DanMachi Volume 12
Asterius is designated as a level 7 monster
The Guild had determined that the potential of the black minotaur— officially, it had been designated a subspecies of black rhino, a creature found in the deep levels—was Level 7. They’d recorded it as a first-class bounty monster based on the fact that during its rampage through the city, it had fought numerous adventurers, including some members of Loki Familia, making it as dangerous as a Monster Rex.
Chapter 1: Rabbit Close-Up
Takemikazuchi can easily defeat level 2s and even keep up with level 5s using pure skills despite having his Arcanum sealed
“Yaaa!!”
An earsplitting shout echoed across the blue sky.
The god of combat used his hand to easily deflect the sharp kick that the girl had sent flying toward his face.
“You’re still weak.”
“Oof?!”
“M-Mikoto!”
Mikoto and Chigusa, who had both been thrown to the ground, huddled together. After parrying the Level-2, third-tier adventurer’s high kick, Takemikazuchi looked down on the two girls as he wiped sweat from his brow.
Using his defensive skills, superhuman martial arts, eerily perceptive decision-making ability, and observational skills, Takemikazuchi led his opponents in the direction he desired. Alone, his combat skills exceeded those of a first-tier adventurer. His abilities were nothing short of godly, much like the supreme metalsmithing skills of Hephaistos, which no mortal smith could approach.
Chapter 2: Adventure Intermission
Firebolt increased in speed once Bell reached level 4. Whether or not it also increased in speed in the earlier levels is unclear though. I only recall the novels stating it got stronger but not faster.
“Firebolt!”
Two deadly hornets burst into fragments as two shots of electrified flames drilled into them.
Thanks to Bell’s recent level-up, the firepower and speed of his Swift-Strike Magic attack had been boosted. The monsters had no time to dodge. As gravity pulled Bell back to the ground, motes of fire fell around him.
Chapter 2: Adventure Intermission
Water City Info
The Great Falls.
As the name implies, it’s an enormous cascade that starts on the twenty-fifth floor. Judging by eye, it measures about four hundred meders wide and easily as many tall. Perhaps because of the reflected light, the falling water appears to be emerald blue. It’s so entrancingly beautiful that for a moment, it makes us forget we’re in a dangerous dungeon.
At the same time that I feel moved by the sight, however, I’m also shivering in awe—terrified awe. Directly below the crystal cliff we’re standing on is a huge plunge pool. Even a first-class adventurer would die instantly if they fell down there. But what really makes me question my eyes is the fact that the waterfall continues on past the pool.
Just like a staircase, the falls continue on below the twenty-fifth floor.
“This insanely huge waterfall crosses floors and reaches all the way down to the twenty-sixth and twenty-seventh floors. Oh, don’t worry, monsters don’t climb up the falls. Well, most don’t,” Aisha explains. Ouka and Chigusa gasp.
A waterfall that transcends floors. In the parts of the Dungeon I’ve explored so far, that would have been completely unthinkable. It’s said that adventurers will constantly watch their common sense torn to shreds. This must be an example of what that really means.
The gaping cavern behind the falls must be a quarter the size of the nineteenth floor.
“How do we get to the twenty-sixth floor…? Don’t tell me we’re gonna climb down the cliff,” Welf groans.
“No, there’s a proper path. Tons of slopes and staircases, too. You take them down to that cave over there.”
Aisha points to the bank of the plunge pool on the bottom of the twenty-fifth floor. Although it looks tiny from here, there’s definitely a cave with a yawning entryway down there.
The twenty-fifth through twenty-seventh floors have a multistory structure. We have to ascend or descend a distance equal to the height of the Great Falls using the interconnecting passageways at the depth of the plunge pools. If we were to jump over the falls, we could probably make it to the twenty-seventh floor in a single leap, but it doesn’t require much to understand that our bodies would be smashed to bits at the same time.
Unlike Lilly, Daphne, and the others who are staring downward, I look up.
The Great Falls pour out from the vicinity of the twenty-fifth floor’s ceiling. Right above the top of the falls, I can see traces of the Colossal Tree Labyrinth: The roots of an enormous tree measuring five meders in diameter radiate outward.
The sheer cliff we’re standing on is located at the far southern tip of this floor, at the end of the connecting passageway from the twenty-fourth floor. The cavern and Great Falls directly in front of us are in the center of the floor. The passageway to the twenty-sixth floor that Aisha pointed out a minute ago is on the southeast side. Like she said, we’ll head west along the wall of the cavern and enter the inside of the cliff via the cave. From there we’ll move in a circle from west to north, passing behind the waterfall, and then east to the underground connecting passageway at the bottom of this floor. In other words, we’ll move clockwise from the south to the southeast.
We head along the cliff trail with me leading the party.
The trail is about three meders wide. To the left is the wall and to the right is a sheer drop. I’m sure Cassandra is avoiding looking to the right at all costs. In the area around the Great Falls, harpies and other bird-type monsters swim through the air, crying and screeching. Luckily, they don’t seem to have noticed us yet. Fighting on this narrow path is not something I want to do, so it does seem wise to get into the labyrinth as quickly as we can. If we’re attacked by flying monsters, our only options will be to respond with arrows and magic or to hunker down beneath our shields.
Chapter 3: New World ~Water Island~
The Irregular Moss Huge is believed to be superior to the Bloodstained Troll which is equivalent to a level 5
“That monster is a bad one. It’s discovered efficiency, and that’s probably why it’s so much stronger than any of the enhanced species I’ve met before… even stronger than The Bloodstained Troll.”
Ouka and the others change colors as they listen to Luvis’s urgent appeal, but Cassandra lifts her face.
“The Bloodstained Troll, I’ve heard of that…”
“…Yeah, it’s the enhanced monster that was wreaking total havoc for the past ten years. By the time the Guild confirmed its existence, scads of upperclass adventurers had already been killed. Even the elite group of second-tier and higher adventurers dispatched to conquer it were instead attacked themselves. I heard that more than fifty people died…” Aisha says.
“F-fifty…A-and what happened in the end?”
“The Guild went crying to Freya Familia and they took it down. I heard from them that it was at least the equivalent of a Level Five…”
Chapter 4: A Hunter At The Water's Edge
The Irregular Moss Huge is in reality slightly stronger than a new level 4 Bell who hasn't adjusted to his strength. It's just more dangerous due to its intelligence and abilities
“—Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!”
The boy charged forward gripping two knives.
Fast. Fast. Fast.
One after the next, the black and white blades flew at him, trying to gouge into his body.
But—he was still just the slightest bit stronger than the human.
“?!”
He ignored the blades digging into him and swung his fist down.
Instantly the boy dodged, tumbling onto the floor. The gouge where the moss had flown off his body quickly filled back in.
His body was convenient. It regenerated itself. The more magic stones he devoured, the more his cells multiplied.
When the human stood up, he had an astonished expression on his face. Right away the boy charged again with a speed and force that was less like a rabbit than a wild horse. At least, that was how it looked to him, and he had hunted countless humans.
Chapter 4: A Hunter At The Water's Edge
A new unadjusted Level 4 Bell is above the average level 4 and stronger than Aisha who's already among the stronger level 4s. And speed wise he's already at the top of level 4.
“That kid’s status is weird. He’s already above average for a Level Four, and in terms of speed and agility, he’s practically at the very top. I don’t know how much potential he had already saved up, of course.”
In other words, Bell was way above the minimum level required for the twenty-fifth floor. Aisha snorted before continuing in a disgruntled tone.
“Bell Cranell is stronger than I am. Not that I want to put that to the test.”
Chapter 5: Bride Of The Water Capital
More Water City Info
I think I fell from somewhere near the middle of the falls. Given that I was carried over the edge by a stream running through the multilayered labyrinth inside the cliff, that would make sense. If I’d fallen from the very top of the falls up by the roof of this floor…even my Level-4 body would probably have been smashed to pieces.
A shiver runs down my neck as I stand up and look around.
The plunge pool is as big as a lake. It fills about half the huge cavern, and the deep-blue color of the area directly under the falls hints at its depth. Water droplets dance ceaselessly at the base, sending up a white mist. The roar of the falls is so powerful I’m worried my eardrums will burst. About a hundred meders south of the plunge pool is the top of another waterfall leading to the twenty-sixth floor. If I was to fall over that one, there’s no way I’d survive again.
Chapter 5: Bride Of The Water Capital
The Irregular Moss Huge reached level 5 and could pose a threat to level 5 Aisha after consuming hundreds of magic stones from other monsters
Even with the level boost, she knew this intense power would be a heavy challenge for her. Intoxicated by its own sense of omnipotence, the enhanced species let out a roar of joy that resembled the groan of a broken music box. As it pumped its fist into the air, rootlike spikes burst out from the wooden frame.
Aisha understood now what had happened. The enhanced species had greedily devoured the magic stones of every single monster they had slaughtered on the way here.
It had taken in the cores of dozens, or even hundreds, of monsters.
Just how far…?
Just how far would it go to undermine their predictions?
At this point, all she could do was acknowledge the trickery and monster’s cunning she had underestimated before.
Drops of sweat flew from Aisha’s face.
For an instant she was overtaken by hesitation and anxiety, and that instant left her vulnerable to attack.
She had been thinking that in terms of status, the odds were still in her favor. That she could still make a comeback.
At precisely that moment, the moss huge stretched its neck out like a dragon.
“…?!”
It grabbed Aisha’s brown shoulder and sank its fangs into the base of her neck.
Her flesh tore, her bones shattered, and blood spurted into the air.
Lilly and Welf sensed something strange was happening and turned toward her at the same moment. What they saw left them speechless.
“—!”
Aisha glared angrily at the monster as blood spilled from her mouth.
With all her strength, she slammed her fist into her enemy’s chin, pushing it away with her flesh still in its mouth. She added to its backward momentum by landing a spinning kick on it, sending it staggering away.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
The Irregular Moss Huge survived Welf's magic sword due to the Undine Cloth
“Huh?!” Welf said, watching in astonishment.
“It’s resisting Mr. Welf’s magic sword!” Lilly yelled.
The enhanced species slowly raised its head as burning moss peeled off its body. As the moss fell to the ground, a shiny blue material came into view underneath.
“Could that be…Undine cloth?!” Lilly asked.
“Don’t tell me it took it off a dead adventurer!” Welf muttered.
Mikoto, Ouka, Daphne, and Cassandra could not believe their eyes, either. The cloth was stretched to the point of tearing in order to wrap around the huge body, but there was no doubt about it—it was spirit protective cloth. As Welf had guessed, the monster had fixated on the need to address its single weak point—fire—and had stolen the cloth from the corpses of adventurers.
“Of all the lousy coincidences…!”
Welf drew his eyebrows together as he looked at the monster’s garment. A family that carried the blood of a spirit in its ancestral line made Crozzo Magic Swords. They were, in other words, spirit magic swords. A spirit was involved with the protective cloth, as well. The energy of the two spirits coming together seemed to have set off an extreme reaction.
Furthermore, Kouga belonged to the flame class of magic swords. It carried the power of salamander, the fire spirit. Undine cloth, on the other hand, was imbued with the power of water. Their compatibility was extremely poor, and they had canceled each other out.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
Max Charge Argonaut Firebolt heavily injured the Irregular Moss Huge even with the Undine Cloth resistance after it had one shot the monster horde
No sooner had she done so than Bell appeared on the battleground, bell ringing, launched himself off the ground with a powerful stomp, and thrust out his right arm.
He had been charging for four minutes, a full charge.
He aimed for everything he could see and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“FIREBOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOLT!!”
A giant bolt of flame.
“—”
As soon as the Amazon disappeared from its field of vision, the enhanced species saw the burning red jaws.
The other monsters had pounced on the hole and sunk their claws into the black robe, only to be incinerated in the next moment by the Firebolt.
The deadly stream of fire that washed down the passageway swallowed the entire horde.
“O—OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
As the burning monsters howled, the enhanced species—which had also been swallowed up in the surge of flames—was thrown far down the passage with a force like a river overflowing its banks. It had avoided immolation thanks to the spirit protective cloth, but together with the rush of crimson fire, it was hurled against the wall at the end of the passage.
The crystal wall exploded into fragments, and the horizontal column of flame raged on through the Dungeon.
The enhanced species was burned all over its body. It fell through the broken wall into the large room on the other side, and it collapsed onto its back.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
Room in the Water City
Bell stood on the rim of the hole he had blasted open with the Firebolt, looking down on the scene before him.
It was a peaceful, watery room. Water covered more than half the large space, and in the center there was a mass of crystal fifty meders in diameter. It looked like an island floating in a large lake. He did not see any monsters. None, that is, except the enhanced species that stood in the center of the island, taking him in with a gaze full of murderous intent.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
Bell has been fighting unadjusted to his level 4 container this whole time
“…Isn’t Bell Cranell moving faster than the last time we saw him?” Ouka said from beside her, lowering his voice in terror. In his arms, Chigusa opened her eyes a tiny bit in surprise.
Only Mikoto, standing next to the group, broke into a cold sweat.
No way…
There was something familiar about the feeling that came over her as she registered the difference between Bell now and Bell when he was last with the party.
It wasn’t that he was moving faster. It was that his movements had much more vitality to them now.
Kind of like when Haruhime gives us the level boosts…
Mikoto cleared her throat, conscious of the weight of the renart on her shoulder.
When Mikoto received level boosts, she often felt like her body was out of control. Her mind was not able to keep up with the suddenly increased power emanating from her physical body.
What if Bell had been in the same situation before he separated from the group?
What if his mind and body had been out of sync?
That happened when the drastic physical changes that occurred when one leveled up outpaced the sensations produced by the mind.
A shiver ran down Mikoto’s spine.
So all this time, Sir Bell has been—
Probably, first-tier adventurers were able to bring their mind and body into sync after one major battle. But Bell was still immature—and more importantly, his rate of growth was insanely fast. Even more so than an ordinary person, his mind couldn’t keep up with his body.
But what if his experience in the lower levels had finally taken care of the problem?
Mikoto’s violet eyes widened as she watched the boy toss his opponent about between his knives. She thought back to something Takemikazuchi had said when he was training her before the expedition.
Were you fighting with your body and your mind out of sync?
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
Confirmed by Bell who after adjusting was now matching the enhanced Irregular Moss Huge who was on par with level 5 Aisha in combat. The Moss Huge was still stronger and tougher than Bell but it was far slower.
Mikoto was right.
My body is working better than before. Bell realized it in the midst of fighting the monster. His body was following the exact track his mind laid down. The lags in his attacks, defense, and retreat—so small before that he wouldn’t even notice them without a conscious effort—were gone now.
The sensations inside his body were clearer than ever before.
That uneasy feeling is gone.
Strangely enough, the grand battle with the iguaçu—those creatures who put their very lives at risk to dive-bomb him—had brought his mind and body into alignment.
Now that his body was fully under his control, it seemed obvious. He could see just how much the vessel of his physical being had been throwing him around, even when he first arrived in the lower levels and even during his first fight with the enhanced species.
Now his body was working how he wanted it to, as if all the gears had finally clicked into place. He was able to meet his opponent’s movements.
“OO, OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”
He could see the uneasiness rising in the enhanced species’ eyes as it took in this new Bell, who fought in a completely different way than he had in their last encounter.
The superhuman strength that crushed the crystal ground underfoot didn’t even make a scratch on the boy. The tree roots, which extended from the monster’s legs into the ground and then up again for a sneak attack, were severed before they could do their work. The attacks that had tormented so many adventurers in the past had no effect.
The monster roared, as if to chase away its uneasiness. Then bumps rose all over its body. Facing Bell at close range, it fired a hail of seed bullets at him.
They’re not as fast as the iguaçu!!
Bell did not lose his composure. Compared to the terrifying crimson streaks he had encountered earlier, the seed bullets looked practically stationary
He tracked their trajectories, and moving his arms so fast they appeared to blur, he slashed down every last one with his knives.
“…!!”
The astonished monster had no time to regain its footing before Bell launched into a powerful slashing attack.
“GUO?!”
In response, the moss huge unleashed a counterattack fueled by its fighting spirit and superhuman strength. Blows nourished by the lives of countless of his own brethren rocked the scratched dir-adamantite armor covering Bell’s body. This time they inflicted real harm.
The monster was the stronger of the two, and it had greater defensive abilities.
In all likelihood, Bell could not match its overall potential.
But Bell was faster.
Now that his mind and body were fully linked, his true ability gave him an advantage on the battlefield.
Even more importantly—
He’s slow!
The enemy standing before him was incredibly sluggish.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
60 second charge Argo vesta one shot the level 5 Irregular Moss Huge
The bell had chimed for sixty seconds.
The sacred letters carved into the blade threw off a brilliant light and released the roaring sound of fire.
“Argo Vesta!”
Just before it happened, as crimson and pure-white light filled the world, something occurred to him.
If I’m reborn…
I’ll never, ever go near a white rabbit again.
That was his final thought before his consciousness exploded into a million pieces.
Chapter 6: The Hero's Sacred Flame
DanMachi Volume 13
Amphisbaena is rated as level 6 but that's only due to the terrain. In reality its strength is only around level 5.
“The Amphisbaena is a lower-level floor boss, right? I’m sure I heard that it appears on the twenty-seventh floor,” Welf said.
“Lady Aisha, did you ever fight one when you were with Ishtar Familia?” Mikoto asked.
“Yeah. They’re stronger than Goliath for sure. The Guild rates them at Level Six because they live in the water, but their raw ability is closer to a Five. If we encountered one with this many upper-class adventurers in our group, we’d be able to take it down,” she answered.
Chapter 2: The Prophetess of Tragedy
Something (likely Ryuu's magic) shakes the Water Capital (Floors 25-27)
“Whoa…Another explosion!”
“Is Gale Wind on a rampage?”
“The shock waves are coming from farther below…Could the source be the twenty-seventh floor?”
The Water Capital began on the twenty-fifth floor and continued to the twenty-seventh, with the Great Falls connecting all three floors. On each of these floors, a massive cavern contained the falls and a plunge pool as huge as a lake. Far, far below the cliff’s edge where they stood now was the end point on the twenty-seventh floor. Surrounded by adventurers, Bors squinted down at it with his right eye, the one without the patch.
Chapter 2: The Prophetess of Tragedy
Light quartz shoots beams of light that Bell who has level 5 speed could dodge and deflect them
“Shit, it’s a light quartz!”
“!”
A second later, I’m whipping my head around in response to Bors’s yell from behind me.
Several purple crystal forms about the size and shape of bucklers are floating in the passageway, which is around five meders tall. In the center of each one is a single pale-yellow organ that appears to be an eye.
Light quartzes are inorganic monsters that float about adventurers’ heads, and as their crystalline outer appearance would suggest, they have no means of engaging in close combat. Instead, their single but extremely menacing means of attack is to shoot out beams of light!
“!”
“Ack!” We leap back in unison as a light quartz shoots a narrow beam. The amber ray of light burns a line into the Dungeon’s crystal floor and walls as it passes over them. Bors and the others scramble for shelter. Then they wait for their chance. The typical way to defeat a light quartz is to get it to emit all its power, then attack it while it’s recharging. And indeed, no approach could be more correct.
But me—I fly right into the gushing beams of light.
I think I’ll try something else first.
Obeying the voice in the back of my mind, which is almost like a flash of inspiration, I put my right hand on the scarf around my neck.
The next instant, I’ve ripped it off and am swinging it through the air like a weapon.
It’s sure heavy enough!
I’m wielding it like a whip, or rather a chain.
It blocks and repels the beams from multiple light quartzes before crashing straight into them!
Chapter 3: The True Intentions of Gale Wind
Lambton size
“A lambton…!”
The long, massive serpent is an extreme large-category monster, definitely imposing enough to be a floor boss. It measures around five meders high and at least ten long.
Chapter 3: The True Intentions of Gale Wind
Lambton shakes the entire 27th floor which is larger than the 24th floor which is half the size of Orario
Its head draws a ten-meder-high arc through space. Its long body follows, swimming through the air with flashes of deep blue. I’m captivated for a moment by the fantastic sight, monster or not. Time seems to slow down. Even as it does, though, my instincts are screaming out a warning.
The body twists, and slowly the menacing form is drawn downward by gravity. A black shadow blocks out the white crystal lights on the ceiling, darkening the spot where I stand.
I look up in shock as the serpent’s huge body spins downward toward me.
“Run, Mr. Cranell!”
Lyu’s voice pushes me into motion, and I rush away from the falling form with all my strength.
“—————————!!”
The room—no, more likely the entire Dungeon—shakes with a thundering crash as the lambton smashes onto the floor where I was standing a second before.
Chapter 4: Countdown
The lambton Bell and Ryuu faced is an enhanced species that is stronger than the normal level 4 Lambton
“As I suspected, Jura’s been feeding this monster magic stones to enhance it…”
Chapter 4: Countdown
The 27th floor Juggernaut is faster than even Level 4 bell
He didn’t even have a chance to react.
By the time he whipped his head around, one member of Bors’s party was missing.
Gripped by terror, still not understanding what had happened, he scanned the room behind him.
Nothing was there.
“Aa…Aaaa…”
Like a giant spider, it clung there gripping the joint between the wall and the ceiling.
The ill-fated missing adventurer was clenched between its jaws.
It was above him.
Chapter 5: Calamity Arrives
The 27th floor juggernaut is comparable to Bell but has weak defenses
The boy swung his greatsword, and the monster swiped its left forearm.
The whining metal sent fragments of the enemy’s armored shell flying into the air. Bell staggered from the Juggernaut’s brute strength, yet even as he dripped sweat at the thought of its overwhelming force, he had discovered a point of attack.
Its defenses are weak!
His opponent’s shell had cracked under a single blow, and a faint fissure had run down its thin arm.
An instant of battle was enough for Bell to understand. To the extent that the monster’s strength and speed had evolved far beyond ordinary limits, its endurance in the face of attack had declined.
Whoever struck first would win!
Chapter 5: Calamity Arrives
And is far stronger than Ryuu
Stumbling repeatedly over himself, he was making no progress whatsoever. To protect him, Lyu—her face covered in a gory makeup of blood—took the brunt of the Juggernaut’s attack herself.
“!!”
“Oof!”
Its long tail beat against her legs.
Although it lacked the menace of the claws, the hard appendage covered in its black and purplish-blue shell was no different from a cudgel.
Lyu’s right leg, encased in its long boot, snapped like a twig under the blow. Her shinbone let out a dry popping sound as she flew into the air.
Chapter 5: Calamity Arrives
27th Floor Juggernaut is both faster and stronger than Bell
It’s just like I suspected.
As his wounds spurted fresh blood, Bell squinted at his opponent.
He’s faster than I am.
He was not only stronger but also quicker. Compared to the Juggernaut, everything about Bell was inferior. In the past, no matter how much higher his opponent’s level had been, Bell had always had the upper hand in terms of speed and agility. Now even that advantage was gone.
Chapter 5: Calamity Arrives
The 27th Floor Juggernaut is stronger than the Black Goliath in terms of pure strength but far weaker in terms of durability. It's also potentially faster and stronger than the heavily weakened Asterius who lost an arm.
If he had been asked to compare the Black Goliath and the Juggernaut, Bell honestly wouldn’t have been able to say which was superior.
Comparing them was meaningless.
They worked in entirely different ways.
The Goliath had an extraordinary ability to suppress armies, while the Juggernaut was a slaughterer who excelled in inflicting deadly damage on individual adventurers. In terms of getting the job done with a single weapon, the claws of destruction most likely outdid the Goliath’s hammer and howl.
On the other hand, in terms of ability to endure attacks, the Juggernaut couldn’t hold a candle to the floor boss.
This monster was best able to exercise its full potential—its highly developed strength, speed, and ability to kill—not in a wide-open room but in the passageways and other closed-in spaces of the Dungeon. This made it the ideal apostle of murder, designed solely to wipe out “viruses” that damaged the Dungeon.
Is it even faster than my greatest rival?
There was the fierce, swift speed of its attacks and the constant vibrating shock waves that made his feet and hands go numb.
In a corner of Bell’s burning mind, fragments of logic compared the beast he faced now to the black minotaur.
In terms of destructive power, the Juggernaut was superior because of its claws.
But perhaps Asterios was the victor when it came to physical strength?
That time, the massive bull had been on the verge of death. His true strength was probably much greater—
Chapter 5: Calamity Arrives
Upper-class adventurers can resist acids and the resistance gets higher the more they level up
Had they been ordinary people, they would long ago have melted together into a single amiable puddle in the monster’s gut.
But they were not ordinary people. They were upper-class adventurers who had been elevated three times to a higher level. They had been able to withstand the bath of powerful stomach acid.
Chapter 6: And So They Spin Their Cruel Fate
DanMachi Volume 14
Amphisbaena violently shakes the entire Water Capital and cracked the wall with a massive tsunami which level 2s and 3s can survive
The moment Welf’s scream ended, the floor boss plunged into the center of the lake.
The root dome exploded with an impact that seemed to shatter the earth itself.
Not only the twenty-fifth floor but the entire Water Capital shook as a mass of debris—incomparably more than what had fallen from the colossal tree earlier—hurtled to the ground.
The impact sent up a tsunami that overturned everything resembling an island of ice.
Aisha and everyone else who had narrowly escaped the dragon’s body slam were thrown into the water.
As the tsunami reached the shore, it swept the rear guard up and threw them against the wall.
Even the blue flames that had been flickering on the shore and water were swallowed by the violent waves and drowned in the frothing water.
Like wine overflowing from a glass, emerald blue water poured into the twenty-sixth floor without slowing down.
The tremors opened an alarming lattice of cracks across the entire cavern.
Chapter 7: Poem of Despair, Poem of Triumph
Amphisbaena's mist can weaken Hiyo, a magic sword that is comparable to a level 7's magic down to level 5
“Hiyo!!”
A missile of ice shot forward.
The battle cry of the magic blade quenched the blue flames as it raced ahead, leaving countless icicles in its wake.
“HAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!”
The Amphisbaena interpreted this action as a threat. Its right head exhaled a powerful gust of crimson mist. A storm of billowing snow met a flood of mist. Azure battled crimson.
Welf squinted as more cracks spread through the magic blade.
Finally, the ice broke through the mist and froze part of the dragon’s body. The dragon narrowed its eyes and prepared to unleash its counterattack of flames from the other head.
Chapter 7: Poem of Despair, Poem of Triumph
Welf's unbreakable magic sword, Shikou Kazuki, is more powerful than his old magic swords such as Hiyo which would make it a level 7 magic sword
He swung Shikou Kazuki through the air. It spit out a dramatic tongue of dancing flame that burned the entire swarm to a crisp.
“He did it again…!”
“Seems a lot stronger than his old blades!”
Cassandra and Daphne stared in shock at the vista of decimated enemies. That’s how unprecedented the war cry of this new magic sword was. Aisha smiled to herself, a storm of sparks flowing around her as she took on the monsters popping up from side tunnels while Welf handled the main route.
A magic blade that never shatters…! He’s crafted us quite the weapon, hasn’t he?!
Chapter 8: The Voice of the Hammer
Once again the 37th floor is big enough to fit all of Orario in it
It goes without saying that the lower you get in the Dungeon, the bigger the floors are. The thirty-seventh floor is big enough to hold all of Orario. Rather than going down two floors, it will take much less energy to go back to the lower levels. We can’t use the hard-labor approach of heading for a safety point on a lower level, like we did as a strategy of last resort that time in the middle levels. To start with, that stunt relies on a maze structure resembling a vertical channel.
Chapter 9: Hello, Deep Levels
More White Palace Info
The White Palace.
That is what the thirty-seventh floor is called. The walls are a strange milky white and the scale of the maze is infinitely grander than the floors I’ve been to before. All the passageways and rooms are huge, easily ten meders across in most places. The ceilings are no joke, either, although I can’t see how high they are thanks to the darkness.
The Ring Walls are especially distinctive.
In the center of the floor there’s a staircase leading to the next floor, and five rings resembling huge castle walls surround it as if to protect the imperial throne of the staircase. This layout doesn’t exist on any other floor. Adventurers must make their way through the intricate mazes between the walls, or else go up and down countless times as they head for the central staircase.
I wasn’t exaggerating when I said all of Orario could fit in here.
Chapter 10: The White Magic Palace
Even more Floor 37 info
“Mr. Cranell, do you have a general picture of the thirty-seventh floor?”
Lyu cuts into my silence with a question of her own. I nod, mentally unfurling the map of the deep levels that I received permission to view with Eina.
The perfect analogy for the thirty-seventh floor is a box with a round cake inside.
The box is the floor itself, and the cake is the maze—that is, the White Palace where we currently are. The palace is made up of the five Ring Walls. The walls are numbered, starting with the First Wall in the center, the Second Wall beyond that, and so on. The mazes between the walls have names, too.
The centermost area inside the First wall is called the Throne Zone, and that’s where floor bosses appear. Moving out from there is the Knight Zone, the Warrior Zone, the Soldier Zone, and the Beast Zone. Despite these names, there isn’t a big difference in the type of monster likely to appear in each part of the maze. However, since the area grows smaller and the maze more intricate as you move inward, the number of encounters and surprise attacks also naturally increases. In addition, data suggests that battles are more intermittent in the outer rings, although that isn’t necessarily the case since monsters can move from one area of the maze to another.
The all-important staircase to the thirty-sixth floor is outside the Fifth Wall, on the far southern tip of the “box.” In other words, we have to get out of the White Palace.
On the route we plan to take, there’s no chance we’ll run into the floor boss at the center of the maze. That’s the one saving grace in our current horrible situation. If we had to take on a floor boss, well…I might lose heart altogether.
“This is…”
We run into a number of monsters wandering the maze, and I fight them according to Lyu’s instructions. We’re still not on the route the other adventurers had noted on the map. Eventually, we enter an open space. An enormous wall towers before us.
“…A Ring Wall.”
Even without having seen the real thing before, I know at a glance what it is.
Within the milky tint of the maze, the curved wall is a pure, unclouded white. You could easily mistake it for clear ice—no, for white crystal. It looks a bit like the Great Wall of Sorrows on the seventeenth floor, where the Goliath appears, although this one is incomparably bigger.
The wall extends as far as I can see to the left and right. It’s so perfectly uniform it hardly seems like a natural structure. Because of the darkness, I can’t tell how high it is. But I’m sure that if I searched all the countries in the world, I would never find a castle wall this monumental.
“…No question about it, this is the Third Wall.”
Chapter 10: The White Magic Palace
Juggernaut’s strength varying depending on the floor
Perhaps their whole self could be thought of as one enormous magic stone. Their unparalleled strength and agility were products of this. Their potential varied according to the zone on which they emerged; the deeper the floor, the stronger the individual. Some were so strong they could wipe out a whole familia like Astrea Familia, or crush a whole party of first-tier adventurers. Even if a Juggernaut lost its head in battle or was pierced through the chest, it would continue to destroy. Only when its entire body was crushed would its life finally come to an end.
Chapter 11: Where The Will To Kill Leads
Bell’s Hakugen can absorb and counteract poison
“The knife is stained black…It can’t have…?!”
The sparkling white knife he had sunk into his left shoulder was covered in black liquid.
It was Hakugen, the longknife Welf had made from unicorn horn, a rare drop item. The horn was prized for use in recovery-type items, and had the ability to neutralize many different poisons. It would be logical to expect, then, that Hakugen had antidote properties. Bell had remembered the origins of his knife and swiftly stabbed it into his wound.
Sure enough, the unicorn-horn knife sucked the black poison from Bell’s wound. The sooty black particles gathered at the center of the blade and eventually melted away, purified. As they did, the pain receded from Bell’s body like a wave, reversing his hurtle toward death.
When the knife had finally drawn away all the poison, it glinted in the darkness, having returned to its original sparkling white state.
Chapter 12: Forlorn Hope In The Dungeon
The Colosseum Info
He was facing an enormous room.
But it was clearly different from the rooms in other areas of the floor.
To start with, there was a gulf of fifty meders between where Bell stood at the room’s entryway and its floor. Far below, he could make out sharp rocks sticking up from the ground, packed as tightly as if an invisible army were holding their spears at the ready. The rocks covered the entire floor. A fall would mean death, even for an upper-tier adventurer.
The sole path across the room was a long bridge that began immediately in front of Bell. It reached far into the dim center of the room, where he could see some sort of large structure. Wavering shadows—most likely monsters— were circling the structure in large numbers. The chorus of battle cries that reached Bell’s ears came from more mouths than he could count, announcing a despair-inducing level of material superiority on the part of the Dungeon.
Standing beside him, Lyu stripped all emotion from her voice as she spoke.
“The Colosseum…this is a place of slaughter where monsters are spawned without limit.”
The Colosseum.
There was only one room of its type known to exist on the thirty-seventh floor.
Although the sprawling space was far larger than any other room on the floor, its exact dimensions were not known. This was because it was so dangerous adventurers had given up on measuring it.
To Bell, it looked about the same size as the cavern on the twenty-fifth floor, or perhaps larger. As elsewhere on the floor, the ceiling was hidden in the darkness, making its height impossible to judge. Air must have been circulating in the room, because a whistling sound like dry, cold wind rushing down a narrow ravine came from the distant, rocky floor. Bell trembled at the scale.
Chapter 12: Forlorn Hope In The Dungeon
Even a Juggernaut of the 30th floor’s defense is only around that of a level 4 as Kaguya is capable of stabbing into it
Just before she died, Lyra activated the explosive she held behind her back. It was one of the finest bombs the nimble-fingered girl had made.
It took the Juggernaut’s right arm.
“Heed this foolish one’s voice, and once more grant the starfire’s divine protection.”
As the monster howled, Kaguya pounced with her longsword.
Taking advantage of the momentary window Lyra had created, she drove her weapon into its chest at high speed.
Roaring in fury, the Juggernaut swung its claws horizontally through Kaguya’s body, sending her flying through the air in pieces.
Chapter 13: Beyond A Thousand Darknesses
Alize can reach level 5 with her skill + magic and is capable of restraining the Juggernaut with her body
Alize was last.
“Agris Arvensis!”
As she spoke the name of her magic, flames rose from her body.
Alize Lovell.
She had an unusual skill that gave her strength equal to that of a first-tier adventurer even though she was second-tier. The deities had given her the name Scarlett Harnell because she could use a powerful fire enchantment that sheathed her arms, legs, and sword in an armor of flames.
This time the flames had converged in her boots, and they shattered the ground as the scarlet sword princess dashed forward with ferocious speed.
“Cross the skies and sprint through the wilderness, swifter than anything.”
Kaguya had paid with her life to destroy their enemy’s knee and its reverse joint, robbing it of rapid movement. As the Juggernaut floundered in confusion, Alize drew near to her opponent for the last time in her life.
“Imbue the light of stardust and strike down my enemy.”
The Juggernaut responded with a savage swipe.
What Lyu saw was the back of her dear friend impaled by claws.
For an instant, time froze.
While Lyu was plunged into despair, Alize was burning up her life.
“!!”
She had purposely enticed the monster to pierce her so as to immobilize its hand.
With a roar, she countered by plunging her sword into its body.
“Arvellia!!”
This was the spell key for her enchantment.
Chapter 13: Beyond A Thousand Darknesses
The 37th floor is made of bedrock
As if it had been struck by a meteor, the ground where Lyu and Bell had stood an instant before shattered. Bedrock fractured, stone shards hailed down, and a brutal dust cloud swirled. They tumbled awkwardly over the ground. When he finally stopped rolling, Bell snapped his head up, dumbfounded.
Chapter 13: Beyond A Thousand Darknesses
The Chimera Juggernaut is still weaker than it originally was and is now only about as fast as a tired Bell
Aside from crushing the reverse joint in its knee, Argo Vesta had severely damaged its entire lower body, reducing its jump speed to the point that even in his depleted state Bell could follow the monster with his eyes and parry its attacks.
Chapter 13: Beyond A Thousand Darknesses
