NOVEL NEXT Chapter 231: HORROR, Final Trial
Sovereign of the Sky, Black Apocalypse, Greatest Calamity, World-Ending Demon Dragon... these are all titles given by people of the Lower World to that most powerful and evil ancient monster.
At the end of the Heroic Era, before the descent of the gods to the Lower World, the [Black Dragon] was born from the Great Hole, breaking through the fortress humanity had built around the Dungeon, that is, the predecessor of the present-day Labyrinth City, Orario.
The Black Dragon that caused a great calamity was finally blinded in one eye by the [Sword Champion] Albert, who sacrificed himself with one final strike, and it was driven away.
Thus, it was also called the [One-Eyed Black Dragon].
After that, the Age of Gods began. Starting with Ouranus, the Sky God, one god after another descended to the Lower World and granted blessings to humans.
Humans who obtained power gradually gained the upper hand in the war against monsters and ultimately expanded the defensive fortress that held back the monsters into the Labyrinth City.
The [One-Eyed Black Dragon] was the last ancient monster to leave the Great Hole in the Heroic Era. Together with [Behemoth] and [Leviathan], the two most active moving calamities, it became known as the [Three Great Calamities].
'In the original estimation of the Hera and Zeus Familia, the power of the Three Great Calamities should have been roughly equal,' Emiya walked through the corridor, silently pondering.
He summarized in his mind the information about the [Black Dragon Subjugation Battle] provided by the participants, namely Alfia and the others, and analyzed it.
[Behemoth]'s power was the weakest among the three. Its terror lay in the massive area of effect and extremely potent toxins it released. On top of that, it possessed the strongest physical defense among the ancient monsters.
Even the leader of the Zeus Familia, Lv.8 [Hero], found it hard to break through Behemoth's defenses. In the end, it was [Gluttony] who inflicted lethal damage by nearly sacrificing himself to devour Behemoth's poisonous flesh and blood.
As for [Leviathan], it possessed a body larger than any monster. If Behemoth's strength was "defense," then Leviathan represented the pinnacle of "vitality."
The Hera Familia managed to subjugate Leviathan by exploiting its extremely high water content in its body structure.
Due to this trait, Alfia's ultra-long incantation magic, [Genos Angelus], could continuously echo within its body, amplifying its power several times over.
And even then, Alfia had to burn her life force to cast the magic, to completely destroy that sky-covering giant body.
'Hera and Zeus Familia were only able to defeat the Overlod of the Sea and the King of the Land by going all out, and even then, luck played a part.'
[Gluttony] Zald and [Silence] Alfia happened to be the fated individuals that countered the two calamities.
'Therefore, it was always possible that the two Familias would lose to the Black Dragon. From the start, it was a subjugation with no guaranteed victory, so any outcome had a chance of occurring.'
The gods Hera and Zeus, as well as the adventurers of their Familia, must have been mentally prepared for that.
'The real question is, why were Alfia and the others so terrified of the Black Dragon to this extent?'
After the Black Dragon battle, most of the survivors of Hera and Zeus Familia became deserters. People like the [The Empress] and [Sword Saint] also developed serious psychological issues.
[Silence] and [Gluttony] were outright deranged, coming up with the plan to destroy the Labyrinth City and return the world to an ancient state, a plan that would reverse the era itself.
(Alfia: "Orario's just gotten too urbanized...")
Recalling that "witch's" description of the Black Dragon, Emiya let out a sigh.
'Willpower shock, or mental pollution... Does the Black Dragon have such abilities?'
Emiya didn't believe the Black Dragon was so overwhelmingly strong that its sheer power alone could break Alfia and the others' minds.
The reasoning was simple, with the resilience and mental strength of Alfia and the others, only an absolute gap in strength, like [Achilles] versus the [Astraea Familia], could cause such collapse.
And if the strength gap was really that large, how could they have survived?
The Black Dragon wouldn't show mercy like Achilles did.
And Emiya wasn't the only one who thought this way.
[Celestial Fox] Ichijo Mashiro, she was the most mentally stable survivor of the Hera Familia. The fox girl who had lost her legs did not give in and kept encouraging her companions to pick themselves back up and start over.
Mashiro's unique development ability, [Divine Dance], incorporated the effects of [Mental Resistance]. She was the only adventurer among the Hera and Zeus Familias to possess this ability.
'The Black Dragon's power is undeniable. At least when it fought the two Familias, its strength was definitely above [Behemoth] and [Leviathan].'
'But just like the judgment of Goddess Hera, the current me has the chance to kill it… meaning its true power isn't utterly hopeless.'
'Thus, the key factor in defeating the Black Dragon is 'mental resistance.''
Emiya walked to the main control room and used the "key" to open the door.
Haruhime was commanding the [Spirit Soldiers] to besiege the [Four Warriors of Burning Gold] and the [Little Giant], the remaining members of Freya Familia still standing in the coalition.
However, they probably wouldn't last much longer. The surviving [Spirit Soldiers] were wielding pseudo-Noble Phantasm-class weapons projected by Emiya. That the Gulliver brothers and others had lasted this long was already impressive.
Riveria was observing the situation on all floors. Fortunately, all gatekeepers showed great restraint, there hadn't been a single death.
Of course, this was mainly because the strength gap with the challengers was too big, giving them leeway to hold back.
"How are things?", Emiya asked.
"Senior Melvette is still playing with Ais," Riveria said with a somewhat subtle tone, "Everything else is over."
[Gluttony] stood still, letting the [King] slash at him for several minutes. But no matter how hard Ottar tried, he couldn't even touch Zald's armor.
Then, with a casual sword swing, [Gluttony] cut down the boaz warrior. But Ottar stood back up.
"Compared to that 'Heracles,' your sword is way too light!", the [King] roared as he charged again, only to be knocked down ten more times before finally being unable to get up.
Lv.6 [Gale] Ryuu Lion could defeat [Gluttony], but that didn't mean the equally-leveled [King] Ottar could. Judging by raw stats, Ottar might be stronger than Ryuu, but their skills and magic weren't even in the same dimension.
Ottar's only magic, [Hildis Vini], merely amplified his attack power. And Ryuu's [Agaris Alvesynth] in [Astraea Memoirs] was a superior replacement of that magic.
Aside from [Agaris Alvesynth], Ryuu had more than ten different spells she could use.
Furthermore, Ryuu was equipped with [Judgment of Justice] and the [Valkyrie's Sacred Ring], which compensated for her stat differences.
Most importantly, Ryuu had defeated Zald when he had been tormented by deadly poison for years, nearly at the end of his rope. But when [Gluttony] faced Ottar, his illness and toxins had already been cured.
'If my illness hadn't been cured, that wild boaz kid might've had a shot,' Zald himself thought.
'But now, the gap's just way too big.'
Who knew how many times they'd fought already. From Lv.3 to Lv.6, Ottar's record was still total defeat.
———
On the other side, [Celestial Fox] finished the battle much faster. With one spell, the Orario adventurer coalition was down.
In the Loki Familia, only the [Sword Princess] remained standing, but as Riveria said, the [Sword Saint] was merely "playing."
Ais's talent in swordsmanship earned the [Sword Saint]'s attention, but currently, the girl's level and stats were still too low.
"Master, for you."
"Mm, thank you," Emiya accepted the communication magic tool from Haruhime.
"Everyone, dinner's ready," he said.
Hearing Emiya's voice, the [Sword Saint] changed her posture, swung casually, and knocked Ais unconscious.
———
"What exactly is the Hera Familia's goal?", Lying on the cold rock, enduring immense pain, Finn's mind was unusually clear at this moment.
At first, he'd guessed that the Evilus had somehow recruited two powerful individuals, [Heracles] and [Achilles] to formally wage war on the city.
Then, whether through the crystal screen images or the words of the Dis sisters, it seemed the Evilus didn't matter, [Heracles] was the mastermind behind the scenes.
After that, they encountered Zald. Finn had thought he was [Heracles], until Ottar reminded him. that [Heracles] was far stronger.
Then the [Sword Saint], [Celestial Fox], [Stellar Bow], and others appeared one by one, and Finn was already numb.
However, he didn't feel afraid anymore.
If it was just Zald, he might still be an exception who merged with the Evilus. But with the entire Hera Familia appearing, they probably weren't here to destroy the city.
Finn trusted the character of these seniors... On the other hand, since they were all here now, panicking wouldn't help.
If they really wanted to destroy the city, there'd be no need for this much effort. Just the [Sword Saint] alone could wipe out all forces above Lv.3 in half a day.
"What exactly does the Hera Familia want, to take revenge for being driven out by the city's current Familias? To declare their return? Or do they want all the power in the city to become the true rulers?"
Before he finally passed out, Finn kept wondering, 'What does the Hera Familia want?'
———
Alfia: "I want ice cream."
"I want cotton candy," said Mashiro.
Luna: "Same as Lord Achilles, forest cake is fine..."
"Apple pie," After much struggle, Melvette finally made a decision.
Hera: "I'm full. You chat, I'll go stand outside for a bit."
The goddess held her slightly swollen belly and walked out, supporting herself against the wall.
As for the other girls, their bellies had clearly expanded too, but with the physique of first-class adventurers, they could rapidly digest food, absorb nutrients, and continue stuffing food into their mouths.
"Girls have a separate stomach for sweets," The women of the Hera Familia seemed to be embodying this saying with their actions.
In comparison, Ryuu, Riveria, and Haruhime had much smaller appetites, they were only about 80% full.
After all, this wasn't their first, nor would it be their last time attending such a banquet. They chose to let their seniors enjoy more.
As for [Gluttony] Zald, because he ate too much, enough for four people, he had already been beaten by Alfia and the others and thrown out.
The black-and-white elf sisters served the desserts. Everyone received what they asked for, except for Alfia, whose ice cream was replaced with apple pie.
"Why?", she frowned.
"Your physical condition already isn't suited for overeating, let alone eating ice cream," Emiya said, "Stick with apple pie."
"...Okay," Alfia replied softly.
"Wow!" ×3
The girls of the Hera Familia let out such sounds.
"This is the first time I've seen Alfia so obedient in front of someone outside Metelia."
"Same here."
"Did she get all docile because she lost a fight? So this is her real personality?"
"Ice queen tsundere?"
Hearing her seniors' whispers, a tic mark appeared on Alfia's forehead, "Such irritating noise."
She really wanted to beat these cripples up, but Emiya definitely wouldn't allow it, and besides, she couldn't beat that man.
All she could do was angrily devour the apple pie, venting her rage on the food.
"Mm, let's get down to business," Mashiro changed the topic. She looked at Emiya, "You said the plan has changed. What's different?"
The original plan was for Emiya to serve as the final trial, the last chance after the city's adventurers had failed. With the goddesses as stakes, he would face the Familia coalition.
They weren't required to defeat [Heracles]. As long as they showed resilience in the face of failure and courage to challenge a powerful enemy, Alfia and the others would be willing to believe in the next generation.
"It's mostly the same, just a slight change," Emiya said, "In the final trial, you all join in as well."
Melvette asked in confusion, "Wouldn't that make it too hopeless for the city's adventurers?"
Emiya alone was already invincible to them, so why include the others ? The girl couldn't understand.
Or rather, she misunderstood something.
Mashiro spoke up softly, "I think what Master means is, he wants us to be his opponents..."
"That's right," Emiya gently nodded.
Not just the Labyrinth City, the members of the Hera Familia also needed one more trial before they could truly be reborn.
Depending on the result, Emiya would then decide, before he left this world, whether to fire an arrow at that Black Dragon.
Though, Emiya's gut told him: in the end, he would need to go to the deepest part of the Dungeon… and see for himself.
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