“Balrog, a powerful creature born with the ability to attract the energy wandering between heaven and earth, with a reproductive cycle of one hundred years, giving birth once per cycle. A mother Balrog in her reproductive phase requires five times her body weight in food daily, has a taste for humans, and the smoke from its breath is highly toxic to humans, making it humanity’s greatest nemesis and mortal enemy. Later, it was exterminated, humanity’s great foe… Slay this Balrog of three-tenths its strength and without its poison, receive 8000 reward points and one A-rank sub-plot… Allowing it to escape results in a deduction of 3000 reward points per person…” This was the voice of the ‘Main God,’ but this time the message was exceedingly difficult to decipher. The Reincarnation Squad had previously defeated many monsters from films, even powerful leaders, yet the ‘Main God’ had never issued such a solemn warning, even divulging the origins of this Balrog. Furthermore, its implication suggested this was not the Balrog from The Lord of the Rings, but seemingly the kind that the Sages faced when creating the ‘Main God’—a former great enemy of humanity on Earth.

“What does that mean? A Balrog with three-tenths its power and no poison…” Richard from the Southern Yan Continent team asked blankly.

Neos, holding a piece of chocolate, bit into it fiercely. “It means this Balrog once battled the Sages who had activated the Fifth Stage of the Gene Lock. We are currently facing a monster without its toxic smoke, possessing only thirty percent of the original Balrog’s strength. The ‘Main God’ wants us to execute it!” Another veteran from the Northern Ice Continent team chimed in, “No poison, and only three-tenths its original strength? Then this Balrog isn’t very formidable, is it?” “Oh yeah? Why don't you go on ahead and slay it then.”

Neos sneered, swallowed the remaining chocolate in his hand, and immediately turned to flee.

The spot where the others stood grew even hotter.

This Balrog was truly ferocious; every swing of its limbs unleashed waves of flame, turning the area within a hundred square meters into a sea of fire. The Orcs all shrieked before turning into charcoal.

The flames had shifted from fiery red to blue-cyan. Anyone with a bit of knowledge understood the terrifying nature of such flames; temperatures reaching well over a thousand degrees were necessary for this color to manifest. None of the veterans present could likely withstand such intense heat.

“Damn it, this is too terrifying! And this is only thirty percent of its power? Without the toxic smoke? Just how strong is the standard version of the Balrog?” Every heart echoed this question. Watching the thousands of Orcs behind them either burn to cinders or snatched and devoured by the Balrog, this brutally fierce monster truly frightened them. For a moment, no one dared to step forward to kill it.

Even if Zheng Zha and Gangnir were inclined to use their self-created skills to slay this Balrog for the A-rank sub-plot reward, they remembered the bridge ahead would soon collapse, making passage difficult afterward.

So, everyone hurried forward, the flames behind them receding further away.

“But it’s just too terrifying. Did such horrifying monsters truly exist on ancient Earth? And our human ancestors actually defeated them? Unbelievable…” Zheng Zha muttered inwardly, the Balrog’s sheer might being too overwhelming.

He considered for a moment: even activating his ‘Annihilation’ state might not guarantee victory against it. Therefore, the immediate concern was to locate the mineral storage room first.

The adage ‘ten birds in the bush are not worth one in the hand’ came to mind. Instead of coveting the A-rank sub-plot, it was better to secure those minerals first. Thus, he urged his Skeleton Warhorse into a swift gallop, outpacing Gandalf and the others as he ran off the bridge. He was the only one among them who didn’t need to worry about the bridge collapsing.

After running for a short while, the surroundings suddenly opened up before them. Zheng Zha, running at the forefront, saw that the giant bridge ahead had already collapsed. The smaller adjacent bridge was still traversable for now.

It looked terribly dilapidated, but he paid it little mind. Pulling the reins of the Skeleton Warhorse, he raced down the smaller bridge. Having studied the map, he knew the mineral storage room was in the third small opening to the left from this bridge. However, just a few steps out, an arrow shot directly toward him. This arrow lacked any significant power or speed, and Zheng Zha easily batted it aside with a light cut of his blade. Looking up again, he confirmed that dozens of Orc archers stood positioned on the distant sheer cliff face.

In the original film plot, these Orc archers caused considerable trouble for the plot characters. But the cliff was too far away. If Zheng Zha ran over to kill them before securing the minerals, the others might all be wiped out by the Balrog. After a brief contemplation, he stomped hard on the Warhorse’s back, leaping up to engage his ‘Instant Annihilation’ state, and unleashed several successive kicks of ‘Tempest Kick’ (Arashi-kyaku). The distant Orcs felt a furious gale strike them. Before they could react, they were already sliced in two by the ‘Tempest Kick.’ Only one or two managed to escape, but these few Orcs posed no real threat to the group, considering Zhang Heng and the Elven Prince, two master archers, were present. He landed back on the Skeleton Warhorse and continued racing toward the mineral storage room.

With broken bridges everywhere, it was a blessing that the Skeleton Warhorse ignored gravity; otherwise, Zheng Zha would have been forced to use his ‘Annihilation’ state to traverse them. With the Balrog battle imminent, he couldn’t afford to waste his power so lavishly. The Skeleton Warhorse was truly a top-tier asset, even if there was only one.

Zheng Zha harbored a secret regret. In short order, he entered the dark room. Illuminated by the flames from the Warhorse’s hooves and eyes, he indeed saw the room piled high with blocks of iron and copper ingots. Moreover, at the very center of the room lay a bar of silver-white, luminous metal, significantly larger than the standard iron and copper ingots. Beside this silver ingot was a glass vial containing fine metallic sand, small enough to be measured only in ounces, it seemed.

Zheng Zha didn't hesitate. He stuffed the silver ingot and the fine metallic sand into his storage ring. He glanced around, confirming there were no other metal ingots besides the iron and copper ones, then pulled the Skeleton Warhorse and sprinted back out.

With the mineral acquisition secured, Zheng Zha’s focus returned entirely to the Balrog. Its presence was terrifyingly immense. Even his ‘Annihilation’ combined with the Tiger Soul blade might not be enough to bring it down. After all, the Balrog was once humanity’s nemesis, and even this weakened version, intentionally scaled back by the ‘Main God,’ possessed strength beyond their current capability to resist. He genuinely contemplated simply following the original plot and escaping. Although each person would lose 3000 reward points, completing the Lord of the Rings mission would yield several thousand points for everyone at minimum. If it were just about survival, perhaps letting it go would suffice... “But it’s an A-rank sub-plot, 8000 reward points… To become stronger, one must constantly hover between life and death, perpetually pushing oneself to greater limits. Sub-plots and reward points are indispensable for that…” Zheng Zha felt a surge of unwillingness. After all, his true enemy was his copy, that man who resembled a demon, whom he needed to defeat despite the enemy’s vastly superior strength. Without going all out, where was the chance of victory? “I’ll risk it! I must press forward with my companions, I absolutely must fight desperately… Besides, with the protection of my blade’s aura, I should at least be able to escape even if I fail to kill the Balrog, right?” Zheng Zha secretly made his resolution, urging the Skeleton Warhorse forward with increasing urgency.

By this time, the entire team had crossed the bridge. Perhaps the presence of the Reincarnation Squad had altered the plot, as the bridge did not collapse in an overly dramatic fashion, allowing everyone to cross the perilous structure safely. They then rushed toward the far end of the passage. The journey so far had been relatively smooth; even the occasional Orc archers on the surrounding cliffs posed no issue, as Zhang Heng and the Elven Prince were sufficient to eliminate them. Remarkably, not a single member of the team perished during this run.

After crossing the bridge, the group entered another vast hall. Just beyond this hall, they could easily exit the tunnel system. However, upon entering, everyone felt the surroundings were so intensely hot that it felt as if they were on fire—a searing heat that could curl one’s hair. Everyone ran forward frantically, but just as they covered ten meters, a deafening, violent roar erupted from behind them. A beam of cyan-blue flame shot straight out from the wall, instantly causing the stone to rupture explosively under the intense heat, which even stone could not withstand.

Behind the shattered wall stood the Balrog, wielding a massive sword forged of cyan-blue flame. It roared maniacally, continuously expelling scorching air currents and blue-cyan flames from its maw. The flames enveloping this Balrog were growing fiercer by the moment.

Gandalf shouted as he ran, “This is an adult Balrog; that’s why it possesses blue flames. Luckily, it’s not an elder Balrog, or the flames would turn brilliant white—that’s when you can’t even approach. Within a hundred meters, you spontaneously combust unless it lowers its temperature itself... This is a demon from the ancient era; I never expected one to be lurking in this tunnel.”

Everyone was focused on escaping and couldn't possibly listen carefully to what he said. However, the Reincarnation Squad members found a sliver of comfort; according to the original plot, only Gandalf fell off the cliff. As long as they crossed the small bridge ahead, they would be safe… Unexpectedly, a violent roar sounded, and the Balrog leaped high into the air. Its demonic wings flapped once, and before anyone could react, it had placed itself just ten meters in front of them. Blazing heat sprayed directly at them, and behind this demon… the small escape bridge lay directly in its rear! It had jumped to block their way.