311 Lethal Balrog Pet Egg (1/2)

Bam!

After grinding through the battle for almost ten minutes, the blaze surrounding the Lethal Balrog finally vanished. Without its fiery appearance, the balrog's once glaring lava body suddenly dimmed. The monster shattered into volcanic ashes after it was dealt the finishing blow by the Amethyst Orc. The blocks of ashes, still steaming with heat, dropped shabbily to the ground in slow motion.

After the battle, the fighters, including Qin Ruo, did not immediately approach the body or collect the rewards. Instead, they remained still and let out a long sigh of relief as they watched the abundant loot.

”That was close. We were almost done for.”

”Phew.”

Despite not getting involved, Subjugator, Judge, and Fateless were equally tense, observing the battle. It was as if they had also taken part in it. The final minute was especially torturing when they witnessed the Amethyst Orc's HP plummet below 15,000, 10,000, then 5,000 until it reached the Weakened State. Such torment was unbearable to watch even for those of the strongest hearts.

The six of them had to almost directly face the Lethal Balrog's wrath with their comparatively frail figures. The Burning Effect of the Lethal Balrog's exterior flame would have doubled the amount of Damage inflicted on a melee Class and instantly removed a large portion of a warrior's HP, which the warrior would not be able to replenish in time.

Fortunately, the Amethyst Orc hung on till the very last second. Qin Ruo and the two other attackers also maintained their composure to the very end. They overcame the equally-weakened Lethal Balrog in the last few fatal seconds by dealing the final blow first.

Though they may have still come out triumphant in the end, they could not afford to sacrifice the Amethyst Orc in exchange for a victory. The Amethyst Orc's presence was irreplaceable as they were going to face a lot more vicious Bosses in future battles.

A victory with the Tier 5 Miniboss still alive and a victory built on its dead body were two very different scenarios.

The fighters began to retrieve their rewards while the three bystanders rejoiced.

”Haha! What a great harvest! Three Dark Gold equipment and a Magic Skill Book!” Black Rock stood excitedly near a few Dark Gold equipment while he swung the Magic Skill Book in his hands and shouted. Snowleaf, however, held up a bright red oval gem in her hand.

Qin Ruo just kept his head low and piled up the other rewards. He glanced at the excited Black Rock as well as Snowleaf from time to time and laughed discreetly. A Magic Skill Book... Was it really that rare? Besides, did all girls like shining gemstones that much? Or else, why would she keep looking at the Enchantment Gemstone?

Qin Ruo did not know what the consequences would be if such thoughts were made known to those around him.

Although he had already gotten his hands on two Magic Skill Books previously, the drop rate of that particular item was still the lowest among all. In other words, it was even rarer than Legendary Equipment in the Graveyard of the Gods. The two Magic Skill Books Qin Ruo obtained earlier on were either exchanged using Redemption Points or gained through treasure chests. Thus, they could not be considered dropped items.

As for Snowleaf's obsession toward Enchantment Materials, she fancied its potential more than its glamorous outlook. Qin Ruo simply progressed too drastically in the game to be able to appreciate the true value of an Enchantment Gemstone. He was somehow recently promoted and had only spent a relatively short time at Tier 4. Compared to other experienced players at the pinnacle of Tier 4, his knowledge apparently still fell short.

Every top-tier player knew one simple fact—Legendary Equipment only dropped in the most difficult locations of H&G, and the drops were pitifully sparse. Sometimes, not even the most powerful Tier 5 Supreme Champion was able to collect a complete set of Legendary Equipment, let alone a Tier 4 player.

However, with the help of Enchantment Gemstones, such a seemingly impossible task became achievable. The reason was, a Dark Gold Equipment fully embedded with a superior quality Gemstone (or Mana Core) did not differ much from a Legendary tier in terms of its applicability.

Moreover, equipment of the Legendary Tier or higher were not upgradable like the lower tier ones. Therefore, besides strengthening their personal skills and levels to pursue the Tier 5 Advancement Quest, most Tier 4 players would also aim to gather a full set of embedded Dark Gold Equipment before they entered the next stage.

***

After all, the rewards were retrieved into the Sharing Column, the six human and three monsters did not immediately descend to the fourth level through the teleport point.

All six of them were highly tense because they understood how dangerous it would get once they stepped into the warp point.

The fourth level of the Graveyard of the Gods was one step away from the final arena of the godforsaken place. Even though the monsters on Level 4 were nothing close to the godlike creatures found on Level 5, it did not in any way lessen the tight competition and unforgiving environment of Level 4.

Players who managed to go in and survive Level 4 were surely the elites among the elites of the H&G world. Loners, in general, were powerful Champions, whereas parties that survived usually had extraordinary combat capability.