12: Chapter 12: Super SSS Rating! Challenge the Demon Level!

Watching the Slime hop out of the sea of flames, everyone's jaws dropped.

"Boss, your Slime is just too insane!"

Over thirty Fire Treants, wiped out in an instant.

Four or five elite monsters, gone just like that.

Is this really a Slime?

"Boss, what skill is your Slime actually using? It's so OP!"

Shanji leaned in, his eyes burning with intensity.

Everyone knew that Slimes were the weakest Magic Pets.

Their attack power was practically zero, and their health was so low they would shatter at a touch.

They couldn't do anything other than act cute.

But what about the Boss's one?

An exaggerated HP bar, insane damage!!

Especially that skill—they had never even heard of it.

Even a whale couldn't be this broken, right?

"Boss, you didn't hack the game, did you?"

Lu Yuan didn't show any reaction, but the Slime was displeased.

It abruptly turned its head, glaring at Shanji with its small eyes, and retorted indignantly.

'Unbearable, absolutely unbearable. These people are actually only praising me, not my powerful Master.'

'Stupid humans!'

'It's clearly my Master who is more impressive!'

Shanji was stunned for a moment, then immediately looked at it with newfound respect.

Holy crap, is this Slime better at bootlicking than I am?

He felt his position as the number one lackey was being challenged!

No, he had to show his worth.

"Boss!" He grabbed Lu Yuan's hand, his face full of sincerity.

"If a Slime can become this strong in your hands, Boss, won't you be invincible once you summon even stronger Magic Pets?"

"Legendary-tier classes are nothing compared to you, Boss!"

"No, they aren't even worth a fart!"

Shanji grew more excited as he spoke, spit flying everywhere.

Li Meng danced with excitement.

"Right, that Xu Qianqian will be trampled under the Boss's feet for the rest of her life."

"In the future, the Boss will definitely become an invincible Summoner!"

"The strongest in the whole world!"

After this bout of flattery, Lu Yuan couldn't suppress the corners of his mouth from curling up.

He could only say, as expected of the lackey he had taken in.

The bootlicking made him feel physically and mentally refreshed.

Lu Yuan casually tossed the Slime aside.

"Alright, alright, stop the flattery."

"Hurry up, let's clear the level early so we can go back, wash up, and sleep."

Shanji and the others were suddenly filled with even more respect.

Look at that.

This was their Boss—possessing such terrifying strength, yet remaining so humble and easygoing.

Completely different from those bitter, resentful geniuses.

This was the true relaxed demeanor a monster of talent should have!

The subsequent advance was outrageously simple.

Shanji and the others were responsible for luring and grouping the monsters.

The Slime was responsible for taking hits, using Split, and using Self-destruct.

No matter what monster appeared in their field of vision, it would be reduced to a pile of charcoal within three seconds.

Soon, the team reached the deepest part of the dungeon.

They saw the dungeon BOSS of the Land of Flames.

It was a massive, ancient tree with a canopy that blotted out the sky, and every leaf was burning.

Most terrifying of all was the ancient face on its trunk, eyes like two burning flames, coldly looking down at the intruders.

[Ancient Flame Tree (BOSS · Lv.8)]

[Health: 11000 / 11000]

[Skills: Nature's Grasp, Flame Lash, Scorch]

Shanji swallowed hard.

"The BOSS's health actually exceeds ten thousand..."

"Is that low?"

In the past, Shanji definitely wouldn't have had such a thought.

But with the Boss's Slime blowing things up, it dealt nearly a thousand damage with one hit.

How many hits could this BOSS take?

The Slime hopped over to the front of the Ancient Flame Tree.

It tilted its head, its small eyes meeting those two burning flames.

Then, it curled its short little arm.

'Come on, come hit me.'

The Ancient Flame Tree was stunned for a moment, then attacked in a rage.

Whack!!!

It raised a massive, burning branch and lashed out violently.

-399!

A huge damage number floated up.

Shanji's eyelids twitched.

A BOSS is a BOSS; the damage is high.

If this lash had landed on him, he would have lost half his life.

The Slime acted as if nothing had happened, continuing to taunt it.

'No feeling, did you not eat?'

The Ancient Flame Tree was enraged.

Branches lashed out frantically, striking the Slime one after another.

Whack! Whack! Whack!

-472! -491! -454!

Damage numbers floated up crazily.

The Slime's health bar dropped at a visible rate.

But not only did it not dodge, it spread its arms, looking like it was enjoying it.

'Keep going! Not enough, your strength is so weak, I don't feel anything!'

'Keep whipping this Great King!'

Shanji and the others felt their scalps tingle.

"Boss..."

Li Meng couldn't help but speak up.

"Should we go in? If it just takes hits one-sidedly like this, even a Slime with high health can't hold out, right?"

Lu Yuan threw the heated cola aside with some disdain.

"Don't rush."

The Ancient Flame Tree looked at the Slime sticking to its body.

Suddenly, an ominous premonition arose in its heart.

The next second—

Boom!!!

Boom! Boom! Boom!!!

A frenzied explosion resounded.

The Ancient Flame Tree's massive body trembled violently, flames surged, and branches and leaves flew everywhere.

-911! -911! -911! ...

The Ancient Flame Tree's health bar was instantly emptied.

[Killed Ancient Flame Tree (BOSS · Lv.10), gained EXP + 8000]

A golden light rose up from Lu Yuan.

[Congratulations, your level has increased to LV.6]

Golden light also lit up on Shanji and the others one after another.

Shanji and the others didn't even notice the golden light rising from themselves; they stood there stunned, speechless for a long time.

The BOSS... Just like that, it was gone??

11000 HP, instantly killed?

This, this is too insane!

Shanji took a deep breath and looked at Lu Yuan.

The Slime could actually erupt with such terrifying damage?

That's crazy.

If you told this to anyone, even a kindergartner wouldn't believe it!

Lu Yuan still stood in place, hands in his pockets, expression calm.

The Slime hopped back onto his shoulder.

"Boss!" Shanji was so excited his face turned red. "Our efficiency is so high, we definitely broke the record!"

"Xu Qianqian is going to lose to the Boss again this time."

The other three were also extremely excited.

"Hahahaha, I want to laugh just thinking about Xu Qianqian's face."

The group was very excited, but they searched half a circle and couldn't find the exit to the dungeon.

Just then—

A cold system notification resounded through the dungeon.

[Ding! Detected that the team's clear rating has exceeded SSS-rank, Demon Challenge has been activated!]

Along with this notification sound, a black ball of light appeared in front of Lu Yuan.

Deep and dark, emitting a heart-palpitating evil aura.

"Demon Challenge?"

Looking at the pitch-black ball of light in front of them, Shanji trembled, unable to even hold his shield steady.

These four words were like legends to them.

Because only when performing exceptionally well in a dungeon and obtaining a rating above SSS-rank is there a certain probability of triggering a Demon Challenge.

The Demon Challenge is extremely challenging.

And once the challenge is accepted, you cannot exit or interrupt it.

The only way to survive is to slay the final BOSS.

They didn't expect to trigger a Demon Challenge on their very first dungeon run.

The Slime hopped up from his shoulder, excitement flashing in its small eyes.

'Master! It is time to let the whole world know our names!'

'I want to blow this demon to pieces!'

It puffed out its little chest, looking like it was the only one for the job.

Lu Yuan glanced at it with some surprise.

This guy actually didn't chicken out?

Sure enough, strength changes a person's personality.

Lu Yuan withdrew his gaze and swept a glance at his terrified lackeys.

With a wave of his hand, "Let's go, follow me to slaughter this demon."

Afterwards, he chose to accept the Demon Challenge.

...

3 minutes ago, outside the dungeon.

Inside the spatial portal of the Land of Flames, a light flashed, and five figures walked out.

Xu Qianqian took a deep breath, her face full of triumph.

"Finally cleared it!"

She looked back at the portal, a victorious smile curling the corners of her mouth.

Looking left and right, she was a bit disappointed to find that Lu Yuan hadn't been eliminated yet.

"That guy Lu Yuan, he actually wasn't eliminated early?"

But immediately after, drastic changes appeared on the clear ranking leaderboard above the dungeon.

All rankings shifted down by one place.

A new first place had appeared!

[Difficulty-level · Land of Flames]

[Clear Record: 2 hours 28 minutes 47 seconds]

[Record Holder: Xu Qianqian, Deng Tianhao, Jiawen...]

"Yeah, we did it!"

"We became the new record holders."

Several teammates were very excited.

Xu Qianqian's smile became even brighter.

But the next moment, the portal to the Land of Flames turned a deep, pitch black.

A heart-palpitating evil aura permeated from within.

The smile on Xu Qianqian's face froze.

"This... what is this?!"

Everyone around was also stunned; they had never seen such a change.

Only the homeroom teacher and Bai Zhi stood up abruptly.

Bai Zhi stared fixedly at that pitch-black portal.

"Demon Challenge..."

The probability of a Demon Challenge appearing is extremely low, so low it is almost impossible to appear.

Only true peerless monsters of talent, who achieve a rating above SSS-rank in a dungeon, have a chance of triggering it.

And once the challenge is accepted, one must face an even more desperate challenge, killing a powerful demon BOSS to leave the dungeon.

Otherwise, you will die!

But that is [Demon]!

Just thinking of these two words, a hint of fear appeared on Bai Zhi's calm face.

Only two teams were challenging the 'Difficulty-level · Land of Flames' dungeon.

Xu Qianqian's team had already come out.

So, it was Lu Yuan who activated the Demon Challenge?!

"Young Master is in danger!"

"No..."

Bai Zhi's expression was a bit strange.

"The one in danger might be the demon."