Chapter Fourty Three:Black Goliath

The group left the initial room and advanced toward the deepest part of the 17th floor. Alicia and Aisha led the way, with Ryuu guarding the rear. The three rookies were kept safely in the middle.

As they passed through the corridors, the caverns they walked through gradually expanded, turning into open spaces wide enough for dozens of people to pass through at once. The number of side paths decreased, and soon there was only one path left, making it feel like they were walking inside the belly of a massive serpent.

The ceiling grew higher, and the flickering lights above them shrank into mere spark, like distant fireflies. They followed the widening passageway, which led them toward the deepest room on the 17th floor.

"Something feels off," Aisha whispered. The 17th floor was eerily quiet.

This floor was where the Floor Boss resided, but that didn't mean ordinary monsters wouldn't spawn. For that reason, Alicia and her group couldn't leave the rookies in another room while they went off to defeat the boss. 

Monsters on the 17th floor were typically Level 2 and often appeared in groups, so it would be far too dangerous to leave them without a High Class adventurer like Alicia or Ryuu to protect them.

Yet, on their way toward the deepest room, they hadn't encountered a single monster. If not for the distinctive geography confirming they were indeed on the 17th floor, they might have thought that they'd somehow wandered into a random cave outside the Dungeon.

"Not a single monster," Aisha whispered quietly.

This gave them a bad feeling—like the Dungeon was gathering strength.

However, whether it was Ryuu, Alicia, or Aisha, while they were cautious, perhaps slightly unease, but they were not truly worried.

Their confidence came from their "experience" and "knowledge."

In the Dungeon, the most terrifying enemy was the "unknown." Monsters whose abilities and informations are well-known can be countered with proper preparation, allowing even lower level adventurers a chance to prevail. 

On the other hand, facing completely "unknown" enemies—even with an apparent advantage on paper—could lead to unexpected disaster due to lack of information.

Ryuu, in particular, understood this concept all too well.

But the Floor Boss Goliath was one of the most well-documented monsters in the Dungeon. Adventurers had long since gathered detailed information about this first Floor Boss, including its abilities, attack patterns, and combat habits. All of this had been thoroughly analyzed and was widely available.

Goliath was now considered a monster that could be reliably defeated by a party composed of a Level 3 adventurer as the core, with a few Level 2 and several skilled Level 1 adventurers supporting them. 

In comparison, Alicia and her group far surpassed the requirement needed to handle such a monster.

Without the usual resistance from other monsters, the adventurers quickly reached the deepest part of the 17th floor.

It was a large, long room, much more spacious than the previous, oddly-shaped chambers they had passed through. The room's layout was rectangular, measuring about 200 meters from the round entrance to the far wall, and roughly 100 meters wide. The ceiling was about 20 meters above the ground.

The room's walls and ceiling were formed from jagged rock, with one notable exception: the left wall.

Unlike the rest of the room's rugged, natural formation, the left wall appeared entirely smooth, as though it had been polished by human hands. Its surface was flawless, without a single bump or crack, stretching seamlessly from one end of the room to the other. The sight was striking.

The wall had a certain beauty to it, yet it was unnervingly strange. Gazing up at it, one's vision seemed to warp.

[Wall of Grief].

This name was given to this wall by the adventurers who had reached this room and lived to tell the tale, the final barrier of the 17th floor.

A massive wall that could only give birth to one specific monster—the Floor Boss Goliath.

Ahead, in the center of that great wall, there was a cave that served as the passageway to the 18th floor, the safety point. 

However, as expected, the entrance was completely blocked by enormous boulders. Both the path forward and the way back were sealed off, temporarily trapping the adventurers in the seemingly vast 17th floor.

Crack—

A sharp sound rang out, as though the wall was welcoming their arrival. 

A gigantic fissure began to form from the top of the wall, spreading downward like a bolt of lightning. 

The wall continued to crack, the noise growing louder and louder—crack, crack—until it was replaced by a deep, panting sound, as if something massive was breathing heavily behind the wall, letting out a cry of grief, causing the entire room to violently shake.

It was like an avalanche had crashed down on them, the adventurers' eardrums seemed to scream in pain. 

The cry grew louder, and deep cracks spread through the wall, as if the 17th floor itself was being torn apart.

As the pressure mounted, a stronger impact from within battered against the wall. The expressions of the adventurers became increasingly grim, especially the veteran ones.

"Something isn't right," Aisha muttered, her voice heavy with tension.

"This isn't Goliath," Alicia whispered. "At least, not the Goliath we know…"

Chunks of rock were blasted into the air, landing on the ground with resounding crashes as the wall finally shattered into pieces.

Boom—

A deafening sound echoed, as though something enormous had landed upon the earth. A gigantic silhouette, too large to fathom, emerged. Its thick neck, broad shoulders, massive arms, and stocky legs were all inhumanly huge. 

The creature's form resembled that of a human, but its entire body was jet-black, like the blackest ink.

Ordinary Goliaths had gray-brown skin and stood around seven meters tall. This Black Goliath, however, stood at over ten meters high. 

Its black skin gleamed with a metallic sheen, and although it was larger than usual, its body appeared more agile and sleek compared to the typical Goliath's bulkier form.

This was an unprecedented monster—a Black [Goliath], with no previous sightings or records to speak of.

A chilling sense of dread spread through the room. The sheer size and overwhelming presence of this monster, filled the adventurers with awe and fear.

Haruhime, collapsed to her knees, and Lefiya's entire body trembled with fear, her face as pale as snow. Even Alicia, a veteran Level 4 adventurer, could feel a chill running down her spine.

"We misjudged…" she muttered.

She had initially believed that with her and Ryuu's combined strength, they could handle Goliath. With Aisha's support, they felt even more confident.

Alicia's main concern had been the possibility of other monsters spawning during their fight with Goliath, threatening Shiro and the others.

Though she had warned Aisha not to underestimate the [Dungeon's Malice], she herself had been careless too.

The fact that the 17th floor housed the Floor Boss, Goliath, was practically common knowledge among the adventurers. 

This Floor Boss, which respawned every two weeks only to be immediately killed again, had practically become a [weakling] in the eyes of high-level adventurers, far less dangerous than most monsters in the deeper floors.

It was this ingrained impression, along with the overconfidence that came with being a High Class Adventurer, that led Alicia, Ryuu, and even Aisha to subconsciously underestimate Goliath.

BOOM!

But, just as the Black Goliath's landing, caused Alicia and the others to falter from the shock of facing an unknown foe, a violent explosion erupted on the giant's face.

The source of the blast was none other than Shirou Emiya.

Before the Black Goliath had even fully emerged, Shirou had already projected a magic sword. Nocking this arrow onto his bow, [Fake – Nine Lives], he had begun charging up an attack.

The moment the Black Goliath landed on the ground, Shirou fired his magic sword arrow. Under the power of [Fake – Nine Lives], the sword flew with incredible speed, shooting straight into Goliath's mouth.

"ROOOOAAARRR!!!" Goliath let out an earth-shattering roar, a terrifying sound that sent shivers down the spines of all who heard it.

With a bottle of high-grade magic potion in his mouth, Shirou began preparing for the next round of projections.

But Shirou wasn't the only one who had been charging up.

"—In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky. Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of starfire. Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you. Come, wandering wind, the wandering traveler. Cross the sky and run through the wilderness, run faster than anything else. Imbue the light of stardust and destroy the enemy."

"Luminous Wind!"

Ryuu unleashed her pre-chanted magic. Countless beams of light shot forward, carried by a rushing wind, slamming into their target. 

High-frequency explosions erupted on Goliath's face!

Alicia snapped back to reality. "Nice work, Shirou, Ryuu! Aisha, let's go!"

"Ohhhh!!!" Aisha responded, her Amazonian warrior body charged forward with a fierce battle cry.

Fighting Goliath in the Boss room was undoubtedly the best course of action since no other monsters could spawn here. 

If they allowed the giant to break into other rooms and join forces with more monsters, the result would be a true disaster. 

There was no need for further hesitation—they had only one option left from the beginning: kill it!

Alicia and Aisha, rushed ahead, along with Ryuu who had already completed her magic casting. The three women began chanting in unison.

Even if it was a bit taller and had slightly thicker skin, it was still just a Goliath. As long as it was Level 4, they could still take it down!

"Frozen skies, heavenly rain. White ice that colors the forest, shoot the shameful barbarians. Freeze, binding chains of winter!"

"Come, champion of the savages. Manly warrior, strong hero, greedy and unjust hero. Show your worth if you desire the girdle of the empress. Satisfy my body, penetrate my body, kill my body and prove your worth. My starving blade is Hippolyta!"

"—In the sky of a now distant forest. Infinite stars scattered in the endless night sky. Respond to my foolish voice, give me now divine protection of starfire. Give the mercy of light to the one that abandoned you…."

All three veteran adventurers possessed magic and had mastered the advanced skill of "Concurrent Chanting." While Aisha's skill in concurrent chanting wasn't as fluid as Ryuu's or Alicia's, it was still highly proficient.

If their enemy had been an ordinary Goliath, they would likely be able to defeat it with ease if they went all out.

"Amazing," Lefiya couldn't help but mutter, her fear seemingly subsiding as she watched the backs of her senpai.

But in the next moment, the dust cleared, revealing Goliath's monstrous face, bloodied and gory.

Even after mouth tanking Shirou's magic sword and face tanking Ryuu's magic on some of its weaker body part—the damage was hardly critical to Goliath.

Ignoring Ryuu and Alicia's ongoing chants, Goliath took a massive stride forward, swinging its disproportionately long arm with a heavy fist aimed straight at Aisha.

Above Alicia, a blue-and-white sphere of hail formed, launching a barrage of ice shards toward Goliath. The monster raised its other arm to protect its head, and the shards left grayish-white marks on its thick skin.

Alicia's magic had the advantage of a short chant, allowing for rapid casting, but in exchange, its power wasn't enough to deal significant damage to Goliath.

"Hell Kaios!" Aisha finished her chant, unleashing a deep crimson shockwave slash from her massive broadsword.

A fine red line appeared on Goliath's swinging fist as Aisha ready to blocked its attack with her blade.

"Just hold on for a second—[Gale's] magic is almost ready—" 

BOOM!

Aisha collapsed to her knees under the weight of Goliath's massive fist. Her arms and knee, which had borne the brunt of the attack, made a sickening cracking sound, her greatsword benting under the immense pressure.

"Our judgment was wrong…"

Coughing up a mouthful of blood, Aisha realized the horrifying truth: this Black Goliath was far more powerful than they had anticipated.

Compared to a regular Goliath, this monster's strength was far beyond what they expected. Its strength was unmistakably that of a Level 5!

"This power… it's stronger than the Two-Headed Dragon… ugh…"

Aisha's thoughts flashed back to when she had once teamed up with the Level 5 First Class Adventurer from the Ishtar Familia, [Androctonus (Man-Killer)], to defeat the dungeon's 27th-floor Floor Boss—the two-headed dragon, Amphisbaena.

In comparison, she could instantly tell that this Black Goliath possessed a far stronger level of strength.

Amphisbaena's greatest threat was the limitation while fighting it in a "water battle" environment, which restricted adventurers' ability to fight at full strength, along with its deadly "Dragon Breath" attack. But in terms of raw physical power, this Black Goliath surpassed that Two-Headed Dragon!

Their entire strategy had been flawed from the start.

They had planned to have Aisha, a strong and durable Amazon warrior, hold the front line as a Level 3, while the two Level 4 elven swordswomen attacked from the sides, using their speed and magic for rapid strikes. This approach would have been ideal for quickly taking down a Level 4 Goliath.

However, this Black Goliath's potential level—in particular its strength—had reached the upper rank of Level  5.

Aisha should never have engaged it head-on. She should have fought like the elven swordswomen, relying on speed and agility to adopt a hit-and-run approach, disrupting the giant and creating openings for the others to attack.

But now, it was far too late to rethink their tactics.

Without accurate intel, Aisha had taken Goliath's full-power punch head-on, making her the first member of the party to lose the ability to continue fighting.

————-

(OG Author Note: In the original work, the Apollo Familia could defeat a regular Lv4 Goliath with one Lv3, several Lv2, and dozens of Lv1 adventurers. 

Information and strategy play a significant role in influencing the difficulty of a Raid; with proper intelligence and tactics, adventurers can take down monsters of higher levels.)

Goliath

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Monsters/Image_Gallery?file=DanMachi_Volume_5_149.png#Light_Novel

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Monsters/Image_Gallery?file=Black_Goliath_-_DanMachi_Manga.jpg#Manga

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Monsters/Image_Gallery?file=Black_Goliath_Concept_Art.png#Anime

Aisha and Ryuu

https://danmachi.fandom.com/wiki/Aisha_Belka/Image_Gallery?file=DanMachi_Volume_10.png#DM_Light_Novel