"You sorrowful giant Goliath, who knows nothing of love—allow me to teach you what love truly is!"
Elise swung her fist, radiant with golden light, straight toward Goliath's face.
Though her physical strength was only within the range of an ordinary person, once layered with different powers, it became something entirely different.
Boom—
Goliath was struck squarely on the left side of its face. Its features visibly warped from the impact.
The immense force smashed the giant brutally back into the crack in the wall.
If one counted carefully, this was probably the third time Goliath had been sent back into that fissure.
As a child that had only just been born not long ago, all it could think was that it felt wronged... but it did not dare say a word.
"Aaaaaah—!"
Goliath let out a thunderous roar as it struggled free from the wall.
This time, however, it had learned its lesson. Instead of attacking Elise with its fists, it raised its massive foot high and stomped down viciously toward her!
But that gave Elise exactly the opportunity she wanted.
The moment Goliath lifted one foot, its center of gravity shifted. Knocking it down would now be far easier.
Just as the giant's foot was about to crash down, Elise suddenly burst forward at even greater speed, striking the joint between its foot and lower leg.
Pshhk—
Blood sprayed across the ground. Having lost one foot, Goliath instantly lost its balance and collapsed heavily onto the floor.
If it wanted to stand again, it would likely take quite some time.
But Elise's attack was far from over.
Her small fist struck the previously glowing wall, gouging out a massive chunk of stone. It could not compare to Goliath's size, but it was more than enough to cover half of its body.
"This strike is my tribute to Saint Martha!"
Elise lifted the boulder with one hand. With a light tap from her other hand, the stone began spinning rapidly.
Then she leapt from the ground, soaring into the air and looking down at Goliath lying flat below.
"Tarasque!"
The spinning boulder was hurled directly at Goliath.
"Roar!"
Goliath tried to rise and continue fighting, but losing one foot was a devastating injury.
For a monster evaluated by the Guild as Level 4, its mobility had been drastically reduced.
If an ordinary adventurer witnessed this, they would probably think about fleeing this floor immediately.
But for high-level adventurers, this was the moment to deliver the killing blow.
Thud!
The boulder slammed directly into Goliath's chest. Its entire ribcage caved inward from the tremendous impact, and cracks spread across the ground beneath it.
And the stone was still spinning.
The damage it inflicted was self-evident. The pain caused Goliath to struggle even more violently.
And what was Elise doing now?
She was descending—landing directly atop the boulder pinning Goliath down.
"Ora ora!"
Countless golden fist images rained down upon the stone. With every punch Elise threw, the entire seventeenth floor trembled violently!
If not for the thick walls separating the seventeenth and eighteenth floors, she might have punched straight through the level itself.
Boom boom boom boom boom!!!
The terrifying roar continued. Cracks spread across the boulder under Elise's relentless strikes, until at last the critical point was reached!
"Iron · Fist · Holy · Judgment!"
All the light converged into her right hand. Elise threw her final punch, and the boulder exploded instantly!
"Roaaar—"
Goliath's final cry was swallowed by the violent explosion.
After a long while, silence finally returned.
Elise stood alone atop what remained of the floor boss' upper body and let out a long breath.
"Phew... it's finally over!"
Although this kind of fist-to-flesh combat did not match Elise's usual style and did not allow her to unleash her full power...
It felt incredibly satisfying!
It was as if all her worries had been thrown away!
"Sister..." Est's voice sounded in her mind. "Who is Tarasque?"
"Mm... it's the name of a dragon. The good companion of Saint Martha that I mentioned earlier! I was just treating that rock as Tarasque. I didn't mean anything by it, okay?"
Elise did not quite understand what Est was getting at, so she simply explained it that way.
"I know. Sister is always Sister." Est paused before continuing. "But... if it's a good companion, why did you hit it with such terrifying punches just now?"
"Weren't you afraid of hurting Tarasque?"
"Uh..."
After hearing Est's question, Elise found herself at a loss for words.
"Sister, you wouldn't... do that to me, would you?"
Est's nervous voice echoed in Elise's heart, and the atmosphere immediately changed.
"No, no! Absolutely not!"
"Don't worry, Est. I would never do anything excessive to you!"
"And just now, I was only shouting for fun! Just casually shouting!"
"I only wanted to recreate a famous scene! Don't take it seriously!"
Tap tap tap...
"Hm?"
At that moment, dense footsteps echoed from the passage leading to the eighteenth floor. Elise immediately turned her attention in that direction.
"Not good. Someone's coming! Est, we'll talk later. I need to prepare!"
...
"Ahead is the floor boss' chamber. Everyone, stay focused!"
Rivira's administrator led a group of weapon-bearing adventurers through the passage toward the seventeenth floor.
"There was such a huge commotion earlier, and now it's quiet?"
"Did something else happen?"
"Stop guessing! Once we see it with our own eyes, we'll know!"
Within the narrow and dark corridor, only the exit ahead flickered with light.
After passing through the pitch-black tunnel, the enormous chamber of the floor boss came into view.
But the light here seemed almost blinding...
The administrator raised a hand to shield his eyes. After adjusting to the brightness, he slowly lowered it.
Then he froze.
Not just him. Everyone who witnessed the scene—adventurers and Rivira's merchants alike—stared with their eyes wide open.
Perhaps none of them had ever imagined that under such circumstances, they would behold such a sight.
A beauty beyond words.
Yes—a breathtaking vista.
It was entirely different from the charm and allure of a beauty goddess. A god's beauty ultimately belonged to that single being and did not spread into the surrounding environment.
But this scene before them could very well be the most beautiful sight they had ever seen in their lives...