No Escape from the Trial

“Ding! A special inheritance quest has been triggered—the ‘Trial of the Ruin Guardian’.”

In the same instant Qingcheng’s voice faded, the system’s quest notification chimed.

This so-called special inheritance quest, however, was distinctly different from all others, for its entire interface glowed with a terrifying crimson!

This vivid hue signaled that the quest’s danger level far exceeded what Bai Xia could currently endure; the crimson text was, unequivocally, a warning from the system itself.

Bai Xia, for the moment, disregarded the system’s prompt, her gaze drawn instead to the towering giant in the distance, its form wreathed in flowing flames.

Whether due to Qingcheng’s intervention or not, the giant’s information materialized before her eyes the very next moment, laid bare without reservation.

Then…

“You’ve got to be kidding me! You want me to defeat *this* guy? Are you insane, or am I!?”

Having only glimpsed the opening lines, Bai Xia instantly spluttered.

Lava Giant Thais, Level 15, Grade… Lord—a Level 15 Lord BOSS!

Bai Xia turned her furious gaze towards the woman seated serenely on the throne, her face a picture of innocence, and fiercely suppressed the urge to rush forward and slap her chest.

[Lava Giant Thais]: Level 15 Lord BOSS, HP 15000. Originally a Level 50 Monarch-grade BOSS, a member of the Royal Fire Giant clan residing in the Western Lava Abyss. For unknown reasons, it incurred the wrath of the Ruin Guardian, who stripped it of all its power and imprisoned it for nearly a millennium. Over these thousand years, its power has recovered at an agonizingly slow pace. However, despite this drastic regression in strength, a certain degree of its inherent Giant Royal Family talents and skills has been preserved.

Talent: King of Giants: Immune to 50% physical damage, unaffected by critical hit (TL Note: Often referred to as ‘weak point’ or ‘vulnerability’ damage in games) bonus damage.

Lava Body: Its form perpetually wreathed in lava and flames, enemies who approach will be continuously ignited by fire, and all attacks will inflict additional burn damage.

Skill: Furious Strike: Swings an arm, smashing it towards the enemy. If it connects, it deals immense damage and stuns the target for two seconds. Cooldown: 5 seconds.

Lava Cannonball: Spews a cannonball of solidified lava from its mouth. If the cannonball misses, it will explode at a certain distance, creating a wide area of splash damage. Cooldown: 20 seconds.

Earth-Shattering Roar: Gathers lava power into its arm, then slams it heavily onto the ground, dealing colossal damage to enemies and having a 100% chance to knock back all nearby foes. This skill can be charged; upon reaching maximum charge, it can stun all surrounding enemies and trigger a secondary eruption of lava power from beneath the earth, inflicting additional damage. Cooldown: 3 minutes.

Firestorm: Unleashes all its fiery power and wildly spins its body, transforming into a colossal vortex of flames to assault enemies. Once formed, this fiery whirlwind will slow down nearby enemies and continuously unleash a barrage of fireballs, lasting for 10 seconds. Cooldown: 20 minutes. After use, it will temporarily lose its fire-based abilities for half an hour.

Lava Giant Thais was, without a shadow of a doubt, the most formidable BOSS Bai Xia had encountered in this game thus far—bar none!

So… how in the hell was she supposed to fight this?

Staring blankly at the Lava Giant’s formidable stats, Bai Xia found herself utterly speechless for a moment.

Though she had just recently dispatched the Level 10 Lord BOSS, the Goblin Lord, that particular foe had been nothing more than a pushover!

Due to its interrupted evolution, while the Goblin Lord was indeed a Level 10 Lord monster, neither its offense nor its defense truly befitted the title of ‘Lord.’ Describing it as a ‘pushover’ was truly apt.

Yet, even against such a pushover, Bai Xia and Tian Zheng had still expended considerable effort to defeat it, and the process itself had been fraught with peril.

The Lava Giant, however, was a different story entirely. This was a genuine Lord BOSS, and it outranked the Goblin Lord by a full five levels!

Moreover, having originally been a formidable Level 50 Monarch-grade monster, even with its reduced level and grade, its attributes still comprehensively surpassed those of a typical Level 15 BOSS.

With a level difference of more than five and an all-encompassing stat suppression, Bai Xia surmised that her attacks wouldn’t even scratch the giant’s defenses; they’d merely tickle it.

No, scratch that—they probably wouldn’t even manage a tickle.

Given that most high-level BOSSes possess automatic regeneration, the Lava Giant’s formidable 15,000 HP meant that even if it stood perfectly still, allowing her to hack at it for an entire day, she might not be able to fell it!

Conversely, with the Lava Giant’s sheer power, a mere wave of its hand would likely instantly obliterate Bai Xia. So, what was the point of even fighting? She might as well lie down and let it pummel her, saving both time and money.

This was what they called a ‘trial quest’? This was clearly just toying with her!

Bai Xia was furious. While she understood that there was no such thing as a free lunch in this world, and certainly not in a game, denying her even a shred of hope felt utterly excessive.

The enemy before her had clearly far surpassed the limits of her capabilities.

This wasn’t an inheritance trial at all; it was, unequivocally, a death trial!

Upon her throne, the woman described by the system as the Ruin Guardian had, at some point, reverted to her languid posture. Observing Bai Xia’s palpable dissatisfaction, she remarked with an air of utter nonchalance: “Did you truly believe I was jesting? I assure you, I was not. Only by defeating it can you claim what is mine. This is already the lowest tier of trial, little one.”

The lowest tier? Then the highest tier would surely be catastrophic.

Bai Xia was in no mood to dwell on the trial’s difficulty. Reaching up to rub her temples, she tentatively inquired, “Then, I no longer wish for this so-called inheritance. Can you simply let me leave?”

While the purported inheritance sounded exceedingly tempting, her current strength rendered it utterly unobtainable. Left with no alternative, she had to choose surrender.

Qingcheng tilted her head, seemingly pondering Bai Xia’s proposition. After a brief silence, she replied, “You may.”

Before Bai Xia could even breathe a sigh of relief.

“But are you truly certain you wish to surrender in such a manner? Understand this: any who flee without battle will not only have their level forcibly reset to zero, but all their equipment and items will also be completely annihilated!”

“…What!?”

The chilling indifference in the woman’s voice made cold sweat erupt on Bai Xia’s skin, a frigid sensation spreading through her entire body.

Level wiped, all items annihilated? Heavens, did she truly have to be so ruthless!?

In response, Qingcheng merely let out a cold laugh, her eyes narrowing, making her resemble a sly vixen. “Or what did you expect? Little one, you didn’t truly believe my domain was a place where you could simply come and go as you pleased, did you?”

Bai Xia swallowed hard. She had, indeed, believed exactly that. However, it now seemed that abandoning the quest and leaving directly was an impossibility.

With a helpless sigh, she resigned herself to her fate.

“Fine, as long as you’re happy.”

Though she desperately wanted to point at the woman’s nose and declare, ‘I’ll beat your damn ass,’ she was, alas, under another’s roof and had no choice but to bow her head. This woman was clearly an incredibly powerful hidden NPC, and it was best not to offend her if at all possible.

It seemed, however, that she was destined to die once more today, no matter what. This sensation of being unable to refuse, yet also unable to resist, was truly beyond irritating.