Chapter 293 - Balrog Serpent
Inside the Eternal Throne, the apex powerhouses of the War God’s Temple were currently observing the situation inside the Twelve Trials, and they were all very shocked to discover that Shi Feng actually wielded a Magic Weapon.
“What an amazing little guy. He isn’t even a Tier 1 Swordsman, yet he is actually able to master a Magic Weapon. Moreover, he has even released its power to such a degree.”
“Controller of a Magic Weapon. Dominator of a Mysterious Flame. Moreover, his control over his own power has obviously crossed that threshold. He sure knows how to surprise us time after time.”
“Yes. It would have been fine if it were just the Magic Weapon and Mysterious Flame, but he has even reached such a level of control over his own power already. Many of those who have attained a Tier 3 class can’t even achieve such a degree of control. It seems he won’t have any problems clearing the 6th trial. With such great potential hidden in him, if he had come to us a little later, he might have been able to clear even the 7th trial. Such a pity.”
The “threshold” these NPC big shots were referring to was simply one’s ability to display 50% of one’s own combat power. However, none of these NPCs knew that, in the past, Shi Feng had once been a Tier 3 Sword King. Back then, Shi Feng was capable of displaying up to 80% of his personal combat power. If not for his weak physique limiting his brain’s development potential and also the quality of his own equipment being a problem, Shi Feng would have long since been promoted to a Tier 4 Sword Emperor.
“This can’t be helped. Who would have known the Endless Abyss would break the seal so quickly?”
“There is no point feeling pity over the matter. We old folks should make some preparations for when the trial ends as well. Otherwise, we’ll break our backs from overwork later.”
The lords of the silver thrones unanimously acknowledged Shi Feng’s potential. However, in regard to Shi Feng’s managing to clear the 7th trial, they held no hope towards it at all. The reason being, it had been over a millennium since the 7th trial had been cleared.
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Inside the Twelve Trials, the stage for the 6th trial was a cave of lava similar to the Flame God’s Cave. However, the fire-type mana here was far purer than in the Flame God’s Cave. Shi Feng currently stood inside this cave, and the molten hot lava around him was making bubbling sounds as it flowed through the cave. If Shi Feng did not possess 20 points in Fire Resistance, allowing him a certain degree of immunity to heat, he would have long since been cooked by the scalding hot temperatures. Any average player that came here might already be half-dead before they even started battling.
Before Shi Feng could fully observe the terrain inside the cave, a gigantic flame-covered snake over twenty meters long emerged from the molten lava.
[Balrog Serpent] (Special Elite)
Level 20
HP 150,000/150,000
Even if Shi Feng did not know exactly how powerful this Balrog Serpent was, he had no doubt whatsoever that this serpent had a very high resistance towards fire-type attacks.
“Let’s use you as a test for my new weapons.”
Shi Feng revealed a faint smile as he unsheathed the Abyssal Blade and the Purgatory’s Shadow. However, he did not directly charge at the Balrog Serpent, as that was something only an idiot would do. Before charging into battle, experts would first try to understand as much as they could about their opponent. Hence, Shi Feng simply stood still and calmly observed the Balrog Serpent’s every action, familiarizing himself with the giant serpent’s movement patterns.
The Balrog Serpent was also no idiot itself. It obviously knew that it was much stronger than Shi Feng and that its HP was tens of times higher than Shi Feng’s as well. So, instead of giving Shi Feng time to study it, the Balrog Serpent immediately widened its mouth and sent fireballs flying one after another at Shi Feng.
Shi Feng’s feet moved, his body instantly reacting and leaving behind an afterimage as he effortlessly dodged these incoming fireballs.
Not giving up, the Balrog Serpent continued bombarding Shi Feng with a stream of fireballs.
If three were not enough, then five. If five were not enough, then ten. Soon, the space within the cave was packed with fireballs.
By attacking in such a way, not only could the Balrog Serpent damage its enemies, it could also prevent them from closing in on it. Faced with such a method of attack that combined both offense and defense, average players would definitely grow helpless and suffer the bombardment of these dozens of fireballs. Shi Feng, however, was no average player. In the face of all these fireballs, instead of retreating, he chose to advance without the slightest shred of hesitation. Yet, contrary to expectations, Shi Feng did not end up suffering a tragic end at the hands of the fireballs. Instead, he looked as if he was dancing as he weaved through the rain of fire, his actions seemingly easy and enjoyable.
However, when the distance between him and the Balrog Serpent shortened to 20 yards, he could no longer rely solely on evading the fireballs to move forward.
I’ve mostly grasped its attack timing. Now, it’s time to have a look at how amazing my new weapons are. Shi Feng inwardly smiled as he looked at the Balrog Serpent that was constantly spitting out fireballs.
Shi Feng activated the Ice-Blue Devil Flame, and deep-blue flames immediately wrapped around his body. He then used Silent Steps to appear right behind the Balrog Serpent’s head.
The first thing he did when he arrived was to send a vertical slash down on the Balrog Serpent’s head, causing -372 damage to the monster.
“Such strong Defense!” Shi Feng looked at the resulting damage, disbelief filling his eyes.
The Abyssal Blade itself already possessed 302 Attack Power. If Shi Feng’s Strength were taken into account, his total Attack Power should be well over 700 points. Moreover, the Ice-Blue Devil Flame had also increased the damage he dealt by 20%. Yet, he had managed to cause only -372 damage to the monster. The Balrog Serpent’s Defense could already rival a Lord ranked monster of the same level.
If Shi Feng had not upgraded the Abyssal Blade to Level 20 nor equipped the Dark-Gold ranked Purgatory’s Shadow, Shi Feng might not even be able to deal -150 damage to the Balrog Serpent right now.
At this moment, Shi Feng felt fortunate that he had not rushed before to start the 6th trial. Otherwise, his chances of victory would have been lower than 20%.
However, although Shi Feng had allowed this thought to linger in his mind for a moment, his attacks on the Balrog Serpent never stopped.
Immediately after his first sword strike, Shi Feng followed up by using Thundering Flash. Three electric arcs dove into the flaming Balrog Serpent, piercing its gigantic body and causing damages of -554, -1,528, and -1,125. The damage he dealt was much higher than before. Simultaneously, he had also inflicted a Damage Amplification debuff that lasted 20 seconds on the Balrog Serpent.
Following which, Shi Feng continued with a Chop, the attack achieving a critical hit and dealing close to -2,000 damage.
When Shi Feng landed on the ground, he immediately followed up with a flurry of sword slashes. The Abyssal Blade now had a 40% chance to deal a critical hit, so Shi Feng could deal a critical hit with almost every other attack.
From this series of attacks, the Balrog Serpent had lost over 7,000 HP. However, the giant serpent had 150,000 HP; Shi Feng would need to repeat such a burst of attacks at least twenty more times in order to completely kill it.
Originally, Shi Feng felt quite happy with the damage he was dealing. At this rate, even if he did not activate Black Emperor, he still possessed a very high chance of killing the Balrog Serpent. Unfortunately, that happiness was short-lived. The reason being, Shi Feng soon discovered that the Balrog Serpent’s HP was rapidly returning to full; it was actually recovering 500 HP every second. That amount was even higher than a single one of Shi Feng’s normal attacks. If Shi Feng remained idle, the Balrog Serpent would fully recover in less than 20 seconds.
Meanwhile, the Balrog Serpent immediately sent its tail swiping at Shi Feng, finally reacting to Shi Feng’s attacks.
Shi Feng hurriedly used Parry to block the attack. Although he suffered no damage from the Balrog Serpent’s tail strike, he was forced to retreat three steps, with his hands growing numb from the force of the impact as well. In terms of destructive power, the Balrog Serpent was definitely superior to the Chimera. The Balrog Serpent was also much faster. Shi Feng had actually been forced to use Parry because he could not dodge in time.
Currently, Shi Feng’s Parry was at Level 7, so it had a Cooldown of 21 seconds.
Aside from Parry, Shi Feng also had Defensive Blade, a skill that had both offensive and defensive capabilities. Currently, Defensive Blade was at Level 6, and it had a Cooldown of two minutes. Although its Cooldown was much longer than Parry, it allowed Shi Feng to completely block four melee attacks and eight ranged attacks. He would also be immune to Charge attacks.
Just as the dozens of fireballs were about to hit him, Shi Feng jumped into the air, dodging them completely. Right after that, the Balrog Serpent swiped its tail at Shi Feng again, the sound of wind whistling could be heard as its tail streaked through the air.
In the face of this powerful attack, Shi Feng showed no signs of weaknesses. Immediately, he countered the attack with the Level 7 Thunder Flame Explosion.
When sword and tail collided, sparks of flame scattered in all directions. The Balrog Serpent’s tail was knocked back, the monster itself receiving over -400 damage from the brief clash. On the other hand, Shi Feng landed heavily onto the ground, his feet sinking partly into the molten lava. A damage of over -700 points also appeared above his head. As expected, in a direct confrontation, Shi Feng was definitely a lot weaker than the Balrog Serpent. However, Shi Feng was probably the only player in God’s Domain right now who dared to actually fight a Special Elite monster in such a way.