Chapter 1548: Cyclops

"Gold coins?"

Xia De raised his eyebrows.

"A ferryman in a black robe? Sounds like the Grim Reaper ferrying the River Styx in stories."

The bard whispered the stories circulating in this era.

"We shouldn't have money on us, right?"

The old knight was very worried.

"Since the choice has been made, there is no regret. I think there will always be a way."

The witch said, and the story continued.

"The poor travelers did not have enough gold coins to pay for crossing the river, and retreating meant the failure of the journey, which was a result they could not accept. So, the kind ferryman suggested using the soul of one of you to pay for the boat fare of the other four, I wonder if you can accept it."

The god asked the five people. Just like before, neither Xia De nor the witch was willing to sacrifice a companion here:

"Of course not, we are traveling together."

"The rejected ferryman was not angry, but reminded you that there lived a one-eyed giant not far away, who might have enough gold coins for you to pay the crossing fee."

Xia De thought there would be choices next, but didn't expect the story to jump directly to the next stage.

"So, before lunch, you found the one-eyed giant living in a cave. The irritable giant was very angry because he was disturbed. The battle begins."

The god said with a smile, the voice had a gentle sense of persuasion in the background sound of the crackling bonfire. Since he appeared, he had always been in such a tone, as if he were really sharing a small night story with the travelers he met by chance.

"How are we going to fight?"

Xia De asked, and the god answered:

"Of course, it's a real fight."

"Ah? Sorry, what?"

Before Xia De finished speaking, everyone felt the temperature in the damp and rotten air rise sharply. Heavy footsteps appeared on the edge of the foggy forest almost the next second. First was the fiery red light, which almost made Xia De and the witch think there was a fire in the forest, but then, a giant fiery red figure as tall as two floors walked into the camp with heavy steps, roaring.

Its body seemed to be made of black rock, and the huge black body was wrapped in a roaring fire. The giant's two arms held a flame greatsword and a fiery red long whip respectively, and on the face that should have had two eyes, because one eye seemed to be blinded, only the left eye was open.

The scorching temperature made breathing difficult, and the pressure from the high-level life form made the old knight, the bard, and the maid tremble. Of course, the latter's performance was significantly better than the men.

Xia De and the witch looked at the "Cyclops" in astonishment. In Xia De's view, the elegant witch even said a localized swear word:

"Damn it! This is not a Cyclops! This is a Balrog with one eye blinded!"

The age of this Balrog did not look old, and it was not an evil spirit demon of the Third Era, but an individual of the demon race itself. Its power was far inferior to the arsonist - Sophix that Xia De and the doctor saw in the Sikar Mountains, but this was definitely not an enemy that could be dealt with simply.

Xia De raised his hand to prepare for the enemy, but when he looked around, he was surprised to see that the god, the bonfire, and the tent had disappeared. Now, standing beside him were a gray old horse, a white unicorn, a colorful parrot flying, and a gray hunting dog standing on the unicorn's back:

"Hmm?"

This picture was too ridiculous, so Xia De thought he had instantly become the circus master.

"Hmm?"

The unicorn also made a puzzled sound, and then realized that everyone had really turned into those travelers in the story.

The mutation happened quite suddenly, but the attack launched by the one-eyed Balrog swinging the flame long whip did not give them a chance to communicate their feelings about "transformation."

Xia De jumped up without thinking, and the pitch-black Sin Chain in his sleeve also whipped toward the fiery red long whip like a whip.

The original target of the long whip was the parrot, but fortunately, the bard had self-knowledge and flew away quickly while Xia De was protecting him, so no one was injured in the first encounter.

In the loud noise of 'bang', the pitch-black chain that seemed to be able to absorb light collided with the fiery red long whip emitting sparks. The two breaking sounds even caused the vibration of the air, making the flames on the Balrog produce strange optical effects.

Sparks splashed, the Balrog's long whip and the chain in Xia De's hand covered with golden cracks were entangled together. Both sides exerted force backward, the long whip and the chain were pulled straight in the air, illuminating the forest in the darkness while the sparks splashed, and Xia De, who used 【Power of the Red Dragon】, was actually on par with the Balrog in terms of strength.

A steady stream of power was transmitted into Xia De's body from under his feet, making him feel that his power was still increasing. He moved backward slowly, and the Balrog was dragged forward with his movements. It clearly had not encountered a human who could compete with it in terms of strength, but after a moment of surprise, the mouth in the flames opened, and high-heat flames sprayed out in a straight line.

"I'll block it!"

It was strange for the unicorn to make a woman's voice, but the unicorn flapping its wings really barely floated in the air, facing the fire flow directly in the air. The soft white light shield around its body split the fire flow into two and avoided all the "people" on the ground.

This was a rare battle scene in a normal Time Key mission that Xia De faced, but after the first round of confrontation, Xia De also realized that the Balrog that ran from nowhere was much weaker than he thought.

If it weren't for the witch turning into a unicorn now, with her spellcasting ability, it would definitely not be Xia De's turn to take action:

"Lady, you protect the others, I'll solve it."

Xia De said to the unicorn in the air. The witch also knew that she was completely unaccustomed to the body in this form, and the current state was even less suitable for fighting something of such a large size, so she landed on the ground with the gray hunting dog on her back and gathered with the parrot and the old horse.

Xia De shook the chain in his hand violently. Amidst the splashing sparks, the chain and the long whip separated and curled back to their respective masters. The roaring one-eyed Balrog swung the flame greatsword at the ground. The magma splashing from the mud was blocked by the unicorn to protect the other three "travelers." And Xia De was not under the greatsword. After the red butterfly group emitting scarlet light gathered in the air, Xia De, who was hanging upside down, kicked out a blow like the moon falling under the pitch-black night sky in the forest.

The arc-shaped moonlight hit the Balrog, but it was blocked by the latter crossing its arms. But Xia De, who fell from the air, did not give it any chance. A silver-white thunder spear appeared in his hand, and he threw it forward with all his strength. The thunder spear flew toward the chest exposed because the arms were raised, and pierced straight through the heart of the Balrog seen through by "Demon Vision."

The unwilling roar almost shattered the eardrums. The flames when the Balrog fell to the ground and exploded were barely blocked by Xia De's "Highton Seal" and the unicorn's pure white light shield together.

But even so, the flames still rushed toward them, wrapping the one person and four beasts. And when the flames dissipated, the five people were surprised to find that they were still sitting in a circle in the narrow open space between the bonfire and the small tent with the god and their companions.

The thin fog was still rising in the dense forest, but there were no traces of any battle around. It was peaceful and quiet here, the crackling sound of the bonfire was the clearest sound at this moment, and the strange area known as the "Lost Forest" did not have insects, birds, or beasts.

But the battle just now was definitely not an illusion, because in front of Xia De, there was an extra gray cloth bag tied with hemp rope. He picked up the bag and shook it a few times, and the sound of coins colliding was very pleasant. After opening the pocket, inside was the 【Demon Gold Coin】 that Xia De currently had only one left.

"There are exactly five here."

Xia De said, looking at the others who were all in a state of lingering fear. The bard was holding a colorful feather he didn't know where he touched with his left hand in horror, and his right hand was desperately stroking his body; the old knight looked even more exhausted, Xia De even suspected that if he wasn't determined, he might lie down and listen to stories in a while; the witch's expression was normal, just touching her forehead, as if worried that she really grew a unicorn, only the maid in the black dress looked like she didn't have much abnormality, just pursing her lips and looking at the surrounding forest uneasily.

"The Balrog just now should have been weakened by the 'story', otherwise there is no reason to be so easy to deal with. If so, all the dangers we encountered in the story are actually weakened versions, just like ourselves in the story."

Xia De said while looking at the god. The traveler with his back to the bonfire still had a kind smile on his face.

So Xia De threw the bag containing gold coins beside the pile of cards in the crowd, and others also looked over because they heard the sound of the bag landing:

"This is the boat fare for crossing the river, we are going to take that ship."

After the bag landed, it actually bounced, as if what was inside was actually an elastic ball. Then, under the gaze of the crowd, the bag took the initiative to "jump" into the flames. The god exclaimed:

"The travelers excellently defeated the innocent one-eyed giant living in the forest and snatched all its savings. You paid the ferryman the boat fare for crossing the river, and the ferryman in a black robe allowed you to board the ship. So, the unicorn, the loyal dog, the parrot, and the old horse stepped onto the tattered wooden ship in turn..."

Hearing this, Xia De knew that he was going to be unlucky this time:

"But."

"But, when the traveler under the moon tried to board the ship, he was blocked by the ferryman."

The traveler looked at Xia De with shining eyes, so Xia De performed helplessly:

"Ferryman, why don't you let me board the ship. I clearly paid enough boat fare, could it be that your greed makes you want to ask for more?"

"The voice came from under the ferryman's hood, and he gave an answer in an irrefutable tone: You are different from them, my ship can only carry them. And you, are different."

PS: Young Balrog, and weakened by the "story", so Xia De could beat it. ===== CHAPTER 1549 =====