Soaring Angel had completely changed his equipment since last time Nie Yan saw him. His azure leather armour and rune carved, silver long blow complemented his handsome appearance. He carried an imposing air about him. Nie Yan had to admit that Soaring Angel was a top talent.
As the players on the street started noticing Soaring Angel, they broke out in whispered discussion. The boss of Angel Corps showing up in the public eye was quite rare.
Nie Yan's eyes flashed with a cold light. He wondered if he should go up and give Soaring Angel a friendly greeting.
There were 60 experts from Angel Corps by Soaring Angel's side. Nie Yan would have to factor them in. More than a dozen were even Masters. This was a little troublesome.
Even if the average quality of Masters had dropped since the latest update, they still weren't to be looked down on. And there were so many of them gathered together here!
Nie Yan rubbed his chin for a moment before coming up with a plan. He entered stealth and disappeared into a nearby alley.
After confirming no one noticed him, Nie Yan summoned his shadow clone. His body split into two.
A cold wind blew through the gaps between the building, causing players to feel a stinging chill on their cheeks.
Soaring Angel looked around. The atmosphere here felt dark and depressing to him.
This stupid weather. It's just a game. Why does it have to be so damn realistic! Soaring Angel inwardly cursed.
"Boss, I think they'll take at least three hours to get back here. Do we really have to keep waiting here?" an Orc Warrior asked. He was none other than Soaring Angel's confidante, Stone Splitter.
"Boss, I just received a report that Nirvana Flame was spotted outside the entrance of World's Edge right after us. He's probably inside by now," a Magister said.
The mood immediately got tense. The group felt their heart sink as they heard the Magister's words. They couldn't help but glance around at their surroundings. There was no telling Nie Yan wasn't eyeing them from some dark corner right now. A sense of danger crept up on them.
"We can't catch him. Once he enters stealth, it'll be impossible to find him, even if I set down a Detection Totem," a Shaman sighed. He'd clashed with Nie Yan several times, each time ending on the losing side. This left a deep shadow in his heart. Even just hearing the words Mad Rogue or Nirvana Flame caused him to tremble in fear.
"No need to find him, he'll come looking for us," Soaring Angel insipidly said. Even though the people under him could lend some help, he knew he would have to rely on himself if he wanted to deal with Nie Yan. He didn't expect them to be of much help.
The other players quickly became vigilant, afraid of a sudden ambush. Soaring Angel was right, he would come for them!
Soaring Angel took several steps forward, looking completely unperturbed. Unbeknownst to everyone, tucked away in a corner against a building was a hidden object. This item was a thin wooden stick with a transparent crystal embedded into it. It was extremely small, to the extent it was imperceptible to the untrained eye. Even if by chance someone did notice it, they would only think it was an ordinary stick and not give it a second thought. It was actually an item called Sorens' Revealer.
This stick looked ordinary, but it was an extremely high rank tool created by the Sage Tinkerers of Angel Corps. It could detect the life force of all living beings in the surroundings. Soaring Angel could use it to discover any nearby Thieves. What made it special, and overpowered too, was that it didn't matter how high someone's Stealth stat was, what it detected was the person's life force. In other words, the higher one's stats, the greater the reading. Of course, this item was both expensive and incredibly difficult to produce. The stick alone was made from Abakru Wood, which had a 1 in 3,000 chance to drop from the Black Winged Hellion King of the Shadow Forest. Up until now, they had only collected 16. One could imagine how rare it was. To make matters worse, it was a one-use item.
Soaring Angel secretly planted this stick, hiding this movement behind a casual walk.
As he activated Sorens' Revealer, Soaring Angel detected a reaction. His lips curved into a faint smile. So, you are here!
Soaring Angel didn't turn to look at where Nie Yan was hiding. He didn't want to ruin the surprise!
The battle between the two was only getting started!
With Nie Yan's current strength, Soaring Angel had no way of facing him head-on. He could only rely on his box of tricks!
Sensing Nie Yan slowly moving towards him, Soaring Angel's nerves went taut as his breathing slowed down. Every step Nie Yan took caused him to feel immense pressure.
The players from Angel Corps had no idea the clash between Nie Yan and Soaring Angel had already started. They were still scattered around, chatting with each other. Though still vigilant, occasionally glancing around their surroundings searching for anything out of place, they'd dropped their guard by quite a bit.
If these Angel Corps players weren't regularly scanning the surroundings, Nie Yan would become suspicious. However, they showed quite a bit of discipline. After confirming everything seemed normal, Nie Yan activated Extreme Vanish and approached the group.
Nie Yan's eyes swept over these experts from Angel Corps before finally landing on Soaring Angel. Even though these people here were experts, the only one worthy of making him take action was Soaring Angel himself.
50 meters, 30 meters, 20 meters… Time slowly passed as the distance got shorter and shorter.
Soaring Angel was still walking around like normal, seemingly oblivious to the encroaching danger.
Nie Yan was fairly confident in his stealth ability. Very few if any players could detect him when he activated Extreme Vanish.
From a distance of 10 meters normal Thieves could launch an ambush. All they would have to do was accelerate and deal a fatal strike. It would be very difficult for most players to react in time.
Nie Yan didn't act rashly and continued approaching closer. When two experts were facing off, patience could mean the difference between a win or a loss. He couldn't give the opponent any opportunity to react.
Nie Yan was about to approach closer, when the situation suddenly changed.
Soaring Angel turned around and started walking towards him. This sudden development completely caught Nie Yan completely off guard.
Soaring Angel's face was the same as before. His gaze never once locked on Nie Yan. The ruse was played perfectly, Nie Yan didn't have a clue his stealth was already seen through.
10 meters, 5 meters, 3 meters...
The two sides were getting closer and closer until there was only three meters between them. Nie Yan pounced forward and drew a brilliant arc with his dagger.
Die!
At this moment, Soaring Angel's eyes flashed with a look of ridicule.