[Port City Melen, Coastline] Just like Orario, this city had already been mostly evacuated. The only ones remaining here were the adventurers guarding the defensive line. The [School District]'s sea fortress was moored in the harbor, having dropped anchor and run aground a week earlier. This, the largest sea fortress in the world, constructed from the bones of the ancient monster Leviathan, had half self-destructed to connect itself to Melen's coast, becoming the most important defensive line protecting the city. On the deck of the [School District]'s giant ship, students who had joined as part of the volunteer army were tossing magic stones one after another into the magic furnace of the coastal defense cannons, then firing the massive guns. Beams of magical light, each equivalent to the full-force strike of a Lv.5 mage, pierced through the waves, struck an ocean monster, and shattered it. Above the giant ship, Lv.7 mage [Thousand-Year Sage Staff] Friana floated in the sky, calmly and steadily directing the battle. Compared to Orario's side, where the minimum defenders were Lv.4 adventurers, here the defensive line still included many Lv.1 students. However, in terms of equipment, Melen's configuration was much more luxurious. The Adventurers' Guild had accumulated high-grade magic stones for over a thousand years. Eighty percent of them had been transported directly to the port district and the School District's warehouses. Those top-class stones that could forge first-tier armaments were now being consumed entirely as fuel and gunpowder. But by this point, no one had the time to feel regret. "Switch out, it's time for us to rest, Bell," Nina Tulle came up behind the girl and patted her shoulder. Before coming to Orario this time, the [School District] had dispersed its students and teachers early. While explaining the truth, they allowed them to freely choose whether to stay or leave. In the end, seventy percent of the students and thirty percent of the faculty left, so the School District's manpower was somewhat lacking. Adventurers who were below Lv.4 but insisted on staying to fight temporarily joined the [School District] as support, taking up duties like operating cannons, maintaining equipment, and monitoring the sea. Except for Yamato Mikoto, who had leveled up to Lv.4 on the eve of the Grand Expedition and stayed in the city, the entire [Takemikazuchi Familia] had come here. [Little War Princess] Bell Cranel followed these seniors and arrived at the School District as well. Because she had witnessed Emiya and Alfia slaying the ancient monster Setes, the girl awakened the skill [Single-Minded Yearning]. Afterward, under a month of intensive training from the two of them (mainly Alfia), her ability scores grew to their limits. Endurance SSS, Magic I0, Strength/Endurance/Agility all SS. Even Alfia was left momentarily speechless by Bell's stats. Bell's Magic was I0 because she had no spells, though Emiya could have bought her a few grimoires to force out one, both he and Alfia agreed it was better not to. Like Emiya, the girl only had a single magic slot, so the one spell she could learn had to be chosen with extreme care. In this world, grimoires came in three types. Fixed grimoires, whose magic was determined when crafted. Variable grimoires, which could transform into a spell suited to the user's wishes. The latter were several times more expensive and rare, the one Raul saved up for was only a fixed type. But even an expensive variable grimoire, in Emiya and Alfia's eyes, was far inferior to self-awakening. If Bell used a grimoire now, with her current mindset, she would most likely just awaken an attack spell, missing the chance for rarer enchantment, amplification, or reinforcement magic. So, better to let her Lv.1 Magic stay at I0 than waste her only magic slot. Above the variable grimoire, there was one more kind: the "highest-grade grimoire," with an extremely low probability of granting an extra magic slot to someone with fewer than three. Unfortunately, after a thousand years of hoarding by the city, the School District, and the great magic nations combined, only a few dozen such books had ever existed. And now they were all spent, used up by first-tier adventurers. Little Ais, as the absolute main force in subjugating "Hraesvelgr" and the "One-Eyed Black Dragon," alone burned through half of those top grimoires, yet not even half a magic slot appeared. When the girl learned she had burned through nearly ten billion valis worth of grimoires for nothing, her face lost all color. Simply put, her spell [Ariel] was too high-ranking to allow any man-made grimoire to create a spell that could stand beside it. Emiya's [Unlimited Blade Works] was the same. Knowing this result, he never even attempted. "I'm not tired yet, senpai," On the giant ship, Bell, carrying a massive pack, shouted. The half-elf girl walked up beside her, speaking sternly, "This isn't the time to show off. The rotation schedule was arranged by the professors. If you force yourself to keep going, you'll just disrupt later shifts." After being scolded by her captain, Bell obediently lowered her head, "Y-yes..." As a supporter at the [School District], Bell was assigned to Nina's third squad, handling cannon operations. ʀᴇᴀᴅ ʟᴀᴛᴇsᴛ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀᴛ 𝙣𝙤𝙫𝙚𝙡✶𝙛𝙞𝙧𝙚✶𝙣𝙚𝙩 The gunner was Nina, operating the magic-stone cannons required technique and advanced math skills. Bell couldn't even understand the parabolic equations, so her job was to haul the stones. Thanks to her immense potential, Bell carried them steadily and quickly. In the end, as a Lv.1, the girl solo-killed three Lv.2 minotaur monsters in succession, achieving the great feat of a level-up. Emiya had no objections. Normally, even soloing one minotaur was a near-impossible feat for a Lv.1 adventurer, let alone three. Alfia, however, was utterly unimpressed, when she was Lv.1 she had [Satanas Verion], killing minotaurs was no harder than goblins. 'For someone to be called "heroic" for just three minotaurs? Clearly, Meteria's bloodline has been dragged down by that bastard of Zeus Familia.' Alfia was displeased, but the feat shocked the gods. In the temporary [Denatus], at first they named Bell the [War Princess], but since Ais already had that informal title, they finally decided on [Little War Princess]. In under a month, the girl had reached Lv.2, gained a title, and unlocked a cheat spell called [Hero's Echo], usable once every 24 hours, lasting three minutes, entering the state of a Hestia Familia member's descent. Stats unchanged, but temporarily inheriting their magic and skills. Now in Orario, Bell could already be considered someone. But she still wasn't qualified to join the real battles. As Emiya said, this was the task of their generation. Nina gathered Bell and the whole third squad for rest. "Nano-senpai, you've been working nonstop...", Nina walked to another gun platform, "Please rest a bit." The small-bodied human mage, with tired eyes, softly replied, "It's fine, I'm not tired." "Even if you can endure, please think of Mililia-senpai and the others," Nina continued. Nano faltered, then glanced back at Mililia and the others who had been silently accompanying her. Their faces were calm, but their brows already showed deep exhaustion. Their level was only Lv.2, even lower than Nano. Enduring this long was even harder for them. "...Sorry, Mililia. Let's go rest now." Mililia gently nodded, "Mm." After a while, she softly said, "Nano, forget him. That wasn't your fault." Compared to before, Nano and Mililia's seventh squad now had one fewer member, Nano's childhood friend, Luke, was gone. Because he refused to apologize for some harsh words earlier, Luke quarreled bitterly with Nano and Mililia, then stormed out, leaving the party. Without companions, he ventured alone into monster territory. In the end, Luke slew three Lv.3 monsters that were menacing a village, but paid with his life. Nano had nearly broken down over it, blaming herself for her childhood friend's death. Now she worked only to numb herself. "Nano-senpai...", Watching the girl's swaying figure, Bell clenched her fists. She wanted to help, but didn't know how. "A tsunami is coming. Everyone, back to shore, take cover," Friana's voice, amplified by magic, spread to every corner of the battlefield. She looked toward the sea, "Another big one coming..." In this world, oceans covered two-thirds of the planet, twice the landmass. With such vastness and the difficulty of subjugation far beyond land, the number of sea monsters might be several times higher than land monsters. Summoned by the [Dungeon], they ceaselessly assaulted Melen, the labyrinth city's entrance. Ordinary monsters weren't a problem. The coastal cannons, magic swords, or adventurer guards could deal with them. If not, there was still Friana's bombardment magic, and [Greatest of Knights] Leon, ready to strike. But some foes were dangerous even to Lv.8 Leon. "A subspecies of [Leviathan]...", Seeing the distant monster surface, even Friana's tone grew tense. [Leviathan], one of the "Three Great Calamities," required Lv.9 [Empress] leading a host of Lv.7+ elites to barely defeat. And this subspecies before them, its potential was at least equal to a Lv.9 labyrinth solitary king. [Thousand Years Sage Staff] slowly descended. Standing on the deck, she exhaled, then drew a fireworks sword from her chest and activated it. "[Leviathan], huh. Been a long time," Half a minute later, a figure appeared beside her. Without leaving the "Silent Domain," the [Grand Saber], she and Berserker · Hippolyta were the final defense line of port and city. The two took turns guarding the city and port lines, switching daily. Today, it was [Silence] Alfia's turn at the port. "In the past, this was a monster we staked our lives to bring down," Gazing at the massive whale-beast, Alfia murmured. Back then, to defeat Leviathan, Alfia unleashed her maximum-power [Genos Angelus]. That essentially burned her own life, and afterward, her illness rapidly worsened. So now, even her usually serene face could not help but feel some emotion at the sight. But this was merely a subspecies. And the current Alfia was no longer who she had been. Without burning life, simply at normal state, she released her long incantation magic. Along with the Leviathan subspecies, every monster upon the sea before them turned into a mist of blood. At Emiya's Lv.6, with his support pushing her beyond limits, Alfia had Lv.8 potential. Now that Emiya was Lv.7, her power could nearly be fully unleashed. If not for the restriction of being unable to stray too far from Emiya, she and [Empress] Hippolyta alone could theoretically eliminate all ancient monsters. "All done. If something happens, send the signal. Tomorrow it's Hippolyta's turn here," Alfia spoke, and before Friana could reply, her figure vanished again. Only after a long while did Friana murmur, "Terrifying..." More terrifying than Alfia's myth-like magic was that they were merely summoned Heroic Spirits. The Heroic Spirit Summoning magic, the newest magical category attracting worldwide attention, currently had only two users. Ryuu, who could summon Astraea Familia, and Emiya, who could summon Alfia and Hippolyta. "According to [Gale]'s case, a Heroic Spirit's strength should be at least one level lower than the summoner's..." Though there was no proof Emiya's magic followed that rule, people still wondered, just what realm had that man reached? Was he really... still within the bounds of "human"? [Labyrinth City, Emiya Residence] The block inside this barrier was the city's only safe zone. Emiya had not left it during this time. At most, he fired a few arrows to execute monsters like [One-Eyed Demon King Balor], [Ice Dragon Hyperborea], [Doomsday Wolf Fenrir], subspecies [Behemoth]. Most of the time, he lived idly with Tiamat, like a lazy monarch. During this, his understanding of the [Primordial Sea] steadily deepened. You could say Emiya was quietly passing the final days of his "life." .com/AmbitiousTranslator 🥳Joining keeps me motivated and eager to work diligently, so please consider joining.🥰 You can access upto 20 advance chapter through .