After the barrier disappeared, Kiz was the first to rush over.
“How is it? Any injuries? Feeling any discomfort?”
“Not at all! We won big time!” Elia said with a smile.
Then Vian came closer to look at the gem.
“Wow! This is the Elemental Heart? It’s so beautiful!”
Elia picked up the gem, closed her eyes, and carefully felt the extremely pure elemental energy within it.
But just then, a stone tablet rose in the center of the hall, engraved with several lines of golden text…
“Congratulations, challengers, for clearing the First Trial and obtaining the [Elemental Heart].”
“This trial is divided into four stages, and each stage corresponds to one sacred relic.”
“The Second Trial is [Void Ring], the Third Trial [Oblivion Ash Stone], and the Fourth Trial [Cup of Imbalance].”
“Collect all four sacred relics to unlock the final challenge.”
The next moment, a light gate was split open in the center of the stone tablet, behind which was a corridor leading to an unknown destination.
“Next is the Second Trial… Should we continue?” Kiz asked, looking at Elia.
Elia tightened her grip on the Elemental Heart and said softly, “Of course… We came all this way; how could we give up halfway?”
After saying that, she stepped into the light gate first, and the other three followed closely.
Passing through the light gate, the four expected to enter the Second Trial area, but instead they found themselves in a grand, large hall.
The hall’s dome was impossibly high, and the surrounding walls were covered in ancient reliefs depicting various battle scenes… Every stone slab on the floor was engraved with extremely complex magic circles.
And at the center of the hall stood a gigantic figure.
It was a giant tens of meters tall, covered in pitch-black armor, holding a giant shield in its left hand and a massive sword wreathed in lightning in its right.
It stood there motionless, but the overwhelming pressure it exuded made all four stop in their tracks.
“Huh? The Second Trial is a direct boss fight? That doesn’t seem right…” Vian swallowed and said.
As soon as she finished speaking, a voice echoed in all four minds: “Defeat this boss to obtain the three sacred relics needed to unlock the Final Trial.”
‘Wait, what? What’s happening? What’s happening? Weren’t there supposed to be four trials? Why are we getting three relics all at once now?’
After hearing this, the four stood frozen in place. Lisa, who knew the Trial Ground best, was especially bewildered.
“This doesn’t make sense… Did they change the procedure and the tablet just hasn’t been updated yet?” Lisa muttered to herself.
Beside her, Kiz gripped her scythe. “Who cares if it makes sense? Since this thing’s right in front of us, let’s just beat it to death~”
Elia, on the other hand, stared intently at the giant. “Be careful. This thing gives me a strong feeling…”
But before she could finish, the armored giant slowly raised its head, and two blood-red lights ignited beneath the helmet… Perhaps those were its eyes.
Then it raised its greatsword, and the lightning on the blade surged instantly, transforming into countless electric snakes that spread outward.
Boom!
Lightning struck the ground, blasting craters.
“Spread out!” Elia shouted loudly.
The four scattered instantly. The giant’s gaze quickly locked onto Elia, for to this creature, she was the most threatening target among the four.
The giant swung its greatsword toward her. Elia quickly retreated, and the greatsword struck where she had just stood, carving a tens-of-meters-long fissure in the ground.
“Damn… That was close.”
But before she could steady herself, the giant’s shield swept toward her. The attack was too fast; she couldn’t dodge, so she had to brace with the Holy Light Shield.
“No way! This thing is so strong!”
This defense sent Elia flying backward. “Elia!” Seeing this, Kiz quickly turned into a black-red streak of light and slashed at the giant’s back with her scythe… But the giant’s armor was just too thick; the scythe only left a shallow scratch.
Moreover, this attack successfully drew the giant’s attention. It turned around and swung its greatsword at Kiz.
But Kiz, prepared for this, flipped midair to avoid the blade.
However, the lightning wrapped around the blade still struck her.
This numbed her entire body, and she fell from the air.
The next second, Lisa used her Shadow Power to create countless chains that bound the giant’s legs, then shouted, “Vian!”
“Coming, coming!”
Vian quickly released a blood-red fire dragon that struck the giant’s head directly.
“Roooar!”
The giant let out a furious roar and then swung its sword at Vian.
Vian couldn’t dodge in time; the sword wind hit her, sending her flying backward.
“Damn it…”
Elia, crawling out of the rubble, quickly raised her right arm.
[Eleventh Step: Heavenly Radiance Judgment]
A massive golden pillar of light descended from the sky and struck the giant’s head, enveloping it in the beam. Its armor began to melt rapidly.
But it did not fall. Instead, it raised its shield to withstand the beam and walked step by step toward Elia.
“This bastard…”
The problem was that this fully enclosed battle environment really limited her capabilities. She could only use single-target high-damage magic and absolutely could not use devastating wide-area AOE spells… As for the Holy Sword? That was out of the question.
Elia gritted her teeth and continued to pour in more Magic Power.
The beam grew brighter, but the giant’s steps did not stop.
It reached Elia and raised its greatsword to strike down.
Just then, Kiz rushed in from the side and slashed her scythe directly at the giant’s knee joint—the relatively weaker part of the armor.
Sure enough, the scythe cut in and got stuck in the joint, causing the giant’s body to wobble, and its attack aimed at Elia went off course.
Elia took the chance to retreat and create distance.
“I was right! Its weakness is in the joints!” Kiz shouted.
Next, the four scattered again and attacked while moving.
Although the armored giant’s movements were fierce and its strength enormous, its speed wasn’t that fast…
The four used their agile movements to continuously attack the joints.
Moreover, each of their strikes landed in the gaps of the armor, making the giant’s attacks slower and slower. Finally, when Lisa’s shortsword stabbed into the armor gap at the back of the giant’s neck, the giant let out an earth-shaking roar.
“Roooaaaar—!“
The creature’s body trembled violently, and the dark red glow on it began to fluctuate chaotically. It seemed about to collapse.
Elia seized this opportunity and released magic again.
[Eleventh Step: Light of Termination]
Golden light gathered in her palm, forming a massive spear of light… The shaft was wrapped in holy runes, and the tip shimmered with destructive power.
Then she hurled the spear with force. It tore through the air and plunged precisely into the armor gap on the giant’s chest.
The ensuing violent explosion blew the entire giant to pieces.
“OK OK, done…” Vian patted Lisa’s shoulder vigorously.
Lisa grabbed Vian’s hand. “Stop patting! It hurts!”