Alice's Seven Luminaries Magic.
If she simply attacked using just fire or another elemental property, even with the boost from 'Sun Sign', it wouldn't be enough to deal significant damage to Goliath.
But, by slightly applying the knowledge in her mind and altering the combination of her Seven Luminaries magic, she could create an attack with far greater destructive power.
The projectiles wrapped in magical gunpowder were exactly that.
Just before Alice slipped into the gap, she detonated the projectiles she had slammed into Goliath's arm.
Instantly, a series of explosions erupted along Goliath's arm.
Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!...
"ROOOAR!!!"
Goliath's roar of pain echoed throughout the entire 17th-floor labyrinth, even reaching down to the 18th floor.
For a moment, everyone wondered which familia was challenging the dungeon's boss.
Empowered by the 'Sun Sign', the explosive force of Alice's gunpowder projectiles was immense. Goliath's arm was blown clean off halfway down.
From the elbow down, half of Goliath's right arm was gone.
Blood sprayed from the stump, but it quickly clotted, and flesh began to squirm and regenerate, constantly repairing the injury.
'Just like a "G"'s constitution, alright. Maybe even tougher. After all, as long as its core magic stone remains, it won't die outright.'
Emerging from the gap, Alice's expression remained serious.
Though compared to before, a smile had now found its way onto her face.
She wasn't afraid of its regeneration; she was afraid her attacks would be useless. As long as her attacks worked, there was no problem at all.
The moment Alice appeared, Goliath spotted her immediately. It instantly raised its uninjured left arm and swung it down at her.
'Heh. Since my attacks work, you're not such a tough opponent after all.'
The smile on Alice's face was full of confidence.
"Again."
"Metal Earth: Hazardous Bullets!"
Magic circles appeared once more. Metal projectiles containing magical gunpowder were rapidly conjured by Alice, imbued with power, and shot towards Goliath.
But.
This time, Alice's attack failed.
Having learned from its mistake, Goliath detected the incoming projectiles and abruptly changed the trajectory of its swinging left arm.
The motion meant to swat Alice directly transformed into a violent smash aimed at the ground beneath her.
Seeing this, Alice's pupils contracted.
She wasn't very high off the ground. If Goliath successfully struck the floor, the resulting debris would shoot straight up towards her.
Not only that, if Goliath then grabbed a huge rock and hurled it at her, it would be a devastating attack.
And most importantly,
The projectiles Alice created could be detonated by external force. By changing its action, the projectiles aimed at its arm all missed their target, flying off elsewhere.
With a thunderous crash.
Goliath's fist slammed into the ground. Its massive fingers dug deep into the floor, and with a mighty heave, it ripped up a huge slab of bedrock.
Instead of throwing it at Alice, it hurled the slab directly into the path of the oncoming projectiles.
It happened almost instantaneously.
As the rock slab smashed into the projectiles, they detonated on impact.
The rock was instantly blasted into fragments and dust, which showered down, burying Alice.
Goliath's arm was still not fully regenerated, but it immediately charged towards the spot where Alice was buried.
Shrouded in the dust cloud, Alice couldn't see Goliath's movements clearly. She could only sense through her magic perception that it was indeed charging to attack.
If she didn't dodge or slip into a gap, she would definitely be hit.
Given Goliath's sheer power and size, a direct hit would surely leave Alice severely wounded.
The watching Lefiya and Ais widened their eyes in alarm. Lefiya, especially worried, shouted out to Alice.
"Alice!! Look out!!"
Hearing Lefiya's cry, Alice, hidden within the smoke, allowed a smirk to touch her lips.
"Barrier."
"Balance of Motion and Stasis!"
A massive, pale golden barrier enveloped Goliath.
Trapped inside the barrier, Goliath was frozen mid-charge, its running posture immobilized.
Of course, if one looked closely, they'd see it wasn't completely frozen.
Inside the barrier, all of Goliath's movements had been drastically slowed down.
"Whew..." A trace of sweat appeared on Alice's forehead.
Just a moment ago, Alice had suddenly felt that she could slow Goliath's movements. Instinctively, she had used this technique.
However, the cost was huge.
And right now, Alice's magical energy was continuously draining.
'This is so strange. Usually, this kind of thing, special powers and all, are supposed to awaken at the most critical moment, right? And that situation wasn't even that dangerous..'
Alice found it very odd that she had suddenly awakened such a special power.
Even without this 'Balance of Motion and Stasis', Alice had other means to deal with Goliath.
Faced with a direct charge, she could have simply used the Metal attribute to create huge, sharp wires and slice Goliath in half.
That would have consumed even less magic power.
But.
The suddenly awakened boundary made her want to try it out.
'Well, no matter how you look at it, the outcome is already decided.' A smile on her face, Alice glanced at the luminous walls surrounding them.
Alice raised her hand.
"First, let's replenish some magic power."
"Sun and Wood: Photosynthesis."
A magic circle rapidly expanded from Alice, absorbing the light radiating from the surroundings. The absorbed light transformed into magical energy, flowing back into Alice.
Then, she pointed her palm towards Goliath.
"Water Sign: Separation of Hydrogen and Oxygen."
The drain on Alice's internal magic power increased sharply, but with Photosynthesis active, her recovery rate just barely managed to keep pace.
Soon, gases completely incomprehensible to Goliath filled the barrier enclosing it.
"Fire Sign: Petite Detonation."
A look of eager anticipation lit up Alice's face.
And then.
A tiny spark appeared within the barrier.
In that instant.
Lefiya and Ais felt as if they had seen the sun.
--+--
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