With a thought, Levi tossed the divine blood Hestia had provided back into his inventory.
He then took out a low-grade Mind Potion and downed it.
Next, he lightly tapped the one-eyed master artisan, who was standing there dumbfounded. "Snap out of it. Back up. Also, if any regular monsters or adventurers get close, be sure to intercept them for me."
Tsubaki was, after all, one of Orario's few Lv.5s. Although she was startled by the Pitch-Black Goliath's appearance, she quickly recovered.
While retreating, she shouted, "Little brother Levi, do you need help?"
"If I can't beat that thing."
Levi's answer was cautious.
As he spoke, he was already rushing toward the Pitch-Black Goliath. After entering magic attack range, he unleashed Signature Mix, Adeptal Art: Preserver of Fortune, and Adeptal Art: Herald of Frost in succession.
The Pitch-Black Goliath was no sitting duck. Relying on the self-regeneration ability granted to it as a Divine Assassin, it let the three spells crash directly into its body while it opened its mouth and fired a 'Roar' at Levi's position.
—BOOM!
Levi's forward momentum came to a sudden halt, and an unknown number of shield layers were obliterated.
However, when he decided to challenge the Pitch-Black Goliath, he was already mentally prepared for its abilities to be superior to his own. He pushed off with his legs again, but this time he didn't run in a straight line. Instead, he instantly executed the Star-Treading Steps, and the rhythm of his movements became difficult to predict.
A second later, the second Roar arrived as expected.
However, due to the Pitch-Black Goliath's misjudgment, it grazed past Levi's shield and missed.
At the same moment, the five Icy Paws Levi had conjured traced arcs through the air and successfully struck the torso of the Pitch-Black Goliath, which, due to its immense size, couldn't easily dodge.
Unfortunately, Icy Paws was more geared towards shield stacking. It had an offensive effect, yes, but it wasn't particularly powerful.
After being hit, the Pitch-Black Goliath's reaction speed didn't even slow down; its skin was only slightly ruptured before being immediately repaired by its self-regeneration.
Seeing this, the charging Levi pursed his lips.
His Star-Treading Steps became even more erratic.
Although the Pitch-Black Goliath was a monster born from the Labyrinth, it possessed a considerable level of intelligence.
After realizing its long-range Roars were having trouble hitting Levi, it raised its truly sandbag-sized fists and initiated close-quarters combat.
By now, Levi had successfully closed the distance to the Pitch-Black Goliath. Seeing its arm sweep towards him, he almost instinctively chose to jump in place.
And then, he saw the Pitch-Black Goliath reveal a狰狞 smile.
The next moment...
—BOOM!
Having just managed to get close, Levi was sent flying right back to his starting point by a Roar.
"[DanMachi Expletive]!"
Levi threw five Icy Paws at the ground and charged forward once more.
This time, he was even more cautious.
Unless absolutely necessary, he would not go airborne.
Even when the Pitch-Black Goliath swept its arm across the ground, he merely swapped the Primordial Jade Cutter he was holding for Wolf's Gravestone and, using Favonius Bladework, executed a heavy slash to counter the attack.
—As I thought!
Realizing the Pitch-Black Goliath's strength wasn't as terrifying as he had imagined, Levi relaxed slightly.
Due to its massive size, the Pitch-Black Goliath's base strength was very high.
But it couldn't stand up to the third constellation of Felis Catus and the fourth constellation of Pristina Nola, which could inflict a medium and a large strength debuff on the enemy, respectively.
Looking at himself, his Strength stat was normally 2099, which became 3099 after activating Mana Burst, not to mention the strength bonus provided by Wolf's Gravestone.
Calculating based on the rule that 1 stat point from a high-level Falna can be considered as 2 from a low-level one...
It might be an exaggeration to say he was unrivaled among Lv.5s, but against a Pitch-Black Goliath whose strength had been weakened twice, he could ultimately gain the upper hand.
Therefore...
'This fight is winnable!'
After reaching this conclusion, Levi's movements, which had been focused on defense and evasion, suddenly changed drastically.
Wielding the two-handed greatsword, his fighting style gradually became more bold and unrestrained.
—Mana Burst: Wrap!
2000 stat points were directly added to his Strength.
The power of the weapon in Levi's hands rose by a whole tier compared to before.
Although the Pitch-Black Goliath didn't know what the little person before it was doing, it instinctively sensed an anomaly.
As a 'Roar' escaped its mouth, its entire body burst into raging flames.
In the anime adaptation of the side story, "Sword Oratoria," the protagonist Ais, in order to achieve the great feat required to level up, chose to challenge the lone king of the 37th floor, Udaeus, by herself.
Unlike in a group battle, Udaeus displayed a second form that the Loki Familia had never known about.
Just like the Pitch-Black Goliath now!
Levi swung the greatsword in his hands, deflecting the flame-wreathed blows before him while chanting aloud:
"Hephaestus, I pray to you. Please grant me the goddess's protection."
Because he was in combat, he didn't deliberately lower his voice.
Combined with the appearance of a transparent phantom of Hephaestus, identical to Hestia's protection, whatever the Pitch-Black Goliath thought was irrelevant. But Tsubaki, who was outside the main fight dealing with newly spawned monsters one by one, showed a look of bewilderment, even shock, at this sudden development.
—Hey, hey, hey, little bro Levi, you're taking this a bit too far.
—Summoning the protection of the goddess Hestia is one thing; after all, she's your patron goddess and lover.
—But how can you pull out a projection of my goddess too?!
Though her heart was filled with questions, Tsubaki understood that this was a critical moment in Levi's challenge against the Pitch-Black Goliath.
She could only suppress her desire to comment, planning to ask him for the reasons later.
However, not everyone observing this battle could contain their emotions.
"Not just Hestia, but Hephaestus has granted her protection as well."
Inside Babel, the Goddess of Beauty, Freya, who was observing Levi's actions in the Dungeon through a scrying mirror, seemed to have thought of something.
"Is it because of... a goddess's love?"
In the lower world, Freya was best known for her authority over 'Beauty,' but in Tenkai, this goddess also served as the goddess of 'Love.'
Because of this, with just a single glance, she saw through the essence of the magic Levi had awakened.
And then...
Freya's cheeks couldn't help but start to flush.
Her crossed legs began to fidget restlessly.
"Oh my~"
"So, you mean you've already noticed my interest in you?"
"Levi~"
Ottar stood at the goddess's side. Having long grown accustomed to his foster mother's manic episodes, his expression didn't change in the slightest.
However, when he turned his gaze to the scene in the scrying mirror, he clearly became a little more serious.
—A Goliath that uses fire enchantment...
—When I have the time, I should try challenging it.
____
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