Having expanded his skeleton army by half a million, Qin Han's ambitions had probably equally swelled. It wouldn't be long now before he started attacking more densely populated places like strongholds!
In the following few days, Qin Han's skeleton army gradually made its way toward Calore, sweeping through any villages or towns they encountered along the way. Battle Crazed Alliance was the first to be targeted. 10 of their 13 strongholds fell to the skeleton army. They hunkered down in their remaining three strongholds, refusing to budge.
Nie Yan had ordered the 10 strongholds to be abandoned for the sake of preserving their strength and concentrating their defenses. Naturally, they hadn't given up those strongholds to Qin Han without a fight. Taking advantage of their position as defenders, Battle Crazed Alliance wiped out a large number of skeletons from the safety of the walls. Once the walls were breached, they immediately retreated. Like this, they dealt heavy losses to the enemy and minimized the casualties on their side at the same time.
Qin Han's skeleton army laid siege to Battle Crazed Alliance's three remaining strongholds for a long time without any success. A large number of skeletons were stationed outside the strongholds while the rest continued on toward Calore.
As for Necromancer Vorderman and his bone dragon, no one knew where they had gone. It seemed as though they had vanished into thin air.
With the invasion of the massive skeleton army looming over the horizon, Nie Yan spent more and more resources on fortifying Asskickers United's defenses. For the sake of reducing their defensive perimeter, they had no choice but to give up many of their strongholds. This was simply unavoidable.
Nie Yan checked the time. The servers would shut down in another 10 minutes. Another day had passed just like that. He wondered when Bladelight and the rest would finish their class advancement quests.
As the undead army rapidly expanded, an announcement was sent game-wide. The Vengeance of the Undead expansion was starting.
「Wretched undead, their silhouettes cast a shadow over this land once more. Their vile existence is like a plague of locusts, swallowing up all life in their path. Followers of the light, pick up your weapons and drive back these foul beings to the depths they crawled out from!」
The Vengeance of the Undead expansion was finally underway!
Since the skeleton army had grown too large to ignore, the Viridian Empire had no choice but to take notice. They dispatched NPC troops to defend Calore's perimeter and made a call for players to help deal with the skeletons. The pressure on Qin Han increased substantially.
While Nie Yan was busy dispatching the guild's forces and clearing away the skeletons, a notification jingle rang out..
Nie Yan glanced at the notification.
Your prediction of the Vengeance of the Undead was successful. Please head to the Elder Council to receive your Great Prophet title from Jebiah the Great.
Nie Yan was already a Great Prophet. However, this title would only take effect after being officially conferred by the empire's most powerful individual, Jebiah the Great. Afterwards, his position in the Viridian Empire would skyrocket, putting him on equal footing with the members of the Elder Council.
Nie Yan's eyes lit up with excitement. He had longed to become a Great Prophet for quite some time now. He initially believed his prediction of the Vengeance of the Undead event wasn't valid since his Great Prophecy skill had failed. So, this turn of events came somewhat unexpected. Even if the skill had failed, he had warned Jebiath the Great about the revival of Necromancer Vorderman in advance.
Nie Yan couldn't help wonder what kind of special rewards came with the Great Prophet title. However, it was already too late for him to meet with the Elder Council right now. He could only wait until he got back on the game tomorrow. His heart was filled with a mix of nervousness and expectation.
Nie Yan logged off and stepped out of the game capsule.
Following their regular routine, Nie Yan and Xie Yao ate breakfast together and headed off for school.
The Top Military Academy was the same as usual. The tree shaded paths were filled with students walking to and fro.
After bidding farewell with Xie Yao, Nie Yan headed off to class. When he stepped through the door, he immediately noticed something off. There were several dozen unfamiliar faces in the classroom.
Nie Yan swept his gaze over these people before finally stopping on a male student sitting in his seat. This fellow wore a gray t-shirt and had a haughty, delinquent-like air about him. He shot over an aggressive glare.
Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, and Fei Zhe anxiously waved their hands at Nie Yan, signalling him to quickly leave.
Seeing the expressions of the trio, Nie Yan instantly understood what was going on. These people had come here looking to stir trouble.
There were more than 30 unfamiliar faces in the class. They were tall and robust. Based on the way they carried themselves, he could tell they weren't simple.
Nie Yan calmly walked toward his desk, not the slightest hint of fear in his eyes.
Xu Yan and the others smacked their faces with their palms. How could Nie Yan be so stupid? When you encountered a situation like this, the obvious thing to do was to quickly turn around and leave, not come walking over nonchalantly!
"Fellow student, I believe you're sitting in my seat. Please get off," Nie Yan said with a cold yet polite smile.
The student showed no signs of getting up. He lazily glanced at Nie Yan. "Name's Song Chen, a fourth year in the mech fighting faculty."
Nie Yan found this name somewhat familiar. He recalled Song Chen had ranked fairly high up in the school's last fighting competition. However, since he hadn't competed in that competition, his impression of this fellow wasn't that deep.
"Sorry, never heard of you," Nie Yan said in a curt tone.
Hearing Nie Yan's words, Song Chen's expression turned somewhat rigid with irritation. He coldly snorted. "I heard Lei Su challenged you. I came over to see how strong you are, to judge whether you're qualified or not."
Nie Yan rolled his eyes. This fellow had come to challenge him. He had no interest in these sorts of meaningless fights.
"A bunch of small fry like you?" Nie Yan said in disdain.
"Tsk, this kid is pretty cocky."
"He's pretty full of himself for a first year. Looks like he needs to be taught a lesson on respecting his seniors."
...
The 30 fourth year students were cracking their knuckles, looking like they were rearing for a fight. People like Zhao Shiyu, Fu Guangtao, and the rest were shaking in fear, trying to make themselves as scarce as possible.
Seeing these fourth years about to take action, Xu Yan, Xia Tianyu, Fei Zhe, and Chu Chenghao stood up without fear. They nodded at Nie Yan with resolute looks on their faces. Afterwards, others started following suit until more than half the class stood up. Fu Guangtao struggled internally for a long time before gritting his teeth and also taking a stand.
Zhao Shiyu and Bai Jun were shocked at the sight of Fu Guangtao standing up. They hesitated for a moment before ultimately deciding to remain seated. They wanted no part in this mess.
Seeing so many students in the command faculty siding with Nie Yan, Song Chen coldly chuckled. "Wow, who knew the command faculty had so many brave people? Colour me impressed."
"This has nothing to do with them. Let's head to the gymnasium. That place has more open space," Nie Yan said blandly.
"Alright. Your words, not mine. Remember, we didn't force you," Song Chen said, playing with the coin in his hand.
Xu Yan and the others were about to say something, but Nie Yan cut them off, "You guys stay here. They're only here for me."
Nie Yan followed Song Chen to the gymnasium with the roughly 30 other fourth years in tow. Five especially large fourth years stayed behind, sealing off the entrance of the classroom. Xu Yan and the others had no way of getting past them. They were no match for these fourth years. The difference in strength between a fourth year and first year was too great.
"Xu Yan, they took Nie Yan away! What do we do!?" Fei Zhe anxiously asked.
"Calm down, let me think." Xu Yan hesitated for a moment before saying, "There's no other choice. We can only call Muslin, Scoundrel, and the others over."
Xu Yan took out his cell phone and dialed Painted Muslin's number.
Meanwhile, more than 30 fourth years surrounded Nie Yan as they walked toward the gymnasium, preventing him from escaping.
Glancing at Nie Yan, Song Chen had a cold smile on his face. He had long since wanted to teach Nie Yan a lesson, partly because he was jealous of all the attention Nie Yan was receiving lately after being challenged by Lei Su, and partly because Nie Yan was Xie Yao's boyfriend. Song Chen had always been infatuated by Xie Yao, but Nie Yan had beaten him to the punch. He was naturally unhappy about this.
Lei Su wasn't the type of person to pull any tricks. Since he directly challenged Nie Yan on the forums, that definitely meant Nie Yan had a bit of strength. So, as a form of insurance, Song Chen had brought several dozen others with him. Even if Lei Su came here himself, there was no way he could do anything against so many people.
Song Chen was no stranger to this sort of underhanded bullying. After everything was said and done, the victims could only swallow their humiliation and admit it was an ordinary match.
The group walked into the gymnasium while those at the back closed the doors. The people outside would have no way of knowing what was going on.
Nie Yan swept his gaze over these fourth years. Their builds, muscle distribution, how they walked, and so on, not a single thing slipped his eyes. Since advancing to a Shadow Dancer, his fighting techniques had improved by leaps and bounds. Furthermore, he gained the ability to judge how strong a person was and where their weaknesses were from their posture and movements. This sort of keen sense allowed him to erupt with frightening destructive power in a fight.
Some passersby who saw Nie Yan being brought to the gymnasium felt sorry for him. Similar situations had happened many times before. It appeared he was about to be taught a cruel and brutal lesson.
The 36 students formed a large circle with Nie Yan at the center, staring at him like a pack of hyenas.
"Would you rather us kick your ass one by one or all together?" Song Chen asked with a mocking smile. Nie Yan was in no position to do anything. Song Chen would have someone go up to probe his strength. If he lost, they would beat him up mercilessly. If he won, they would all jump on him.
"You can all come at me at once. Saves me the trouble," Nie Yan said in a calm tone. He cracked his knuckles and started stretching his limbs. It had been too long since he had taken any action outside the game. He didn't know what his strength was like right now. But he could clearly sense he had grown stronger. He was itching for a fight.
Hmm, it'll be tough dealing with so many all at once. Looks like I can't afford to hold back, Nie Yan thought.
"Hmph... don't regret your words later!" Song Chen snorted. Seeing Nie Yan standing as unyielding as Mt. Tai, he felt slightly uneasy. He couldn't see through Nie Yan's strength at all. But after thinking for a bit, he had more than 30 people on his side. There was nothing to worry about!
"Enough nonsense. Are we going to fight or what?" Nie Yan slowly clenched his fist. A frightening power surged through his arm, like a dam about to burst.