"Who knows! You know the boss has a habit of showing up in the most random places. He never tells anyone where he's going either. Hermit, let's go back and help him! Wipe out those bastards from Alliance of Mages!" Horny Potter Squatter shouted. With Nie Yan here, what did they have to fear?
After killing the Warrior, Nie Yan pounced toward a nearby Arcane Mage.
The Arcane Mage's heart trembled. He raised his staff and cast Slow, only for Nie Yan to disappear right in front of his eyes.
MISS!
"Fuck, isn't Slow supposed to be an instant cast?" the Arcane Mage cursed. Logically speaking, instant cast spells shouldn't be dodegable. However, Nie Yan had predicted his actions ahead of time. In the previous timeline, this became common practice. Many Level 100+ players could do it. But it was still inconceivable in the present.
The Arcane Mage felt something amiss the moment Nie Yan disappeared. He turned to flee, but it was already too late.
Cut Throat!
Blood spurted into the air as a red ray of light streaked across the Arcane Mage's throat. His body went limp, and he dropped to the ground dead.
These sorts of squishy casters were nothing to Nie Yan!
In the blink of an eye, Nie Yan took down three players in a row, scaring every other enemy witless. He was like a walking death god, draining them of their will to fight.
Nie Yan faced little to no resistance. Even when he was targeted by crowd control magic, he easily dodged.
Alliance of Mage's morale was completely crushed. They lost all will to fight, a stark contrast to a moment ago, when they were pursuing the fleeing players of Asskickers United with glee. Any attempt at a comeback was met with Nie Yan's cold blade.
As Nie Yan chanted out an incantation, the massive body of Lil' Gold emerged before everyone's eyes. He opened his maw and spat out a stream of scorching hot flames, burning one player after another into a crisp.
About five minutes later, all the players on the side of Alliance of Mages were wiped out. Only ten or so players from Asskickers United and eight from Sapphire Shrine remained standing on the battlefield.
"Where are the others?" Horny Potter Squatter asked.
"They're all running back from the grave," Happy Hermit replied. Their side had suffered heavy losses.
The square was littered with the corpses of players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors.
The neutral players watching from the sidelines were all stunned. They believed this battle would go on for at least another two or three hours. No one expected Nie Yan to suddenly appear. The final outcome was a big surprise to all of them.
None of the players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors dared to run back to their corpses. Why would they revive only to die again pointlessly?
The sight of Nie Yan, along with his Golden Dragon, surrounded by piles of corpses was truly stunning.
Nie Yan had once more left a deep impression in everyone's hearts with this frightening display of might.
Horny Potter Squatter, Happy Hermit, and the rest of his group ran up to greet Nie Yan.
"Boss, when did you get here?" Horny Potter Squatter excitedly asked. He had only ever seen Nie Yan in guild gatherings. This was the first time they were talking face to face!
Nie Yan nodded in acknowledgement. He was familiar with their faces and knew they belonged to Asskickers United, but he didn't know their names.
Horny Potter Squatter? Happy Hermit? Nie Yan sank into deep thought. These two names sounded somewhat familiar to him, but he couldn't recall where he had heard of them before.
"I'm here to do a quest. Has everyone revived yet?" Nie Yan gazed at the Asskickers United players in the square getting up. Only the corpses of the players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors remained on the ground.
"We're still missing two," Happy Hermit replied. If it weren't for Nie Yan's timely arrival, they would've suffered a disastrous defeat.
After a while, the corpses on the ground gradually disappeared. The players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors had all elected to revive in the graveyard. After which they returned to their respective home cities.
Knowing Nie Yan was around, none of them dared to make any more trouble.
Fighting was forbidden in graveyards; otherwise, Horny Potter Squatter and Happy Hermit would've brought people over there to spawn camp. Each of them had been killed two or three times. They naturally weren't happy. Thankfully, you only lost 20% experience for running back and reviving at your corpse. As for the players from Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors, they lost an entire level for reviving at the graveyard.
Horny Potter Squatter, Happy Hermit, and the rest cleaned up the battlefield.
"Divide the spoils among yourselves. You don't need to take them back to the guild treasury. Just make sure to give a bit extra to the brothers who died," Nie Yan said. This was a quite a windfall for these players.
"Mhm, understood! Thank you, Boss!" Horny Potter Squatter nodded. After thanking the Sapphire Shrine players who rushed over to their rescue, they formed back into their team and prepared to run the Underground Mines.
"I'll be taking my leave," Nie Yan said. He unsummoned Lil' Gold and headed toward Golden City.
Seeing Nie Yan's receding figure, the surrounding players were left dumbfounded. The Mad Rogue had only shown himself for five minutes, but it was enough to reverse the course of battle. An originally lost fight was flipped over its head. Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors were completely wiped out. The sight of their corpses strewn everywhere left them deeply shocked. They felt a deep sense of reverence toward Nie Yan.
An existence who could defy the heavens!
Seeing Nie Yan enter Golden City, Happy Hermit turned to Horny Potter Squatter in surprise. "Don't Level 90 monsters spawn in the top layer of Golden City?" Golden City was divided into two regions. The bottom layer was the famed Level 60 dungeon, Underground Mines. Because the upper layer only spawned Level 90 monsters, no players dared to enter. Why was Nie Yan going there? Could it be that he was capable of killing Level 90 monsters?
"Yeah, no mistake. Don't judge the boss with common sense. Level 90 monsters really might be a piece of cake for him," Horny Potter Squatter said. He had once watched Sun use a strange method to take down a Level 90 Elite. At that time, when the video was released, they all started treating Sun as a god. Who would've thought a youngster like Sun could be so skilled. If Sun could do it, Nie Yan could definitely do it too.
Solo exploring a Level 90 map, Happy Hermit couldn't help but daydream. He was also a Thief. Naturally he wanted to be a heaven defying existence on the level of Sun and Nie Yan. Nie Yan was his ultimate goal.
...
Blaze City, Penumbra Empire guild headquarters.
Eternal Sin brought all his subordinates to Blaze City and acquired five local guilds to form the Penumbra Empire. This guild quickly rose to power and captured more than ten strongholds. Unlike other guilds, the Penumbra Empire didn't require the investment of any financial group. Many of their members were already extremely wealthy. For example, the founder, Eternal Sin; the number one Thief, Candy; and a few others had backgrounds rivalling the Century Financial Group.
The Century Financial Group had approached them on multiple occasions, only to be turned away every single time. Without the support of several financial groups, Dark Light Empire became the overlord of Blaze City.
Eternal Sin received a video of Nie Yan's recent battle in Golden City, where he massacred the players of Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors. After watching the video, he turned to Candy. "Who would've thought the Thief we bumped into that time would become the guild leader of Asskickers United. His skill really is quite frightening. If you were to go up against him, what do you think your chances of victory are?"
Candy thought for a moment, then bitterly smiled, "Ten percent or less. What are your thoughts, Big Guy? Should we ally ourselves with Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors or Asskickers United? No choosing neither. We have to pick one if we don't want to end up getting swallowed up."
"It's really tough to say right now. Currently, the two biggest powers are Asskickers United and Alliance of Mages. Our Penumbra Empire and Moonlight City's God Executioner Sword have only recently risen to power. We still have time, how about we hold off on this decision for now?" Eternal Sin smiled mysteriously. He naturally had his own plans.
...
Nie Yan entered Golden City. The dark castle reeked of blood. Every wall and pillar was constructed out of gold bricks. Embedded in each of them were giant night pearls that emitted an eerie yet oddly captivating glow.
Nie Yan activated the Search skill of the Holy Stone. The Holy Stone emitted a dazzling radiance and transmitted some information to his mind. He could confirm a piece of the Tyrant Abak Set was located in Golden City.
As Nie Yan walked through the large, spacious hall, it was as if though he was suddenly transported to the ancient past. The walls and pillars were mottled with dirt, a result of centuries of neglect.
A notification soundly popped up.
You have entered Mine Slave Igrin's Cursed Grounds. Your Stats have been reduced by 10%.
Nie Yan felt a portion of his strength sapped away as a faint dizzy spell briefly overtook him. Thankfully, his stats were powerful enough to resist. Even if he lost 10%, the impact wasn't too big. If an ordinary player met with this kind of curse, they wouldn't dare to continue moving forward.
Several three-meter-tall giants appeared up ahead. Their skin was dark red, and they carried giant metal hammers. They were patrolling in front of a door.
littleshanks's Thoughts
In case any of you are wondering, Eternal Sin and Candy first appears in Chapter 71.