DanMachi: Unlimited Blade Works

"What is that? An octopus?"

"It looks somewhat like that thing from the 50th floor."

The Loki Familia's four-person team, stationed in the town, looked on with astonished expressions at the roaring monster in the distance. As Tiona observed, the creature resembled an octopus, with dozens of tentacles formed from Piranha Plant monsters. Each tentacle seemed to have a mind of its own, wildly thrashing in mid-air. Its upper body was similar to that of a female torso. This appearance was remarkably similar to the monster they had encountered on the 50th floor—Shirou had skewered it with thousands of swords. The only difference was the lower body. The previous monster had a worm-like lower half, while this one was more octopus-like.

As the monster's upper body stopped its violent shaking, it slowly raised its blank face and began moving towards the Crystal Plaza.

"There are no other monsters nearby, right?"

"Then let's head over there!"

With that, Tiona and Tione charged toward the female-bodied monster, closely followed by Finn and Riveria. The Piranha Plant army in the town had been mostly annihilated by Riveria's previous magic. The remaining few were no match for the adventurers of Rivira town. Now, they needed to reach Ais's location and confront the monster.

---

Gently landing on the stone wall, Shirou placed Lefiya and Lullune in a safe spot and began observing the newly appeared monster. Unlike the one he had pierced with countless swords before, this monster was larger and had stronger defenses. The monsters it was comprised of were originally on a much higher level.

"Roar!"

The enraged monster, attracted by Ais's magic, moved forward, relentlessly pursuing her. It gradually arrived at the Crystal Plaza.

Boom!

An arrow from a distance exploded upon impact with the female-bodied monster's body, severing one of its tentacles. However, before Shirou's attack arrived, the monster had already detected its trajectory and used its tentacles to block the incoming strike.

"Take this!"

Tiona, who had rushed back from the town, wielded her Great Double-Bladed Axe and cleaved at the monster's tentacles. As expected of the "Great Cleaver," her attack severed the tentacle instantly. But before she could celebrate her success, the severed tentacle, gushing blood, swung back at her and sent her flying.

"Ow, that hurt!" Tiona groaned, rubbing her head after rolling some distance on the ground. "Simply cutting off the tentacles isn't enough."

Unlike her sister, Tione remained calm, expertly dealing with the tentacles attacking her by tearing them apart and dodging their assaults. Just then, Finn and Riveria arrived, making the monster's struggle even harder. The creature lost track of Ais, allowing her to vanish from its sight.

---

Ais, who had been dodging the monster's tentacles, immediately stopped when she saw the others fighting.

"Everyone!"

Seeing her teammates in action, Ais turned around, ready to rejoin the battle. But just then, a red figure appeared behind her. At the last second, Ais dodged the attack and took up her battle stance once more.

"Your opponent is me, Ais. The Orb situation has gone wrong; I can't go back empty-handed. I'm taking you with me."

Ais narrowed her eyes, locking gazes with the red-haired woman. After a brief moment, the two engaged in battle once again.

Relying on her superior stats and combat experience, the red-haired woman quickly gained the upper hand over Ais, even with Ais using her magic. However, this time, the battle took an unexpected turn. As the red-haired woman began to suppress Ais, an arrow suddenly appeared behind her. At the moment of impact, the red-haired woman only became aware of the arrow's presence, managing to slightly shift her body. As a result, the arrow, which had been aimed at her back, struck her left arm. Although she dodged the full impact, the blow was still fatal.

This momentary distraction allowed Ais to strike, her sword slashing across the red-haired woman's abdomen, drawing blood.

With a powerful cleave, the red-haired woman knocked Ais away and quickly retreated to the side, her eyes scanning for the direction from which the arrow had come. "That troublesome guy again," she muttered, her teeth gritted in anger.

But she knew she had no way of dealing with Shirou.

From his distant position on the stone wall, Shirou wasn't drawing his bow or nocking an arrow this time. Instead, he sat on a stone block, observing the two combatants. Shirou knew that even though he had reached LV.4, a single arrow wouldn't be enough to harm the red-haired woman. However, his presence during the fight was a crucial weapon. A "cold arrow" (a surprise attack) was his best chance, but even without firing it, his mere presence held power. He had become the sword of Damocles hanging over the red-haired woman's head, forcing her to monitor every direction to guard against his strikes.

With his presence constantly deterring her, the red-haired woman couldn't focus entirely on Ais. She was at a disadvantage.

As Shirou anticipated, the red-haired woman could no longer suppress Ais. The two now fought evenly. On one hand, the red-haired woman had to constantly defend against Shirou's potential attacks. On the other hand, her left arm was injured, significantly weakening her offensive power.

Occasionally, Shirou changed his position and fired another arrow, reinforcing his image in her mind. This maintained the deadlock. Meanwhile, he kept an eye on the battle with the female-bodied monster.

The creature, under the barrage of fire spears from Lefiya, had its host body destroyed. Only the upper body remained, fleeing in a panic. Riveria, running at a speed equal to the monster's, was chanting while pursuing.

"Fimbulwinter of Extreme Cold!"

Three blizzards shot out from Riveria's hands in a fan-shaped barrage, freezing everything within range. This included the fleeing monster. However, just before Riveria's attack could hit, the monster swung its tentacles behind itself and used the recoil to propel itself back, even while frozen. It fell toward the cliff below.

Tiona and Tione immediately moved to deliver a finishing blow, but just then, a red light streaked from afar and struck the falling monster.

An enormous explosion erupted, and the monster was blown to pieces.

From his position on the distant stone wall, Shirou surveyed his handiwork with a grin. "Bullseye!"

--------More Bonus Chapters!!!!

Every 300 power stones = 1 Bonus Chapter