Chapter 232: Creatures at the Top of the Food Chain

It is difficult to describe Xia Nan's feelings at this moment in words.

The rustling sound of branches swaying as a light breeze passes through the canopy, the shouts and alerts of teammates, the unknown insect chirps deep in the grass...

Accompanied by the violent heartbeat that was about to jump out of his chest, everything else was left with deathly silence.

The world before his eyes seemed to have fallen into a standstill at this moment.

On a certain branch, the squirrel, which was always cautious and would dash into a tree hole at the slightest disturbance, was now trembling and lying in place, using so much force that the flesh on its chest was vaguely deformed under the pressure of the tree bark, as if it wanted to fuse its tiny body with the tree.

Its butt was raised high, but its fluffy big tail covered its head forward, like an ostrich burying its head in the sand, ridiculous and pitiful.

Xia Nan's current standing position was with his back to the direction of the roaring sound, facing the team.

Therefore, he was able to clearly see the reaction of every member of the team at this moment.

The half-elf Haian still maintained the alert posture he instinctively made after his teammates called out an alert.

The wooden longbow originally carried on his back had already been tightly gripped in his hand, and the white-feathered arrow on his right index finger had even been placed on the bowstring.

Just by pulling hard, this dangerous sharp object, capable of piercing thick and tough leather, would fly out with a whistling sound that tore through the air.

But strangely, even though Haian had completed the preparations before the battle at the fastest speed.

But those silver-gray eyes of his, inherited from his elf mother, which should have been the sharpest and most keen in the forest to guard against dangers around,

were now just blankly staring at the firmament behind Xia Nan.

That stiff, dull, fair face, the pupils contracting and revealing a trance, and his body pulling the bow in alert, presented a sharp contrast.

As if his brain had disconnected at this moment.

Wood's body was suspended in mid-air, his whole person in a flying posture, rushing toward the half-elf young master he needed to protect.

The short dagger originally tightly gripped in his palm had fallen back into the leather sheath at his waist, but a cut had appeared on the side of his black clothing—as if he had left it behind carelessly when he was too hurried to insert the dagger back into the sheath.

For a veteran rogue, this was a mistake that was almost impossible to happen once in an entire professional career.

But seeing the resolute expression Wood now showed under the powerful impact he received in his heart, it was obvious that he no longer cared about so much.

Sawa's reaction was fast, and she even realized something was wrong earlier than Xia Nan.

This was naturally not because her perception attribute was stronger than Xia Nan's, but because of the hot blood quietly surging and rushing in her body.

Different from Wood and Haian, Sawa, as a dragonborn, didn't make any intense reactions.

But it wasn't the blank state of Luka beside her, who, because he hadn't discovered the source of the danger, was tensing his body while looking up at the sky to search for the enemy.

She just stood in place, her vertical pupils staring at the firmament.

Fear, hostility, anger, panic... the tragic history of the dragonborn race made all kinds of emotions entangle and pile up in the bottom of her eyes, forming an indescribable complex expression.

Only the dark yellow scales trembling rustlingly on the back of her head showed the agitated emotions in her heart at this moment.

Somewhat unexpectedly, it was the mage girl Weirouer, who had the weakest body in the entire team.

At this moment, she showed a calmness far beyond her appearance.

When the translucent light shield symbolizing the alarm spell, which enveloped everyone, shattered.

As the caster, she should have known the approximate source of the roaring sound and realized what kind of existence everyone might be about to face.

She didn't even have time to stand up, just sitting against the tree trunk, holding the staff in her hand high with both hands.

Inconspicuous magical radiance erupted in an instant, making the air around her body vaguely blurred and distorted.

From beginning to end, even though her expression showed obvious tension, her series of movements were exceptionally smooth, without falling into chaos due to the sudden attack.

For Xia Nan himself.

Just like those human investigators in the indescribable worldview who would explode if they looked at it one more time.

Overly keen perception might be able to help him discover danger earlier, but it also made him experience the danger itself more meticulously than ordinary people.

The air suddenly became quiet, the world fell into a standstill, just his body's instinctive response to the sudden huge pressure.

It was no different in essence from the lantern light before death, or the protective fainting under intense pain.

Until he prepared himself in his heart through the reactions of the people in front of him and realized the possible encounter of the team.

That stimulus reaction, several times stronger than that of ordinary people, penetrated the body's protective mechanism and acted on his body under the surging pressure that was almost about to crush his shoulders.

Boom—

The sharp tinnitus, wrapped in the shouts of his teammates, almost pierced his cranial cavity.

The hair on the back of his neck stood up instantly, his heart seemed to be tightly gripped by an icy palm, suddenly lifted to his throat, and the hot blood pumped out by the squeezing almost broke his ribs.

Clearly, he hadn't encountered any substantial attack, and his keen perception clearly knew that there were no enemies around who had obvious hostility toward him.

But that invisible pressure, which seemed to have condensed into substance, made Xia Nan enter the most critical combat state of life and death in an instant.

Hum—

His pitch-black hair shook violently, and the iron-gray sword light passed by in a flash.

Drawing his sword, turning around with the momentum, a blurred wolf head condensed around his body.

And it was only then.

Through the gaps in the oak branches above, reflecting the dazzling sunlight spilling through the gaps in the branches and leaves.

Xia Nan finally saw the object whose aura, just by being emitted unintentionally, caused the entire escort team to collapse and made professional-level adventurers as unbearable as ordinary villagers before a bugbear.

It was right there.

The huge shadow was like a moving mountain range above the firmament, the scales covering its whole body reflecting deep and solidified red light under the sunlight, just like a layer of slowly flowing scorching lava;

Its neck was as strong as a mountain ridge, supporting the huge, ferocious head in front, and the dark-colored sharp horns as thick as giant spears extended backward, twisted and coiled into a crown of fire and anger;

The thick and tough wing membranes were tightly stretched between the skeletons that seemed to be cast from refined steel, the dark red color as if dyed by the blood of prey and enemies, and every slow and powerful flap was the god of death from the sky beckoning to you.

A huge, angry, and perfectly conditioned—

Adult Hong Long!

A fatal and intense sense of crisis erupted in his heart.

Although Xia Nan was still tightly gripping his decapitation longsword, he had already begun to think about the possibility of entering the God Kingdom of the Goddess of Luck to enjoy happiness through his relationship with the halfling Alton after death.

It wasn't because he was too pessimistic and lost his fighting spirit.

It was just that the disparity in combat power between the two sides was like a chasm, making him already able to calmly accept all endings, including death.

The challenge level of a goblin is 1/4, which had already become his stress-relief toy;

The challenge level of a bugbear is 1, which once required him to explode his potential to barely win, and now it couldn't be called an opponent at all after his promotion;

The challenge level of an owl bear and a petrifying lizard is 3. If a person encounters them head-on in the forest, unless the situation is special, he can probably only run away in a sorry state.

Based on this as a comparison.

The challenge level of an adult red dragon with average strength and perfect condition is... ===== CHAPTER 233 =====