Chapter 754 - Impasse

Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Soaring Angel repeatedly fired arrows from his bow toward the Demon Slaughterer. The other four Masters didn’t stay idle either. Drifting waved his staff and bombarded it with magic.

Stone Splitter charged up to the Demon Slaughterer. He didn’t attack it, only taking a defensive stance to hinder its movements.

Cruel Edge started planting down trap totems all over. Every step the Demon Slaughterer took, it would set off one of them. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The explosions greatly hindered its movements despite not dealing much damage.

As for Sark, he’d disappeared completely. No one knew where he was, though likely somewhere in the vicinity while hidden in stealth.

“Wretched humans!” the Demon Slaughterer roared out in anger. It slashed down with its greatsword, sending a crescent-shaped sword beam flying towards Soaring Angel and Drifting.

BOOM! A large gash was carved out of the ground. In the instant the slash came down, Drifting teleported himself and Soaring Angel 60 meters away. They continued attacking the Demon Slaughterer with arrows and magic.

The Demon Slaughterer’s movements were greatly obstructed by the buildings in the vicinity. It was also taking enormous damage from the relentless assault of the arrow towers and cannons.

What concentrated firepower! Cannon shells and arrows were flying everywhere, blotting out the sky.

The Demon Slaughterer’s health fell to 70%. Seeing this scene, Nie Yan estimated it would be dead in about another half an hour.

If it were the wilderness, perhaps the Demon Slaughterer could display its full might. However, the Clemenci Stronghold was a military base constructed for players, not for six-meter tall giants. Its movements were greatly hindered while it had no room to defend against the onslaught of attacks. This heavily fortified stronghold turned out to be the bane of the Demon Slaughterer.

Soaring Angel successfully attracted the attention of the Demon Slaughterer in an attempt to minimize the damage being dealt to the surroundings as much as possible. His efforts were showing effect.

The Demon Slaughterer occasionally stopped to look around for traces of Soaring Angel. The many buildings in the surrounding prevented it from charging like it normally would in an open space. Meanwhile, Soaring Angel darted between the alleyways, shooting out a flurry of arrows whenever he came out in the open. The Demon Slaughterer had no way of keeping track of him. 

It was a game of cat and mouse. The Demon Slaughterer kept slashing out with its greatsword, but it failed to land a single hit on Soaring Angel.

Nie Yan was hidden close by. He quickly approached Soaring Angel. If he were to ambush Soaring Angel in this situation, it’d be an easy assassination.

Soaring Angel was oblivious to the approaching danger.

Just as Nie Yan was about to take action, the Demon Slaughterer appeared to sense something and looked over in his direction.

Ohhh shit… Nie Yan felt a chill run down his spine. The Demon Slaughterer had discovered him! It appeared he had really gotten ahead of himself this time. Even under this concentrated onslaught of attacks, the Demon Slaughterer was still able to lock onto him.

Gale Step!

Nie Yan’s suddenly accelerated. His silhouette became a blur as he dashed into the maze of buildings. After familiarizing himself with the map layout of the Clemenci Stronghold, he knew the place like the back of his hands. So, he pathed through the areas where the buildings were most densely packed together.

The Demon Slaughterer leaped into the air and rushed after Nie Yan, destroying everything in its path.

I’ve lost aggro? Soaring Angel was dazed. Seeing the Demon Slaughterer going crazy trying to chase after something, a figure flashed in his mind. He hurriedly shouted in voice chat,「It’s Nirvana Flame! Stop him! Don’t let him reach the guild headquarters!」

Soaring Angel believed Nie Yan wanted to lead the Demon Slaughterer to the Angel Corps guild headquarters. Little did he know that the only thing on Nie Yan’s mind right now was self-preservation.

The Demon Slaughterer trampled buildings like they were cardboard boxes. Soaring Angel felt his heart bleed. He fervently cursed Nie Yan a million times over in his mind.

「Boss! Run north! That’s where all the Angel Corps players are gathered!」Swift Maple said.

Nie Yan immediately understood Swift Maple’s plan. He quickly changed direction.

Angel Corps’ elites were all gathered together, waiting for Soaring Angel’s commands. They were casually discussing the Demon Slaughterer’s sudden appearance.

“The boss said Nirvana Flame is in the Clemenci Stronghold. I wonder if that’s really true.”

“I’m 99% sure it’s true. Why else would the Demon Slaughterer be here?”

Seeing the huge commotion near the entrance, their eyes flickered with nervousness. They all wondered what the outcome of this event would be. Several players felt a light breeze blow past them. None of them were alerted, mistaking it for the wind. At this moment, a huge commotion erupted in the vicinity.

“It’s the Demon Slaughterer! It’s heading straight for us!”

“Oh sweet Jesus!”

At this moment, the Demon Slaughterer flapped its wings and came charging over. It slashed down with its greatsword, sending a sword beam flying over.

BOOM! A large number of players was instantly transformed into rays of lights.

“Attack!”

“Everyone, get away quickly!”

Frantic shouts cut through the air. The Mages and Demon Hunters started attacking. Magic and arrows arced through the sky and rained down on the Demon Slaughterer. However, their damage was all but useless, with the strongest among them dealing only 100 damage at most. Most of them were barely hitting double digits. This kind of attack barely tickled the Demon Slaughterer whose exact health was still hidden even now.

The Demon Slaughterer didn’t stop to deal with these pests. It only briefly passed by, but it left behind hundreds of bodies in its wake.

“Shit! Spread out you idiots! Don’t stick so close together!” Soaring Angel shouted after finally arriving at the scene.

The Demon Slaughterer had escaped the range of the cannons. Soaring Angel didn’t dare to aim them at the center of the Clemenci Stronghold. However, the arrow towers were still firing non-stop. Whenever the Demon Slaughterer flew too high in the air, it’d be struck by countless arrows.

The Demon Slaughterer had also received quite a bit of damage while chasing after Nie Yan.

「Let’s go over there!」Soaring Angel ordered after seeing where the Demon Slaughterer was headed. He and the other four Masters started flanking from the side.

Rain of Fire!

A shower of fire rained down on Nie Yan.

Just as he was about to be inundated by flames, Nie Yan shot out a web line at a distant building and swung away. He instantly opened up a distance of more than 30 meters.

After the shower of fire missed, the Demon Slaughterer instantly locked onto Nie Yan’s new location and continued its pursued.

“What the hell!? It’s still chasing after me!?” Nie Yan cursed.

Nie Yan activated the Leap ability from the Web Crawler Ring, soaring over 30 meters in the air before landing on the roof of another building. After which he started hopping from roof to roof.

「All arrow towers, focus your firepower! Kill Nirvana Flame first!」Soaring Angel’s face twisted with rage.

Nie Yan noticed the surrounding arrow towers taking aim at him. He had no choice but to evade the Demon Slaughterer’s attacks as well as a hail of arrows at the same time.

Regardless of all his life-saving skills, his sky-high defense, and everything else at his disposal to ensure his safety, if Nie Yan were a step too slow here, he’d still die.

Seeing arrows blotting out the sky above him, Nie Yan quickly leaped out of the way. Ding ding ding! A path of arrows followed behind him. Before he could get a chance to catch his breath, another wave of arrows rained down toward him.

Nie Yan hurriedly hid behind a wall. However, he was still struck by a few arrows.

−4,267−3,833−3,955...

His health fell by 56%!

Nie Yan was about to flee along the walls, when the Demon Slaughterer flapped its wings and appeared in the sky overhead. The greatsword in its hand was like the blade of the grim reaper.

Shadow Waltz!

Nie Yan suddenly disappeared. He leaped over several buildings and fled away.

Escape was within reach. But as Nie Yan got infinitely close, several silhouettes cut him off. A Shaman waved his staff and planted down an Anti-Stealth Totem.

Soaring Angel and the others had arrived. They sealed off all escape routes.

「He’s over there!」Cruel Edge shouted in voice chat. His Anti-Stealth Totem had locked onto Nie Yan’s location.

Nie Yan’s silhouette blurred. He leaped over the wall beside him.

「Damn! He really can run!」Cruel Edge also leaped over the wall. At this moment, an enormous meteor came crashing down from the sky. He quickly waved his staff and blinked away.

BOOM! Several buildings were transformed into ruins.

The battle was a chaotic mess. The Demon Slaughterer and Angel Corps found a shared enemy in Nie Yan. While it fought together with the arrow towers to kill him, Soaring Angel’s party of five Masters did their best to obstruct him. However, though they momentarily worked together with the monster, Angel Corps had no choice but to remain wary of it. For all they knew, in the next moment it’d shift targets to them.

「I want Nirvana Flame dead today no matter the cost!」Soaring Angel growled. He knew this was likely his only chance of killing Nie Yan. If they couldn’t even kill him in a situation like this, it would be a huge disgrace for Angel Corps.

Soaring Angel notched five arrows onto his bowstring, then darted from rooftop to rooftop. With this high vantage point, everything below was in full view.

Nie Yan didn’t expect the situation to deteriorate so quickly. Glancing at his Unknown Transfer Scrolls, they were greyed out. If he died today, he would drop several chapters from the Book of Order, the Death God’s Edge, and Paternoster’s Warhammer. This kind of loss would cause his heart to bleed.

His overconfidence had really gotten to his head and blinded him. Nie Yan could only curse his own greed. But now wasn’t the time for regrets. There was no turning back. He needed to get rid of his pursuers first.

Nie Yan dashed past an arrow. Up ahead was a long, narrow street. He immediately activated all the speed boosting skills in his skill bar and employed his Shadow Dancer footwork. His silhouette transformed into a blur as he left a trail of afterimages behind him.

After reaching the end of the street, Nie Yan reached a corner. Just as he was about to make a turn, something exploded right in front of him, blinding him.

It was a Goblin Flash Bomb!

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. Everything in his vision was white. He couldn’t see anything.

In the instant he lost his sight, Nie Yan felt a cold chill approaching the back of his head.

Enemy Thief!