SFS #162 - Section 162
#162 - Section 162
Actually, she didn't participate for that reason. It was because her name was still under the Freya Familia. In any case, participating in the expedition against the Loki Familia would be extremely inappropriate.
Shirou, considering Anya had missed the last expedition, specifically invited her to come along.
She wielded a heavy greatsword, her movements fluid, easily slaying the monsters one after another.
To others, her new weapon didn't seem much different from the past—in this area, no matter what weapon Tiona held, with her Lv.5 strength, she could easily one-shot the monsters.
Just recently, the town of Vella in the eighteenth floor's safe zone had been destroyed once again by an enhanced species of Treant. The town was completely razed, and everyone had just started the reconstruction work.
“Ah, the Loki Familia… Didn't you see the report I sent up?”
A deep voice sounded. Morse took off his hard hat, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and walked towards them.
“Dragon? Is it a Treant?”
Tiona asked疑惑地问道.
Morse shook his head, a hint of dread in his eyes. “No, not a Treant. This guy is much stronger than a Treant, and it has wings, it can fly. Its size is much smaller than a normal Treant, though.”
As usual, the adventurers of Rivira upheld the principle of 'running away is the best policy,' and they all scattered the moment the dragon charged in.
“A winged dragon… a Wyvern?”
Morse vehemently shook his head in denial: “It can't be a Dragonewt. How could there be such a strong Dragonewt? If it were a Dragonewt, would we be running so fast?”
Moreover, a Dragonewt's drops are invaluable. If they really encountered a Dragonewt, those adventurers who usually run away would probably muster the courage to attack it.
He said, “These ruins… don't look like one-sided destruction, but more like the aftermath of some intense battle.”
If this place had suffered a one-sided attack, then all the traces should be more uniform.
Shirou looked ahead, and suddenly a faint reflection caught his eye. He walked into the depths of the ruins, carefully searching for the source of the light.
The bloodstains on the dragon scale were a dark, viscous liquid, exuding a strong sense of defilement.
Shirou carefully examined the surrounding ruins and scales, and said, “No, it's not like that. Look at the cut on that stone slab. This is a scale shot by the dragon. It hit its opponent with this 'scale shot' attack.”
Ais looked at the scale in her hand, her brow furrowed, and replied in a low voice: “This thing… makes me feel a little sick.”
After that, they investigated a bit more but didn't find any more clues. The adventurers came to the other end of the town.
Although they carried tents, there was no doubt that an inn was much more comfortable than a camp, not to mention that setting up a camp was a laborious and troublesome task in itself.
“It's okay, I'll pay.”
Shirou said, glancing at the temporary high price marked outside the inn, but he didn't think it was expensive.
In the wilderness of the eighteenth floor, night fell, and the air was filled with a chill. In the distance were hazy silhouettes of trees and dark forests, only the occasional cries of monsters broke the silence.
The masked man responded indifferently: “I don't want to expose my existence. Continuing to pursue is not wise.”
“Then get lost! But I'm telling you, no matter what, the jewel must be retrieved, and that dragon beast must die.”
These words hit Revis where it hurt. The truth was, when she initially caught up with that Dragonewt, Revis and it were evenly matched.
However, right here, the Dragonewt seemed to be stimulated by something and suddenly erupted.
“Shut up!”
Revis said coldly: “You, who are weaker than me, have no right to point fingers at me!”
The masked man laughed contemptuously: “Heh heh.”
Revis said coldly.
“Then you better take care of yourself.”
The masked man turned and left.
Late at night, Shirou, who was staying on the first floor, suddenly opened his eyes.
“Trace, On.”
This sword possessed the two traits of 'tracking bloodstains' and 'dragon slaying.' As the sword fell into his hand, Shirou's expression became even more serious.
The projection of 【Hound of Baskerville】 was dispelled. Immediately afterward, Shirou projected 【Moonlight Sword】and activated night vision.
Shirou's footsteps were extremely light, almost blending into the night, reduced to the lowest possible level. Step by step, he carefully walked down the steps of the cellar.
Shirou's first reaction was to swing his sword.
However, just as he was about to attack, he saw the Dragonewt take a big bite of ham, and her whole face immediately scrunched up.
Shirou hesitated, and 【Moonlight Sword】slowly lowered.
Just then, the Dragonewt seemed to notice his presence and slowly turned her head, her eyes full of curiosity.
“Father?”
245
Chapter 245: Dragonewt VS Sword Princess.
For some reason, she found it particularly difficult to fall asleep tonight.
Ais tilted her head to look at Lefiya, who was sharing the same room. She saw her sleeping soundly, a sweet smile on her face, and she even turned over, muttering, “Hehe, Miss Ais, Mr. Shirou, I'm not… that amazing….”
Thinking of this, Ais couldn't help but think of her master.
She walked out of the room and quietly came to Shirou's room door, gently knocking: “Master, I can't sleep….”
“Is Master not in the room?”
Ais muttered to herself.
“This is… the smell of fried potato balls… it's the salty ham flavor of fried potato balls.”
The scent guided her to the entrance of the cellar.
Ais slowly walked down the steps, but the scene before her made her freeze.
“So it's not salty ham flavored fried potato balls, but fried potato balls and ham….”
The Dragonewt's appearance was completely different from any dragon monster she had seen before. This strange outfit stunned Ais for a moment.
A few seconds later, Ais came back to her senses, and she immediately drew her sword from her waist—but she quickly realized that she was only wearing pajamas, and there was no sword at her waist at all.
Use what you have! Without saying a word, Ais grabbed a dinner knife and quickly pounced towards the Dragonewt.
Swords clashed—no, two silver dinner knives crossed in the air, making a crisp clanging sound.
This time entering the Dungeon wasn't an official expedition, but a simple adventure for the sake of earning money.
Among the adventurers accompanying them were three Lv.5s, but they didn't plan to venture deep into the dangerous areas beyond the twenty-seventh floor.
After entering the Dungeon, the initial battles were mainly handled by Tiona, this time primarily to familiarize her with and adapt to the feel of the new weapon [Golden Impact Modified].
Tiona herself was very satisfied, and that was enough.
Soon, they arrived at the eighteenth floor's safe zone—Rivira Town.
However, as soon as they entered, Lefiya exclaimed, "Eh? Rivira has been destroyed again?"
Unexpectedly, the town had been damaged once more so quickly.
This time, the extent of the damage seemed lighter, with only about half of the town destroyed, but the busy scene of reconstruction still made people feel disheartened. The town was full of broken walls and rubble, with dust flying everywhere, as adventurers and craftsmen busily rebuilt houses.
"What happened this time?"
Tiona asked.
Mourse sighed, "This time it was because of a 'dragon' again. A powerful dragon-type monster suddenly rushed in and destroyed two-thirds of the town."
"So, what kind of dragon was it?"
Tione asked.
Mourse helplessly spread his hands, "We don't know either. Who had the mind to observe carefully at the time? Everyone was desperately trying to escape. By the time we returned, the dragon had disappeared without a trace."
Lefiya murmured thoughtfully, "But that should be a monster from the deep levels… Vivian (Dragon Girl) does have wings…"
Even if Vivian transforms into a dragon, her potential is at most Lv.4. The adventurers in the town, united, would have a chance to deal with her.
Just then, Ais quietly walked to Wemiya's side and asked in a low voice, "Master, what's wrong?"
Wemiya carefully observed the surrounding traces of destruction, seemingly noticing something unusual.
Wemiya judged this by observing the way the buildings collapsed and the direction the debris scattered.
However, the distribution of these building remains appeared chaotic and disordered, and the directions in which the debris scattered were also extremely mixed.
Soon, he found the object among a pile of broken building fragments—a bloodstained dragon scale.
Ais walked to Wemiya's side, her gaze falling on the sharp scale in his hand, and frowned slightly, "Is this a scale that fell off when that dragon monster was injured?"
He paused for a moment, noticing that Ais's expression seemed a little off, with a hint of suppressed disgust in her eyes, and asked with concern, "Ais, what's wrong?"
"Is it because of the dragon scale, or because of the blood on it?"
Ais shook her head, her tone tinged with hesitation, "Perhaps, both?"
"We're lucky, there's a hotel in one of the buildings that didn't collapse that we can stay in."
Tiona said lightly.
Lefiya: "However, the prices at Rivira Town's hotels aren't cheap…"
Prices in Rivira Town were already high, let alone now that only a few hotels were left for accommodation, the prices would naturally be even higher.
"Everyone's tired today, let's rest well first, and then decide whether to continue adventuring tomorrow depending on the situation."
"I'm going back."
The masked person said in a cold tone.
"What?"
Revis frowned, looking at her with dissatisfaction, "Are you giving up so easily? Not going to continue hunting down that dragon beast?"
Her gaze turned towards the distant Rivira Town, seemingly lost in thought.
Revis said coldly.
The masked person chuckled, "Are you sure you can deal with it one-on-one?"
It was precisely because of the masked person's participation that they had suppressed the other party. They had chased the Dragon Girl all the way, crossing several levels, and finally arrived at this eighteenth floor.
It activated its dragon transformation state, and its power instantly surged. After a fierce battle with Revis and the masked person, the Dragon Girl found an opportunity to escape and hide.
"That dragon beast is already seriously injured and won't be able to recover its strength in a short time. Also, don't forget, I'm not just good at fighting alone. A Beast Tamer's strength has never been in one-on-one combat."
He muttered in a low voice, and a black magic sword instantly projected in his hand—[Akahera Hound].
The faint trace of blood energy that he could only vaguely sense originally became clear under the blessing of [Akahera Hound], almost directly pointing to the direction of the target.
He quietly opened the door, walked out of the room, and followed his senses towards the direction of the cellar.
When he entered the cellar, what he saw was a completely unexpected scene—a blue-skinned Dragon Girl was squatting in the corner, secretly eating ham stored in the hotel's cellar.
"So salty…"
The Dragon Girl said in a somewhat pitiful tone, sticking out her small turquoise tongue.
Her voice was very childish, and her pronunciation was not very standard, like a child who had just learned to speak.
She stared at Wemiya, as if trying to recognize something, and suddenly slowly opened her mouth, uttering two words in a stiff voice—
In the middle of the night, Ais slowly sat up. The girl looked out the window, the moonlight shining in slightly through the curtains, casting a faint silver layer over the room.
Did she have a nightmare? Ais was a little curious, but didn't disturb her. She gently lifted the quilt and quietly stood up.
When she was young, whenever she had insomnia, Riveria would sit by her bed and gently tell her stories until she fell asleep peacefully.
However, the door didn't respond as she expected, but slowly opened on its own. The room was empty.
Just then, a faint fragrance wafted into her nose.
Ais said to herself, the unique salty fragrance made her involuntarily follow the scent.
She saw a blue-skinned Dragon Girl sitting in a corner of the cellar. She was covered in bandages, draped in a hotel bed sheet, and holding a porcelain plate in her hand. The plate contained fried potato balls, which was the fragrance she smelled.
Her original hostility towards dragon monsters made her want to draw her sword reflexively, but the Dragon Girl in front of her was too incongruous with the fierce image she had imagined.
Without time to hesitate, her eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, and she saw the—table knife—within reach.
The Dragon Girl was obviously startled by the sudden attack, but upon seeing the silver knife in Ais's hand, her reaction was also instinctive, and she immediately picked up the table knife beside her to meet the attack.