Syr is the Goddess Freya.
This is a secret known to only a very few within the City.
It is not merely that the Goddess occasionally disguises herself as an ordinary city girl to experience a normal life—though it certainly appears that way—but rather that "Syr" and "Goddess Freya" exist simultaneously.
"Horn."
"Yes."
In the void, the Goddess completed a silent dialogue with her own attendant.
Subsequently, the gray-haired maiden who had been standing at the entrance of the pub withdrew her gaze from the boy's retreating figure. Silently, she returned to the Hostess of Fertility, began cleaning up the mess in the hall, closed the doors, and went to sleep.
On the other side.
The Goddess of Beauty, having returned to Orario from outside the city, stood as she always did at the very peak of Babel, looking down at the figure of the boy gradually entering beneath the high tower.
Freya had already switched from "Syr" back to "Goddess."
Relying on the special, unique "Deity Transformation Magic" of her child, the Goddess of Beauty could share senses with the maiden named Syr, and furthermore, could switch between the two identities at any time.
Therefore, in most moments, Syr is Freya herself. Meanwhile, her attendant Horn, to whom she had even entrusted her name, acts as the Goddess, attending various unimportant occasions and conducting certain meetings (including the recent discussion regarding the expedition with Loki, Demeter, and Astrea).
But at this moment, Freya returned to her true self simply because of Isagi, who had just entered the Dungeon.
Returning to the spacious, deep crimson velvet chaise lounge inside the divine chamber, the incomparably beautiful Goddess lay down upon it in her most comfortable posture. Then, she summoned a small "Divine Mirror" before her eyes.
Reflected in the mirror was the figure of the boy who had already entered the Dungeon.
Observing the every move of children using Divine Power was, of course, strictly prohibited in the City. But as always, Freya was clearly a Goddess who did not follow the rules.
In her world, there was only whether she wanted to do something, not whether she was allowed to do it. For things that interested her, it wouldn't be strange for the Goddess of Beauty to do anything at all.
And now, what Freya was curious about was the intelligence Hedin and the others had confirmed and brought back: "There is a strange Goblin in the depths of the Dungeon."
The Goddess of Beauty finally had some tangible sense of the special Dungeon generated by the boy's Skill.
Previously, she had only thought of it as a place where stronger, more dangerous monsters would appear. But according to her children's descriptions, that monster was different—very, very different. It went so far as to suggest that...
[Perhaps it cannot be called a monster].
Nor was it an existence like the Xenos, but rather...
"Oh?"
Freya found this very amusing. So, she wanted to see with her own eyes exactly what the boy's special Dungeon looked like.
Isagi, with considerable proficiency, quickly arrived before the [Goblin Kingdom], which was still burning with raging fire.
The city, which had nearly been incinerated by Dragon Flame during the previous hunt for the [Infant Dragon], had now restored itself to its original state. Within the massive cavern chamber, although it was still illuminated brightly by the firelight, the standing ruins and broken walls could still be seen.
He did not take the shortcut to go directly to the [Throne Room] on the 12th Floor.
Before utilizing the Divine Wine to challenge the true Pale King, there was one preparation task he needed to complete: accumulating his "Shura Value."
He drew the Blade of Ten Thousand Bones.
The pitch-black Tachi reflected the roaring firelight within the city. After such a long period of leveling, this weapon, capable of growing through the slaughter of monsters, had now reached the level of "Lv.3."
The progress was quite slow.
However, according to Cecil's appraisal, after upgrading to Lv.3, this thing could already be considered a "First-Class Armament" in a certain sense, in terms of sheer intensity.
Of course, it couldn't compare to the kind she forged for herself or Ryuu-senpai, and there was still some gap compared to the First-Class Armaments forged personally by the God Goibniu in the City, but at least it had reached the range of "Standard."
If it upgraded again, wouldn't it become a top-tier First-Class Armament?
And with this upgrade, aside from the previous "Dead Line" and "Parry," it brought him a brand-new ability—
[Sword Dance].
However, he preferred to call it something simpler and easier to understand: "Future Sight."
After entering the burning Goblin capital, monster attacks followed in quick succession. Far off, Goblin soldiers wielding muskets, giant bats, various Kobold assassins, and those iron-clad huge Orcs emerged.
In the eyes of Isagi, wielding his long blade, a faint blue phantom would appear over the bodies of the monsters before him once the Skill was activated.
Initially, it would overlap with their main body, and then, roughly 0.5 seconds faster, it would make the move first.
The Goblins raised their guns, aimed, and pulled the triggers. He could see clearly even the bullets being fired. And in that interval, almost constantly, Isagi could also see his own phantom—the trajectory of swinging his weapon.
If he could just follow it...
He would achieve—
In the distance, Goblin soldiers hiding in the streets and alleys just poked their heads out, raising their muskets to aim at the boy far away.
In that instant, before they even had time to pull their triggers, a pitch-black blade gleam had already sliced them, gun and man alike, into two sections. The blade edge even precisely cut through the weak points of their armor, perfectly splitting the Magic Stones within their bodies in half.
The Goblins instantly turned into flying ash and dissipated.
"Phew..."
He felt a slight fatigue and heaviness in his body. This "Future Sight" ability was a BUFF that could be kept active continuously, but it also consumed a significant amount of Mental Force.
If he could keep up with his own phantom and perform the same movements, he could obtain the "Best Result."
Isagi believed this to be true, but it was also quite difficult. Every ability the Blade of Ten Thousand Bones granted upon leveling up was an "Expert Skill." Couldn't there be some simple, convenient, easy-to-use "crutch"? Honestly!
Complaints aside, Isagi still began to get used to it.
After all, he was a true expert himself, so he knew that for any "Skill," no matter how difficult, the only way to master it was to use it often and engage in actual combat.
Integrating it into instinct and turning it into muscle memory would naturally make the difficult no longer difficult.
Not only that.
As Isagi swept through the entire Goblin Kingdom city, eliminating every monster he encountered, the "Shura Value" brought about by the slaughter was rising rapidly, as he had already switched to the [Land of Reeds] Character Card long ago.
Originally, in previous Dungeon adventures, as soon as he switched Character Cards, the accumulated Shura Value would reset to zero. So for Isagi, this was practically a skill he couldn't really use.
But now, he intended to test it out. And having upgraded to Lv.5, the so-called [Way of the Shura] itself had undergone more changes.
And he would, in the posture of a true "Shura," go forth to challenge the Pale King in its prime state.
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