36: Don’t Look at the Master When Beating the Dog

Not to mention the true Vampire Baron's strength, just the one in front of Tristan already made him feel immense pressure.

Compared to the three Silver-grade BOSSs in the dungeon or Jerobi beneath the Granite Hills, all of them paled in comparison to Ghibbobo Baron.

With extremely high offensive and defensive stats, combined with massive area-of-effect skills, Ghibbobo Baron was strong enough to make any elite squad retreat in defeat.

Not to mention, under special mode, there was also a Silver-grade Wolf King lurking by his side.

Tristan quickly thought things through and decided to take down the Wolf King first.

The revived Wolf King wasn't a summoned creature, so even if he killed the Baron, it wouldn't die.

Additionally, it was fast. If the Baron controlled it to ambush Tristan, it would be troublesome.

Fortunately, the Wolf King's health wasn't too high, and he could take it down in a few minutes.

With this in mind, Tristan raised his hand and threw a throwing knife.

"Woo!" The Wolf King let out an enraged howl, and Ghibbobo Baron's face darkened, though he didn't make any immediate moves, not even rising from his blood pool.

This was what Tristan had expected.

This awakening wasn't part of the Baron's plan. Originally, he intended to continue sleeping for another century.

However, his slumber was interrupted by the unexpected arrival of the Wolf King.

As a result, the Baron hadn't fully recovered yet, and was still in the process of restoring himself.

But this phase wouldn't last long. The blood pool would greatly speed up the Baron's recovery, so Tristan needed to reduce the Wolf King's health as much as possible before the Baron intervened.

If he could kill it outright, that would be ideal.

It all came down to who was faster: him or the Baron.

The Wolf King's health continued to decline, and Ghibbobo Baron's expression darkened, his eyes glowing red as he fixed his gaze on Tristan.

In ancient times, there was a saying: "When beating the dog, don't forget to look at the master."

The Wolf King had been revived by the Baron, and now, seeing it beaten helplessly by an outsider, the Baron's pride was being severely wounded.

He had already decided—he would kill this intruder himself, strip his skin to make a carpet, and craft his skull into a wine cup.

He would make this human atone for his actions today!

Tristan didn't care how scary the Baron's expression was. All he wanted was to take down the Wolf King first, then deal with the Baron.

When the Wolf King's health dropped below half, the Baron let out an enraged roar.

"Enough!"

He raised his arm and slapped the blood pool.

Countless drops of blood flew up and shot out in all directions like bullets, smashing the cave walls and sending shards of rock flying.

The moment the Baron raised his arm, Tristan had already activated Stealth and rushed to the cave entrance, using the walls to dodge the attack.

This bought him a brief moment of respite. The Wolf King ran to the Baron's side, whimpering and lowering its head.

The Baron pointed his finger, and a crimson orb of light entered the Wolf King's body.

"Howl!"

The Wolf King let out an invigorated howl, instantly recovering 20% of its health.

Tristan cursed inwardly at the cheat-like skill but had no choice but to watch.

This was the Baron's Life Conversion skill.

All Tristan could do was keep attacking.

The Baron's skill wasn't unlimited, and if Tristan could output enough damage, he could force the Wolf King to die.

After being revived, the Wolf King lost its self-awareness, but the familiar throwing knives made it restless.

Damn it, even in death, it couldn't find peace.

When its health dropped to 15%, the Wolf King ran back to the Baron's side again.

The Baron cursed it as useless, but still used Life Conversion to heal it for another 20%.

But this was futile.

The Wolf King wouldn't survive a third healing!

The bad news, however, was that Ghibbobo Baron's body had regained its fullness and strength.

He was about to leave the blood pool!

Boom!

The blood pool erupted with a violent wave, and the Baron transformed into a crimson shadow, leaping out of the pool and floating in mid-air, looking down with a cruel smile on his face.

"It's my turn now."

"Blood Tide!"

A dozen streams of red energy shot out from the Baron, spreading in all directions. The walls and the obsidian floor seemed to melt under the pressure, like butter under a hot knife.

Though the damage numbers didn't appear, Tristan knew this skill dealt no less than 10,000 damage!

Ordinary players without sufficient means of survival would be wiped out in the first wave of the Baron's attack.

Tristan had no choice but to temporarily retreat, hiding outside the tomb room, waiting for the right moment to strike.

Once his Shadow Stealth was off cooldown, Tristan reappeared and threw another throwing knife.

He then immediately activated Shadow Stealth again to retreat.

The Wolf King howled in near-death agony, while the Baron turned his gaze to Tristan, sneering, "Gotcha."

As he spoke, the Baron raised his hand, firing a blood arrow that hit the ground, creating a puff of white smoke and causing deep pits to form in the obsidian floor.

If this hit Tristan, he'd be dead on the spot.

Even with the protection of the Mountain Heart Ring, it would be useless.

A Golden-tier BOSS's attack was simply unreasonable—if it hit a soft target, it was an instant kill.

With his high agility, Tristan dodged the attack.

This made the Baron frown.

"You dodged?"

The Baron was momentarily stunned, then gave a begrudging compliment, "You're strong, full of potential. You will certainly become a thorn in the side of my race in the future."

"Too bad... you must die here today!"

"Dark Duel!"

Ink-black energy oozed from beneath the Baron's cloak, soon enveloping the entire underground tomb, stretching outward.

A game prompt appeared.

"Ding, Ghibbobo Baron has activated the special skill Dark Duel, blocking all retreat routes. The skill will only end when one side dies."

"Please be advised, if you die in Dark Duel, your character will be forcibly deleted!"

The prompt made Tristan's heart race.

So there was such a move?!

He hadn't heard of Dark Duel in his previous life!

It could actually force players to delete their accounts?

This was too absurd.

"What went wrong?"

Tristan's mind raced.

Was it because of the butterfly effect from his rebirth?

Or was it a hidden rule of ExoGenesis?

Maybe his sniper god talent had already drawn the attention of the gods to this world?

But quickly, Tristan pushed those thoughts aside.

Dark Duel was already in effect and expanding rapidly, covering him completely. Retreat was no longer an option.

The only way to survive now was to kill the Baron!

Taking a deep breath, Tristan became more composed than ever before.

He had once slain even gods, so what was a mere Vampire Baron?

The situation seemed unfavorable to Tristan, but he saw a chance for victory.

That chance was that the Baron couldn't break his Stealth!

Otherwise, the Baron wouldn't have needed to activate a special skill like Dark Duel to trap him here.

He was worried that Tristan might slip away.

In the shadows, Tristan's lips curled into a confident smile.

Your numbers are high, but my tactics are unbeatable!