Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
A relentless barrage of magical projectiles slammed into the Black Dragon's body, each one detonating on impact.
These projectiles, powerful enough to be fatal to Level 1 monsters, exploded against the dragon's hide without dealing any meaningful damage.
This kind of simple magical barrage was, for the Black Dragon, nothing more than a nuisance.
Alice's brow furrowed deeply.
She halted the dolls' projectile assault.
However, the attacks from the Magical Convergence Cannons continued simultaneously.
Over a dozen beams from these cannons fired incessantly at the Black Dragon. Compared to the simple barrage, the destructive power of the Convergence Cannons was far greater.
At the very least, after numerous hits from these cannons, Alice could see the dragon's scales showing signs of damage.
Being able to breach its defense meant the attacks were effective.
Even if it required an excessive number of hits, it didn't matter. Dripping water wears away a stone. With her temporary mana recovery system, Alice wasn't afraid of a protracted battle.
But there was one problem.
Alice could see the damage Shanghai had inflicted on the Black Dragon's eye was slowly healing.
If they waited until the eye fully recovered, the core fragment Shanghai had lodged deep within the wound would be completely engulfed by the dragon's regenerating flesh.
The shard of the core magic crystal might even be absorbed by the dragon's body.
That would be very troublesome.
This thought made Alice intensely anxious.
Her firepower was insufficient. The Magical Convergence Cannons, even at their full power driven by her, felt like trying to wear down a stone with drops of water. And this particular 'stone' could heal its own wounds.
'Tch.' Alice couldn't help but click her tongue in frustration.
She raised her hand, and a crimson stone appeared in her palm.
"Fire, Water, Wood, Metal, Earth. The Five Luminaries, Philosopher's Stone."
Forged using the magic of the Seven Luminaries and the souls of monsters harvested within the Dungeon, this Philosopher's Stone was originally intended to serve as the core for a new series of Rozen Maiden dolls.
But now, Alice needed to tap into the Stone's power directly.
The Black Dragon offered little defense against Alice's Magical Convergence Cannons, which it likely perceived as mere scratches.
For now, it simply hovered calmly in the air, focusing on regenerating its destroyed eyeball.
The Black Dragon primarily relied on its eyesight and primal instincts to perceive the world. Its vision was critically important.
Thus, it remained stationary, repairing its eye.
It paid no mind to Alice's cannon fire because, according to its instinctual perception, she posed no threat whatsoever.
Meanwhile, the dragon's claw, previously severed by Alice, was also slowly regenerating.
The Black Dragon's target was Alice. Once its injuries were healed, it could rely on its sheer power to simply seize her.
In its current blinded state, and with Alice's control over space, capturing her was a difficult task.
The Black Dragon was highly intelligent.
It could sense that the adventurers on the ground were preparing something, likely aimed at defeating it.
If it delayed any longer, it would surely lose its chance to eliminate Alice.
As for whether it itself was in danger, the dragon dismissed the notion entirely. Compared to the adventurers below, its target was the far greater threat.
Spatial abilities were truly a nuisance.
Therefore, rather than attacking everyone while it was impaired, it was better to recover fully while its opponents were still unprepared.
Being completely blind was a significant handicap.
Just as the Black Dragon hung in the air, concentrating on its recovery, a sharp, piercing sensation erupted from the area of its chest.
Previous attacks could be ignored, but this one… if it didn't evade, it would undoubtedly pierce straight through its heart.
With a powerful beat of its wings, the dragon surged upward, narrowly avoiding the intensely sharp attack.
Its vision still blocked, the dragon had no idea what had just happened.
But through its primal instincts, it could feel a powerful sense of danger emanating from its target. Clearly, this new attack was her doing.
Therefore, the Black Dragon decided to abandon its cautious waiting game and eliminate Alice immediately.
'Whoosh!'
Another sharp attack materialized, its speed so immense it distorted the very air around it. This time, the target was the dragon's forehead.
The Black Dragon twisted its body slightly. Alice's attack struck the dragon's cheek, instantly shattering several scales. It was a decidedly effective blow.
Yet, these two attacks alone…
Had consumed a vast amount of Alice's mana.
Using the powers of the Sun and Metal Luminaries, she had forged a powerful metallic projectile from the Philosopher's Stone—a knight's lance modeled after Shanghai.
She then opened two gaps in space, channeling her mana to hurl the lance into one gap, providing continuous acceleration.
The lance, launched into the second gap and constantly accelerating within the dimensional rift, traveled through the first gap back into reality, only to re-enter the interstitial space through the second gap.
The two gaps connected real space to the space between.
Coupled with the acceleration provided by Alice's steadily supplied mana, the knight's lance continued to gain speed.
With a theoretically infinite space to accelerate, and provided Alice's mana held out, the lance could theoretically reach the speed of light.
But the mana cost for such a feat would be astronomical.
For now, Alice had only accelerated the lance to the first cosmic velocity, and even then, her mana recovery couldn't keep up with the expenditure.
She felt like a water pipe.
A pipe where the inflow was one, but the outflow was one-point-five.
Her internal magic circuits were being pushed to their absolute limit. If anyone could see her up close, they'd notice an unnatural flush had spread across her face.
However, a lance thrown at the first cosmic velocity clearly possessed tremendous deterrence and lethality against the Black Dragon.
The first attack had been a test, the speed not yet fully built up. The second attack, similarly, had only managed to knock scales from its cheek.
And now, Alice launched her third attack.
The lance, moving at over a dozen times the speed of sound—the first cosmic velocity—shot forth. The Black Dragon didn't even have time to react before the projectile tore through its regenerating eye socket and clean through its head, leaving a gaping hole roughly ten centimeters in diameter.
At that moment.
Alice's eyes lit up, and the corners of her mouth curled into a smile.
"Found it! Shanghai!"
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T/N: While I am an inexperienced Translator, I have a Patreon! While it may seem empty as of now, webnovel will get 2 Chapters Every Day, and advanced chapters will be uploaded on Patreon.
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