Chapter 39: The Lizard

It was a massive lizard nearly five meters long.

Its entire body was covered in rough, stone-like greenish-grey scales, and a single glance was enough to convey the sheer power of its defensive capability. Eight thick, short, and muscular legs supported the bloated and heavy torso above them.

Subterranean crystal-like brown bone spurs extended from the crown of its head and the tip of its snout all the way back to the tip of its tail. Its eerie green vertical pupils gleamed with a faint light, flickering unsteadily against the thin mist in the air like ghost fires.

A basilisk—a petrifying lizard.

Unlike the technology-driven world of his past life where supernatural forces did not exist, where in the vast majority of cases one could judge the danger level of a creature in nature simply by its physical size.

But in a fantasy world truly possessed of dragons and magic, who could say if a flower pixie no larger than a thumb was actually some high-level professional, or if she mastered high-circle spells capable of destroying a small town?

Therefore, to differentiate these creatures of varying sizes and different levels of danger, a concept had been proposed:

Challenge Rating!

Generally speaking, a magical beast with a Challenge Rating of 1 could be defeated without casualties by a well-structured party composed of four Level 1 professionals, provided they had moderate equipment, ample supplies, and proper rest.

Of course, this was merely a cold rule used under ideal conditions to help players in his past life distinguish the power tiers of monsters.

When translated into reality, whether it was the development level of the monster itself, whether its body was injured, or the surrounding environment and its own habits, all exerted a considerable degree of influence on its danger level and strength tier.

Sometimes, for certain magical beasts possessing a degree of intelligence, one even had to consider factors such as whether they possessed combat experience against human adventurers and the equipment or items they carried.

But even so, judgments regarding a magical beast’s strength could still be differentiated by its Challenge Rating.

To use an example, the Rust Monsters the half-elf’s squad encountered last night had a Challenge Rating of 0.5.

Meanwhile, the bugbear that had completely annihilated the team of total amateurs back then had a Challenge Rating of exactly 1, or slightly below it.

Using this as a benchmark.

Right now, the basilisk dragging its belly and swaying as it approached not far ahead of Xia Nan possessed a Challenge Rating of:

3!

It would require four professionals whose class levels had reached Level 3, along with a certain amount of preparation, to hunt it down without suffering casualties.

This massive magical beast clad in thick scales possessed an ability called Petrifying Gaze from birth.

Wherever the gaze of its eerie green eyes landed, as long as it activated the ability, the creatures within its line of sight would be subjected to the influence of the Petrifying Gaze. Only those possessing a powerful physique or an unyielding willpower could avoid the fate of turning into a statue.

This extremely perilous ability allowed them to run virtually rampant throughout the arid regions they inhabited.

With a sweep of its eyes, unsuspecting prey would become immovable stone statues. And at that moment, the naturally lazy basilisk would crawl forward unhurriedly and use its powerful jaws to crush the prey’s stone statue, swallowing it into its stomach.

The secretions within its stomach sack would also help it revert the food to its original form, making it convenient to digest.

Without a doubt.

No matter what state the basilisk before him was in, given Xia Nan’s current strength—

Going forward meant death.

Therefore, even though he had not yet traded blows with this magical beast, the sight of Larry and Doris being petrified in the blink of an eye, along with the half-elf and Wood fleeing backward without looking back, was more than enough. The instant he recovered his senses, urged by the alarm bells blaring wildly in his heart due to the approach of death.

He turned and bolted!

The Beheading Longsword he had just drawn was slammed back into its scabbard, and the thickets on either side receded rapidly in his field of vision.

Xia Nan swung his arms violently back and forth, his long legs advancing at top speed across the meadow carpeted with fallen leaves within the forest.

“Pant… pant…”

He breathed heavily, his brain slightly dizzy under the rush of hot blood.

Occasionally, he could even hear the warning hisses of various snakes and insects from the bushes brushing against his legs. But at this moment, he could not care less about any of that, blindly running toward the deeper parts of the dense forest while praying in his heart that the basilisk would not pursue him.

However, Xia Nan had miscalculated this greedy magical beast’s craving for meat.

Watching Xia Nan and the half-elf split up into two routes and flee in different directions, a light of contemplation, much like that of an intelligent creature, flickered within the basilisk’s eerie green eyes.

Although the number of prey on one side was greater by one, they were clearly faster, and their aura became faint and obscure under the cover of the dense forest, making it very difficult to capture. Add to that the emerald-green light that had blocked its Petrifying Gaze just now…

Driven almost instantly by its hunting instincts, this massive, greenish-grey lizard made its decision.

Its eight leg segments, as thick as stone pillars, bent to store up power.

Boom!

At this moment, its bloated and massive torso displayed an explosive power that completely defied its heavy build, creating a sharp contrast.

It was like a tank clad in stone armor.

Tough and troublesome bushes and thorns, along with the snakes and scorpions scurrying out of them in panic, were crushed to powder. The thick tree canopy shook violently, and startled birds that had just flapped their wings twice turned into stone statues and crashed to the ground.

Trees were knocked down, and bushes were pulverized.

It rampaged straight through, with wood chips mixed with grass seeds flying through the air.

Xia Nan only felt the ground vibrating violently, and a massive commotion akin to a train driving past echoed from behind him.

With his heart thumping rapidly, he did not even dare to cast a single glance back to check the situation, merely accelerating his speed as much as possible. But the sound of snapping branches was like the gradually approaching footsteps of the Grim Reaper, growing increasingly distinct beside his ears.

Finally, accompanied by a greenish-grey afterimage flashing past the corner of his eye.

A piercing, fierce wind, laden with the stench of the magical beast’s saliva, surged from behind him like a gale.

The bloody maw capable of crushing iron and stone snapped shut violently!

Buzz!

The only magical item on Xia Nan’s person, the Dead Line ring, triggered automatically—

Deflection Field.

Neither light nor gas, the free energy in the air was instantly condensed into a translucent, ochre-red shield, covering his body.

Crunch!

Deflected by the forcefield, the basilisk bit entirely into empty air, and its powerful jaws snapped shut accordingly. A sound that made one’s teeth ache with sourness echoed through the air.

It was merely defense.

The twenty-four-hour cooldown of the Dead Line ring’s Deflection Field might have served as a decisive trump card to determine victory or defeat in an intense battle between opponents of equal strength. But right now, when facing such a disparate gap in combat power between the two sides, it could only allow Xia Nan to run a couple of steps further.

In the next second, the basilisk’s massive, tank-like body crashed straight into him.

(End of Chapter)