Assassination Attempt [1]

Craig landed amidst the swirling embers, his dark golden eyes fixing upon the nightmare towering before him.

'It's massive!' Craig's heart skipped a beat.

The 2nd-Tier Alpha Red-Scaled Deer stepped out from the shadows of the ironwood grove—a monstrous titan standing over six meters tall.

Its frame was clad in thick, obsidian-tinted red scales, and its two colossal, jagged antlers stretched outward like crowns of charred bone.

Glowing, predatory orange eyes burned with cold sentience from above its maw.

SHRIEEEK!

The Alpha unleashed a deafening sonic screech, revealing its dual Awakened Traits.

Dark crimson fluid erupted from the gaps in its scales, instantly hardening into a crystal-like Sanguine Armor.

Simultaneously, dozens of jet-black Abyssal Blood Needles manifested around its antlers, hovering with lethal precision.