"Cough—!"
Amidst the dust-laden rubble, Leon staggered as he slid down from the shattered wall, coughing up a large mouthful of fresh blood on the spot.
His body felt as if it had been crushed by a millstone. Waves of intense pain assaulted his senses, nearly causing him to collapse while vomiting blood.
"This... is a bit bad..."
Feeling the severe pain radiating from every inch of his body, Leon had no idea how heavily injured he was right now.
How many of his bones were still intact?
How many of his internal organs had escaped rupturing?
He didn't know. He only knew that he was entirely relying on a desperate surge of sheer willpower to barely prop up his broken body and prevent himself from collapsing outright.
A Lv.4 Floor Boss, and an exceptionally massive type at that—its full-powered strike was something that even a Lv.5 first-class adventurer taking it head-on might not emerge completely unscathed, let alone Leon, a third-class adventurer whose ability values were barely comparable to a Lv.3. The only exception would be someone like old man Gareth, whose hide was so thick that his endurance could be trained to an S-rank.
This was indisputably a severe, potentially fatal wound.
If it weren't for the dampening effects of the combat attire and robe he wore, which provided a certain degree of defensive capability, Leon was certain that he would currently be lying helplessly in a pool of blood, completely unable to stand up again.
"Ooooohhhhh—!!!"
Goliath was still roaring over there, its furious bellowing transforming into shockwaves that vibrated through the cavern chamber.
It violently stomped and shattered the floorboards, charging toward Leon as if determined to leave him here forever. It mercilessly smashed its giant arms down once more, causing the people spectating outside the chamber to either gasp in horror or lean their bodies forward, preparing to rush into the arena to save him.
"Is it still too forced?"
Even Finn muttered such words, raising a long spear that he had been gripping tightly all along.
He, too, was prepared to step in and rescue Leon.
Although Leon did not witness this scene, he could roughly guess the current situation.
Therefore, he abruptly snapped his blood-drenched head up. Exhausting his final vestige of willpower, he raised his hand and violently unleashed an incredibly thick meteor.
This meteor was larger than any previous one, unexpectedly engulfing half of Goliath's massive frame.
"Boom!!!"
Accompanied by a deafening roar, the meteor struck Goliath dead-center and exploded violently across its body.
Instantly, Goliath's charging momentum was forced to a halt, and its raised giant arms were jolted downward. The terrifying bombardment of firepower caused both of its feet to leave the ground; its entire colossal torso was actually blasted into the air, suspended momentarily before crashing heavily back onto the ground, triggering an earth-shattering tremor.
It also let out the most wretched howl of pain it had uttered since the start of the battle. Its skin ruptured, its flesh deteriorated, and massive sprays of blood splattered everywhere.
This injury was by no means comparable to any wound it had sustained prior.
"This..."
The crowd that had been preparing to rush into the field to save him froze in their tracks.
"That strike just now..."
Gareth's brows furrowed tightly.
"...The firepower has already reached Lv.6."
Riveria spoke those words with an exceptionally solemn expression.
The moment everyone present heard this statement, their expressions shifted in unison.
"Lv.6 firepower—?!"
They were utterly dumbfounded.
Tiona, Tione, and Line stood there, staring with wide-open mouths.
Bete's face twisted slightly.
Ais's eyes widened.
Raul and the others had expressions of utter disbelief written across their faces.
As for Lefiya, her expression was a sight to behold.
A firepower of the Lv.6 caliber—it had bypassed four whole levels.
Once this strike was unleashed, the entire arena fell into a deathly silence.
However, the price of this single strike caused Leon's vision to go black, nearly making him lose consciousness and fall into a coma on the spot.
His mental power was almost completely drained, leaving him just a hair's breadth away from falling into a state of mental exhaustion, which would render him entirely incapable of fighting on.
His hands were trembling as he managed with great difficulty to extract four potions from his waist pouch.
Of these four potions, one was an Elixir, while the remaining three were all magical potions.
Leon painstakingly uncorked all four potion bottles and swallowed them all in one breath, downing them into his stomach.
The moment the potions entered his stomach, their effects manifested instantly.
The first to take effect was the Elixir, which healed Leon's body and repaired his injuries almost entirely on a second-by-second basis. It caused his broken bones to snap back together one by one, and his ruptured internal organs were systematically mended, slowly returning to a pristine state.
The highest-grade spiritual medicine worth 500,000 Valis a bottle—reputed to bring anyone back to life and heal any injury as long as they still had a breath left—certainly lived up to its reputation. It allowed Leon's battered body to heal at a pace visible to the naked eye.
Following that, the effects of the three high-quality magical potions also began to manifest, forcibly dragging Leon's barely clinging consciousness back from the dark abyss, causing his near-depleted mental power to slowly rejuvenate like a withered tree welcoming spring.
"Cough, cough—"
Leon cast aside the four empty bottles in his hand while wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, finally managing to stand firmly.
"Ooooohhhhh—!"
Goliath on the other side finally seemed to recover as well. It slowly stood up, its eyes fixed on Leon, brimming with absolute fury and bloodlust. Even though its entire body was drenched in blood, it desperately wished to tear Leon into thousands of pieces.
It could only be said that the final strike Leon unleashed had simply been too painful.
Although Leon had been continuously inflicting damage on Goliath's body earlier, those wounds appeared severe but were truly not considered major injuries to a creature like Goliath.
Even if Leon raised his magical output to Lv.5 and could damage Goliath—whose endurance was specifically augmented to Lv.5—it only amounted to breaching its defense.
When the output and defense were on the exact same level, even if the defense could be breached, how severe could the resulting damage truly be?
Furthermore, a high endurance value carried another benefit: its self-regeneration capability was equally formidable.
As a Floor Boss specialized in endurance, Goliath actually possessed a very high self-healing ability. The minor injuries Leon had caused would undoubtedly heal completely if given just a bit of time.
Leon was well aware of this fact, which was why he had never ceased his attacks from start to finish, maintaining a continuous output precisely to deny Goliath any time to self-heal.
However, that solid punch—a strike that had nearly shattered his entire being—had already brutally demonstrated to Leon that dragging the time out would be absolutely disadvantageous for him.
Goliath was heavily armored and possessed a high margin for error; no matter how many times Leon injured it, the situation could not be thoroughly altered unless a fatal wound was dealt.
Leon, on the other mind, was different. The level disparity was plain to see; the moment he took a solid punch from Goliath, he would instantly plunge into a near-death crisis, requiring the use of a precious Elixir to revitalize himself.
But how many Elixirs could he possibly have?
Therefore—
"From the very beginning, I couldn't harbor any illusions of luck, let alone hold anything back."
Braving the sound waves of Goliath's furious roars, Leon stepped down from the pile of rubble one pace at a time.
His attire was in a thoroughly tattered state, and his face was entirely covered in blood, but his eyes were frighteningly bright.
His figure appeared battered and pitiable, yet the aura radiating from his body did not diminish; instead, it intensified.
His gaze, expression, and even his inner mind suddenly became incomparably calm at this moment.
Frighteningly calm.
"To defeat it, a comparable firepower of Lv.5 is absolutely insufficient!"
"It must be an overwhelming output of firepower to inflict a fatal wound upon it!"
"Which means... I must raise the firepower to Lv.6!"
However, could he endure it?
Merely raising the firepower to Lv.5 had already imposed such a heavy burden, and his remaining magical potions were few. If he elevated the output by another level, would he truly not collapse from sudden mental exhaustion?
Could those high-quality magical potions keep pace with the consumption rate of his mental power?
If they couldn't, what should he do?
Thoughts flashed past rapidly, only to be suppressed one by one by Leon.
There was no other choice.
"If it won't work, make it work!"
Because aside from doing this, he no longer had a second path to choose from.
Firepower!
He needed firepower!
The might of his magic had to be enhanced!
"Light of Heaven, Sword of Stars."
Leon resolutely raised the Jade Staff in his hand, causing the gemstone at its tip to glow to its absolute limit. The magic circle radiating brilliant starlight also became brighter than ever before, spinning rapidly.
Sensing a looming crisis, Goliath let out a furious roar and charged recklessly toward Leon.
"Meteor Dance!"
Right as that colossal torso was about to trample over Leon, Leon successfully unleashed an incomparably massive meteor.
"Boom!!!"
The massive meteor struck Goliath's chest directly and exploded violently, tearing its flesh apart and causing it to wail repeatedly.
Leon felt his vision go dark once more as his largely restored mental power was instantly drained yet again.
Another three magical potions were extracted from his waist pouch by Leon, which he downed in a single gulp.
"Light of Heaven, Sword of Stars."
Leon chanted his magic with a roaring momentum.
"Meteor Dance!"
The massive meteor shot forth once more, striking Goliath's colossal torso without surprise. While knocking it back, the impact also vaporized its skin, exposing its raw, crimson flesh.
This time, Leon didn't even give himself the opportunity for his vision to go black. The moment the magic successfully manifested, he instantly fished out three magical potions and threw his head back to down them.
"Meteor Dance!"
The massive meteor shot out for the third time, the moment of its detonation causing the entire cavern chamber to vibrate violently.
"Meteor Dance!!"
No one could see what Leon was doing anymore; they could only hear him letting out an even more desperate, throat-tearing roar as he launched a fourth massive meteor, blasting Goliath backward.
After this strike, Goliath's wails of pain transformed entirely into agonizing screams. Its flesh was vaporized by the astounding magical firepower, directly exposing its ribcage, bones, and internal organs to the air.
Thanks to this, everyone witnessed a massive blue crystal manifesting at the center of Goliath's chest.
That was the Magic Stone, the vital core of all monsters.
It was precisely because of the power provided by the Magic Stone that the monsters in this world could sustain their existence.
In other words, that was also the universal weakness shared by all monsters.
Every adventurer in the world knew what the outcome was for a monster that lost its Magic Stone.
Namely, reducing into a pile of ashes.
At this moment, everyone in the Loki Familia clenched their fists tightly.
At this moment, all the spectators held their breath.
Looking at that battered yet unyielding figure, watching him stand like he was vomiting blood before the screaming giant, a massive emotion arose in their hearts that could not be suppressed by any means.
No matter who they were, regardless of friend or foe, everyone at this moment universally followed that massive emotion in their hearts and let out a unified shout.
Even the three Familia leaders—Finn, Riveria, and Gareth—as well as Bete, who had always been at odds with Leon, couldn't help but shout this out.
Only Ais, her golden eyes intently fixed on that receding figure, let out a soft murmur.
"Leon—"
The shouts and the murmur universally entered Leon's ears with absolute clarity at this exact second.
Thus, Leon extracted all his remaining magical potions and poured them entirely into his mouth.
"""""Go for it!!!"""""
"Meteor Dance!!!"
A roar capable of drowning out every sound present resonated through the surroundings.
In front of the Jade Staff raised by Leon, a magic circle a full two times larger than any previous one unfolded abruptly, spewing forth starlight.
That starlight dispelled the endless darkness, illuminating the entirety of the 17th floor's end, causing the piercingly intense light to seep out even from the large circular entrance.
"!"
All the people standing at the entrance spectating didn't even have time to react before being directly swallowed by the intense light.
"Boom!!!!!"
Inside the entrance, within that incomparably vast hall, an earth-shattering roar erupted, causing the entire 17th floor to shake violently.
Walls were cracking.
Rubble was cascading down.
A brilliant meteor, seemingly capable of cleaving heaven and earth apart, struck the nightmare-like, sky-propping giant while radiating an intense light that no one could look at directly.
"Bang!!!"
The giant that was struck couldn't even let out a final wail before its entire body gradually collapsed, shattered, and annihilated within the intense starlight. The massive Magic Stone at its chest let out a loud cracking sound, exploding directly into countless fragments that scattered through the air.
No one was able to witness this spectacle.
However, when the intense light dissipated and everything at the scene returned to absolute silence, the spectators—who had warily opened their eyes and assumed subconscious defensive postures—could no longer see the giant's figure.
The giant hadn't even been able to leave behind any ashes; it had vanished directly within the starlight.
The only things remaining at the scene were a piece of tough hide drifting down from the air, and Leon, who remained completely motionless in the posture of raising his magic staff.
People stared blankly at this scene.
People gazed stupidly at all of this.
No one uttered a sound in the first instant, and no one could initiate any action in the first instant.
Just like that, an unknown period passed, and Leon's body swayed slightly, collapsing toward the ground.
He only felt his entire body turn completely powerless, and his mind could no longer sustain itself, plunging into darkness.
However, right before completely losing consciousness, Leon caught sight of a flash of gold sweeping toward him.
That color was exceptionally bright and moving.
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