After felling two more Scaled Frogs, Nie Yan detected the peculiar presence yet again. He could clearly sense that someone was trying to approach him. However, when he turned around to look, the forest was tranquil without any signs of activity.
Just as Nie Yan walked over to another Scaled Frog, he felt the violent resonance of magic being cast behind him. In the blink of an eye, a dark power descended on him.
Enfeeble! Grief!
Curses that took effect instantaneously were especially frightening. If caught without a corresponding potion or a Priest or Paladin who could cast Dispel, you would be left in an extremely precarious situation.
Nie Yan's heart clenched in alarm. It wasn't a Thief that was after him but rather a Priest! A name immediately popped into his mind—Black Hell!
He's probably using an Invisibility Potion!
Nie Yan took a quick glance at his character information. His stats were reduced by 60%! What powerful curses! Ordinary curses that could reduce a target's stats by 20% were already quite dreadful, but these two curses had directly cut down his stats by almost two thirds!
Not giving Nie Yan the chance to activate Stealth, a bright orb of light flew up into the sky, illuminating the ground below with an unveiling radiance. Without delay a ray of light flew out from between the trees and struck him. A bright floating mark appeared above his head, exposing his position completely.
Finally, a Dark Corrosion spiralled toward Nie Yan at a matchless speed.
Dark Corrosion was one of the most formidable spells belonging to a Shadow Priest! A target struck by the spell would suffer damage over time, as well be inflicted with an extremely powerful curse.
Shit! That's a really nasty combo of spells! Nie Yan inwardly cursed. So many spells were fired off in quick succession. Black Hell wasn't letting him catch his breath at all!
Nie Yan rolled to avoid the Dark Corrosion.「Boom!」The spell whizzed by him and struck a nearby tree. Its leaves dried up and fell to the ground. Its branches withered and blackened with rot. In almost an instant, the frightening curse power corroded it into a decayed husk.
Nie Yan shot a glance at an area beside a tree about 30 meters away, where he spotted a Shadow Priest in ash-gray robes brandishing a staff and chanting out a line of incarnation syllables at a rapid pace.
The magical energy in the air fluctuated violently for a brief instant.
Before he could get back on his feet, a giant spider web dropped directly out of the sky above him!
It was Web, although clearly a higher rank. He had previously relied on the Junior version of this uncommon spell to trap many an unsuspecting target.
Swift Retreat! Nie Yan gained a sudden burst of speed. He bounded backward like lightning which put him beyond the reach of Web.
The web fell on the ground but failed to ensnare Nie Yan.
"Not just his speed, but his reaction time is pretty fast too," Black Hell muttered, as he calmly held the staff in his hand. He had to admit… Nie Yan's speed was really astonishing. Even after being hit with such powerful curses, he was still able to move so quickly. Black Hell recalled the awe-inspiring strike Nie Yan used to incapacitate Hei Zhuo. It was no wonder even Yu Long couldn't stop him.
If he hadn't made the first move, it would've truly been difficult to get the upper hand on Nie Yan.
Black Hell raised his staff, firing off a Shadow Arrow at Nie Yan.
Nie Yan took advantage of time for Web to end to drink a Cure Potion, removing the status effects of Enfeeble and Grief. Shadow Waltz! He took cover behind a tree to avoid the Shadow Arrow, then darted toward Black Hell.
Even though Nie Yan activated Shadow Waltz, Black Hell could still determine his position thanks to Glimmer Mark. He repeatedly waved his staff, letting loose an unending torrent of spells.
However, Nie Yan's speed was too great, and Black Hell could only spot the fleeting afterimages he left behind as he darted through the gaps between the trees.
Black Hell calmly retreated until he arrived at a wide open space in the forest where no trees were growing.
The clearing covered about a 100 square meters.
He and Black Heaven had already been tailing Nie Yan for a quite a while. He could've engaged Nie Yan at any time, but he didn't want to fight on disadvantageous terrain. If he failed his ambush in a densely forested area, Nie Yan could take advantage of the cover to dispatch of him effortlessly. This was why he decided to take action just a moment ago, when he discovered there was a patch of open land nearby.
Black Hell had always been prudent. Even if success was almost guaranteed, he would still make sure to take every little advantage he could get.
Truthfully speaking, Black Hell was still much more accustomed to playing a Warrior. He still wasn't particularly comfortable playing a class like the Shadow Priest. However, if you've seen the playstyle of one caster, then you've seen the playstyle of all casters. He often PvPed against casters at the professional level in the past, so he still more or less understood how to play one proficiently.
"Let's see just how strong you are. Come!" Black Hell waved his staff, calling forth a shadow which slowly took the form of a person, devoid of any features.
Nie Yan gasped in alarm when he saw Black Heaven's actions. This guy's no joke. He already has a Shadow Familiar!
Shadow Familiars were the summoned guardians of Shadow Priests. They possessed good attack and defense.
Nie Yan left the cover of the forest and dashed into the clearing. He was going straight for Black Hell.
Waving his staff, Black Hell cast the Slow curse on Nie Yan, then quickly retreated before releasing another Shadow Arrow.
Nie Yan immediately grew sluggish. His figure paused slightly as the Shadow Arrow shot directly toward him. The timing of these two spells was practically perfect!
Nie Yan activated Holy Descent from the Medal of the Ten Holy Paladins. The slow debuff on his body disappeared, and he reached top speed in a flash. Without the slightest hesitation, he rushed toward Black Hell.「Bang!」The Shadow Arrow exploded upon coming into contact with him, but it failed to deal the slightest bit of damage or inflict any debuffs.
At the bat of an eyelid, Nie Yan was directly in front of Black Hell. Concussive Blow! His dagger sped toward Black Hell's forehead like a streak of lightning.
Nie Yan's speed seemed even faster than in the video where he killed Hei Zhuo. Black Hell was startled. Waving his staff, his figure blurred as the Shadow Familiar moved from the side to intercept.
Nie Yan couldn't help but secretly admire his opponent. Black Hell really did have some ability. In such a short span of time, he was able to smoothly control his Shadow Familiar to block.
Shadow Familiar (Summoned Creature)
Health: 1,200/1,200
As Nie Yan struck the Shadow Familiar, it tenaciously clung to him. The 3 seconds of Holy Descent were almost up.
Nie Yan's dagger pierced into the Shadow Familiar. With a ruthless slash, he activated Lacerate.
The Shadow Familiar's health fell by over 500 points. It clawed out with both arms, striking out at Nie Yan. His body blurred into motion, evading the attack. Just as he wanted to sidestep the Shadow Familiar to get to Black Hell, he felt a dark power bind him.
It was Shadow Bind!
Shadow Bind only lasted for a second, but that brief respite gave Black Hell the opportunity to retreat several meters. A bright radiance washed over him. His robes fluttered violently, and his entire body emanated an incomparable radiance, as if a god had descended down to earth.
Black Hell brandished his staff which shone with a dazzling brilliance.
It was the Empower Status Magic from the Chapter of Harmony!
All blessings would be bolstered, while all curses would transform into something much more terrifying!
That guy is finally taking out his trump card. Nie Yan's gaze turned solemn. Would he be forced to activate Adjudicator of God? If so, it would go on cooldown for ten days.
Nie Yan was struck by the Shadow Familiar.
−106 A damage value floated up above his head.
Ignoring the Shadow Familiar, Nie Yan dashed toward Black Hell. Just as Black Hell was about to wave his staff to cast a Curse, Nie Yan threw a pouch of Intermediate Flash Powder directly at him.「Poof!」An intense, glaring radiance stabbed at Black Hell's eyes like a million tiny needles.
Inundated by the intense light, Black Hell was temporarily blind.
Nie Yan rolled to the side, evading the Enfeeble curse Black Hell had just cast.
Under normal circumstances, Black Hell's powerful curses could already reduce a target's stats by 60%. He could scarcely imagine the consequences if he were struck by them while Empower Status Magic was active.
After suffering the effects of the Intermediate Flash Powder, Black Heaven lost all ability to see. However, thanks to his excellent mental fortitude, he didn't sink into a panic. With both hands brandishing the staff back and forth, he shot out curses one after the other according to his judgement. After which he lowered his staff, then took out a bottle of Eyedrops.
Black Hell's curses were simply too frightening. If Nie Yan was hit, his stats would be reduced by at least 90%.
To top it off, even while in a state of blindness, Black Hell's movements hardly slowed down at all. He cast curse after curse, each one more terrifying than the last. His judgement was truly exceptional. If Nie Yan was slow by even half-a-step, he would have been struck down by a hail of curses!
Nie Yan activated Shadow Waltz as his speed reached the apex. He evaded Black Hell's attacks, quickly circled behind him, then struck toward the back of his head with Smothering Strike.
Piercing Shriek!
An ear-piercing shriek escaped from Black Hell's throat.
Just as Nie Yan's Smothering Strike was about to hit Black Hell, he suddenly felt something off as a strange resonance passed through him. It was Piercing Shriek!
Piercing Shriekwas the most frightening skill of a Shadow Priest. It was Mind Control Magic. The number of Thieves who had died to the spell were by no means few. It was simply too hard to defend against, and its cast time was very brief. If a Thief was struck by Piercing Shriek, they would lose all control over their body, allowing the Shadow Priest to easily dispatch them.
Nie Yan hastily activated Mind Immune from the Slaughter Fiend Medallion. As the eerie shriek entered his ears, his mind swam with numerous chaotic illusions. His movements halted, and the dagger stopped mid-strike.
Fortunately, Nie Yan activated Mind Immune just before the spell could fully wrest away control of his body. As the illusions in his mind disappeared, he plunged his dagger into Black Hell's body.
However, Smothering Strike was no longer active.
Nie Yan followed up with Backstab and Eviscerate. Black Hell's health instantly fell to critical levels, as a steady stream of poison and bleed damage floated up above his head.
Waving his staff, Black Hell self-cast a Lesser Heal, restoring a large chunk of his health, before hastily fleeing.
Nie Yan effortlessly caught up to Black Hell, then struck him in the back with Vital Strike. As Black Hell's health finally plummeted to zero, he collapsed to the ground.
Black Hell was truly a difficult opponent. Were it not for the fact that Nie Yan possessed several skills that countered the skills of a Shadow Priest, it would've taken a lot more effort to take him down.
"I win," Nie Yan muttered. He bent down to pick up the items Black Hell dropped—the Chapter of Harmony and the Dark Priest's Shadow Robes. He would unabashedly take the former for himself. But as for the latter, after thinking for a moment, he decided it was best to just return the item to its original owner.