Nie Yan started channelling a Return Scroll. With a flash of light, he appeared on the streets of Orc King City and then met up with Tang Yao and the others.
"What did you guys lose?" Nie Yan asked.
"Sun, Mistaken Smile, and Street Vulture all lost a piece of Sub Legendary equipment. I lost a piece of Level 130 Legendary-grade equipment," Smoke Stub replied. These losses would normally be quite heavy. However, compared to Demon Drakuru's Tower Shield, they were nothing.
Nie Yan nodded. No one had lost anything significant. Thankfully, King of the World had handed those five chapters from the Book of Order back to him before they set out for Barthe. So, they didn't drop when King of the World fell into the lava.
Nie Yan transferred over Demon Drakuru's Tower Shield to Bladelight.
"What's your defense at now?" Nie Yan asked.
"It's over 36,000, and my block rate is at 83%," Bladelight said excitedly after looking at his stats.
Everyone glanced at each other in shock. Those words Smoke Stub previously said about not being able to get through Bladelight's defense weren't exaggerated at all. Among all classes, Warriors had the highest defense, and among their sub-classes, Fighters undoubtedly made for the best tanks because they wielded shields. For an ordinary Warrior to have a block rate of 10% was already quite impressive. A Fighter holding a shield would generally have a block rate between 30%–50%. To have a block rate of 83% was simply unheard of. In layman's terms, Bladelight would block four out of five incoming physical attacks, and the one that slipped through would still have to get past his ridiculous 36,000 defense.
Among everyone here, only Nie Yan and the Magisters could break through Bladelight's defense.
Bladelight was in high spirits. With his new shield, he was undoubtedly the number one tank in all of Conviction.
Nie Yan took out the three Shattered Divinities from his bag and placed them in his palms. "I obtained another Shattered Divinity from Drakuru. That makes three in total. When you guys are levelling, questing, or running dungeons, pay attention to see if you can find any more information about them."
Bladelight and the others already knew Nie Yan had Shattered Divinities in his possession. But they were still somewhat surprised another one had dropped.
"Alright, will do." Smoke Stub nodded.
Nie Yan glanced at his character window. He was already Level 149. It was about time he gathered the remaining two pieces of the Tyrant Abak Set. By then, he would be able to equip the set.
"Let's return to the guild headquarters. We'll form an expedition team and set out for the Lava Titan," Nie Yan said. They were definitely strong enough to deal with the Lava Titan now. The biggest hurdle with this Lord was to have a tank capable of withstanding its attacks. With Drakuru's Tower Shield, Bladelight was more than qualified for this task.
"Alright!" Everyone was quite excited.
The Lava Titan held a special place in the hearts of the players in the Viridian Empire as an unrivalled existence. The absolute slaughter that took place in the Kiln Fire Woods was still deeply engraved in their minds. If Asskickers United were to defeat the Lava Titan, one could imagine the reaction.
While Nie Yan's team was busy discussing about how to deal with the Lava Titan, Guo Huai sent word that the Blood Reaver Corps had taken action again. This time, they had appeared in the vicinity of Calore and were clashing fiercely with an expedition team from Asskickers United.
This was the first time in a week the Blood Reaver Corps showed themselves. Nie Yan thought they had already left. He didn't think they would show up again.
"The Blood Reaver Corps are back. Let's head to Calore first," Nie Yan said.
"Those punks! They dare to come to Calore!? Watch us beat them to a pulp!" Undying Scoundrel exclaimed while cracking his knuckles.
"What did they come to Calore for?"
"Let's hurry over right away!"
The 21 Masters headed to one of the transfer areas in Orc King City. A short while later, they arrived in Calore.
「Guo Huai, where are they right now?」Nie Yan asked.
「South of Calore, east of the Kroa Wetlands.」Guo Huai sent over some coordinates.
If they were slow, the Blood Reaver Corps would probably have a chance to escape. So after leaving the city, Nie Yan and the others summoned their flying mounts and hurried to the scene of the battle.
A group of 21 flying mounts soared through the sky. The ground beneath flitted past. Several minutes later, they arrived east of the Kroa Wetlands. The sounds of battle already entered their ears. Nie Yan stood on top of the Darkwing Dragon's head. He looked down at chaotic battle. There were at least 600 players fighting there.
"Nie Yan, over there! We'll head down first!" Bladelight said.
Suddenly, Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and Lei Su leaped down from their flying mounts.
"Those of you with a Featherfall ability follow me down! Everyone else, hurry down!" Nie Yan said. He also leaped down toward the battle. The Blood Reaver Corps were unlike any enemy they had faced before. 60 Silver Wings weren't going to be easy to deal with.
Nie Yan and the others rapidly descended toward the ground.
Down on the battlefield. Blood Devil sent three Warriors flying with a Dark Whirlwind. He then slashed out with a crescent-shaped sword beam and killed one of the Warriors.
"Boss, Nirvana Flame and his group are here," Autumn Gust said. He was standing right next to Blood Devil.
Blood Devil looked up at the sky and saw several black dots getting closer and closer.
"We're withdrawing. Use your Unknown Transfer Scrolls," Blood Devil said.
"Boss, why are we retreating!? We're not afraid of Nirvana Flame!"
"Yeah! Why would we retreat just like that!?"
The members of the Blood Reaver Corps were all voicing their disapproval. They hadn't even seen Nirvana Flame's shadow, and they were already retreating. If this news were to reach the underworld, they would become laughingstocks.
"We'll have a chance to clash with him later. Listen to my order. We're withdrawing now!" Blood Devil said seriously.
Blood Devil's authority was absolute in the Blood Reaver Corps. Even though many members were unwilling, they still listened to his command. They crushed the Unknown Transfer Scrolls in their hands and teleported away.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and Lei Su landed on the ground.
All the Asskickers United plaers in the surroundings went over to greet the trio.
"Bladelight, Smoke Stub, Lei Su, you're all here!"
"Where did they go?" Bladelight asked, looking around. The battle field was littered with corpses. More than half of the 1,000-man expedition team had been wiped out. There was still a lot of equipment on the ground that the players from the Blood Reaver Corps didn't have the time to pick up.
"They ran away with Unknown Transfer Scrolls as soon as you guys came!"
Nie Yan and the rest also landed at this moment. He gazed over at Bladelight.
"They ran away?" Nie Yan asked after finding no trace of the Blood Reaver Corps.
"Yeah. All gone. Bastards can run real quick," Bladelight cursed.
Nie Yan looked around the battlefield. There were corpses of Asskickers United players everywhere. Their losses were quite severe. He couldn't help but frown. Just what was the Blood Reaver Corps planning? "Give me a casualty report!"
"Reporting to the boss! We've lost 521 players, 350 of which are over Level 130. We lost 76 pieces of equipment. One of them was Sub Legendary," a player reported.
After hearing these figures, Tang Yao and the others' expressions darkened. Many of the fallen were players they personally knew. They had even ran dungeons and levelled up together before.
"Dammit!" Undying Scoundrel punched a nearby tree. "Blood Reaver Corps, you bastards just wait!"
Nie Yan was also fuming. This time, the Blood Reaver Corps had thoroughly enraged him. He would definitely repay this blood debt!
Even though Nie Yan and the others were angry, there was nothing they could do. Before they had even arrived, the Blood Reaver Corps had already fled away.
「Have the Hundred Thieves search for the Blood Reaver Corps. If you find their location, report back to me immediately. Don't engage. Wait for us to arrive,」Nie Yan ordered. Guo Huai immediately spread a large net over all of Calore.
Apart from searching for their whereabouts, Nie Yan had Undying Scoundrel make an announcement on the forums, declaring war on the Blood Reaver Corps. Undying Scoundrel made sure to spice up the post, calling them a bunch of cowards, and daring them to accept his challenge. Asskickers United would only bring out 15 people to face them. If they were too scared, Nie Yan and the others wouldn't mind teaching them a lesson the old fashioned away.
This post was immediately upvoted to the top of the forums by the players of Asskickers United. It became the next hot topic. What happened between Asskickers United and the Blood Reaver Corps? Why was the Blood Reaver Corps targeting Asskickers United? It looked like the Blood Reaver Corps had incurred the full wrath of Asskickers United.
Nie Yan knew it was extremely difficult for a guild to defend against the guerilla tactics of a top team like the Blood Reaver Corps. Tracking them down was already an incredibly difficult task.
"Boss, what are we going to do? Are we still going to hunt the Lava Titan?"
"It looks like we have a target on our back. Let's put off killing the Lava Titan for now. We'll deal with the Blood Reaver Corps first!" Nie Yan said after thinking for a moment. They couldn't give the Blood Reaver Corps an opportunity to deal any more damage! He then turned to Bladelight and the others, "You guys form a team and hunt some low level bosses. Don't enter any dungeons. Be ready for my commands at all times. If the Hundred Thieves discover their location, we're setting off immediately!"
"Got it!" Bladelight and the others answered in unison.
"Stay vigilant. We can't discount the possibility that the Blood Reaver Corps might try to ambush you guys. I feel like they have a certain aim for targeting us. They likely still have moles in our guild too!" Nie Yan said. Ashen One wasn't the first traitor, and he wouldn't be the last.
That was all Nie Yan and the others could do for now. They could only wait for news from below. They couldn't go look for the Blood Reaver Corps themselves. That would be a waste of time.