The entire world seemed to have been muted at this moment.
Above the Bone Altar, time and space seemed to have frozen.
Overlord Tiger, Ba Tian 'Fire Mage, Blade, and the Healer Little Hands Icy Cold, the four of them stood motionless like petrified sculptures, staring intently at the solitary figure charging fearlessly towards the Necromancer, with a look of extreme shock and disbelief, as if gazing upon a deity.
"He... what is he doing?" Little Hands Icy Cold's lips trembled slightly as she murmured in disbelief.
"Crazy... This guy is absolutely crazy!" Overlord Tiger's Adam's apple bobbed with difficulty. He wanted to stop him, but found his legs as heavy as lead, unable to move an inch.
Reason told him that an "unemployed" player, no matter how high his level or how good his equipment, facing a Level 16 dungeon boss alone, would only have one outcome—instant death!
However, the scene unfolding before their eyes completely overturned the indestructible "common sense" they had established over many years of immersion in the game world!
Lin Mo's figure was like a black lightning bolt streaking through a storm, so fast that he only left a series of blurry afterimages. He didn't tank hits like Overlord Tiger, but instead utilized his agility advantage to the fullest.
His footwork followed a profound and precise rhythm; every dodge, slide, and turn perfectly brushed past the Necromancer's deadly Shadow Bolt. Those black magic orbs, potent enough to instantly kill squishy characters, seemed to have eyes, yet they consistently failed to touch even a single corner of his clothes!
This was no longer mere "positioning"; this was a dance on the edge of a Knife, full of the aesthetics of death!
"My god... This... Is this something a human can do?" The Rogue Blade was dazzled. He prided himself on his positioning skills, but compared to this "miracle" before him, his own techniques were as laughable as a toddler learning to walk.
What made their hearts pound even more was that Lin Mo wasn't just dodging; he was... counterattacking!
"Poison Blade!"
Seizing a tiny opening in the Necromancer's attack, Lin Mo's figure ghosted forward, his fist, imbued with dark light, accurately struck the BOSS's ribs!
[-45!]
[-28] (Poison Damage)
"Venom Spray!"
After a successful hit, he didn't stop. His body arched backward at an incredible angle, dodging the BOSS's backhanded bone staff sweep, while simultaneously spitting out a stream of dark green venom!
[-23!]
[-28] (Poison Damage)
Every one of his attacks was so calm and fluid. Although the damage wasn't high, the gray Endless Poison Source icon, like the brand of the God of Death, continuously stacked on the Necromancer's status bar!
Five layers!
Six layers!
Seven layers!
As the poison stacks continuously climbed, the Corrosion effect began to manifest, further weakening the Necromancer's already low defense. And the continuous poison damage also quietly changed from the initial "-28" to "-35", "-42"... The damage numbers were still not astonishing, but it excelled in... never stopping!
Like the most precise slow slicing, one cut after another, seemingly not fatal, but steadily dragging the Necromancer towards the abyss of death!
"Roar!"
The Necromancer was completely enraged! It abandoned attacking the distant "dummies" who had lost their threat, and poured all its firepower onto Lin Mo, this annoying fly-like ant!
However, it was useless!
Lin Mo's calmness had surpassed the human realm. His brain was now a Super-high precision biological computer, perfectly calculating the BOSS's attack trajectories, skill cooldowns, and his own stamina consumption.
The entire battlefield had become his personal stage.
He was dancing alone!
A thrilling solo dance belonging to the Poison God!
The four members of the Ba Tian Squad were completely dumbfounded. They forgot to attack, forgot to heal, and even forgot to breathe. They just stared blankly, watching that man, by himself, toy with the powerful BOSS that had made them despair.
Shock!
Besides shock, no other word could describe their feelings at this moment!
"Gulp..." Overlord Tiger swallowed with difficulty, his voice dry as he said to the Fire Mage beside him, "I... I'm starting to believe now that the 'Solo VS Mad Dragon Guild's Thousand-Man Army' video on the forum is real..."
The Fire Mage nodded blankly, muttering, "More than real... I feel like, in the video... he might have even held back..."
Time passed, minute by minute, second by second.
The ten-second duration of Curse of the Dead finally ended.
"What are you still standing there for?!" Lin Mo's cold voice, like a sudden bell, exploded in the party channel, "Little Hand, heal Overlord Tiger to full! Everyone else, get ready to output damage!"
"Ah? Oh! Oh oh!"
The four of them snapped out of their daze and quickly scrambled into action.
When Overlord Tiger's health bar was refilled and he charged forward again with his shield, he was horrified to discover that the Necromancer's massive 15,000 health had, at this moment, been chipped away by Lin Mo alone by a small fraction!
"Fire!"
The suppressed anger and passion, held back for so long, completely erupted at this moment!
Fireballs, sharp Blades, heavy axes... all skills poured onto the Necromancer with the exhilaration of revenge!
The tide of battle, at this moment, completely turned!
Under Lin Mo's god-like control and command, the Ba Tian Squad unleashed unprecedented combat power. The Necromancer's health bar began to plummet at a visible speed!
Fifty percent... thirty percent... ten percent... "You lowly mortals... you... shall pay... for your actions!"
When its health dropped to the bottom, the Necromancer let out one last unwilling curse. Its body suddenly exploded, turning into a dense black mist that dissipated into the air.
[Ding! Your party has successfully defeated the boss 'Necromancer · Mars'! You have gained 12000 experience points!]
"We... we won?" Overlord Tiger looked at the empty altar before him, still somewhat disbelieving.
"We... we actually made it through?" Tears of excitement welled up in Little Hands Icy Cold's eyes.
However, before they could fully recover from the joy of victory, a resounding system announcement, one that drove all epoch players wild, suddenly rang out in the sky!
[Server Announcement: Congratulations to the party consisting of 'Anonymous', 'Overlord Tiger', 'Ba Tian 'Fire Mage', 'Blade', and 'Little Hands Icy Cold' for successfully completing the Level 15 dungeon [Valley of the Dead] first kill! Achievement [Valley Conqueror] unlocked! Reward: Reputation +100, Gold +10! Special announcement!]
[Server Announcement: ...]
[Server Announcement: ...]
Three consecutive system announcements, like three heavy bombs, instantly ignited the entire world chat channel!
"Holy crap! The Anonymous God again! He actually got another dungeon first kill!"
"Ba Tian Guild? How are they grouped with the Anonymous God? Could it be... the Anonymous God joined Ba Tian?"
"Impossible! I just saw Overlord Tiger forming a group at the dungeon entrance! It must be a chance encounter! Damn, that luck is too good! It's like getting a first kill for free!"
"Who exactly is this Anonymous God? He's too fierce! He's practically a first kill specialist!"
The world chat was abuzz with discussion, and inside the dungeon, the four members of Overlord Tiger's party were completely petrified.
They looked at the golden, shining "Anonymous" at the top of the system announcement, then at the man beside them, calmly walking towards the BOSS's corpse to collect the quest item, their brains once again crashing.
Anonymous... Lin Mo... It turned out that the man who, by himself, toyed with the Mad Dragon Guild, and who, by himself, led them to achieve this almost impossible first kill... was the same person!
"I... I'll be damned..." Overlord Tiger felt his worldview being repeatedly shattered, reassembled, and shattered again all in one day... He finally understood now how ridiculous and ignorant his previous thought of "I'll carry you" had been.
How could someone like him need carrying?
He was clearly an immortal descended to experience life!
"Bro... Brother Mo..." Overlord Tiger's voice was tinged with an undisguised reverence and tremor, "You... you are that..."
"Shh." Lin Mo turned his head, made a silencing gesture, his face still as calm as an ancient well, "I'm just an ordinary player who happened to be passing by."
After speaking, he no longer paid attention to the four completely stunned "statues" behind him. He walked to a cluster of small nether grass emitting a faint blue light in the depths of the altar and reached out his hand.
[Ding! Collection successful! You have obtained quest item [nether grass] x1!]
Quest complete.
Lin Mo stood up, glanced at the pile of loot shimmering with various colors dropped by the BOSS, and said, "You guys can split the equipment. I don't need it."
His objective for this trip had been achieved, and he genuinely had no interest in these Level 15 pieces of equipment.
"No no no! How can that be!" Overlord Tiger instantly jumped up like a cat whose tail had been stepped on, saying firmly, "Brother Mo! This first kill, ninety-nine percent of the credit goes to you! We were just cheering you on! You must take the lion's share of this equipment!"
"Yes, yes!" The Fire Mage and the Rogue quickly chimed in, "If Brother Mo doesn't take it, we wouldn't dare either!"
Lin Mo glanced at them, pondered for a moment, then nodded: "Alright then. The silver staff for the Mage and the Rogue's boots are mine. As for the rest, you can distribute them as needed."
He only took these two items to sell them for a good price later.
"Great!" Overlord Tiger beamed with joy when he agreed.
Finally, after a harmonious distribution, Lin Mo bid farewell to the still highly excited Ba Tian Squad and crushed a return-to-city scroll.
With a flash of light, his figure vanished from the Valley of the Dead... City of Glory, Slums.
When Lin Mo pushed open the creaking wooden door again, the alchemist Pete was sprawled on the table, idly poking a bubbling green liquid in a beaker with a glass rod.
"It's you again, kid?" He lifted his eyelids, saying weakly, "What, giving up because you can't complete the quest? I'm telling you, not a single leaf of nether grass can be missing!"
Lin Mo didn't speak, but calmly placed the nether grass, still emitting faint chills, on his workbench.
Pete's originally cloudy eyes instantly lit up!
Like a hungry wolf seeing a lamb, he snatched the nether grass, frantically sniffing it under his nose, a look of obsession and intoxication on his face.
"That's right! This is the smell! The perfect combination of death and rebirth! My 'Philosopher's Stone'... my great research... can finally continue!"
He excitedly and carefully put away the nether grass, then looked at Lin Mo again, a hint of approval in his eyes.
"Kid, well done. Tell me, what do you want to know? As a reward for completing my commission, I can answer one question for you."
Lin Mo took a deep breath, his eyes becoming sharper than ever before.
He looked at the alchemy master before him, and in a low voice, asked each word distinctly:
"Tell me everything about 'Thorn of Shadow'."