In a battle between two equally fast ranged players, a 20-meter advantage in attack range was an insurmountable difference. No matter how powerful the side with the shorter range was, it would all be useless if their attacks couldn't land. To say nothing of the fact that Nie Yan was vastly superior to Qin Han in speed.
A 20-meter difference in range could allow him to thoroughly suppress the other side. Nie Yan cracked a faint smile. "Watch how I toy with you to death."
Nie Yan sped across the battlefield. He was as agile as a hare. He skillfully pulled out several bolts from his bag and loaded them into his crossbow within a 3-second time frame. He took aim at Qin Han and pulled the trigger.
Crossbows had a great advantage over regular bows, and that was their stability while moving. As long as you properly calculated the distance, his movements wouldn't influence his aim.
Five bolts flew out in a straight line, streaking through the air and heading straight for Qin Han.
Anywhere Door!
Qin Han blinked away and evaded the attack. But before he even got a chance to catch his breath, another five bolts came flying towards him.
Qin Han's powerful arsenal of skills became completely useless in front of Nie Yan's superior range.
In the beginning, Qin Han could keep up with the stream of bolts. But as he started running out of blink skills, he found it more and more difficult to evade. Seeing five bolts flying over and left with no other choice, he could only helplessly roll out of the way.
Put put put! Five bolts struck the ground several meters away from Qin Han.
Before Qin Han could crawl back to his feet, yet another five bolts came flying over. He hurriedly rolled out of the way again.
"Fuck, what kind of fire rate is this!?" Qin Han cursed.
Nie Yan's Dexterity and Attack Speed were quite high, not to mention his recent work on his Reinforced Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow. So, his reload speed and fire rate were unmatched.
The Cavalry Crossbow could theoretically fire five bolts every 0.37 seconds. Nie Yan's stats weren't high enough to reach this limit. At best, he could currently achieve five bolts every 1.87 seconds, consistently maintaining a fire rate of 2.5-2.9 seconds. Even so, it was more than enough to wipe the floor with Qin Han. The more bolts Nie Yan shot out, the more accustomed he got to reloading. So, the delay between attacks became even shorter.
Qin Han had to evade bolts every two to three seconds. The fact that he held out for this long was already quite impressive.
Qin Han frantically hid behind a boulder for safety.
The boulder blocked Nie Yan's view, giving Qin Han a brief moment of respite.
Qin Han flipped open his grimoire and waved his staff. A group of 10 skeleton soldiers appeared before him. Hiding behind his troops, he finally felt a sense of safety.
"Now it's my turn!" Qin Han gritted his teeth. He had never felt so humiliated before in his life!
Seeing Qin Han's sorry figure hiding behind the boulder, Nie Yan coldly smiled. Their fight had barely started. So far, he'd only used ordinary bolts. Even if his attacks landed, the damage wouldn't be that high. The real fun would start now!
As Nie Yan circled around the boulder with his crossbow raised, he only found 10 skeletons standing there and nothing else. Qin Han was nowhere to be found.
Nie Yan knitted his brows. He suddenly thought of something. Invisibility Potion!
Eyes of Truth!
Nie Yan's eyes blossomed out with a crimson red light. As he looked around, he spotted a faint silhouette hiding among the skeletons.
Nie Yan raised his Cavalry Crossbow and locked onto Qin Han. Pulling the trigger, five bolts shot out. He then skillfully pulled out five more bolts-three Bleed Bolts and two Flesh Biter Bolts-and reloaded the crossbow in a record time of 1.65 seconds. Another five five bolts came flying out.
Seeing Nie Yan's ominous gaze locking onto him, Qin Han's heart trembled. "God dammit! What kind of ocular skill is that!? He can actually see me from so far away!?"
The effects of an Invisibility Potion were far inferior to that of a Thief's stealth. Add this to the fact that the already enhanced Eyes of Truth had been upgraded even further after Nie Yan became a Luminous Dancer, and it became obvious Qin Han had no hope of escaping Nie Yan's sight.
"Nirvana Flame, I admit you've got some skill. But if you think you can kill me just like that, you've got another thing coming!" Qin Han coldly snorted. He waved his staff. A skeleton with a bone shield immediately stepped out in front of him to block while five skeletons archers rushed forward to flank Nie Yan. Their ranges were about 80 meters. So, they had to move closer to hit him.
Put put put! Five bolts struck the skeleton's bone shield.
−7,555
−8,392
−7,912
−8,222
−8,033
Nie Yan wasn't a ranged class, so the damage he dealt was limited.
Nie Yan knitted his brow. The skeleton with the bone shield had 300,000 health. Taking it down with only his crossbow would take forever!
"Let's see what kind of other tricks you have! Come at me!" Qin Han said in a gloating tone.
Put put put! Another five bolts struck the skeleton. Even though its health was falling bit by bit, it didn't move, standing firmly in place to protect its boss.
Seeing Nie Yan continuously shooting at the skeleton, Qin Han sneered. "Dumbass, you think you can kill my skeleton like that?" He waved his staff and cast Dark Heal, restoring the skeleton's health back to full.
"Haha! Keep shooting! Waste more bolts!" Qin Han laughed. As he looked around, his five skeleton archers were almost in range to shoot Nie Yan.
Nie Yan was undeterred. His expression remained as cool as ever. He fired out five more bolts at the skeleton.
"What an idiot! It doesn't matter if you shoot five bolts or 10,000! The results will still be the same!" Qin Han's eyes flashed with contempt. He still remained hidden behind his skeleton.
Another volley of arrows struck the skeleton's greatshield. The first two were blocked by it, but the third pierced right through the shield and hit the skeleton in the chest. BANG! The bolt tore right through the skeleton, destroying its bones, and continued flying towards Qin Han.
Nie Yan's smirked. After firing so many bolts, he finally triggered the piercing effect!
This was precisely what Nie Yan had been waiting for!
Nie Yan's hands didn't stop moving once. He loaded in another five bolts, took aim at Qin Han who was panicking in the distance, and pulled the trigger.
When Qin Han was hiding behind his skeleton, he stood no further than two meters away. With something protecting him at the front, he let down his guard. He wasn't the least bit wary. He never considered Nie Yan's bolts might possess the piercing effect.
As a result, tragedy befell Qin Han.
There was simply not enough time to react at such a short distance. He waved his staff in a fluster, attempting to blink away. PSFFTH! The Flesh Biter Bolt pierced into the side of his chest.
The mechanism in the Flesh Biter Bolt released as flesh hooks erupted out from the tip of its head and dug themselves deep into Qin Han's flesh. It was firmly jammed in between his ribs.
A sharp wave of pain jolted Qin Han, knocking the wind out of him. His health instantly fell by more than half. He wanted to run and drink a Health Potion, but he found himself unable to move.
It was a crippling effect!
Before Qin Han had any time to react, a cold light flashed in front of him.
"Shit! I'm done for..." Qin Han despaired.
A Bleed Bolt pierced his glabella and came out from the back of his head. Blood sprayed out like a fountain.
Qin Han's eyes glazed over as he dropped to the ground with a thud. The five skeleton archers and all other skeletons in the surroundings collapsed into a pile of bone fragments.
Nie Yan faintly smiled. He was quite pleased with his performance. That last shot especially was aimed with the utmost perfection. He could even pass off as a skilled Demon Hunter!
This was Nie Yan's first time killing a caster with his crossbow. The feeling was quite satisfying.
A Necromancer only amounted to this much. No matter how powerful they were, they would easily die after only a few hits.
Likely, Qin Han still had many powerful spells he hadn't used. However, no matter how strong he was, he might as well not exist in front of Nie Yan's 120-meter attack range.
Nie Yan put away the Dullahan Cavalry Crossbow and walked over to Qin Han's corpse. "Let's see if this guy dropped anything good..."
Resting on the ground beside Qin Han's corpse was a thick, ancient book.
Nie Yan's eyes widened in surprise. "Isn't this the grimoire he was using as an off-hand?"
Grimoires were relatively common off-hands for casters. Nie Yan recalled Qin Han flipping through it when he was summoning the skeletons. He wondered what sort of properties it had.
Nie Yan picked up the grimoire. A powerful darkness aura erupted out, but it was quickly nullified by his Holy Spirit Imprint.
Necronomicon (Legendary): Special Item
Properties: Dark Magic +50%
Apart from the bonus to dark magic, the Necronomicon also contained five Advanced Magics which could only be cast after certain conditions were met.
"Amazing!" Nie Yan considered who to give this Necronomicon too, Tang Yao being the clear favourite. He wondered if Arcane Mages could use this item. The battle prowess gained with this legendary off-hand would surely be immense.
After storing away the Necronomicon in his bag, Nie Yan recalled Lil' Gold and Paladin Lafus, who had just slain Leoric. It was about time he changed location. After Qin Han revived, he would definitely send people over to surround him. Picturing what kind of expression Qin Han was making right now, Nie Yan coldly smiled. This first exchange was only the beginning.
Just as Nie Yan prepared to leave, Battle Angel Kalenna waved her staff. A white light fell over Qin Han's corpse, which gradually melted before completely disappearing.
Nie Yan's jaws dropped. "T-that's possible?" He glanced down at his status bar. The Holy Spirit Heart gained a massive amount of experience. He was close to breaking the fourth seal!
Perhaps after being corrupted into an undead, Qin Han was also classified as a creature of darkness!
A wicked thought surfaced in Nie Yan's mind. Did this mean he could break the fourth seal on Zennarde's Sword by killing Qin Han again?