The Demon Slaughterer ferociously attacked everything in sight like an enraged beast. The Thieves were gradually being overwhelmed.
「Boss, hurry!」
「We can't hold on much longer!」
Nie Yan picked up his pace and arrived at the altar. Under the bombarding of the 1,000 Magic Bombs, it was partially destroyed, but the main structure still remained intact.
At the center of the altar was a round monument that towered several meters over the rest of the square. Engraved on the front face was a life-like relief of a demon. It had a sinister face, sharp fangs, and an icy cold expression. This was the totemic of the dark elf tribe.
Nie Yan searched around the monument and found a large keyhole in the back. Looking in his bag, he retrieved the treasure key and slowly inserted it into the keyhole. It was a perfect fit!
RRRUMBLE! RRUMBLE! RUUMBLE!
The entire altar shook violently. A large slab of rock slowly shifted away and revealed a treasure chest.
Nie Yan had no idea which era this chest originated from. Judging from the heavy wear, it was from ancient times.
The moment the chest emerged, an overwhelming aura washed over Nie Yan.
This was an incredibly pure power, making one want to kneel down for it.
The items inside this chest definitely weren't ordinary.
"Nice, no lock!" Nie Yan walked up and started opening the chest.
At this moment, the Demon Slaughterer seemed to sense something and turned to face the altar. Seeing someone opening the chest, it let out an enraged roar. The greatsword in its hand erupted with raging flames, seemingly aware of its wielder's fury.
With a powerful beat of its wings, it took to the air and shot toward Nie Yan.
「Boss, be careful!」
「Boss, it's coming back towards you!」
...
The expedition team members anxiously shouted out warnings in the voice chat.
The chest popped open. Nie Yan was about to check out its contents, when he heard the frantic cries in the voice chat. Turning his head, he spotted the Demon Slaughterer rapidly closing in on him.
Crap, no time to lose!
Nie Yan didn't linger for a second. He reached his hand into the chest and grabbed onto something which transmitted an icy cold feeling into his palm. He had no idea what it was, only that it was made out of some mysterious metal. The chilly aura emanating from it made him shiver.
This object was quite heavy. After taking it out, Nie Yan had no time to grab anything else.
Nie Yan tossed the item into his bag. There were definitely more items in the chest. He wanted to stick his hand back in and grab them too, but there was no time.
The Demon Slaughterer had already raised its greatsword right above his head. Nie Yan had to get out, now!
Just as he was about to be swallowed up by the flaming sword, Nie Yan gave up on trying to retrieve the other items inside the chest. With a Shadow Waltz, he scrambled out of there.
This was a Rank 18 Shadow Waltz. Nie Yan's body transformed into a blur as he sped away.
BOOM! The sword slash swept over his body, but he was completely unscathed.
Miss!
The Demon Slaughterer immediately went into pursuit. Its entire body was enveloped in blazing flames. It was thoroughly enraged by the theft of whatever item Nie Yan took out from the chest. At this moment, its aggro was solely focused on him.
While Nie Yan was still in a state of invincibility, he pulled out an Unknown Transfer Scroll and crushed it.
Like this, even the Demon Slaughterer couldn't stop Nie Yan.
With a flash of light, Nie Yan disappeared.
"Wretched mortal! How dare you steal Paternoster's Warhammer. You will pay with your soul!" the Demon Slaughterer spat out. It beat its wings, then took off for the south.
「Everyone, temporarily withdraw!」Nie Yan shouted. He had no clue where he was right now. The Unknown Transfer Scroll had teleported him to the middle of a green plain.
「Boss, the Demon Slaughterer flew away! It's probably still chasing after you. Run!」Hapless Frog shouted.
The Demon Slaughterer is still after me? Nie Yan's heart trembled. It seemed like he would need to start fleeing for his life. He suddenly recalled something and said,「There are still some items in that chest. After you've taken them out, revive the fallen, and wait for me in Orc King City.」
「Understood!」
Hapless Frog took the lead back at the square in the dark elf tribe. He had the Priests revive the fallen Warriors and Thieves. Moments later, everyone was alive and well again. His next objective was the chest in the center of the altar.
After taking Paternoster's Warhammer, Nie Yan didn't even have the time to close the chest. Hapless Frog stuck his hand inside and took out three pieces of Legendary-grade equipment as well as a crystal which sparkled with a sapphire light. Looking at the crystal, it was called a Shattered Divinity. He wondered what it was used for.
After confirming there was nothing else in the chest, Hapless Frog contacted Nie Yan.「Boss, I've retrieved everything in the chest.」
「What else was inside?」
「Three pieces of Legendary equipment, but only Elves can equip them, and a strange crystal,」Hapless Frog replied.
「Give those three pieces of Legendary equipment to Ronin. We can't use them anyway. What kind of item is the crystal?」Nie Yan asked. He was curious as to why Hapless Frog would describe it as strange.
「It's called a Shattered Divinity. There's no clear explanation in the description.」
Shattered Divinity? Nie Yan's heart trembled. He recalled the Shattered Divinity in his bag. It was one of the rewards he'd obtained during his Luminous Dancer class advancement quest.
Finding a Shattered Divinity in two seperate places. Nie Yan immediately sensed this item was anything but ordinary.
「Hold onto the Shattered Divinity for now. When I get back, give it to me,」Nie Yan said. He would investigate the use of this item later. Perhaps adding a second piece to his collection would give him a new clue.
After hanging up the call, Hapless Frog walked over to Ronin's party.
"Hey," Hapless Frog greeted.
"Hi," Ronin greeted back.
"Our boss told me to give these three pieces of equipment to you. He also told me to hand over the pay for the Shamans to you as well. Please help us pay them on our behalf." Hapless Frog handed over the three pieces of Legendary equipment and a large stack of gold to Ronin.
Ronin said with a coating of shame on his face, "We weren't of any help with the Demon Slaughterer. We really can't accept these three pieces of Legendary equipment. I think it's better to return them to your boss."
"I'm following the boss' orders. He told me to give it to you, so take it. Besides, it's not like we can use it anyway."
If ordinary players saw three pieces of Legendary equipment, they'd jump at the chance to take it. However, Ronin's party seemed to hesitate. Hapless Frog's impression of them went up a few notches.
Under Hapless Frog's continued insistence, Ronin accepted the three pieces of Legendary equipment, 200,000 gold, and 50 Resurrection Emblems.
Nie Yan was fairly straight and generous in how he conducted himself.
Thinking of the 300,000 gold Nie Yan previously gave him, Ronin made a decision in his heart. Since Nie Yan was interested in establishing a branch in the Satreen Empire, he would do his best to help him.
After finishing everything up, everyone activated their Return Scrolls and teleported back to Orc King City.
A moment later, several elven Thieves arrived in the square. When they saw all the destruction, they were dumbstruck. The ground was covered in scorch marks, craters, and many other traces of intense fighting. One could imagine what kind of battle took place here.
The Thieves searched around, but found nothing. The square was swept clean. Nothing was left behind. They walked over to the center of the altar. It was practically falling apart. Near the back was an enormous chest. They opened it, only to find it was completely empty.
They immediately reported back to Soaring Angel.
「What's the situation?」Soaring Angel asked.
「Nirvana Flame's Paladin Lafus and Golden Dragon were blocking the area, so we couldn't move any closer. When those two finally left, the battle had already ended. The square in the center of the dark elf settlement is in complete shambles. Everything is swept clean. It seems like a really fierce fight took place here, but we didn't find any traces of the boss' corpse.」
「Logically speaking, if they killed the boss, its corpse would still be there.」Soaring Angel knitted his brows. Just what was Nie Yan doing in the dark elf tribe?
Soaring Angel's senses were quite sharp when it came to quests. After the dark elf tribe was released, he immediately dispatched a 1,000-man expedition team to explore it. He didn't expect them to be nearly wiped out by Nirvana Flame mid-journey. As for what secrets lay in the dark elf tribe, he still had no idea.
「We've searched everywhere. The boss' corpse isn't there. But we did find an open chest behind the altar in the center of the settlement. It was a Legendary chest,」the Elven Thief said.
「A Legendary chest!?」Soaring Angel sucked in a cold breath of air. Ever since the game was released, Angel Corps had only ever opened one Sub Legendary chest. As for a Legendary chest, they'd only ever heard about it in rumours. There was no concrete evidence they even existed, until now that was.
Hearing the news reported by his subordinate, Soaring Angel's heart started growing more and more restless.
Meanwhile, Nie Yan used a Return Scroll to teleport back to Orc King City. He then retreated into an alley. He would probably be safe in the city. After all, it was protected by many powerful legendary NPCs. Killing a Level 130 Demonified Lord would be simple.
After entering Asskickers United's secret hideout, Nie Yan made sure no one else was around, then impatiently took out his spoils of war.
It was a silver-white hammer!
When Nie Yan took out the hammer, the cold aura emanating from it and the silver-white white currents of electricity wrapped around it caused the air in the entire room to freeze over.