By now, the Elder Fire Elemental had gone completely berserk.
Its colossal fiery form rolled through the crowd, engulfing fleeing players and turning them into fuel.
"Holy shit, run!"
"You can't even kill this thing!"
"One touch and you're dead! What kind of insane AoE is this?! Isn't this trial overtuned?!"
Elder Fire Elementals were pure embodiments of flame, born to incinerate all things. By instinct, they sought to burn every living creature and object on the Material Plane to ashes.
Previously kept in check by Misha, this Elder Fire Elemental had suppressed its power, but now it could unleash it to its heart's content.
Across Mount Baras, falling sheets of fire and churning magma surged everywhere, like an erupting volcano.
Faced with a monster that boasted a Challenge Rating as high as 13 and complete fire immunity, the players were at a loss.
In this Northland Winds patch, the top players were mostly affiliated with the Cinder Empire faction, meaning most of their abilities were fire-related.
Sorcerers were overwhelmingly draconic bloodline sorcerers, making things even worse.
Xiaye Qiuyu, however, had already grasped the intent behind this trial.
Expending all her remaining spell slots, she buffed herself with spells like Fly, Protection from Energy, and Haste.
*You have to survive to qualify for a spot!* she thought.
"Aaaaargh!"
A familiar, high-pitched battle cry rang out.
Atop a distant volcanic crag, Tiansheng Zhankuang held his battleaxe, eyes bloodshot, and leapt down.
"Die!"
With a fierce roar, Tiansheng Zhankuang swung his greataxe down toward the Elder Fire Elemental's head.
Thud!
A dull impact sounded as the Elder Fire Elemental's rocky fist batted Tiansheng Zhankuang and his axe flying dozens of meters away.
He plunged straight into the magma pool, sending up a scalding splash.
As a Large magical creature, the Elder Fire Elemental possessed a Strength score as high as 25, far beyond what ordinary mortals could match.
Moreover, deep within the volcanic environment, it had home-field advantage.
Unleashing its full might, the Elder Fire Elemental was practically the ultimate player killer, having already dispatched more than fifty players.
Only twenty-odd survivors remained on the field, darting back and forth through the sea of fire.
Some used Rope Trick to hide in an extradimensional space; others relied on Misty Step to kite back and forth; still others used Invisibility to survive between the cracks, all dodging the elemental's onslaught.
The battle had devolved into a game of hide-and-seek.
Having finally caught on, the players employed every trick up their sleeves, running circles around the clumsy Elder Fire Elemental and infuriating it.
The female sorcerer player from the Machine Cult, Art is an Explosion, was even more absurd.
"Come up and get me!"
Relying on her ejected flight seat to weave through the air at high altitude, she dropped lightning-emitting bombs onto the Elder Fire Elemental from time to time.
Boom!
Bzzzt—
Yet another electromagnetic explosion.
Unable to take it any longer, the Elder Fire Elemental slammed both fists violently into the ground with a furious roar.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
"Humans! Burn!"
Its massive form flashed red once more, greedily drawing upon the magma pool in preparation for another blast.
This time, it would turn every single one of these humans to ashes!
Burn them all to death!
Suddenly, a cool female voice rang out, echoing across the chaotic magma pool. The surroundings instantly fell quiet.
"Cease."
"To those remaining: congratulations on passing the trial. Welcome to the Tower of Karmic Fire."
The surviving players instantly erupted with excitement, and their lucky teammates cheered and hollered.
"We cleared it!"
"We got a spot!"
"Hahaha, the only new caster class in this patch! I'm going to be invincible!"
"Whoo-hoo! Restore the glory of sorcerers!"
The Elder Fire Elemental glared resentfully at the celebrating players, especially the one dropping bombs from the sky, and growled in frustration.
Boom!
Unable to suppress its fury, it slammed the ground once more, making the earth tremble.
As elemental creatures, unless they completely vented their energy and let out their wrath, it was hard for them to calm down.
"But... Master... pant, pant... them..."
"These... trial-takers..."
The Elder Fire Elemental huffed heavily, black and white smoke billowing from its head.
"Oh?"
"Afar, do you dare disobey my command?"
A hint of displeasure entered the female voice.
"No, Master..."
"I didn't..."
Before it could finish, amidst agonizing pleas for mercy, the Elder Fire Elemental clutched its chest. Its ten-meter-tall elemental body suddenly dimmed and shrank drastically.
In the end, the Elder Fire Elemental known as Afar dwindled into a blurry, three-to-four-meter-tall flaming humanoid—just like any ordinary fire elemental.
Its body flickered faintly, trembling all over, devoid of any of the terrifying aura it had displayed moments ago while venting its fury.
"Guide them," the female voice commanded flatly.
"Yes..."
The Elder Fire Elemental's voice was thoroughly deflated, seemingly due to losing its long-sought power.
This time, it offered no further complaints. Casting a cautious glance at the players, it moved to the front to patiently lead the way.
Seeing this, Xiaye Qiuyu marveled in amazement. "To make an Elder Fire Elemental act so submissive...
"It looks like the NPC for this class advancement quest has quite the background. We really need to take this seriously."
One player even dashed up behind the Elder Fire Elemental and taunted it with a grin: "Weren't you acting tough just now? Weren't you going to burn everyone to death?
"Come on, burn me!
"I'm so scared!"
"..."
The flames on the Elder Fire Elemental's body trembled violently, clearly infuriated.
Xiaye Qiuyu couldn't help warning him, "Don't mess around like that. What if you take it too far?"
"What's there to be afraid of? Game mechanics, bro!
"We've made it through so many trials already. Are they really gonna disqualify us over something petty like this?"
The player waved his hand dismissively, supremely confident, and even stuck his rear out toward the Elder Fire Elemental.
Xiaye Qiuyu pressed a hand to her forehead with a sigh, unable to watch.
"Come on!
"Burn me, little candle!"
The Elder Fire Elemental was already wheezing, white vapor billowing from its entire body—overheating to the point of turning red.
As a noble of the Elemental Plane of Fire, serving as a terrifying sorcerer's minion was one thing, but enduring the humiliation of mortals was another!
The cool female voice rang out once more, dripping with distaste.
"If you do not even understand basic courtesy, you are not qualified to become a noble Dragon-Pact Sorcerer."
"What do you mean?" the player couldn't help asking.
"It means... you are disqualified. Afar!"
"Huh?"
"Wait, bro..."
The player, who was still making faces, froze on the spot, utterly dumbfounded.
Only in the next second did he let out a shriek and turn to run.
"Obey... command!"
"Die!"
The Elder Fire Elemental's long-suppressed rage finally exploded.
Smash!
Swinging its arm with all its might, its burning fist pulverized the player's skull.
The charred head rolled several times across the ground before finally coming to a halt.
It seemed the Elder Fire Elemental had been planning this strike for quite some time.
Indeed, even with its power restrained, killing a player was still child's play for an Elder Fire Elemental.
Having done so, it glared furiously at the surrounding players, wordlessly warning them not to meet the same fate.
"What the fuck?"
"Dead just like that?"
"Bro brought this on himself—got all the way to the end and just had to clown around."
"Yeah, that's like finishing the college entrance exam and then tearing up your own answer sheet!"
Some players gloated, while others felt a lingering dread, but all were stunned by how arbitrary the trial seemed.
Yet that was how Elezerg worked. Every NPC possessed extraordinary intelligence and their own behavioral logic, never bound by rigid programming.
And that was precisely what made the game so captivating.
"Looks like this quest NPC is quite finicky—most likely an arrogant perfectionist who can't tolerate the slightest flaw.
"Going forward... we'll need to watch our step."
Xiaye Qiuyu stroked her chin in thought, lowering her head as her eyes flickered slightly.
Chapter 430