After exiting the instanced world, Nie Yan found a secluded place and prepared to use a Return Scroll to return to Calore.
When Nie Yan was half-way through channelling his Return Scroll, he heard rustling in the distance. His heart trembled. He cancelled the channeling and quickly hid behind some trees.
"Hell Ghost, are you sure the Death God's Edge is here? How come we still haven't found anything? We've been searching for almost four hours!" a strange-looking player in black robes asked exasperated.
"I don't have any way of pinpointing the exact location of the Death God's Edge, but it's definitely around here somewhere. The marker is moving. It's probably in the hands of a player," Hell Ghost replied.
Nie Yan knitted his brows. They're here for the Death God's Edge? How do they even know about it? Even more, how are they able to track its location?
Nie Yan entered stealth and cautiously approached the source of the voices until he spotted five players walking between the trees. Their clothing was nothing like that of the players of Viridian Empire. Wearing mostly red with open collars and short sleeves, they had an ancient tribal air about them. Their appearances were also strange, extremely pale skin with slim figures and tribal tattoos covering their arms, neck, and face.
Demon Tribe!
The players of the Viridian Empire hadn't had any real interaction with the Demon Tribe yet. They rarely appeared on the surface until recently. Their nation was composed of dark elves, fallen humans, blood orcs, goblins, and many mixed breeds. They worshipped a demon god and believed in slaughter.
Their class system differed somewhat to that of the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire. It was much more complicated. Their main classes were Warriors, Dark Invokers, Nightblades, Warlocks, and Dark Zealots. These classes were further divided into subclasses. Warriors were divided into Mystics, Slayers, and Blood Orc Warriors; Dark Invokers were divided into Dark Elf Invokers, Goblin Invokers, and Fallen Invokers; Nightblades were divided into Dark Elf Rogues and Drow Assassins; Warlocks were divided into Goblin Warlocks, Dark Elf Warlocks, and Fallen Warlocks; and finally Dark Zealots were the exception. They were more-or-less a healer class and didn't have a subclass.
All players in the Demon Tribe had the innate skill called Thirst for Slaughter. Their health and defense was 30% lower than that of players in the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire, but their attack and magic power were 50% higher. According to rumours, players in the Demon Tribe levelled up fairly quickly, but they were also fairly fragile.
Overall, the Demon Tribe differed very little in strength between the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire. However, their top experts were frightening beyond compare, especially the Nightblades. Health and defense were secondary stats to a top Nightblade. What they focused on was powerful crowd control and high burst damage. The Demon Tribe's innate skill was extremely attractive to players who liked the glass cannon playstyle.
Nie Yan observed this group of players. The person called Hell Ghost was a fallen human, He looked like any other human, except his skin was a dark ashen colour. He wielded a black long sword in one hand and a staff in the other. He was a Mystic.
There were three Mystics here. Hell Ghost was one and the other two were dark elves. Dark elves had distinct appearances, long pointed ears, beautiful faces, and fair skin as dark as the night.
Looking at the other two players, one man and one woman. The man was a blood orc while the woman was a fallen human. Both were Slayers.
Three Mystics and two Slayers. The fallen human Mystic and blood orc Slayer were both Silver Wings, easily recognizable by the silver wings growing from their backs. Where the surface classes progressed through class advancement quests, the Demon Tribe underwent a baptism ritual of sorts. Silver Wing was a title. It was equivalent to a Master. In terms of strength, Silver Wings were far weaker than Masters. However, becoming a Silver Wing was much simpler. In the previous timeline, the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire combined only had a few hundred Masters. However, the Demon Tribe alone had more than 6,000 Silver Wings.
Three Mystics and two Slayers, not to mention two among them were Silver Wings. Seeing this line-up, Nie Yan's heart sank. Experience from his past life told him these players weren't easy pickings.
In the previous timeline, this kind of party composition was believed to be the most optimal in the Demon Tribe. The requirements for every member was extremely high. When these five entered into battle, they came to kill, an unrivalled squad of melee classes.
Mystics were both casters and front liners. Even though their magic damage wasn't as high as traditional Mages, they were more resilient and faster. Although their health and defense wasn't as high as traditional Warriors, their damage output could make all Warriors tremble in fear. They were experts at buffing themselves with magic and enchanting their weapons to deal additional magic damage. This could increase the damage of their ordinary attacks by at least 60%.
Slayers were a dexterity-based class. The top Slayers put all their stats into dexterity. It was rumoured that a Level 100 Slayer had a base dexterity of 3,000. Combined with stat bonuses from equipment, some slayers even reached as high as 8,000 dexterity. This was definitely a frightening figure. They excelled at dealing rush-in burst damage.
This kind of line-up was the nightmare of casters. Not that it was any better for a tanky Warrior. If they were pincered, there was no resisting, only death.
The sort of battle style a formation like this employed was to have the two Slayers rush down to the target. If the enemy were a caster, they would be cut down instantly. If they were a tanky Warrior, they would be locked down and subsequently killed by the barrage of spells from the Mystics.
An optimal line-up and two Silver Wings. Nie Yan closely eyed these players. The hand resting on the hilt of Zennarde's Sword grew restless.
These players had come for the Death God's Edge. They had probably received some sort of quest. Since the player called Hell Ghost could track the location of the item, if Nie Yan didn't take the initiative to attack, they would only continue following his tracks and be a nuisance.
Nie Yan quietly hid behind some nearby trees. The five from the Demon Tribe were oblivious to his presence.
They appeared to lack any wariness of Thieves. Since Mystics and Slayers both counted as Warriors, plus their skills were a cut above the rest, any ordinary Thief that encountered them would have no choice but to run. Few would dare to take the initiative to ambush them.
"I heard the class advancement quests for the Viridian Empire and Satreen Empire is a lot more difficult than our baptism. Even now, they only have 20 Masters. Meanwhile, our Demon Tribe already has 300 Silver Wings. Between Masters and Silver Wings, I wonder which is stronger," the blood orc Slayer said, pushing past some thickets.
"We'll only find out when we actually clash with one. The most important part is skill. Class advantages are also important." Hell Ghost was fairly confident in himself as a Silver Wing Mystic. In the Demon Tribe, whenever people saw the silver wings on his back, they would all gaze at him enviously. Silver Wing was a glorious title few could hold. He carried it with pride.
Two of them had the Silver Wing title. They were both over Level 130. The other three were around Level 120. Thanks to their high damage, the players in the Demon Tribe were on average higher level than the players on the surface.
Nie Yan trailed their group, waiting for the perfect opportunity to attack. Even though he had come across players from the Demon Tribe in his past life, they were all run-of-the-mill small fry. As for how skilled their top experts were, he had no idea. So, he acted with caution, waiting for an opportunity to present itself.
At this time, Nie Yan received a call. He looked at the notification to find it was Guo Huai.
「You have to be careful when you head to the Satreen Empire. Not just Angel Corps, but players from the Demon Tribe and Undead Empire are also looking for you. The mercenary associations of both nations have put a bounty on your head. Whoever can get the Death God's Edge from you will receive the title of Marquis and three pieces of Legendary-grade equipment,」Guo Huai said. After learning this information from his information network, he immediately contacted Nie Yan. Only about a dozen people in all of Asskickers United knew Nie Yan was in possession of the Death God's Edge.
「Ah, no wonder. I just encountered a few players from the Demon Tribe,」Nie Yan replied. No wonder these five appeared here. They had received a quest to retrieve the Death God's Edge. The title of Marquis and three pieces of Legendary-grade equipment was an extremely tempting reward. The Death God's Edge really was worth a pretty penny. Two nations from the opposing faction wanted to obtain the Death God's Edge so urgently. Nie Yan's curiosity about this item grew even more.
「What!? You've already been found?」Guo Huai's heart tightened. His intel on the Demon Tribe was too shallow. Their innate skills, blood lines, and magic sigils, if you didn't experience them yourself, you would have no idea what they were used for. So, the Demon Tribe was shrouded in mystery.
Nie Yan chuckled.「No, it's not like they've found me, but rather I've found them. They're about to receive a free trip back to the underworld.」
Guo Huai broke into a smile. As long as Nie Yan wasn't surrounded and pinned down by countless enemies, it would be incredibly difficult to deal with him. The equipment in his possession, if revealed to the world, would make even the vast majority of top experts retreat in fear.
「Let's talk later. I'm going to take care of them,」Nie Yan said. Seeing the five players engaging with a monster, he knew this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.
「Alright.」Guo Huai nodded, then hung up the call.
Nie Yan's footsteps were ethereal, soundless. He'd already approached within five meters of a Mystic.
After discovering a Level 150 Elite Mandara Serpent, the two Slayers rushed forward, their dual blades flickering with a sharp light. They were as fast as lightning.
The three Mystics enchanted their long swords with magic as they prepared to deal with the Mandara Serpent. They hadn't the slightest clue a reaper was quietly creeping up behind them.