Nie Yan glanced down at his skill bar. Several skills had already come off cooldown. He activated Gale Step and vanished into stealth.
Seeing Nie Yan disappear from sight, Qin Han's heart tightened. After butting heads for so long, he knew Nie Yan wouldn't leave so easily!
Nie Yan's target was certainly him!
In the blink of an eye, the hunter became the hunted. This sudden reversal of roles put a huge damper on Qin Han's mood.
Qin Han spotted Nie Yan's silhouette dashing over from the bone dragon, rapidly closing in on him. This frightening speed caused his heart to tremble.
When Nirvana Flame was after someone's head, no one could stop him!
Sensing death's approach, Qin Han's nerves were stretched staut. He stumbled back into a hurried retreat. With a wave of his staff, a bone wall erupted from the ground to block Nie Yan.
At this moment, Necromancer Vorderman had recovered a bit of his strength. He waved his staff. Black flames rained down from the sky. A raging inferno swept through Nie Yan's general location.
Several tongues of flames landed on Nie Yan, dispelling his stealth. However, he remained unscathed, protected by Kalenna's powerful barrier.
Bone walls erupted from all around, trapping Nie Yan inside.
Nie Yan leaped over the walls and then retreated deeper into the forest.
With Necromancer Vorderman nearby, killing Qin Han would be difficult.
The bone dragon circled in the sky, ready to swoop down at any moment.
Nie Yan rapidly ascended a tree and perched himself atop a branch, evading the sight of the bone dragon. He took out his Cavalry Crossbow and pulled the trigger. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Five bolts flew straight at Qin Han.
Nie Yan had purposefully aimed for Qin Han's blind spot.
Qin Han felt something off. Turning around and seeing five bolts flying towards him, he hurriedly waved his staff in an attempt to resist.
Before Qin Han could do anything, bone walls erupted around him, protecting him inside.
Put put put! The bolts bounced off the bone wall and fell on the ground.
Following this, all of Nie Yan's attempts to attack Qin Han were repelled by Necromancer Vorderman. Even though Vorderman couldn't hurt him because of the barrier, he likewise couldn't do anything to Qin Han.
Necromancer Vorderman's reactions were too quick. With his protection, Qin Han was absolutely safe.
Qin Han looked over in Nie Yan's direction. The two locked eyes.
Qin Han's lips curved into a sneer. So what if I can't kill you? You can't kill me either!
"Vorderman, let's go," Qin Han said. Today, the two chapters from the Book of Order had been snatched away by Nie Yan, He would definitely settle this account one day!
The bone dragon flew down toward Vorderman and Qin Han.
"They want to run!" Nie Yan narrowed his eyes, his expression flickering with killing intent.
Qin Han had a total of seven chapters from the Book of Order on him. If Nie Yan could get his hands on them, he could complete another volume. He knew better than anyone else the power contained within the Glimpse of Darkness. Over the past few months, King of the World hadn't found any clues on the last remaining chapter from volume five of the Book of Order. He had once mentioned that if Nie Yan could find all the chapters from the Book of Order, he would return the five chapters to him. In combination with the chapters up for grabs here today, he would be that much closer to completing the entire book. For the sake of becoming the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Light, he definitely had to get the chapters from Qin Han!
Nie Yan initially didn't have high hopes of collecting all the chapters. However, after listening to Jebiah the Great and obtaining the Great Prophet Medal, this desire was once more reginited in his heart.
If Nie Yan became the Supreme Pontiff of the Temple of Light, Archangel Tallod would personally coronate him. The temple's forces would move to his will. He would hold true authority. At that time, Asskickers United and all its allied guilds would become truly invincible under his influence. He would have complete control of the Viridian Empire.
In the previous timeline, even the Century Financial Group and Angel Corps didn't reach such heights. In their prime, they only controlled strongholds. No one had ever ruled over both players and NPCs.
Even though Nie Yan knew the path ahead of him was long, he was determined to follow through with it.
Qin Han and Vorderman climbed up the bone dragon's back. It flapped its wings and took to the sky.
Just as Qin Han and Vorderman were about to escape, Nie Yan dashed toward the bone dragon. Before it completely left the ground, he was already within eight meters of it. He shot out a web line at its feet and swung toward it.
Nie Yan landed on the bone dragon's shin bone and held on tightly.
The bone dragon didn't notice Nie Yan. Neither did Necromancer Vorderman or Qin Han.
Nie Yan gazed into the distance. White dots appeared over the horizon. As he squinted his eyes to get a better look, he discovered they were griffons.
Those griffons were different from the ones players could tame. They were noticeably larger with pure, white feathers which shone brilliantly under the sunlight. They were Royal Griffons used by Calore's military!
Calore's NPC forces were here!
Nie Yan's lips parted into a faint smile. Vorderman had received serious injuries from his previous battle with the three priests. It remained to be seen whether he could escape with his life.
Nie Yan vaguely recalled something similar happening in the previous timeline. Vorderman had suffered serious injuries in a previous battle and died to Karsi afterwards.
However, the timing wasn't right. Back then, the Vengeance of the Undead event had went on for more than a month before Vorderman was killed. It was still too early.
Nie Yan shelved these thoughts for now. Taking advantage of Qin Han and Vorderman being distracted by the appearance of the griffons, he slowly climbed up the bone dragon's leg.
After noticing the griffons, the bone dragon picked up the pace and fled south.
A large griffon was closing in fast. It was much bigger than an ordinary Royal Griffon and only slightly smaller than the bone dragon. Its entire body was surrounded by an enormous barrier of light. Standing on its was a Mage in fluttering white robes.
Glancing over at the griffon, Nie Yan instantly recognized the Mage. It was Karsi!
In the end, Vorderman couldn't escape this encounter with Karsi. The two were fated enemies.
"Vile Necromancer, the God of Light won't forgive your sins. I'll take your head to appease the spirits of those you killed!" Karsi shouted in a solemn tone. With a wave of his staff, a pillar of light descended from the sky.
Vorderman let out a sinister cackle. "Karsi, do you really think you can kill me? A thousand years later, and you're still that same little boy!"
Vorderman erected a dark barrier. As the holy light made contact with the barrier, white smoke started rising up.
Nie Yan could sense Vorderman's barrier faltering under Karsi's attack.
Vorderman was still clearly weakened after his previous battle!
The bone dragon and the griffon started tangling mid-air.
Nie Yan held on tightly to the bone dragon. He was nearly thrown off several times.
A battle between two legendary figures. Nie Yan had no clue how long it would last.
Nie Yan carefully evaded the attacks. Seeing the griffon charging over, he hurriedly leaped out of the way and landed on another part of the bone dragon.
Compared to the bone dragon and griffon, Nie Yan was an insignificant speck.
Only a short distance away from the bone dragon's back, Nie Yan's gaze locked onto Vorderman and Qin Han.
Qin Han was completely oblivious of Nie Yan's presence. He believed he and Vorderman were perfectly safe flying on the bone dragon's back. He vastly underestimated Nie Yan's determination.
Karsi and Vorderman's battle intensified. PSSSHFT! The bone dragon's claws dug into the griffon's body. Blood and feathers rained down from the sky. Unwilling to be outdone, the griffon heavily rammed into the bone dragon, sending it reeling back.
Vorderman and Karsi exchanged fire, neither stopping for even a second.
Nie Yan was hit by several stray fireballs and holy attacks. His barrier was gradually being shaved away until it only had 50,000 durability left. If he didn't kill Qin Han now, he would lose his opportunity!
When the bone dragon and the griffon crossed paths mid-air, Nie Yan and Karsi met eyes. He could see Karsi's surprised expression. However, it was only a brief meeting, as the two passed each other.
Nie Yan slowly made his way up the bone dragon's back, drawing closer and closer to Qin Han. He was only about 10 meters away. Vorderman stood on the head and was locked in a fierce exchange with Karsi. He didn't notice Nie Yan at all.
Seeing Vorderman on the backfoot, Qin Han was extremely nervous. If Vorderman was killed, he would be doomed too. All that awaited him was the deletion of his account and starting over. Triggering the Vengeance of the Undead expansion meant he had to pay an enormous price. If his campaign failed, he would forever be wanted by the Viridian and Satreen Empires. From then on, he would be constantly on the run with no way of ever establishing a foothold again.
The outcome of the battle between Vorderman and Karsi was related to his fate. How could Qin Han not be nervous!?
Seeing that Qin Han hadn't noticed him, Nie Yan's lips curved into a faint smile. He looked like a predator hiding in ambush, waiting for the perfect opportunity to strike.
The seconds and minutes ticked away. Karsi upped the pressure, attacking even more fiercely. Vorderman took repeated hits. It started to look like he couldn't hold on much longer.
Nie Yan suddenly shot forward like an arrow, heading straight for Qin Han. The flames surrounding Zennarde's Sword appeared to burn even more brightly in response.