Whispering Verse

"gold?"

Shade raised his eyebrows.

"The boatman in black robes? Sounds like the God of Death who ferries the River Styx in the story."

The bard whispered the stories of this era.

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

The old knight was worried.

"Now that you've made a choice, you can't regret it. 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 the cost of crossing the river, and retreating represented the failure of the journey, which was an unacceptable result for them. So the kind-hearted boatman proposed to use the soul of one of you to pay for the other four. I wonder if you can accept the shipping fee."

The god asked the five people. Just like before, neither Shade nor the witch was willing to sacrifice their companions here:

"Of course not. We are traveling together."

"The rejected boatman is not angry, but reminds you that there is a one-eyed giant living not far away. He may have enough gold coins for you to pay for crossing the river."

Shade thought there would be choices next, but unexpectedly the story jumped directly to the next stage.

"So before lunch, you found the Cyclops living in the cave. The grumpy giant was very angry because he was disturbed. The battle began."

God said with a smile, and his voice was gentle and lulling to sleep in the background of the crackling bonfire. Ever since she appeared, she has always had this tone, as if she was really sharing stories about the night with the travelers she met by chance.

"How are we going to fight?"

Shade asked, and the god replied:

"Of course we really have to fight."

"Huh? Sorry, what?"

Before Shade finished speaking, everyone felt the temperature in the humid and rancid air rise suddenly. The sound of heavy footsteps appeared at the edge of the foggy forest almost in the next second. First there was a fiery red light, which almost made Shade and the Witch think there was a fire in the forest, but then, a huge fiery red figure that was two stories high walked into the camp with heavy steps and roared.

Its body seemed to be made of black rock, and its huge black body was wrapped in blazing flames. The giant's two arms held a flaming sword and a flaming whip respectively, and on the face that should have had two eyes, one eye seemed to be blinded, so only the left eye was open.

The hot temperature made breathing difficult, and the pressure from the high-level life forms made the old knight, bard, and maid tremble. Of course, the latter fared significantly better than the men.

Shade and the witch stood together and looked at the "Cyclops" in amazement. In Shade's opinion, the elegant witch even said a localized swear word:

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

This Balrog does not look very old, and it is not an evil spirit demon from the third era, but an individual of the demon race itself. Its power is far less than the arsonist Sophix that Shade and the doctor saw in the Sikal Mountains, but it is definitely not an easy enemy to deal with.

Shade raised his hand to prepare to meet the enemy, but when he looked around, he was surprised to see that the gods, bonfires and tents had disappeared. Now, standing next to him are an old gray horse, a white unicorn, flying colorful parrots and a gray hound standing on the back of the unicorn:

"Um?"

This scene was so funny that Shade thought he had instantly become a circus leader.

"Um?"

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

The change occurred quite suddenly, but the attack launched by the Balrog swinging his flaming whip did not give them a chance to exchange their thoughts on their "transformation".

Shade jumped up without even thinking, and at the same time, the dark sin chains in his sleeves were drawn towards the fiery red whip like a whip.

The whip's original target was the parrot, but fortunately the bard was very self-aware and flew away quickly while Shade protected him, so no one was injured in the first confrontation.

Amidst the loud bang, the dark chains that seemed to be able to absorb light collided with the fiery red whip that exuded sparks. The two air-piercing sounds even aroused oscillations in the air, causing the flames on Balrog's body to produce strange optical effects.

Sparks flew everywhere, and the tall Balrog's long whip became entangled with the chain in Shade's hand, whose body was covered with golden cracks. Both parties pushed backwards at the same time, and the whips and chains stretched straight in the air, allowing the flying sparks to illuminate the dark woodland. At the same time, Shade, who used the [Red Dragon Power], was actually on the same level as the Balrog in terms of strength.

A steady stream of power was flowing into Shade's body from his feet, making him feel that his strength was still increasing. He slowly moved backwards, and the Balrog was dragged forward along with his movements. It has obviously never encountered a human being who can compete with it in terms of strength, but after a moment of surprise, the mouth in the flame opened, and high-heat flames spurted out in a straight line.

"I'll stop it!"

It's strange for a unicorn to make a woman's voice, but the unicorn flapping its wings does barely manage to float into the air, facing the fire stream in the air. The soft white light shield around her body split the fire stream into two and avoided the ones on the ground. All "people".

This was a rare battle scene that Shade faced in a normal time key mission, but after the first round of confrontation, Shade also realized that the Balrog that came from nowhere was much weaker than he thought.

If the witch hadn't turned into a unicorn now, with her spellcasting ability, it would never be Shade's turn to take action:

"Ma'am, you protect the others and 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 thing, so she dropped to the ground with the gray hound on her back, and met the parrot. Join Lao Ma.

Xia De suddenly shook the chain in his hand. With sparks flying, the chain and the whip separated from each other and rolled back towards their respective masters. The roaring one-eyed Balrog slashed the giant sword in his hand towards the ground. The fiery red sword fell to the ground, and the lava splashed out from the soil was blocked by the unicorn to protect the other three traveling companions. But Shade was not under the giant sword. After a group of red butterflies emitting scarlet light gathered in the air, Shade, who was hanging upside down, kicked out a blow like a falling moon under the dark night sky in the forest.

The arc-shaped moonlight hit Balrog, but was blocked by the latter with his arms crossed. But Shade, 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 towards the chest exposed by raising his arms, and penetrated straight through the " The heart of the Balrog seen through by "The Seeing Demon".

The unwilling roar almost shattered the eardrums, and the flames when Balrog fell to the ground and exploded to death were barely blocked by the combined force of Shade's "Seaton Seal" and the unicorn's pure white light shield.

But even so, the flames still rushed towards the face, wrapping up one person and four beasts. When the flames dissipated, the five people were surprised to find that they were still sitting together with the gods and companions in the narrow open space between the campfire and the small tent.

There was still mist in the dense forest, but no traces of battle could be seen around. There is still peace and tranquility here, the crackling sound of the bonfire is the clearest sound at this moment, and there are no insects, birds or beasts in the strange area known as 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. The sound of the coins colliding with each other was very pleasant. After opening the pocket, inside was the only [Devil's Gold Coin] left in Shade's hand.

"There are exactly five here."

Shade said, looking at the others in shock. At this time, the bard was holding a piece of colorful feathers that he found out of nowhere in his left hand in horror, and his right hand was desperately stroking his body; the old knight looked even more tired, and Shade even suspected that if it weren't for his strong will, , she might lie down and listen to the story for a while; the witch had a normal expression, 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, but she pursed her lips and felt a little uneasy. looking towards the surrounding woodland.

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

As Shade spoke, he looked at the god. The traveler, who had his back to the bonfire, still had a kind smile on his face.

So Shade threw the bag containing gold coins next to the card pile among everyone. Others also looked over because they heard the sound of the bag falling to the ground:

"This is the fare for crossing the river, and we're going to take that boat."

The bag actually bounced after it hit the ground, as if it contained an elastic sphere. Then, under the gaze of everyone, the bag actively "jumped" into the flames, and the god praised:

"The travelers brilliantly defeated the innocent Cyclops who lived in the forest and robbed it of all its savings. You paid the boatman to cross the river, and the boatman in black robes allowed you to board the boat. So, the Cyclops The beast, the loyal dog, the parrot and the old horse stepped onto the dilapidated wooden boat one after another..."

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

"but."

"But when the travelers under the moon tried to board the boat, they were stopped by the boatman."

The traveler looked at Shade with bright eyes, so Shade said helplessly:

"Boatman, why don't you let me board the boat? I've obviously paid enough for the boat, but is your greed making you want to ask for more?"

"The voice came from under the boatman's hood, and he answered with undeniable words: You are different from them. My ship can carry them. But you are different."