“Cough… Great God, are you alright?”
While the Lava Giant’s ultimate skill was reflected, leaving it severely injured and utterly bewildered, Bai Xia offered a solicitous inquiry to Tian Zheng.
After all, the kick she had just delivered held nothing back. Even if it wouldn’t cause too much pain in the game, it certainly looked incredibly embarrassing. Couldn’t he see the mud still clinging to his mouth?
Tian Zheng climbed to his feet, silent, merely brushing off the dirt that clung to his clothes before staring intently at her.
Feeling utterly uncomfortable under his gaze, Bai Xia awkwardly averted her head, though not without hastily apologizing: “Um, um… In any case, it’s all my fault. Please, great master, could you forgive me, seeing as I’m so adorable?”
Though it had been a heat-of-the-moment, impulsive act, Bai Xia was entirely unambiguous when it came to offering an apology.
Moreover, she still intended to ‘cling to his thigh’ (TL Note: A Chinese idiom meaning to rely heavily on someone’s support or influence) in the future. It would be an immense loss if this incident created any rift between them. Thus, the young woman blinked her remarkably dewy eyes, attempting to charm her way out of trouble.
And while one might not wish to admit it, it must sometimes be said that humans are truly visual creatures.
Being inexplicably kicked a great distance and landing face-first in the dirt—if this had happened to an unsightly, rough man, then no matter how good Tian Zheng’s temper, he would absolutely have kicked back to vent his frustration!
But as for now…
“…Forget it. I won’t ask why you suddenly kicked me.”
As Bai Xia shamelessly (in her own estimation) put on a pitiful display, the man sighed, letting the matter drop. However, he immediately changed the subject, pointing to the Lava Giant not far away: “But what’s going on with that?”
It was no wonder Tian Zheng was puzzled. After all, just before he was kicked away, he had mentally prepared himself to be instantly killed. Who would have thought that upon getting up, he and Bai Xia were not only alive, but the BOSS’s ultimate skill had vanished, and its health bar was significantly depleted!
Had he transmigrated? Or suffered amnesia? The man couldn’t help but feel a bit dazed.
Seeing that he wasn’t pursuing the matter of her kick, Bai Xia breathed a slight sigh of relief. With nothing to hide regarding the recent events, she promptly displayed the full stats of Shura’s Doom (TL Note: Likely an item or skill name) to him.
Tian Zheng first glanced at the distant Lava Giant. Only after confirming it showed no immediate signs of movement did he quickly review the information Bai Xia had shared with him, subsequently falling into a profound silence.
After finishing, he turned his gaze to the young woman before him, his expression peculiar, and asked in a tone that sounded utterly serious: “Bai Xia, tell me honestly, this game… it’s not run by your family, is it?”
“Eh?”
Bai Xia didn’t immediately grasp his meaning, but soon found herself a little dumbfounded and amused. She spread her hands, ultimately stating with a straight face: “I’m afraid my family doesn’t wield such immense power in reality. In fact, I’m so poor I’m almost ‘turning tricks’ (TL Note: A euphemism for prostitution, implying extreme poverty and desperation). And… Great God, if you fancy this outfit and wish to wear it, I can take it all off for you.”
Tian Zheng: “…”
With her words, the man suddenly lost all interest in Shura’s Doom.
While Shura’s Doom didn’t explicitly state it was for female use only, it was likely that ninety percent of men would lose interest upon seeing its style.
As for the remaining ten percent, perhaps they would be quite excited?
Naturally, Tian Zheng belonged to the ninety percent, completely uninterested in cross-dressing. However, the young woman’s casual self-deprecating remark made him thoughtful, and he tentatively asked: “Are you very short on money?”
In fact, Tian Zheng had somewhat noticed this aspect recently; Bai Xia was indeed very sensitive about money. Her current statement inevitably led him to ponder further.
Talking about money gave Bai Xia a ‘headache’ (TL Note: ‘Egg-pain’, a Chinese slang term meaning to feel troubled or annoyed), truly understanding the saying, ‘One doesn’t know the cost of firewood and rice until they run a household.’ Just as she was about to vent her frustrations to Tian Zheng, the Lava Giant on the other side made its move.
Having been dazed by its own skill for a while, its gaze finally locked onto Bai Xia, the ‘culprit’. Then, with the most furious roar it had ever uttered since its birth, it charged forward.
Even after sustaining heavy damage, its massive body still shook the earth with terrifying might as it ran.
Helplessly, Bai Xia could only swallow back the complaint on the tip of her tongue and focus on facing the enemy.
Tian Zheng, naturally not one to disregard the situation, promptly shut his mouth, grabbed his weapon, and followed closely behind, seeing that proper communication was impossible in the short term.
At this moment, despite the Lava Giant’s immense fury, the threat it posed to the two was practically nonexistent.
Without its lava power, it was, in essence, just a moving target. Bai Xia hadn’t been afraid when it was engulfed in flames before, so there was certainly no reason to cower now!
Defeating this BOSS, which had once driven the young woman to despair, was now merely a matter of time.
Indeed, having cast its ultimate skill and temporarily lost its fiery power, the Lava Giant’s strength had plummeted by more than just one tier compared to before.
Its potent lava projectiles were unusable, its continuous burning passive ability had likewise vanished, and its Earth-Shattering Roar (TL Note: A skill name), capable of causing wide-area knockback, stun, and even instant kills, was halved in effectiveness. Now, even after charging, it couldn’t summon lava to inflict damage, and its ultimate skill remained on a lengthy cooldown.
The only skill it could still use normally was a charged impact. However, this skill not only had a noticeable wind-up animation before casting but also required a brief charging period, making it utterly clumsy. As long as Bai Xia and Tian Zheng weren’t intentionally trying to get hit, they wouldn’t be struck.
In this situation, calling the Lava Giant a moving target was entirely accurate. Bai Xia could even ‘hang’ (TL Note: A Chinese gaming slang term meaning to stick closely to an enemy, often from behind, to continuously attack without being hit) behind it, dealing damage safely and consistently for extended periods. Even if the Lava Giant made a move, she could evade it using Dark Harvest (TL Note: A skill name) or Shadow Stealth (TL Note: A skill name).
As she continuously hacked away, Bai Xia even began to feel bored; her arm grew numb from wielding her weapon.
Meanwhile, as its health dwindled, the Lava Giant grew increasingly frantic, yet at this point, it could only rage in impotent fury.
Though it could easily crush both Bai Xia and Tian Zheng with a single stomp, it was futile—it simply couldn’t hit them!
Its attacks, no matter how powerful, only struck empty air; its damage, no matter how terrifying, couldn’t even graze the enemy’s clothes…
What good was being formidable if it couldn’t connect?
At this moment, the Lava Giant’s face was etched with ‘frustration’ (TL Note: ‘Biequ’, a feeling of being wronged, stifled, or aggrieved). If it had a choice, it would probably want to commit suicide.
However, monsters in games don’t have a suicide option unless it’s for plot purposes, so the Lava Giant could only silently endure.
Although its fiery power was slowly recovering with time, its health bar was unfortunately dropping even faster.
Half an hour was neither long nor short, but with a half-health moving target presented for them to hack at, if Bai Xia and Tian Zheng couldn’t defeat it, they might as well quit the game.
Moreover, as its fiery power waned, the Lava Giant’s innate talents were also weakened, allowing Tian Zheng to inflict significant damage upon it as well.
Under this ‘mixed doubles’ assault (TL Note: A humorous way to describe the joint attack by a male and female character), even the thick-skinned Lava Giant couldn’t withstand it.
Indeed, it was profoundly aggrieved, for its ultimate skill could have easily annihilated these two audacious humans, leaving them no escape.
Yet… it was reflected!
Since the will of the great universe had decreed the Lava Giant’s demise, it could only, with immense frustration, be hacked to death by Bai Xia, transforming into experience for her and Tian Zheng, along with a scattering of glittering items and gold coins, without even having the chance to raise a middle finger.