Flame Damage! The Best Human Stake

In fairy tales, an expert, a powerhouse, a demon king, or a grand boss is usually defeated by some unkillable, unbreakable, and indefatigable underdog. They eventually collapse in despair, breakdown, and disbelief, or perhaps leave behind a hollow, blustering threat like, "I'll be back!" before turning to flee. In reality, such things shouldn't happen; at most, one might witness a counter-kill where a "villain dies from talking too much."

Chen Jinyang felt he was currently facing the dilemma of a fairy-tale villain. He, the righteous guardian, had become the "demon king" about to be defeated, while the evil monster occupied the role of the "underdog." Chen Jinyang had tried every method—crushing skulls, dismantling bones, severing limbs, and even slow-slicing—yet he could never truly kill this monster. Although the somewhat clumsy monster couldn't do anything to him for the moment, Chen Jinyang didn't believe he could win a war of attrition against it for long.

The continuous and brutal attacks had drained a massive amount of Chen Jinyang's stamina. Facing the increasingly frenzied monster, he began to consider retreating; at worst, he would just move his family away and leave this dilapidated village to the creature. But before retreating, Chen Jinyang needed to limit the monster's mobility.

Chen Jinyang had long since discovered that the monster prioritized chasing after its own severed limbs. He grabbed its left arm, executed a joint-locking maneuver to pin the monster to the ground, and with some effort, twisted the arm off and threw it far away. Afterward, he severed the monster's right leg and nailed it to a high tree trunk with a javelin.

Losing half its limbs, the monster could no longer maintain its balance. It repeatedly tried to retrieve its severed parts, but the high tree trunk thwarted its attempts because it couldn't climb. The desperate monster eventually gave up on reclaiming its limbs and turned to attack Chen Jinyang again. Although its movement speed was greatly reduced due to the missing limbs, the madness and brutality in its every action thoroughly shook Chen Jinyang's spirit. Furthermore, the scene he least wanted to see occurred: the monster's severed areas were rapidly healing and regenerating; it would likely grow a new limb in ten minutes at most.

Chen Jinyang looked at the crazed monster with a bitter taste in his mouth. How could such a terrifying monster exist in this world!

Dizzy and lightheaded, Chen Jinyang subconsciously glanced back toward the village, only to discover something that made him extremely furious. Three uninvited spectators—one large and two small—were squatting on the perimeter wall, watching the excitement with great interest. Alos and Phinia were dividing a large, fluffy piece of baked bread, while Mishaer was clutching a massive Frozen Blue Lettuce, munching away with a "crunch, crunch" sound.

The three of them were laughing and chatting while watching his battle below.

Shocked and angry, Chen Jinyang broke free from the monster's entanglement, strode to the wall in a few steps, pointed at the trio, and roared in exasperation: "Idiots! Get out of here! It's dangerous!"

To his surprise, the three oblivious individuals remained indifferent and kept laughing. The little girl's small mouth gnawed at the lettuce skin like a gopher, spitting bits toward the wall below. Seeing Chen Jinyang's fury, she hugged the half-head-sized Frozen Blue Lettuce with her left arm, waved her small fist with her free right hand, and shouted excitedly with a flushed face: "Brother William is so cool! Go, Brother! Wow! Crunch! Crunch!"

Then, the little girl buried her head to continue eliminating the delicacy in her hands. Because of Chen Jinyang's guidance, this vegetable, which was usually boiled, had become a fruit that could be eaten raw, and the whole family had become addicted to the habit of munching on raw Frozen Blue Lettuce. Consequently, the reserves of Frozen Blue Lettuce were consumed rapidly, leading to a shortage. Now, except for Mishaer, who could eat to her heart's content without restriction, the others rarely got a bite.

Little Alos took a bite of bread, swallowed it with some difficulty, and said with an admiring look: "William is truly amazing, actually daring to play a brawling game with a 'Trill' here! Mishaer! My good sister, give me a bite of the Frozen Blue Lettuce, okay?" The bran mixed into the bread was quite scratchy on the throat, so little Alos begged the little girl with a flattering smile, clearly salivating over the tuber in her hands.

"What did you say? Playing a game with this monster? You idiots! I've used all my strength and still can't kill this thing; what the hell is it?" Standing below, Chen Jinyang was both angry and amused.

Perhaps the monster was starved mad; seeing it couldn't catch Chen Jinyang, it suddenly turned away to scavenge the carcass of the wild ox nearby.

Alos's little scheme didn't succeed. He cleared his throat and explained: "A 'Trill'—a Troll, meaning a giant that cannot be killed. You spent all that effort actually trying to kill it? Don't you even know how to kill a Troll? 'Even a fool knows a Troll cannot be killed' (this is a Faerun proverb, just like us saying 'even a fool knows to eat when hungry')." At this point, little Alos scratched the back of his head in embarrassment, only then remembering that his big brother William used to be a fool.

Chen Jinyang watched the Troll, which had finished eating the ox remains and was starting to run back, and said impatiently: "Cut the crap! Tell me how to kill this damn thing!"

Little Alos didn't answer, but instead turned to Mishaer in an annoying way: "Good sister! Let me have a bite! Just one! Just one bite!" The little girl held her Frozen Blue Lettuce high, refusing to let her greedy brother get close.

Chen Jinyang turned his gaze to Phinia, but the giantess was focused on finishing her bread and had no time to pay him any mind.

The little girl eventually succumbed to Alos, and a large chunk was bitten off her Frozen Blue Lettuce. She made a face at Alos in annoyance, then eagerly shouted to Chen Jinyang: "I know! I know how to kill a Troll! Burn it with fire!"

"Burn it with fire?" Chen Jinyang's face clearly showed a look of disbelief.

The little girl said unhappily: "How annoying! Brother William actually doesn't believe me!"

Chen Jinyang kicked the approaching Troll away, watched the monster struggle to crawl up, and asked urgently: "How do I burn it?"

Alos slid down the wall sneakily, trotted over to Chen Jinyang, and swallowed the food in his mouth before saying: "Watch me!" With that, he faced the Troll triumphantly. The Troll, whose limbs had already grown back, let out a ferocious roar upon seeing the approaching Alos, scaring the little guy into subconsciously taking a few steps back.

Alos huffed and puffed for a long time, finally managing to conjure a small fireball the size of a ping-pong ball. He waved his hand, and the small fireball drifted lazily toward the Troll. To Chen Jinyang's great surprise, the Troll, which had been relentless and brave, actually retreated this time. Like a mouse seeing a cat, it scrambled to avoid the fireball using its hands and feet, but the small flame still hit the Troll's large foot.

The monster's foot was instantly ignited, and then the fire spread like spilled oil, crawling up the Troll's leg and over its entire body. In just a few breaths, the massive monster turned into a raging torch. The Troll wailed and struggled in the growing flames, leaving Chen Jinyang dumbfounded.

"It's that simple?" He stared at Alos with a blank expression, muttering to himself. This tenacious monster, which had almost caused him to develop a mental block, had met its end so dramatically, leaving him with a surreal, dreamlike feeling. Chen Jinyang looked at the burning monster with vacant eyes, then turned to look at Alos.

"I'm amazing, right!" The little guy puffed out his chest with his chin almost pointing to the sky, his face clearly saying, "Come praise me."

Chen Jinyang composed himself, reached out to twist Alos's ear, and scolded him with a mix of shame and anger: "You idiot! Who told you to come down?! What if you got hurt by the monster! Huh—!"

He had used real force, making the little guy wince and cry out, while the little girl on the wall added fuel to the fire: "That's right! Brother William, teach Alos a good lesson; he even stole a big piece of lettuce when I wasn't looking." As she spoke, she held up her small hand to show Chen Jinyang the Frozen Blue Lettuce with a chunk missing.

After some laughter and play, Chen Jinyang hoisted Alos onto the wall, preparing to leave. The little guy said in a strange tone: "You aren't just going to leave like this, are you?"

"What? You want to stay here for another day?" Chen Jinyang asked, half-puzzled and half-doting as he patted his younger brother's head.

The little guy regained his spirited look and cleared his throat pretentiously: "Ahem! It seems I have to explain some common knowledge about Trolls to my poor brother." With that, he began to show off the information he had overheard in taverns.

Trolls are terrifying carnivorous creatures found everywhere from polar regions and deserts to tropical jungles. Most creatures avoid these monsters; they know no fear and will attack and prey whenever they are hungry. Trolls have a voracious appetite, eating everything from maggots to brown bears and various humanoid species. They usually hide near human settlements, hunting all the residents until not a single one is left.

Trolls do not fear death; they throw themselves into battle without hesitation, attacking the nearest enemy frantically, even trying to bypass fire to attack. Trolls fear neither blades nor hammers. Wounds inflicted upon them heal immediately. If a Troll loses a limb or a part of its body, it can grow it back in minutes. Even a severed head will grow back immediately, and if a severed limb is placed back on the stump, it can reattach instantly. Although Trolls generally reproduce in the same way as humans, when a Troll gives up on finding a missing limb and grows a new one, the discarded limb will grow into a new Troll after a day! Countless leopards, wolves, and other beasts have supposedly eaten Troll remains, only to have a new Troll grow inside their stomachs (though this is merely hearsay).

Only fire and strong acid can truly harm a Troll. Strong acid inhibits a Troll's regenerative ability, preventing it from recovering, but only fire can truly kill it. Parts burned by fire cannot regenerate, and a Troll killed by fire enters eternal death. A Troll's dry, rubber-like skin is as flammable as oil-soaked tinder; an experienced warrior can even defeat several Trolls with just a torch.

After listening to little Alos's introduction, Chen Jinyang let out a long sigh: what a cruel and terrifying race—powerful strength, fearless combat style, horrific regenerative ability, and scandalous reproductive traits. If not for their extreme fear of fire and relatively low intelligence, Trolls would absolutely be the greatest disaster in the world. The saying "everything has its balance" was indeed true; even the most powerful existence had its insurmountable flaws.

However, the purpose of martial arts was to break through these flaws, to compensate for and even sublimate human weaknesses through limit-breaking methods, achieving a powerful effect akin to biological evolution. The difficulty was self-evident. For ancestors and predecessors to pass down such heaven-defying techniques through generations of inheritance and summary was a merit truly beyond measure for their descendants.

"Let's go! We'll talk when we get back!" Chen Jinyang looked at the burning Troll corpse with weariness; the nauseating stench of burning in the surrounding air made everyone frown.

Alos asked unwillingly: "What about the Troll's severed arm and leg? If we leave them alone, they'll turn into two new Trolls by this time tomorrow."

Chen Jinyang patted the little guy's forehead and said: "We'll deal with tomorrow's problems tomorrow!" With that, he climbed onto the wall and left with the others, who were already unable to stand the stench.

Chen Jinyang looked back at the Troll's severed limbs nailed to the tree in the distance, thinking to himself: Unkillable, unbreakable, and possessing infinite strength—what perfect training dummies!