Nightmare Alligator

The atmosphere was somewhat somber when Jiang Bo and the others left.

"What do you think Bai Xiaowen's intentions were in telling us to leave?" After a period of silence, someone finally couldn't hold back any longer.

"I guess he doesn't want to team up with us. After all, our combat strength is negligible to him."

"There's no need to kick us out so easily. I think he probably wants to monopolize the medicinal herbs of Yinwind Ridge," said an Awakened One who wore glasses and looked very refined.

Jiang Bo shook his head in disagreement. "I don't think Bai Xiaowen is that kind of person."

The man with non-prescription glasses scoffed, "You're very familiar with him? I doubt it." His implication was that if Jiang Bo were truly close to Bai Xiaowen, he wouldn't have been chased away in the same way.

Jiang Bo's face flushed slightly as he said, "Although we're not familiar with each other, Bai Xiaowen sent several Elite Tier for us to kill, which means he doesn't even care much about the loot from Elite Tier. Would an Awakened One with that kind of strength care about a few herbs?"

As they were talking, they suddenly felt the ground behind them tremble, which was coming from the direction of Yinwind Ridge.

The group hurriedly turned around, only to see a vortex of white mist surging down from the sky above Yinwind Ridge, accompanied by a fierce howl that sounded like a beast, yet was not quite, and it shook the very soul.

Even from such a distance, the people who heard the Howl felt a sense of weakness in their limbs, as if they were experiencing sleep paralysis. One can only imagine how powerful Suppression Howl would be up close, and how formidable the monster that emitted Howl would be.

A moment of silence followed.

"So there was an even more terrifying BOSS lurking behind us. No wonder Bai Xiaowen chased us away." After regaining his senses, one of the Awakened Ones patted his chest and said with lingering fear.

"That's right. If we become the monsters' target, we'll probably have to leave the Dead Spirit Lake immediately. If we're even a little late, we'll be dead," another Awakened One said. "Bai Xiaowen meant well. He didn't actually have to remind us."

The Awakened One, wearing non-prescription glasses, blushed slightly.

"Goodness, judging by this boss's aura, it's probably more than just a level 6 Boss Tier. Bai Xiaowen just finished a major battle; can he handle it?" the first Awakened One said. "Should we go back and help Bai Xiaowen?"

Jiang Bo stopped him. "It's better not to go."

"How?"

"Our strength is hardly of any help," Jiang Bo explained. "Besides, our return could easily cause Bai Xiaowen to misunderstand. He could have gone all out, but if we were there, he might have to be distracted and wary of us..."

"... This is going too far," someone said.

However, everyone felt that what Jiang Bo said made a lot of sense.

That's exactly right. Someone as powerful as Bai Xiaowen, with strong strategic planning and execution abilities, dislikes nothing more than unexpected changes. For Bai Xiaowen, having everything under control is the best situation.

Of course, when the gap in strength is large, there is no certainty of victory, and there is no way out, Bai Xiaowen is not lacking in the courage to fight desperately.

Yinwind Ridge.

Bai Xiaowen remained calm as he confronted the enormous monster Boss Tier before him.

This is a huge crocodile, four meters long, with a dark black body. It looks somewhat similar to the giant Dead Marsh Giant Crocodile that we saw before, but the color is very different, and it looks unreal.

This giant crocodile had been asleep, and upon waking, it instantly killed Fatty with its first strike.

Its choice of Bai Xiaowen as its target indicates that it possesses a high level of intelligence—however, Bai Xiaowen manipulated Fatty to stand in front of it, thus escaping unscathed.

Bai Xiaowen demonstrated his Insight.

[Nightmare Alligator (Level 7 Boss Tier)]

[Race: Fiend Species / Beast-Demon Clan]

[Attributes: Strength 42, Agility 21, Constitution 41, Spirit 53]

[Skill 1: Shifting Skin: The Nightmare Alligator's skin can change color to blend in with its surroundings, greatly reducing the chance of being detected. The first attack while undetected will deal additional damage equal to 30% of the target's maximum Life Value.]

[Skill 2: Corpse-Insect Rain: The Nightmare Alligator unleashes a swarm of corpse worms stored within its body, launching a continuous assault on a single target. Each worm deals 1-3 points of physical damage. This skill requires continuous casting and cannot be interrupted or canceled.]

[Skill 3:???]

[Skill 4:???]

[Skill 5: Necromantic Dominion LV1: Increases Life Value by 300 points, reduces the duration of abnormal statuses and control effects by 30%.]

"Finally, we've met the main character. I initially thought it was a crocodile skilled in mental attacks... but judging from the two skills I detected, it primarily deals physical damage. However, we still can't let our guard down; the skills it didn't detect are probably magical."

Bai Xiaowen silently analyzed the situation in her mind.

Regardless of the Nightmare Alligator's skills, its attributes don't lie. Its Spirit attribute is the highest, reaching 53 points, indicating that the Nightmare Alligator's attack style is largely biased towards magical damage.

In addition, the Nightmare Alligator's attributes are very evenly distributed, with Strength and Constitution both above 40 points, and only Agility is slightly lower. This balanced attribute is still a bit difficult for Bai Xiaowen, who is two levels lower, to deal with. Unlike dealing with a mage-type BOSS with Mental Specialty, he can't just rush in and take him down with a few Shield Bash like Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier.

Without a doubt, the Nightmare Alligator, with 42 points of strength, is also a formidable opponent in close combat.

The Nightmare Alligator's two vertical pupils stared at Bai Xiaowen without any emotion. Its short, thick limbs moved slowly, step by step, creating a sense of mental oppression.

Suddenly, a hallucination appeared before Bai Xiaowen's eyes: the Nightmare Alligator's body grew as tall as a mountain, its gaping maw like a bottomless pit, emitting an extremely strong suction force, as if it would even swallow souls.

Spirit Realm Rules Message:

"Nightmare Alligator's skill: Death Illusion activated! Instant-Death Check in progress..."

"The Nightmare Alligator's total attributes are 157 points. Our total attributes are 118 points, which is 50% higher than the Nightmare Alligator's total attributes. The Instant-Death Check of the Death Illusion has failed and will instead become Stun effect, lasting 5 seconds."

Bai Xiaowen's soul had just returned to its place when she heard a follow-up prompt from the Spirit Realm Rules:

"Heart of Sincerity effect triggered (1 stack), the duration of the Stun effect is reduced to 4.5 seconds."

Bai Xiaowen was as if trapped in Nightmare, temporarily unable to make any movement. After casting the Death Illusion skill, the Nightmare Alligator suddenly accelerated its crawling limbs and bit Bai Xiaowen!

But at this moment, the Bone Warlock suddenly raised his hand, and a beam of yellow light shone down from the sky, illuminating Bai Xiaowen.

[Yellow Heaven: Summons Yellow Heaven Sweet Rain, removing control effects from one friendly unit with a priority of 7 or lower, and restoring a small amount of their Life Value.]

Bai Xiaowen swiftly regained control of his body. Instead of retreating, he advanced, dodging the Nightmare Alligator's bite. The next second, a flaming fist slammed into the Nightmare Alligator's bulb-sized vertical pupil.