"gold?"
Shade raised an eyebrow.
"A boatman in a black robe? He sounds like the god of death who ferries people across the Styx in the story."
The bard whispered the stories that were popular in this era.
"We don't have any money, do we?"
The old knight was very worried.
"Now that I have made the choice, I cannot regret it. I think there will always be a way."
The witch said, and the story continues.
"The poor travelers don't have enough gold coins to pay for the crossing, and retreating means the failure of the journey, which is an outcome they cannot accept. Therefore, the kind boatman proposed to use the soul of one of you to pay for the fare of the other four. I wonder if you can accept it."
The god asked the five people. Just like before, Shade and the witch were unwilling to sacrifice their companions here:
"Of course not. We are traveling together."
"The rejected boatman was not angry, but reminded you that there is a one-eyed giant living not far away, and he may have enough gold coins for you to pay for crossing the river."
Xia De thought there would be more choices next, but he didn't expect the story to jump directly to the next stage.
"So before lunch, you found the Cyclops living in the cave. The grumpy giant was extremely angry because he was disturbed. The battle began."
The god said with a smile, her voice was very gentle and soothing against the background of the crackling bonfire. She had been speaking in this tone since she appeared, as if she was really sharing little stories of the night with the travelers she met.
"How are we going to fight?"
Shad asked, and God replied:
"Of course we really have to fight."
"Huh? Sorry, what?"
Before Shade finished speaking, everyone felt the temperature in the damp and rancid air suddenly rise. Heavy footsteps appeared at the edge of the foggy forest almost the next second. First, there was a fiery red light, which almost made Shade and the witch think that there was a fire in the forest, but then, a giant fiery red figure, as tall as two stories, walked into the camp with heavy steps and roared.
Its body seemed to be made of black rock, and the huge black body was wrapped in blazing flames. The giant's two arms held a flaming sword and a flaming whip respectively, and on its face where there should be two eyes, one eye seemed to be blinded, so only the left eye was open.
The scorching heat made it difficult to breathe, and the pressure from the higher-level lifeforms made the old knight, the bard, and the maid tremble. Of course, the latter performed significantly better than the men.
Shade and the witch stood together and looked at the "Cyclops" in amazement. The witch, who seemed elegant to Shade, even said a localized swear word:
"Damn it! This isn't a Cyclops! This is a Balrog with one eye blinded!"
This fire demon didn't look very old, and it wasn't an evil demon from the Third Age, but an individual of the demon race itself. Its power was far less than that of the arsonist Sophix that Shade and the doctor had seen in Mount Xikar, but it was definitely not an easy enemy to deal with.
Shade raised his hand to fight back, but when he looked around, he was surprised to see that the gods, the bonfire, and the tent had disappeared. Now, standing next to him was an old gray horse, a white unicorn, a flying colorful parrot, and a gray hound standing on the unicorn's back:
"Um?"
The scene was so funny that Shad thought he had instantly become the owner of a circus.
"Um?"
The unicorn also made a puzzled sound, and then realized that everyone had actually turned into the travelers in the story.
The change happened quite suddenly, but the attack launched by the Fire Demon with his flaming whip did not give them a chance to exchange their thoughts on their "transformation".
Xia De jumped up without thinking, and the dark chain of sin in his sleeve lashed at the fiery red whip like a whip.
The whip's original target was the parrot, but thankfully the bard had the self-awareness to fly away quickly while Shade protected him, so no one was hurt in the first encounter.
With a loud bang, the dark chain that seemed to absorb light collided with the fiery red whip that emitted sparks. The two sounds of breaking through the air even caused the air to vibrate, causing the flames on the fire demon's body to produce a strange optical effect.
Sparks flew everywhere, and the long whip of the tall Fire Demon entangled with the chain in the hand of Shade, whose body was covered with golden cracks. Both parties pushed back at the same time, and the long whip and chain stretched straight in the air, letting the flying sparks illuminate the dark forest. At the same time, Shade, who used the power of the red dragon, was actually equal to the Fire Demon in terms of strength.
An endless stream of power was being transmitted from his feet into Shade's body, making him feel that his power was still increasing. He slowly moved backwards, and the Balrog was dragged forward with his movements. It had obviously never encountered a human who could fight against it in terms of strength, but after a moment of surprise, the mouth in the flame opened, and the high-heat flames sprayed out in a straight line.
"I'll block it!"
It was strange that the unicorn made a woman's voice, but the unicorn flapped its wings and barely stayed aloft, facing the fire stream in the air. The soft white light shield around her body split the fire stream into two, avoiding all the "people" on the ground.
This was a rare battle scene in a normal Time Key mission that Shad faced, but after the first round of confrontation, Shad also realized that the fire demon that came from nowhere was much weaker than he thought.
If the witch had not turned into a unicorn, with her spellcasting ability, it would definitely not be Shade's turn to attack:
"Ma'am, you protect the others, I'll take care of it."
Shade said to the unicorn in the air. The witch also knew that she was completely unsuitable for this form of body, and her current state was even less suitable for fighting such a large creature. So she fell to the ground with the gray hound on her back and reunited with the parrot and the old horse.
Shade shook the chain in his hand suddenly, and the chain and the whip separated from each other and rolled back to their respective owners amidst the flying sparks. The roaring one-eyed demon swung the giant sword in his hand towards the ground, and the fiery giant sword fell to the ground. The magma that splashed out of the soil was blocked by the unicorn to protect the other three companions. But Shade was not under the giant sword. After the group of red butterflies emitting scarlet light gathered in the air, Shade, who was hanging upside down, kicked out a blow like the falling moon under the dark night sky in the forest.
The arc of moonlight hit the Fire Demon, but was blocked by the latter's crossed arms. However, Shade, who was falling from the sky, did not give it any more chances. He took out the silver-white lightning spear in his hand and threw it forward with all his strength. The lightning spear flew towards the chest that was exposed due to the raised arms, and went straight through the heart of the Fire Demon that was seen through by the "Vision Demon".
The unwilling roar almost broke the eardrums, and the flames of the fire demon when he fell to the ground and exploded and died were barely blocked by Shade's "Siton Seal" and the unicorn's pure white light shield.
But even so, the flames still came over them, enveloping the man and the four beasts. When the flames died down, the five people were surprised to find that they were still sitting with the gods and their companions in the narrow space between the campfire and the small tent.
There was still a thin mist in the dense forest, but there was no sign of any battle around. It was still peaceful here, and the crackling sound of the campfire was the clearest sound at the moment. There were no insects, birds or animals in the strange area called the "Lost Forest".
But the battle just now was definitely not an illusion, because in front of Shade, there was a gray cloth bag tied with a hemp rope. He picked up the bag and shook it a few times, and the sound of coins colliding with each other was very pleasant. After opening the pocket, inside was the only demon gold coin that Shade had left.
“There are exactly five of them.”
Shade said, looking at the others who all looked frightened. The bard was holding a colorful feather that he had found out of nowhere in his left hand, and was desperately stroking his body with his right hand. The old knight looked even more exhausted. Shade even suspected that if it weren't for his strong will, he might lie down and listen to the story. The witch had a normal expression, but she was just touching her forehead, as if she was worried that she really had a horn. Only the maid in the black dress didn't look too strange, she just pursed her lips and looked at the surrounding woods with some anxiety.
"The Balrog just now should have been weakened by the 'story', otherwise there is no reason why he would be so easy to deal with. If that's the case, all the dangers we encounter in the story are actually weakened versions, just like ourselves in the story."
As Shad spoke, he looked towards the god. The traveler, with his back to the campfire, still had a kind smile on his face.
So Shade threw the bag of gold coins next to the pile of cards between the crowd. The others looked over when they heard the sound of the bag falling to the ground.
"This is the fare for the crossing. We are going to take that boat."
The bag bounced up after it landed, as if it actually contained an elastic sphere. Then, under the gaze of everyone, the bag "jumped" into the flames on its own initiative, and the god exclaimed:
"The travelers brilliantly defeated the innocent Cyclops living in the forest and robbed him of all his savings. You paid the boatman the fee for crossing the river, and the boatman in a black robe allowed you to board the boat. Then, the unicorn, the loyal dog, the parrot and the old horse boarded the shabby wooden boat one by one..."
Hearing this, Xia De knew that he was going to be in trouble this time:
"but."
"But when the Moonlit Traveler tried to board the boat, he was stopped by the boatman."
The traveler looked at Shade with shining eyes, so Shade said helplessly:
"Boatman, why don't you let me get on board? I have clearly paid enough for the fare. Is it because of your greed that you want to ask for more?"
"The voice came from under the boatman's hood, and he answered with words that could not be refused: You are different from them. My boat can only carry them. But you are different."