Most Magisters had excellent awareness over the situation on a battlefield. When no one was paying attention, they would start casting Forbidden Magic. Then, when people least expected it, they would obliterate the enemy with magic.
Tang Yao's combat awareness was superb. He saw the Paladins protecting him as an opportunity to cast Decree of Dusk. This Forbidden Magic bought Nie Yan and Xie Yao a lot of valuable time.
The effects of Decree of Dusk started wearing off on the Variant Skeleton King. Its fingers started twitching, then its hands and both arms as it raised its war-axe. Just as it was about to completely break free, Nie Yan targeted it with Extreme Intimidate, immobilizing it again. He then struck out with a maelstrom of high damage Freedom Skills like Backbreaker, Reverse Grip Backstab, and Phantom Assassination.
−29,384
−32,444
−63,787!
...
In a flash, the Variant Skeleton King only had 30% health remaining.
Xie Yao was also dealing in the range of 20,000-30,000 damage a hit. Though her burst damage wasn't as frightening as Nie Yan's, nor her attack speed as high, she had still whittled her Variant Skeleton King down to 45% health.
By the time Decree of Dusk wore off on the Variant Skeleton King, Xie Yao's teleport skills like Blink and Anywhere Door were already long since off cooldown. Tang Yao had given her some time to catch her breath.
Over on the hillside in the distance, the Thieves from God Executioner Sword were struck speechless. They believed the Elite, Lord, and Variant Lord skeletons dispatched by Qin Han would definitely be enough to kill Nie Yan's group. However, not only were they not dying, they were hardly struggling at all.
In the blink of an eye, almost half of the 100 Elites and Lord skeletons were killed. The two Variant Lords were also on low health.
Unfettered quickly reported to Qin Han.
Back in the God Executioner Sword guild headquarters, Qin Han was both shocked and infuriated after watching through the video Unfettered sent over. It had taken him a long time to gather these Elite- and Lord-class skeletons. Seeing so many of them fall, he felt his heart bleeding. If these Elite- and Lord-class skeletons were used to deal with ordinary players, he could've raised at least tens of thousands more undead!
Seeing Nie Yan and Xie Yao dealing with a Variant Skeleton King respectively, waves of shock swept through Qin Han's heart. Was this the might of a Shadow Dancer and Magister!?
If Asskickers United produced several more Master Class players, powerful Magisters in particular, the Vengeance of the Undead event might come to an abrupt and premature end!
Qin Han had received information that Asskickers United already had 60 players doing their class advancement quests. Meanwhile, his side only had six. In terms of Master Class players, Asskickers United had once more gotten a lead on them.
Qin Han started growing anxious. If he gave Asskickers United any more time, he would have to face an ever growing number of Magisters, Shadow Dancers, Sword Saints, and other frightening Master Classes.
「Boss, what do we do? At this rate, our two Variant Skeleton Kings will be killed!」Unfettered asked in an anxious tone.
「Split up into two groups, and kill them with the help of the Variant Skeleton Kings!」Qin Han replied in an icy tone. All 30 players in Unfettered's group were fairly skilled Thieves in God Executioner Sword. As long as they could hamper Nie Yan and Xie Yao, the Variant Skeleton Kings could do the rest.
After receiving Qin Han's order, Unfettered hung up the call. Looking over at Nie Yan's group in the distance, his lips curved into a bitter smile. He had absolutely no confidence in dealing with Nirvana Flame. However, an order was an order. If he wished to stay in God Executioner Sword, he had to carry out Qin Han's commands.
The 30 Thieves split up into two groups and headed for Nie Yan and Xie Yao's respective locations.
With a powerful kick, Nie Yan sent the Variant Skeleton King staggering several steps back. Suddenly, he sensed something off. His heart trembled-enemy Thieves!
Nie Yan immediately activated Eye of Truth. Looking over in the distance, he spotted a dozen or so silhouettes heading towards him.
「We have uninvited guests. Everybody, watch out!」Nie Yan warned in voice chat.
Seeing Nie Yan gazing over at them with his demonic gaze, Unfettered's heart sank. Shit! We've already been discovered!
Unfettered was astonished by Nie Yan's Awareness. His group was more than 70 meters away, yet Nie Yan had still detected them! This was outrageous!
After hearing Nie Yan's warning, Xie Yao immediately buffed herself with skills that increased her Awareness. She also detected several Thieves heading in her direction.
Anywhere Door!
Casting her gaze away from the Variant Skeleton King, Xie Yao disappeared from her original position and reappeared 20 meters away. With a wave of her staff, a shock wave of holy light swept through everything within a 20-meter radius.
Bang bang bang!
Xie Yao's spell struck the Thieves in the surroundings, forcing them out of stealth. There were 8 Thieves altogether. Damage values ranging from 3,000-4,000 floated up above their heads.
Xie Yao was simply too fast, catching them off-guard and giving them no time to dodge or even react. After being struck by her magic, moving became incredibly difficult, and their skills greyed out. As they barely retreated several steps back, a giant pillar of light descended from the sky and blasted them into the air.
The eight Thieves all fell back to the ground dead. Since they were a bit farther away, the other Thieves hadn't been detected by Xie Yao. Seeing this scene, they almost wet their pants in fright. Had she noticed them as well, they would probably be cold corpses lying on the ground right now too.
The remaining Thieves no longer dared to approach Xie Yao. She returned her attention back to the Variant Skeleton King.
Over on Nie Yan's side, he completely ignored the enemy Thieves. Several of them tried to ambush him. However, before they could even get their attacks in, he instantly cut them down where they stood.
Ultimately, the remaining Thieves were all frozen with hesitation. Even though they had received Qin Han's orders, simply throwing their lives away for nothing wasn't an option either. As for Tang Yao's side, they stood even less of a chance. Guarded by a human wall of 30 Level 140+ Elite Paladins, ambushing him was basically impossible.
The number of Elite and Lord-class skeletons falling to the ground grew with each passing minute. Qin Han finally couldn't endure it any longer and ordered their withdrawal. The sea of skeletons swiftly retreated.
The two Variant Skeleton Kings were taken down by Nie Yan and Xie Yao. Collapsing into a pile of bones, they were immediately purified.
In this short period of time, Qin Han's skeleton army suffered devastating losses. Without any confidence in victory, he didn't dare to launch a second wave of attacks.
Seeing the skeletons scattering every which way like a bunch of rats, Nie Yan and the others had no idea which direction to give chase. They could only give up for the time being, regroup, and recuperate.
"Damn! Is it over already? I was just getting started too!" Tang Yao said, distinct unsatisfaction thick in his voice. Whether it was levelling up or progressing in the quest, he had advanced by leaps and bounds in both! If these skeletons started avoiding them like the plague, how were they supposed to continue?
"Considering how many skeletons we've killed, I'm betting Qin Han's heart is bleeding out right now," Nie Yan chuckled.
Even though they couldn't completely stop the Vengeance of the Undead event, they had hampered its progress by quite a bit. This bought the players from Asskickers United some additional time to complete their class advancement quests.
While they were chatting, a giant bone dragon appeared over the horizon in the distance. It was looking all over for them.
Nie Yan, Xie Yao, and Tang Yao spotted it early. They hurriedly dashed into a nearby forest and switched to another place to hunt skeletons.
No one knew who was responsible for it, but some Thief from God Executioner Sword leaked the video of Nie Yan and the others facing off against the skeleton army online, creating a huge stir on the forums.
Not many people were too shocked at seeing Nie Yan solo one of the Variant Skeleton Kings. After all, they had already witnessed him accomplish too many unbelievable things. What caught their interest were the two Magisters by his side, Xie Yao and Tang Yao.
Many people were taken aback by how powerful a Magister was. Xie Yao's teleporting skills and countless instant-cast spells left her Variant Skeleton King completely powerless to fight back. But the most shocking sight was Tang Yao casting Decree of Dusk. The area of effect was massive, and the duration was ridiculously long! This was the spell of a Magister? Too frightening!
The players on the forums started looking over some information. They learned that Magisters could learn up to three Forbidden Spells. They previously had no idea what Forbidden Magic truly represented, but Tang Yao had sparked their imagination. Three Forbidden Spells, did that mean all three would be as amazing as Decree of Dusk?
...
Angel Corps guild headquarters, Soaring Angel and the other higher-ups were holding a meeting. He had just received a report from a subordinate. After watching through the video, he knitted his brows.
Likewise, the rest of the players in the room also stirred.
"Boss, that Young Sparrow Hawk's spell is too powerful. If we'd be hit by such a spell in a guild war, we'd lose at least 6,000 troops."
"I heard Magisters can learn up to three Forbidden Spells. Does that mean Young Sparrow Hawk has two more similar skills?"
Hearing the discussion of the players below him, Soaring Angel was also worried. Asskickers United already had three Master Class players, while Angel Corps still didn't even have one. This wasn't a good sign. Furthermore, he heard that Asskickers United had 60 players doing their class advancement quests at this very moment.
"How many Level 100+ players do we have in the guild?"
"We just looked it up. We have 36 in total right now."
One had to be at least Level 100 to do their class advancement quest. Asskickers United already had 60 players in the middle of theirs and another 100 or so players who met the requirements. Meanwhile, Angel Corps only had 36. The disparity between both sides was as clear as day.