Chapter 89 – Triple-Linked Crane Wings! One-Shot Kill of Lv.6!
"You bastard—how could you possibly be just Lv.2?!"
In the depths of the dark dungeon, Phryne questioned Shirou in utter disbelief.
Her tiger-like grip was still trembling slightly. In the brief exchange just moments ago, she'd felt a rebound force as if she'd struck solid steel.
If she hadn't known her attack had landed on a supposed Lv.2 adventurer, she might have thought she'd struck one of the terrifying monsters from the deep floors of the dungeon.
In Phryne's adventuring career, she had only ever felt such a level of shock and pressure when facing top-tier members of the Loki Familia or the Freya Familia.
Meanwhile, Shirou, looking at the panicked Phryne, had no change in expression at all.
The only thought in his mind was that Phryne's strength was far weaker than he had anticipated.
He had initially heard that the opponent was Lv.5, so instinctively he'd equated her with someone of Bete's caliber from the Loki Familia and had even gone as far as to project Kanshou and Bakuya to face her.
But after the actual clash, Shirou immediately realized he had overestimated Phryne.
Although she was nominally Lv.5, her strength was the bottom tier within that level—at best, a sham.
At the very least, if it were someone like Bete from the Loki Familia—let alone a top-tier like Ais the Sword Princess—even Bete could effortlessly defeat Phryne in an instant.
Adventurers of the same level did not possess the same strength.
Due to differences in stats and skills, the gap in strength between adventurers of the same level could be like night and day!
"Tch, looks like I was too cautious for nothing."
Shirou sighed and silently dismissed the projected Kanshou and Bakuya in his hands.
Facing a sham-level Lv.5, he didn't even feel the urge to get serious—he directly opted to face her barehanded.
"You bastard! Are you looking down on me?!"
Not expecting Shirou to not even use a weapon against her, Phryne immediately burst into rage at the humiliation.
Although Phryne had now realized Shirou was not an ordinary Lv.2 adventurer and likely far exceeded her expectations, she still couldn't accept being looked down on like this!
To protect the dignity of a proper Lv.5 adventurer, Phryne angrily lifted her axe once more and charged toward Shirou with a roar.
As a Lv.5, Phryne naturally wasn't without her own trump cards.
Upon realizing Shirou's strength was not ordinary, she stopped charging head-on and, halfway through her charge, launched herself into the air like a spring, rapidly shifting mid-air.
Despite her massive frame, her movements were agile like those of a speed-type adventurer like Bell.
But it was precisely because of this that her ugly figure began to resemble a toad more and more—like a giant toad leaping about in the narrow room.
"Bang!" "Crash!" "Smash!"
Phryne's movements overturned everything in the cell, including destroying the only light source—the magic stone lamp—plunging the surroundings into complete darkness.
In such pitch-black conditions, where one couldn't see their own hand, a normal person would be unable to track Phryne's movements, let alone predict from where she would attack.
"Watch out!"
Aisha, who had collapsed to the ground, noticed Phryne's movement from the side and shouted in warning.
But her warning was a moment too late.
At the same time as her cry, Phryne, after building up sufficient momentum, appeared behind Shirou like a mantis, closing in at lightning speed!
"Boom!"
The recoil from her massive motion even blasted a hole in the ground and caused the walls to tremble violently, scattering debris everywhere.
"Die!!"
Like a shadow, Phryne suddenly lunged in front of Shirou, swinging down her massive axe with all her might. Just one hit would be enough to split Shirou in half.
However, in that very instant, Shirou calmly raised his right hand and caught the axe head-on.
Then, with a light toss—
"Rumble!"
Phryne's massive body was actually thrown into the air by Shirou.
"W-What?!"
While Phryne and Aisha were both stunned with disbelief, Shirou silently raised his right fist and punched toward Phryne in mid-air.
"BAM!"
At the moment of impact, the giant woman's body was sent flying like a cannonball.
Her massive body skidded across the ground, shattering the floor into pieces, crashing through the walls, and only finally stopping once everything around her was in ruins.
"S-So strong..."
Aisha stared in shock at the scene unfolding before her eyes.
Just minutes ago, she would never have imagined Phryne—a Lv.5—could be defeated so easily.
Even other Lv.5s wouldn't necessarily be able to accomplish that so effortlessly, unless they were Lv.6, or monsters from the Loki or Freya Familia.
Because of that, she couldn't help but look at Shirou deeply, as if trying to figure out his true identity.
Though Shirou had only shown his weapon-creating magic for an instant, Aisha had indeed heard the widely spread rumor in the dungeon—
That a mysterious figure had appeared in the dungeon, capable of creating swords at will, known as the "Sword Demon."
While Aisha fell into thought, wondering whether Shirou could be the rumored Sword Demon, Shirou walked over to her and untied her restraints.
However, he couldn't heal her injuries.
"Let's go find a doctor."
Shirou glanced at Aisha's injuries and spoke quietly.
"No, take me back to my room." Aisha shook her head. "I don't want what happened here to be spread. If word reaches Goddess Ishtar, Haruhime's plan to escape will be exposed. That child won't have a chance to leave this familia."
"..."
"Besides, I've stocked my room with a large number of healing potions in order to endure Phryne's abuse. Even with injuries like this, a couple days of rest should be enough to recover."
"...Alright."
Seeing Aisha's insistence, Shirou nodded silently.
Aisha, however, showed a hesitant expression, unsure whether she should directly ask if Shirou was the Sword Demon of the dungeon.
Just as Aisha was hesitating and about to speak—
From where Phryne had fallen, a sudden noise came.
The toad-like figure was once again climbing to her feet.
The moment that sound rang out, Aisha instinctively showed a terrified expression—it was clear Phryne's abuse had left deep trauma within her.
But Shirou's expression remained unchanged as he calmly said:
"Still able to move? I suppose for a Lv.5, her defense is at least somewhat decent."
"You bastard! You damned bastard!!"
At Shirou's condescending comment, Phryne's face twisted in rage.
She staggered to her feet, her grotesque face looking like she wanted to devour the man in front of her whole.
However, she didn't attack immediately, clearly aware after that last exchange of the massive gap in strength between them.
But Phryne didn't flee either. Instead, she glared at Shirou with venom and took out a strange golden magic stone from her bosom.
"That magic stone—?"
Seeing the stone in her hand, Shirou immediately recalled the mutated monster he'd encountered on the 20th floor, and the golden magic stone he'd acquired after killing it.
The magic stone Phryne now held looked nearly identical to the one Shirou had obtained back then.
The only difference was the size—Phryne's was clearly smaller.
"I don't care how much power you're hiding—today, neither you nor Aisha are getting out of here alive! You're both staying right here!!"
After finishing her words, Phryne directly swallowed the golden magic stone. Her strange action confused Aisha, who didn't understand what it meant.
However, Shirou, having some knowledge about the golden magic stones, realized that it was the vessel of the fairy spirit's power, though he didn't know what kind of changes would happen when a human swallowed such a magic stone.
So, Shirou watched Phryne with curious eyes and noticed that the moment she swallowed the stone, her body's aura suddenly surged drastically, and the injury that Shirou had just dealt with a punch began to heal at an astonishing speed.
This exaggerated regeneration ability was hardly human-like, making Shirou instinctively recall the Monster Rex Goliath.
"Heh heh, hahaha!!" Phryne's aura instantly surged as she showed an excited expression, "Those Dark Faction guys didn't lie to me after all, this is unbelievably good stuff! With this, I don't even need Haruhime anymore, I'll become stronger than everyone!"
"W-What's wrong with her?" Aisha looked confusedly towards Phryne, inexplicably feeling a sense of unease from her.
After confirming the change in Phryne, Shirou immediately said to Aisha, "Step back a little!"
"Wha—" Before Aisha could react to Shirou's warning, Phryne rushed forward at an incredibly exaggerated speed. Her speed was more than twice as fast as before.
Aisha didn't even have time to respond before Phryne appeared right in front of her.
"Bang!" Phryne's giant axe grazed Aisha's cheek, slashing a long crack into the dungeon floor. If Shirou hadn't quickly pulled Aisha away at that moment, she might have been cut in half by Phryne's axe right then and there.
And Phryne's attack wasn't over. With an exaggerated spinning slash, she suddenly smashed toward Shirou.
Realizing she couldn't block this strike head-on, Shirou immediately summoned a projection, creating Kanshou and Bakuya, preparing to block the attack—
"Crack!" The sound of the sword breaking was heard. Kanshou and Bakuya, projected by Shirou, were shattered on the spot by Phryne.
The overwhelming force knocked both Shirou and Aisha flying far back, only stopping after a considerable distance.
"Cough cough cough... What on earth is happening?" After recovering, Aisha was shocked and incredulous at Phryne's change.
The difference was so huge, it was hard to believe it was the same person. At least, that single axe strike was something Phryne, as an Lv.5, could not have done before.
"Looks like she's leveled up." Shirou glanced at Phryne and immediately made his judgment.
"Leveled up? Did she become Lv.6?" Aisha was incredulous about this outcome.
After all, Lv.6 was said to be the pinnacle of the labyrinth city Orario, second only to the rare Lv.7. Lv.6 was arguably the strongest in this world.
Phryne had only swallowed that golden magic stone and directly evolved from Lv.5 to Lv.6 — this was like a dream.
"Heh heh, you've got a good eye, kid." Phryne's expression was extremely excited. "I did level up. Relying on the power of this treasure jewel, even without that Haruhime upgrading me, I am now a true Lv.6. Even the Loki and Freya clans, I can fight them!"
"..."
"Heh heh, hahaha! If you kneel now and admit defeat, I might treat you a little more gently!"
Faced with Phryne's confident demeanor, Shirou's expression turned a bit serious.
Though she upgraded after swallowing the golden magic stone, Lv.6 was the same level as Sword Princess Ais. At least, Shirou could no longer face her empty-handed.
So Shirou decisively projected a new Kanshou and Bakuya and began confronting Phryne.
"This kind of magic…"
Seeing Shirou so easily create weapons, Aisha felt even more that he was very similar to the rumored "Sword Demon," but she dared not fully believe it.
After all, the rumored Sword Demon was a legend who could solo the Variant Monster Rex Goliath.
Could Shirou really be that person?
While Aisha was pondering, Shirou and Phryne's second battle had already started.
After leveling up to Lv.6, Phryne's speed and strength increased dramatically. Although she was huge in body size, her movements were very agile, able to move freely even in the narrow terrain.
In contrast, Shirou couldn't perform large-scale projections in this cramped dungeon and was forced to fight with the swords in his hands.
"Crack! Crack!" As Shirou's projected swords shattered again and again, on the surface it looked like he was being suppressed by Phryne.
"Haha, hahahaha, I'm definitely stronger! Your created swords are as fragile as porcelain shards, this kind of garbage magic is totally useless!" Phryne waved her giant axe excitedly, her face full of exhilaration.
Under her pressure, Shirou was gradually pushed back, retreating to the wall.
"Emiya, are you okay!?" Aisha showed a worried expression. If her body weren't too badly injured, she probably would have rushed over to help.
"Don't worry." Shirou responded calmly to Aisha's concern. Though it seemed like he was at a disadvantage, this was actually just a trap he had set to force Phryne into a corner.
"Almost there."
As another pair of Kanshou and Bakuya in Shirou's hands broke, the shattered swords flew in the air, and Shirou showed a look meaning 'time to act.'
He projected a jet-black short sword with one hand and slowly began chanting.
"Spirit and technique, flawless and firm Our strength rips the mountains "
As Shirou chanted, his black sword and the shattered white short swords flying in the air attracted each other, crossing at a special angle. At the same time, Shirou projected a white short sword.
"Our swords split the water Our names reach the imperial villa"
The white short sword and the black short sword flying in the air attracted each other and crossed. At that moment, Shirou threw both the black and white swords out.
His hands began the third projection.
"The two of us cannot hold the heavens together." "Triple-Linked Crane Wings!"
Grasping Kanshou and Bakuya, Shirou launched an offensive toward Phryne!
Phryne didn't expect Shirou to take the initiative and showed a cold sneer, intending to destroy the weapons projected from Shirou's hands as before.
However, she quickly noticed that besides Shirou's frontal attack, the two pairs of Kanshou and Bakuya flying around from all corners also attacked her from all sides! Combined with Shirou's frontal assault, he blocked all her escape routes!
"..."
Realizing she had no way out, a confused look finally appeared on Phryne's face. She panicked trying to defend but had no idea which attack to block.
In the end, it was Shirou's frontal slash that suddenly tore her body apart!
"Crack!" Shirou's full-power slash pierced through Phryne's plump body without any mercy. With just this strike, Phryne's body was completely ripped apart.
However, possibly due to the golden magic stone, Phryne's body began rapidly regenerating. If left alone, she would soon recover to her original state.
At this moment, Shirou had only two choices: Either watch Phryne's body restore fully and fight her at full strength again endlessly, or Kill her repeatedly like he did with the Labyrinth Lone King, until her regeneration no longer worked.
The former meant Shirou would fall into an endless battle. The latter meant Phryne would die, and he wouldn't be able to extract information about the Dark Faction from her.
Undoubtedly, neither was the best option.
Meanwhile, Phryne's regeneration was happening at an extremely rapid pace. Shirou had to make a decision in this split second!
"Wait, if that golden magic stone is the power of the Spirit, and the Spirit is said to be a deity's incarnation, an embodiment of divine power, then the golden magic stone's essence is also a form of divine power."
A flood of ideas flashed through Shirou's mind. He then thought of a possible way to control Phryne and decisively put it into practice.
"Bind her, Enkidu - Chains of Heaven!"
Shirou took out the Chains of Heaven, which he had forged earlier to fight Apollo, and tightly wrapped them around Phryne.
Almost instantly, Phryne's strange amplified state was immediately restrained. Under the pressure of the Chains of Heaven, the golden magic stone Phryne had swallowed was forced out, falling to the ground.
"..."
Seeing this, Shirou was almost certain the golden magic stone's essence was indeed the power of the Spirit. The Dark Faction had somehow obtained the divine incarnation of the Spirit and used that power to create these golden magic stones!