The three Warriors were positioned at the front of the group. They were opening the path forward by hacking down branches and shrubs.
Nie Yan considered many methods to take out this group, one of which was having the Darkwing Dragon ambush them from the sky. However, he decided against it in the end. The Darkwing Dragon was his trump card. He would only reveal it during a crucial moment. After all, he didn't know how many flying mounts Alliance of Mages had on their side. One more thing to consider was the denseness of the forest. If they were to go into hiding, it would be incredibly difficult to find them. The Darkwing Dragon was more suited to open skies.
Nie Yan decided to slaughter them himself. Even though he was outnumbered by quite a bit, it would be a piece of cake for him.
The forest was his domain!
The Mages at the back of the group were chatting with each other. When the conversation topic switched to Asskickers United, their voices were filled with contempt.
"Even if Asskickers United is powerful, they've antagonized too many people, even provoking hegemon in the virtual reality industry like the Century Financial Group. That's practically asking to die. Right now, the Century Financial Group isn't really showing off their might. If they went all out, they'd have countless methods to wipe out Asskickers United."
Hearing their words, Nie Yan inwardly sneered. He slowly approached one of the Arcane Mages from behind.
Five meters, three meters, one meter-Nie Yan suddenly shot forward toward the Arcane Mage like an arrow loosed from a bow.
Believing in safety in numbers, these 11 players inevitably relaxed their guard if only somewhat. Nie Yan struck the Arcane Mage in the back with Smothering Strike. His movements were too quick. Before the others could react, he had already finished the Arcane Mage off with Backstab. His equipment was excellent, and he was at a far higher level than them. It made sense that a squishy Mage couldn't survive his burst damage.
When the other Mages looked over, all they saw was the blazing black flames of Zennarde's Sword in Nie Yan's hand.
"I-i-it's Nirvana Flame!" one of the Elementalists cried out in fear.
None of them expected an ambush. By the time they noticed him, Nie Yan had already killed one of their companions.
They raised their staffs and targeted Nie Yan with a barrage of spells. They were all elites from major guilds and gaming organizations. Even if the name of the Mad Rogue struck terror in their hearts, they quelled that feeling. They knew now was the time to retaliate, not cower in fear.
Nie Yan evaded the spells with Gale Step and disappeared from sight. One of the Elementalists started backing away, when a dagger appeared beside his neck.
Cut Throat!
With a pshh, blood spurted into the air. As the Elementalist collapsed to the ground, Nie Yan rematerialized behind him.
What frightening speed! The remaining players felt a cold sweat on their necks.
After killing two people in a row, Nie Yan used Shadow Waltz to dodge another barrage of spells. He then pounced toward the next Arcane Mage, killing him instantly.
These Mages didn't have any time to activate defensive spells. They were being reaped like stalks of wheat!
Only after Nie Yan killed three people did the Warriors at the front notice the commotion.
"Shit, we've been ambushed!"
They all rushed toward Nie Yan. Unfortunately, this was a forest and not a plain, so their Charge skill wasn't anywhere near as effective. The dense shrubbery and trees greatly hindered their movements.
Everything happened in the blink of an eye. With half of the Mages dead, the remaining three started to panic. In the past, whenever they encountered a top expert, they could still rely on their skill to hold out for a few moments, giving enough time for support to arrive. But they had never encountered this kind of situation before. They had heard tales of Nirvana Flame's exploits, but they always thought these rumours were exaggerated.
Nie Yan was too fast, so fast that they had no time to react or activate any skills. Raising their staffs also took time!
Only after witnessing the person in action themselves, did they understand why Nie Yan was called the Mad Rogue.
The three Mages lost all will to fight and scattered for their dear life.
Nie Yan's eyes flashed with a cold light.
Assassinate!
Nie Yan easily caught up to one of the fleeing Mages and stabbed him through the chest with Zennarde's Sword. One more down!
Only two Mages and three Warriors remained. The two Thieves were nowhere to be seen. They were probably rushing over right now.
The three Warriors finally arrived at the scene. They attempted to drag Nie Yan into a melee, only for him to vanish before their eyes.
"Shit, don't let him get away! He went into stealth!"
"Do we have any skill that can reveal stealth?"
"No!"
After this brief exchange, the forest calmed down once more.
The three Mages and Warriors stood still, trying to probe out Nie Yan's position. However, their efforts were completely futile. None of them had the Awareness to find Nie Yan. One of the higher level players among them, a Level 72 Warrior, carefully stepped forward. As he was about to return to his comrades, the eerie calmness suddenly gave him an uneasy feeling.
At this moment, a cold light flickered past his eyes. He attempted to retaliate with Tendon Break in a fluster, but Zennarde's Sword had already plunged into his forehead. He was stunned.
After a Backstab and Eviscerate, the Warrior collapsed on the ground.
When the other four turned around to look at the noise, all they saw was a corpse on the ground. It was as if Nie Yan was never there.
They nervously scanned the surrounding trees but failed to find any sign of Nie Yan. This was a type of formless terror. They had no idea when or where Nie Yan would strike again.
When Nie Yan took action, he would always kill his target!
The two Thieves rushed back. One of the Thieves clad in ash-coloured leather armor asked, "We're back. What happened here?"
The others were about to warn him, when black flames streaked through the air. The Thief didn't even know what happened as he collapsed to the ground. The remaining players glanced at each other and bolted away in different directions.
In this kind of situation, it was better for a few of them to escape with their lives. Else Nie Yan would keep picking them off one by one!
Nie Yan managed to chase down two of them. Looking in the other directions, the other three had fled far away. It was no longer possible to catch them.
Out of 11 players total, he had killed eight without suffering so much as a scratch. This was already an impressive achievement.
Nie Yan collected the dropped equipment off the ground. Disappearing into stealth, he continued east.
Save for things on this side being a bit tense, whenever the two sides met in the wilderness, they would generally exercise restraint. If they could avoid confrontation, they would do so in order to preserve their strength. These were the orders of their respective guild leaders. Several skirmishes had broken out between Alliance of Mages and Asskickers United thus far, but victory was still far from being decided.
While dashing through the wide open grassland, Nie Yan received word that Lustboy and six other players from Asskickers United had suffered an ambush by more than 20 players. Lustboy was the only one who survived. He was running through a patch of forest.
Nie Yan knitted his brows. He was well aware of Lustboy's strength. This was a player ranked within the top 10 of Asskickers United. For him to be pushed into such a precarious situation, the enemy likely wasn't ordinary.
「Lustboy, what's your current situation?」Nie Yan asked.
「Out of the seven in our group, I'm the only one still alive. Three of their players are really strong. I can't beat them. Two of them are from Direwolf, and the other is a Thief from Bloodfiends. These bastards are too hard to deal with!」Lustboy panted heavily. He was still fleeing for his life, trying to shake off his pursuers.
Lustboy was pretty unlucky. He encountered players from Direwolf and Bloodfiends.
「Find a place to hide. We'll kill them together!」Nie Yan said, recalling the Hyperlink Ring. It was the perfect item to turn the tide!
Lustboy's eyes lit up. He immediately understood Nie Yan's meaning.「I'll bait them over!」
Nie Yan immediately got in touch with Bladelight and the others. After which everyone prepared for battle.
...
Somewhere in a forest deep within the mountains, Lustboy was fleeing for his life. He was being pursued by more than 20 players.
"Dammit, what a slippery bastard. I almost got killed by him. Thankfully, that guy from Direwolf saved me just in time!" a Thief rejoiced, gazing at the two cloaked players up ahead in admiration.
Those two Direwolf players had left everyone thoroughly convinced of their prowess. This organization definitely lived up to its name! As such, they all obediently listened to every command the two from Direwolf gave, not daring to talk back. In Conviction, strength equalled status!
"Gambler, in that exchange just now, what do you think of that Lustboy guy's skill?" the Direwolf player asked his companion.
The Warrior called Gambler pondered for a moment, then replied in a grave tone, "If we fought one-on-one, I wouldn't be his match. It seems Asskickers United does have some ability. Sikong, pass this information onto Raven."
The Paladin, Sikong, nodded.
A bit further back, the Thief from Bloodfiends gazed at Sikong and Gambler with a pensive look on his face. He entered stealth and sped after Lustboy.
"There's a dead end up ahead. He won't be able to run any longer!" Sikong laughed.
With all the escape routes sealed off, Lustboy was like a turtle caught in a jar. His death was inevitable!