Drowned Fish and the others noticed Nie Yan looking over in their direction. It felt like his sharp gaze could pierce their hearts.
It was only a brief glance, but Drowned Fish felt his back drenched with cold sweat. After watching so many videos of Nie Yan's battles, they knew just how powerful he was.
They held their breaths as they felt their hearts tighten.
「Boss, I think Nirvana Flame discovered us,」one of the Thieves said, his voice trembling.
Nie Yan had accurately pinpointed their location from such a far distance away. This was truly frightening.
From their point of view, being spotted by Nirvana Flame meant death.
Nie Yan only gave them a brief glance before turning back his head.
「Did he not discover us?」
「No, he found us.」Drowned Fish shook his head.
「Then, why didn't he come over to deal with us?」
「Probably because we're not worth it. Come on, let's go,」Drowned Fish said. Nie Yan already gave them a warning. If they continued lingering around any longer, they would end up as corpses on the ground.
Thinking to this point, they were just about to retreat, when a silhouette soared through the air. A Warrior leaped off the roof of a nearby building and landed in front of Nie Yan.
"Nie Yan, I'm here." Lei Su chuckled.
Just as Lei Su's feet touched the ground, multiple silhouettes came rushing over from all around. The fastest were the Magisters. They crossed the 600 meters from the far end of the street to Nie Yan in a flash by consecutively casting Blink.
What amazing speed! That must be a Magister! Drowned Fish and the others were dumbstruck. Consecutive blinks were too frightening.
It was a gathering of Masters, 21 in total. What were they planning to do?
Lei Su glanced over at Drowned Fish's group, then turned back to Nie Yan. "Should we get rid of those guys?"
"They're only low level Thieves. Give them a minute. If they don't get the hint, get rid of them," Nie Yan said.
If Drowned Fish's party heard Nie Yan's words, who knew what their reaction would be like. They were considered experts by ordinary players. However, in front of Nie Yan and these other Masters, they really were nothing more than ants.
「Boss, I recorded everything down!」a player excitedly said. The astonishing speed of those Masters was all captured on video. If he shared this clip on the forums, who knew what kind of reaction it would trigger.
「We're retreating!」
「No, Boss! Let's keep watching.」
「They've discovered us. We're already testing their patience by staying here. If we don't leave, they'll kill us.」Drowned Fish could still judge the situation with a cool head. Looking up ahead, six Thieves were talking to each other. His eyes burned with a hint of envy and fervor. Those were all Shadow Dancers, the goal of countless Thieves. Asskickers United had a total of six! He wondered if one day he could stand at the apex among the likes of Nirvana Flame and Sun, or if he would never reach such heights in this lifetime. At the very least, he could dream.
Drowned Fish's party retreated, disappearing behind a corner.
"They've left," Lei Su said.
Nie Yan glanced at Shadow Killer. He was recruited into Asskickers United only recently by Guo Huai. Since he was busy with his class advancement quest at the time, the two of them never got a chance to meet until now.
"Long time no see." Nie Yan faintly smiled.
Shadow Killer forced a bitter smile. The complicated emotions stirring in his heart right now couldn't be described with words. After all, Nie Yan had put him through living hell. Yet he still ended up joining Asskickers United.
Over these past couple of months, Shadow Killer had experienced what it was like to be abandoned by everyone he trusted. Even though he was reaping what he sowed and had no one to blame but himself, he still felt resentful toward Nie Yan; it was easier to blame someone else for your own mistakes.
For whatever reason, who knew why, he put these feelings aside and in the end agreed to join Asskickers United.
In front of Nie Yan, he felt like a complete loser. But at the same time, he also felt a hint of reverence toward Nie Yan. This was a complicated emotion.
"I might be in Asskickers United now, but that doesn't mean the business between us is settled. It won't be today, but one day I'll definitely wipe away this disgrace," Shadow Killer said heavily.
"I welcome your challenge at any time." Nie Yan chuckled, a hint of appreciation in his eyes. For Shadow Killer to speak so bluntly meant he no longer bore a grudge, just that a small part of him was unwilling to back down.
Everyone couldn't help but smile. Even though they had prejudices against Shadow Killer previously, after he joined Asskickers United, they let bygones be bygones and got along with him fairly decently.
"Alright, looks like everyone is here," Nie Yan said.
"Nope, not everyone," Young Seven said. "Painted Muslin, Monochrome, Edgeless, and them are all on the final stages of their class advancement quests. They should be out pretty soon."
"Not just Big Sis Muslin, there are many others doing their class advancement quests right now. Who knows if a few black horses will pop up," Xie Yao added as she stood beside Nie Yan.
"Oh? Sounds like we might meet some new faces soon."
They all looked full of expectation. The number of Masters in Asskickers United was rapidly increasing, pulling further and further ahead of other guilds. When their number of top experts passed a certain point, they would truly be able proclaim hegemony over the Atlanta Continent.
"I hope we get a few more Magisters. Blowing stuff up with Forbidden Magic is too much fun." Undying Scoundrel chuckled like a villain.
As for which players in Asskickers United were capable of becoming Masters, Nie Yan was fairly clear. After all, he had personally tasked Guo Huai with recruiting them. However, fate was a fickle thing, and different for everyone. As the guild continued to grow, new talented players would train and learn from the veterans, with even previously unknown rookies rapidly rising to the top. So, even he didn't know how many Masters Asskickers United would produce in the end.
The Masters separated into two groups and were preparing to set off for the inner district, when a loud explosion rang out in the distance. It was coming from the east.
"What's going on?"
"I don't know. I'll go take a look." Sun jumped on top of a tower and looked over. "I think a boss spawned. There's probably at least 50,000 players in the square over there."
"What does the boss look like?" Nie Yan asked.
"Sort of like an octopus. I can't see it clearly."
Like an octopus? Nie Yan immediately thought of Phantom Princess Ina. It appeared she, too, had fallen into Barthe.
"Boss, what do we do? Keep heading for the inner district or go over to take a look?"
Nie Yan briefly explained his relation to Phantom Princess Ina, then said, "Let's kill her first, or else she'll keep following us."
"So it's like that. Alright, let's go."
They dashed toward the commotion. Their speeds were astonishing.
There was a large square in the east of Barthe just outside the inner district. Many players were gathered here. They all belonged to different groups. Angel Corps and several other famous guilds in the Satreen Empire were all here.
Phantom Princess Ina was raging in the middle of the square. A large phalanx of Fighters and bear-form Druids surrounded and locked her down.
A barrage of magic bombarded Phantom Princess Ina. She kept thrashing about with her tentacles, sending the Fighters and Druids flying.
"Which guilds are all there?" Nie Yan asked. The battlefield was too chaotic. With everyone mixed together, it was hard to tell what was going on.
"I see Asura Inferno and Devil World Riders. That guy over there is the guild leader of Devil World Riders." Young Seven pointed toward the roof of a building in the south side of the square.
Nie Yan had heard of Asura Inferno and Devil World Riders. They were two major powers in the Satreen Empire. Though the size of their territory was small, they were also hegemons in their own right, each occupying a city with over 20 strongholds under their control. Angel Corps had fought several wars with them previously, but in the end no victor was decided. Because of the threat of Asskickers United, Angel Corps had no choice but to give up on acquiring their territories for the time being. Nie Yan had tried contacting these two guilds before, but they showed no interest in cooperation. From their perspectives, the Satreen Empire was their land. Why would they let a guild from a foreign empire come over and get a share of the profits? So, in the conflcit between Angel Corps and Asskickers United, they would simply take a seat on the bleachers and observe it from the sidelines.
Angel Corps, Asura Inferno, and Devil World Riders had a tacit understanding, each occupying a part of the square while remaining vigilant of each other.
Apart from these three guilds, many small teams had also inserted themselves inside, hoping to fish up some easy benefits when the boss died.
"Soaring Angel didn't come?" Nie Yan asked, sweeping his eyes over the square.
"Nope. According to Guo Huai, he took the other four Masters in Angel Corps with him to do some kind of quest."
"Five Masters doing a quest together?" Nie Yan knitted his brows. As the number of Masters in Asskickers United increased, Soaring Angel wouldn't sit idly by and wait for death. Just what was he planning?
"Since he didn't come, let's teach these Angel Corps players a lesson. Afterwards, we can deal with Phantom Princess Ina. These people are way too slow," Lei Su said, cracking his knuckles. There were so many people attacking Phantom Princess Ina, but they had only shaved away 20% of her health so far. Even snails were faster! He was getting impatient.