Corpse-Insect Rain

Boom!

Flames erupted, Nightmare Alligator paid a heavy price for its underestimation of its opponent. This attack dealt Critical Hit ignored defense, and the Nightmare Alligator temporarily lost sight in its left eye. Fortunately, its physique was strong enough that it was not completely blinded; otherwise, it would certainly have become a one-eyed crocodile.

Enraged, the Nightmare Alligator lunged forward, its massive tail sweeping across.

"Nightmare Alligator's skill: Soul-Shattering Strike activated."

The tail strike was swift and fierce. Bai Xiaowen had clearly taken a step back in advance, intending to dodge the Nightmare Alligator's enraged attack, but he only managed to avoid most of it; the tip of the crocodile's tail grazed his chest.

In an instant, a chilling sensation that penetrated deep into his soul surged forth, and Bai Xiaowen let out a muffled groan as he stumbled backward. He hurriedly checked the notification from the Spirit Realm Rules.

"The Nightmare Alligator's Soul-Shattering Strike dealt you 45 points of blunt damage (physical)."

"The Nightmare Alligator's Soul-Shattering Strike dealt 77 Shadow damage (spell) to you."

This "Soul-Shattering Strike" skill deals mixed damage, with a higher proportion of spell damage than physical damage. Bai Xiaowen's magic resistance is higher than his armor, thanks to the additional magic resistance provided by his equipment such as the Warlock's Robe.

This attack dealt a total of 122 damage. Despite Bai Xiaowen's Life Sharing with the Rageclaw, both of their Life Value were still rapidly declining.

After killing the three bosses, Bai Xiaowen and Rageclaw's Life Value was only slightly over 40%. During the subsequent sweep of Yinwind Ridge, their Life Value recovered somewhat, reaching around 60%. Fortunately, they had Undead Disguise (lower level), otherwise Bai Xiaowen's health recovery rate would have been almost stagnant, and his health would not have recovered at all.

One more point needs to be added: In the Ghost Mist Zone, as long as the Summoner Class has the Undead Disguise effect, the summoned creature is considered to also have that effect. This is also why the Rageclaw, Beast Species creature, can fight for a long time in the Ghost Mist Zone; it benefits from Bai Xiaowen's Undead Disguise effect, which isolates it from the influence of the Ghost Mist.

"I dodged in advance, so the skill's full power wasn't revealed! If I had been hit squarely, the damage would probably have doubled, which would have been dangerous."

Seeing his and Rageclaw's Life Value plummet to 30-40%, Bai Xiaowen was startled. However, he remained calm despite his alarm. Although the Nightmare Alligator was formidable, he was now quite confident of victory.

The reason is that the Nightmare Alligator has already used both of its undetected skills. For Bai Xiaowen, the Nightmare Alligator's attack methods and skill characteristics are no longer a secret.

Bai Xiaowen took a half step back, flicked his finger, and the Desert Eagle spewed fire, beginning its counterattack.

Taking advantage of the Nightmare Alligator's large size, low agility, and clumsy movements, Bai Xiaowen fired bullets aimed at the Nightmare Alligator Nightmare Alligator's intact right eye area, Disruption. His Rageclaw circled around to the Nightmare Alligator's flanks, biting and nibbling.

At this point, the Rageclaw had Critical Hit rate of over 80%, meaning almost every bite was Critical Hit!

The Nightmare Alligator, in pain, turned its head and aimed a bite at the Rageclaw, but Bai Xiaowen had already anticipated this move and sent over a Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier in advance.

With a snap, bone fragments scattered.

The Nightmare Alligator missed its Rageclaw, but its intact right eye was hit repeatedly by Bai Xiaowen's bullets, causing it to see stars and forcing it to close its eyelids. Bai Xiaowen continued firing with a cold smile. After three shots, the fourth bullet, which ignored the armor, was fired and pierced the Nightmare Alligator Nightmare Alligator's eyelid, causing it to let out another painful roar.

Damage to the eyes, an important functional part of the body, will result in a "blindness" assessment, just as a leg injury will result in a slowdown assessment.

Within a certain period of time, the greater the damage to the eyes, the more likely the blindness assessment will be valid. Of course, this also depends on the individual's physical condition; people with strong constitutions are more resistant to blindness.

There are two types of blindness: temporary loss of sight and permanent blindness.

(Everyone can recall if they were ever hit by a "blindfold hammer" when they were fighting as kids. After being hit, you can't open your eyes for a while, but your vision will gradually return after a while.)

Bai Xiaowen's previous punch had temporarily blinded the Nightmare Alligator's left eye, and the accumulated damage from the recent barrage of bullets had also temporarily blinded Nightmare Alligator right eye.

This is the disadvantage of large-sized beast-like monsters. If it were a Human Species boss, it would never be so easy to lose its sight.

Most Beast Species bosses, or monster-type bosses, are very large and generally have a natural advantage in knockback, knock-up, Suppression, and suppression effects. Their basic attributes are also stronger than those of Human Species bosses of the same level. However, their weakness is also obvious: they have very poor defense against vital points.

Take this Nightmare Alligator for example; its only way to protect its eyes is to close its eyelids and frantically shake its head... Expecting it to cover its eyes with its short, thick forelimbs? No way.

Of course, some special Beast Species and monster bosses are small in size and agile, such as the Dreadclaw and Raptor, which are not included in this list and need not be elaborated.

Enraged by its blindness, the Nightmare Alligator writhed wildly, its massive body scattering the piles of bones on Yinwind Ridge, sending shattered Bone Shatter flying everywhere.

Bai Xiaowen commanded a group of summoned creatures, looking for opportunities to deal damage. He paid special attention to protecting the safety of the Rageclaw Rageclaw, which now had an overall Critical Hit rate of over 80%, making it the undisputed primary damage dealer. The price he paid was that he himself was left with only 60 or 70 Life Value.

Bai Xiaowen and Rageclaw share the same Life Value percentage, and he's not much healthier either. With the same Life Value percentage, Bai Xiaowen has a little over one hundred Life Value points remaining.

Bai Xiaowen missed Li Shuyi. If the beautiful Li were here, with her dual swords' two attack speed passives and the DPS from activating the Demonfire Dance, her output would be no less than that of a fully Critical Hit Rageclaw, making the fight against this boss much easier.

The two +7 offensive Gold Equipment on Li Shuyi's body are not just for show.

In contrast, the ranged DPS, the Bone Warlock, had a much more comfortable time. They didn't have to worry about being hit by the BOSS at all, as one Lightning Strike after another pounded down, leaving wisps of smoke on the Nightmare Alligator's thick hide.

The Nightmare Alligator is Beast-Demon Clan, belonging to the Fiend Species. Its Thunderstrike Art also deals true damage to Bane of Evil, so the damage output of the Bone Warlock is not low.

The Shadow Assassin's damage output is relatively average. As a melee fighter, she needs to constantly adjust her positioning to deal damage while dealing damage to the crazed boss.

Kitz's damage output is similar to that of the Shadow Assassin, but fortunately, Kitz can Bat Transformation and has the ability to Blood Drain on attack, making him more forgiving.

As for the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier... their damage output is pathetic, basically less than ten points of damage per hit, and their attack speed is ridiculously slow. The good news is that there are three Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier (one of them was eaten away), so their combined damage is still quite considerable.

After slowly reducing the BOSS to half health, the Nightmare Alligator regained its vision. It opened its maw again and cast a second Death Illusion, still targeting Bai Xiaowen.

This time, Bai Xiaowen didn't hesitate and immediately used the Eclipse Dominator Badge's attached skill, Eclipse, to remove the Stun effect. He retreated rapidly, dodging the Nightmare Alligator BOSS's bite and also avoiding the second Soul-Shattering Strike skill.

"The same trick won't work on me," Bai Xiaowen laughed, "But it should work on you."

Bai Xiaowen used the same tactic again, attacking the Nightmare Alligator's eyes once more. He carefully controlled the position of the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier, making each attack highly targeted and dangerous, given that the Nightmare Alligator still had sight.

Crack! Another Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier stood in front of the Rageclaw, only to be smashed into bone fragments by the Nightmare Alligator's claws.

With a snap, the third Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier was bitten and then swallowed whole by the enraged Nightmare Alligator Crocodile.

"How many years has it been since he last ate? He's even gnawing on ancient bones..." Bai Xiaowen grumbled. During this time, he activated his Rapid-Fire Mode, once again injuring the Nightmare Alligator BOSS's eyes, and entering a new round of damage output.

The Nightmare Alligator's Life Value dropped steadily.

When its Life Value dropped to 200 points, the Nightmare Alligator suddenly let out a roar, its blood-stained vertical pupils opening wide as it stared intently at Bai Xiaowen!

Then, the beast opened its huge mouth.

A buzzing sound rang out, and a plume of black mist rushed towards Bai Xiaowen.

"Nightmare Alligator's skill: Corpse-Insect Rain activated!"

The black mist was actually formed from countless tiny corpse worms. Under the control of the Nightmare Alligator, the corpse worms pounced on Bai Xiaowen.

"So much!"

Bai Xiaowen was somewhat surprised. He had tested the skill "Corpse-Insect Rain" before, and originally thought that 1-3 points of physical damage was not significant. However, seeing the terrifying number of corpse worms, Bai Xiaowen finally understood how terrifying this skill was.

So what if there's a point or two of damage? Little by little, hundreds or thousands of corpse worms attacking the same target can overwhelm even Advanced Boss!

Most importantly, the Corpse-Insect Rain skill cannot be interrupted or canceled.

Bai Xiaowen saw the swarms of corpse worms approaching, but instead of panicking, he smiled.

"This is probably your last stand. But I'm sorry, since I detected this skill beforehand and didn't try to escape, I naturally have a way to deal with it!"

Bai Xiaowen gently removed the blue ring on her left hand that increased her spirit by 2 points, and put on the Gold Equipment she had never used before in her Storage Space: the Petrified Monitor Lizard Tailbone.

The Petrified Monitor Lizard Tailbone has an additional skill: Stone Armor activated!

Against physical attacks, it provides a fixed damage reduction of 10 points. The trade-off is a 40% reduction in attack speed and movement speed during the duration.

This Stone Armor skill has no specified duration; once activated, it remains active unless the caster cancels it manually.

Bai Xiaowen's body suddenly felt much heavier, and his skin had a gray texture, like a human-shaped stone sculpture.

A series of crackling and popping sounds rang out as corpse worms crashed into Bai Xiaowen before falling to the ground. The damage they should have caused was completely negated by the Stone Armor.

The Nightmare Alligator BOSS also noticed this situation. However, it could not stop this skill—the corpse worms accumulated in its body were sprayed out continuously like a high-pressure water gun. It could not stop unless it died or the corpse worms were exhausted.

A horde of summoned creatures swarmed forward.

At this moment, the Nightmare Alligator, with its mouth wide open, became a fixed target. Damage values appeared one after another from the top of its head.

Bai Xiaowen also tried firing, and sure enough, during the duration of the Stone Armor, his attack speed was greatly reduced, and his movement speed was also ridiculously slow. The negative effects of the Stone Armor were indeed quite severe, and although it could be kept active indefinitely, no one was willing to do so.

The fixed reduction of 10 points in physical damage is rather useless for intermediate and Advanced Awakened warriors in combat. Under normal circumstances, it cannot outweigh the negative cost of a 40% reduction in attack speed and movement speed.

However, there are no worst skills, only the worst awakeners. In special circumstances, Stone Armor can be surprisingly effective, such as against the Nightmare Alligator BOSS's Corpse-Insect Rain skill.

A full five seconds passed before the Nightmare Alligator BOSS finished spewing out its corpse worms, and the skill finally ended.

During this time, it had been constantly ravaged by Bai Xiaowen's summoned creatures, and its Life Value had dropped below one hundred.

Generally speaking, bosses with almost no health are the most dangerous. These bosses have already sensed that they are about to die, and when you fight them, you will often fight recklessly, using every move to your death.

Bai Xiaowen thought for a moment, then decided not to use the Talisman Switching skills and finish the job; he felt more at ease having the skill in hand. He deactivated the Stone Armor spell and fired.

After the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Shadow Assassin perished, Bai Xiaowen finally succeeded in eliminating the level 7 Boss Tier.

Seeing the Large Golden Treasure Chest slowly materializing above the Nightmare Alligator's corpse, Bai Xiaowen breathed a sigh of relief.

In this battle, he lost the Stitched Monster Fatty, all the Skeleton Sword-and-Shield Soldier and Shieldmen, and the Shadow Assassin. Fortunately, they were all summoned creatures using the Black Soul Stone's Return of the Dead skill, and could be summoned again after the 12-hour cooldown. This did not have a significant impact on Bai Xiaowen's strength.

The fact that such heavy casualties did not occur when dealing with three level 6 bosses and so many Elite Tier and normal monsters shows how powerful the Nightmare Alligator Boss Tier.

Of course, there is another important reason: when the Nightmare Alligator appeared, Bai Xiaowen had just finished a fierce battle, and the Life Value of all his summoned creatures was not full. Important skills, such as the burst of Rageclaw, and some of Bai Xiaowen's precious equipment-added skills had already been used up.

It's not that the Nightmare Alligator is more powerful than the previous three bosses and the Undead Legion combined; it's just that its timing was extremely unfortunate.

Regardless, killing the Nightmare Alligator is a victory. Bai Xiaowen sighed, sat cross-legged on the ground, and ordered Kitz and the Bone Warlock to collect the Netherwind Flower and the Netherworld Grass. As for himself, he would enjoy a pleasant treasure chest opening journey to relax and relieve his fatigue.

In terms of Battle Rating, all three level 6 Undead Species bosses received a B-Tier Battle Rating from the Spirit Realm Rules.

This rating is a bit high, but there's a reason for it. It's mainly because of the difficulty of Bai Xiaowen's battle. He faced three bosses and a bunch of undead minions all by himself, so the Battle Rating given by the Spirit Realm Rules would naturally be higher. As for Jiang Bo and the other awakened ones, they were just there to cheer and their role was basically negligible.

The Nightmare Alligator's treasure chest received A-Tier Battle Rating from the Spirit Realm Rules, which is also very high. On one hand, the Nightmare Alligator is Advanced Boss, which is qualitatively different from Intermediate Boss. On the other hand, Bai Xiaowen was forced to challenge the Nightmare Alligator when he was not in good condition after a major battle, which was also taken into account in terms of the difficulty of the battle.

Thank you to reader [garyhihiture] for the four generous donations of 10,000 yuan each, and thank you everyone for your continued support. bows