Riveria from trying to explain her abnormal stat growth.
The goddess tilted her head up at a 45° angle, because she'd heard that way, tears were less likely to fall.
From her last update till now, Riveria hadn't entered the dungeon once. The only special event was… "that."
That day, Riveria went to find Shirou, and didn't come back at night.
The next several nights were the same.
Thinking about it carefully, the magical girl uniform Riveria wore that first day seemed to be Loki's own design.
Well, at least that gave her some sense of participation.
Loki looked up at the sky, unable to cry even if she wanted to.
———
[Orario, Timlie of Great Horror]
After the [Final Trial], the Hera Familia returned to the city, replacing the Freya and Loki Familias atop the throne.
[Stellar Bow] Luna also gained the feat to level up from that battle. In the end, she leveled up with all attributes at S902, her unique skill [Constant Radiance] kept all abilities equal, which sped up growth when low, but made it hard to break past S900.
The returning Hera Familia had only five members, but they were one Lv.9, three Lv.8, and one Lv.7.
Besides them and [Gluttony], the only other Lv.7 in the city was the newly advanced [King] Ottar.
[Gluttony] Zald had also leveled up to Lv.8. Fortunately, before parting with Zeus, the god had already unlocked his stats to allow a transfer, or finding him again would've been nearly impossible.
Like many foreign adventurers, Zald sought freedom and joined the Demeter Familia temporarily.
That Familia had one good thing, no matter how much [Gluttony] ate, they wouldn't go broke.
But he didn't eat too much there. After his update, he left the city to travel the world, aiming to complete a world food compendium and find a chance to reach Lv.9.
Back in the city, Hera Familia recruited newcomers and tried recalling old members. Other Lv.8 and Lv.7 had died in the Black Dragon War, but several Lv.5 supporters still lived. In today's Orario, they counted as top-class power.
The "nightmare" of the Freya and Loki Familias began again. Ottar returned to being beaten every few days, though the thick-skinned warrior was used to it. Others were more miserable.
The worst was little Ais. The [Sword Saint] hadn't stolen her [Sword Princess] title, but did forcibly take her as a disciple.
Then Ais learned what a truly "evil stepmother" was.
She often dreamed of an imagined father who could defeat her evil stepmother. Still, under the Sword Saint's training, her stats and level skyrocketed.
About half a year later, Hera Familia's activity quieted, and outsiders rarely saw them, except for Ais.
The reason—
"Master, be careful," Ais supported [Sword Saint] Melvette, who held her stomach, tired but full of love.
With Hera's divine authority over marriage and childbirth, they feared no complications or fetal issues. Though it was funny that with such a power, her Familia members had been single until now.
The other members of Hera Familia were in the same state; only [Empress] seemed energetic, while the frail Alfia was weaker.
At this time, Hera herself was shocked, "How many fertility goddesses' blessings does he have…?"
Her blessing ensured Shirou would always hit the mark when he wished, with safe births.
But [Silence] and the others all bore twins. The goddess was stunned.
She realized too late, Shirou already had too many fertility blessings, and hers pushed it to the limit.
If one more was added… it might truly break a certain boundary.
Her heart skipped a beat, "Luckily, on top of my blessing, only mother-goddesses like Gaia or Tiamat could still have effect… they probably won't descend easily… right?" [T/N: Foreshadowing...]
She could only wish the goddesses of that world, including another herself, good luck from now on.
———
Starting next—
Volume 3: Dungeon · Eternal Bonds
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