A Cyclops that had lost its sight and whose sense of smell was completely ruined had become a perfect Target.
The Giant could only jump and scream in place, using its hands and feet to dig pits in the solid Land Deity that only further restricted it.
But then, pain that seemed capable of harming the Soul began to appear successively in various parts of its body.
This was the damage brought by the Throwing Object of the Little Demon Cleaver enchanted with Holy Damage.
One-Ear and Blood Scab were very clear about their roles: to serve as Cheng Tian's Humanoid mobile extra Inventory.
Because earlier during the rest by the bonfire, Cheng Tian had not been shy at all about discussing the usage conditions of the 『Knight Throw』 with them, so upon noticing Cheng Tian had jammed his straight sword into the Giant's nose and seeing that the Giant had lost its tracking ability, the two of them decisively threw the baseball bat, Two-handed Hammer, Little Demon Cleaver, and One-handed Axe from their Inventory to locations relatively close to Cheng Tian, then retreated without hesitation back into the relatively safe grass.
Clearly, the two college students who had been noisy at the start had thoroughly learned to read the room and practice self-preservation.
Even a blind Cyclops was not something they frail individuals could provoke, and at this juncture, whether they could defend themselves was completely unimportant; if Cheng Tian still died under these circumstances, they probably wouldn't survive much longer either.
Cheng Tian's Knight Throw required the currently held Weapon as a Template.
The Gentleman's Cane's Damage was too low, and the Vampire Killer did not meet the standard for generating a Throwing Object, so the timely assistance from the two Humanoid Inventories was very helpful.
Even though only the Vampire Killer could maximize Holy Damage, Cheng Tian, having already taken a Grappling techniques attack, no longer wanted to engage in Close Combat with the Giant... What was more unbearable than being stunned by being hit was the terrifying stench emanating from the opponent.
Thus, supported by sufficient Mana Bar and Innocent Souls, Cheng Tian began circling the Cyclops in a movement pattern akin to the Moon orbiting the Earth, and the newly enchanted Throwing Objects with Holy Damage began Outputting damage onto the Giant.
For the thick-skinned Giant, both the Blunt Weapon strike from the Two-handed Hammer and the blade attack from the Little Demon Cleaver had their Damage severely reduced; only the added single-digit Holy Damage took full effect, making the fight feel like scraping sandpaper.
The only place on the Giant's entire body that could truly be called a weak spot was the Eyeball, but it was tightly covered by its hands, and after taking a few hits from the thrown Two-handed Hammer, it even covered the secondary weak spot on the back of its head.
Now the Giant was no longer moving randomly in place, but instead curled up where it was, hugging its head with both hands, looking ready to defend until the end.
Cheng Tian, who was running in circles, found it hard to imagine how he would defeat this Cyclops using conventional Attack Methods if he hadn't loaded the Vampire Hunter Template which came with the Holy Whip, or if he wasn't even present.
However, what Cheng Mouren did not know was that if he himself had not been present, the Red Demon and the Giant in this dungeon would not have possessed this deplorably high difficulty...
Look up Capcom's most famous "Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment Mechanism" from later generations~
If those initial ten-plus people had survived, the Red Demon in this Novice Trial would at most have been a Boss Template, the Giant at most an Elite Template, and Grunts might have more frequently dropped small knives, Lances, Fireballs, and similar items that could deal more effective Damage to Enemies, which had limits on the number of throws and didn't require Arthur's abilities.
Theoretically, as long as enough novices survived and dared to fight hard, passing this first stage with everyone surviving couldn't be guaranteed, but passing with fewer than half sacrificing themselves should not be a problem.
Of course, the corresponding consequence would be that the 『Hundred Demons Night Walk』 Skill would be almost impossible to obtain, and the Achievement module would likely take another one or two dungeons to unlock.
It was thanks to Cheng Tian accumulating over a hundred Innocent Souls during the previous journey that his MP remained above a hundred Data points; otherwise, even if he wanted to scrape damage today, he might not have been able to scratch the Champion Giant.
However, in order to maximize single-hit Damage, Cheng Tian ultimately chose the Two-handed Hammer, which also cost 1 MP, as the main Throwing Object; the throwing speed was indeed slow, but since he was attacking a stationary Target now, speed was unimportant.
And so, the Giant's HP was slowly but steadily scraped down by Cheng Tian, dropping from over nine hundred to just over a hundred, bringing its total HP below 10%... Even so, it was on par with Cheng Tian when he first entered the dungeon.
Although he couldn't see the Health Bar, Cheng Tian vaguely sensed the Giant's pain and weakness; it was likely on the verge of Sudden Death.
But Cheng Mouren did not relax; instead, he became even more vigilant.
Because there was a basic ability that should have existed in the Original Work, which this head-clutching, squatting Giant had consistently failed to display.
Could it not use it? Or was it waiting for an opportunity?
Suddenly, the Giant moved.
It stopped using its hands to shield its head, leaving its front wide open, while its entire head took on an unnaturally rosy hue.
Seeing this, Cheng Tian unhesitatingly retreated and repositioned, creating a sufficient distance.
The next second, Cheng Tian saw the Giant open its blind eyes, which could no longer see properly, crane its neck, open its mouth toward the sky, and then launch a massive, scorching Fireball toward the heavens.
The Fireball shot straight into the sky, finally exploding like a magnificent fireworks display concluding the show.
Yes, Cheng Tian had always been wary of the Giant's Fire ability; although he didn't know this Giant possessed the trait of being a "Faint Bloodline Descendant of the Fire Titan," he always remembered that in both Demon World Village and Great Demon's Village, regardless of the model, Giants could breathe fire.
The Chosen Space had clearly made reasonable adjustments to the Giant based on its Race, granting it a one-time Fire Breath capable of Instant Kill against any conventional Invader.
It was a pity that, having lost both sight and smell, it couldn't find Cheng Tian, who was randomly circling.
A Giant chosen to be a Demon General naturally possessed its own unique qualities.
Upon realizing it could not harm the Invader at all, the Giant made the final choice of its Demon life: to send out its last ripple to the other Monsters inside the Demon King's Castle—
A new Human Hero! Has appeared!
Immediately after spitting out this final Fireball used to warn its Demon colleagues, the Giant's HP, which had been nearly a hundred, instantly dropped to zero, and its body collapsed uncontrollably.
That massive Fireball just now had exceeded the limit it could withstand; it was no longer something the pitiful 5 MP could satisfy, but rather simultaneously squeezed the extremely thin Fire Titan Bloodline within its body.
This Backlash from draining its Bloodline Power manifested as a sharp drop in vitality.
The Cyclops guarding the Entrance to the Demon King's Castle Gate was dead.
Simultaneously, a dazzling colorful light appeared from the Giant's Chest where it lay on the ground; a large metal Key, exactly like something out of a stereotypical European Middle Ages depiction, burned through its Breastplate and floated in mid-air, then, as if guided by some force, flew directly in front of Cheng Tian.
The moment Cheng Tian grasped the colorful Key, three things happened simultaneously.
First, a complete set of Brand New Knight Armor dressed Cheng Tian, covering his naked state which was only clad in Strawberry Underwear.
Then, the tightly shut outer Entrance Gate of the Demon King's Castle not far away slowly opened.
Finally, the Main Quest timer completely froze at 3 hours, 45 minutes, and 39 seconds remaining.
【Main Quest Complete, entering Settlement Phase.】