The Depths of Judgement Valley.
The Chaos Keeper had spawned three days ago. However, no one had managed to kill it yet.
At this stage of the game, a Level 190 Demonified Lord wasn't too difficult to deal with. However, few Masters bothered to come here to fight this boss. There were many reasons for this. First and foremost was the fact that Judgement Valley was a PvP hotspot, especially for skirmishes between the two great factions. It didn't matter who came to deal with the Chaos Keeper, there was always someone ready to interfere. It also didn't help that the Chaos Keeper didn't drop anything particularly amazing. In fact, what it did drop was pretty sub par given the difficulty of the boss. So, it really wasn't worth the effort for higher level players.
Nevertheless, the Chaos Keeper was still a hotly contested battleground.
After flitting through a patch of forest, Nie Yan finally entered the hunting grounds of the Chaos Keeper. Seeing this Level 190 Demonified Lord again, his feelings toward it were completely different from before.
No longer was it an unreachable existence. Now, Nie Yan could easily wipe the floor with it!
Around the Chaos Keeper was a large crowd. The players from the two factions were clashing fiercely. When some players occasionally died, either to the boss or those from the enemy faction, they would drop their equipment, triggering a mass scramble.
Kill the Chaos Keeper, retrieve the Inheritance Gem, and leave. Nie Yan had zero intention of tangling with these players.
Glancing at his skill bar, Nie Yan had an idea. Why not use this opportunity to test out his new Legendary skills?
Nie Yan strode forward and blurred into motion.
Wind howling past his ears and the scenery flitting before him, Nie Yan felt faster than ever. This was the speed cap!
About 60 players from Asskickers United were on the battlefield. One of them was called Thunderfire Blaze. He was a first-rate member in the guild.
"Old Six, Old Eight! Help me kill that Spectral Thief. He's already injured three of our members! He doesn't have any skills left!" Thunderfire Blaze roared, commanding two Warriors to pincer the Spectral Thief.
Charge!
Charge!
The two Warriors accelerated toward the Spectral Thief. As they raised their weapons to attack, a silhouette flashed before the Spectral Thief. They saw the flash of a blade, and then a damage value of 70,000 floating up above the Spectral Thief's head. An instant kill!
Thunderfire Blaze froze in place, his mouth gaping open in shock. He searched for the silhouette, only to find it had already traversed 60 meters! What astonishing speed!
Thunderfire Blaze was no stranger to peak experts, having interacted with the likes of Sun and Mistaken Smile before. However, even those two nor any other player he'd met was fast as that silhouette. He looked with incredulous eyes.
As Thunderfire Blaze thought back to what happened a moment ago, he recalled catching a glimpse of a black flame when the Spectral Thief was killed. Zennarde's Sword! His heart trembled as a certain figure surfaced in his mind. His eyes started tearing up with emotion. The boss was back!
Nie Yan was already this strong? He'd only returned to the game a few months ago!
Thunderfire Blaze looked over in the distance and saw Nie Yan making a beeline for the Chaos Keeper. He immediately shouted in voice chat,「All guild members, gather at 356.271.278!」
The Asskickers United players in Judgement Valley were all stunned by this order. However, Thunderfire Blaze's status in the guild was pretty high. He wouldn't sound this excited over nothing! So, they rushed over from all directions.
「Thunderfire, what's going on?」
「Yeah, don't keep us in the dark!」
....
Many players voiced their confusion in voice chat.
Thunderfire Blaze ignored their questions.「From the coordinates I gave you, clear the area within a 500-meter radius! Kill all those from the Evil Faction and tell those from the Righteous Faction to leave!」
Nie Yan's objective was clearly the Chaos Keeper. So, Thunderfire Blaze wanted to clear the path for him. Still, while Nie Yan was facing the Chaos Keeper, there was a high chance the people from the Evil Faction would try to interfere. So, he led more than 20 Asskickers United players over to help.
Nie Yan was oblivious to Thunderfire Blaze's actions. He'd already arrived in striking distance of the Chaos Keeper. Glancing up, its sinister appearance entered his vision. From time to time, spells from the Mages of both sides rained down on it and exploded.
Nie Yan glanced at the Chaos Keeper's health—73%. He leaped up into the air and slashed out with Zennarde's Sword. BANG!
−133,281
The players around the Chaos Keeper froze, their faces filled with indescribable shock. They nearly forgot to attack.
"L-lord, what kind of damage is that? Over 130,000!"
"That's a Level 190 Demonified Lord! How…? Is that 10x critical damage or something?"
Nie Yan loosed another slash on the Chaos Keeper's neck, landing a critical hit for real this time.
−369,121!
The players in the surroundings felt their heads spin as if their world were being flipped upside down.
Even peak Mages, including the likes of Tang Yao, would be hard pressed to deal more than 100,000 damage to the Chaos Keeper. Yet this person's normal damage was already at 130,000, and he was critting for more than 360,000! How were people supposed to live?
Little did these players know that this wasn't even Nie Yan's highest damage attack.
With Zennarde's Sword and the Death God's Edge, Nie Yan's attack power and critical hit had already reached an astonishing level. Even Level 200+ Mages could at best match his damage.
This was only natural. After all, even Tang Yao and the others weren't dual wielding Sacred weapons!
Right now, a Level 190 Demonified Lord like the Chaos Keeper was as brittle as sugar glass in front of Nie Yan!
Nie Yan only needed two attacks for the Chaos Keeper to fully aggro onto him. It bellowed out furiously and raised its mallet-like fists, raining down punches on him. It was dead set on smashing him into meat paste.
BANG! BANG! BANG! The Chaos Keeper's furious attacks were incredibly frightening. The players from both factions quickly dispersed in every direction.
Only Nie Yan stood his ground. His silhouette danced around the Chaos Keeper. As if he were an ethereal phantom, no matter how furious its attacks, it couldn't land a single hit on him at all.
"Woah! Who is that guy?"
"He must be one of the big shots from Asskickers United! Amazing!"
None of the spectators could've imagined the person soloing the Chaos Keeper was Nie Yan. He'd hidden the visual effects of his weapons and was primarily attacking with the Death God's Edge. Few people had seen this dagger. So, no one immediately recognized him.
On top of that, the strength Nie Yan displayed right now was not the slightest bit inferior to the likes of Sun, King of the World, and Mistaken Smile! Everyone was still under the belief that he was still relatively low level and weak.
Nie Yan didn't care if he was recognized. When the players in the surroundings all backed away, he smirked. Like this, he could focus on the Chaos Keeper without worry.
As Nie Yan played around with Fawne's Phantom, he was shocked with its effects. This Legendary skill raised his evasion to an astonishing level. The Chaos Keeper couldn't even touch a hair on his head! Meanwhile, he could easily shave away at its health.
This Legendary skill was impossible to deal with, unless the other side had something similar!
The Chaos Keeper smashed down with one of its fist. Nie Yan used one of his other Legendary skills.
Counter of Nirvana Flame!
Nie Yan easily slid past the fist. The Death God's Edge flickered with a cold light as he plunged the blade into the Chaos Keeper's waist, crippling it.
BANG! BANG! BANG! Nie Yan rained down a flurry of slashes on the Chaos Keeper.
−131,456
−269,155
−977,777!
...
Elsewhere on the battlefield, Thunderfire Blaze and the others were clearing out the area, causing a fierce battle to break out. In the chaos, the players lost sight of Nie Yan.
Only five minutes later, the Chaos Keeper's health bottomed out. It let out a mournful cry before toppling down.
"The Chaos Keeper died! Quickly snatch the loot!"
Several Evil Faction players tried to rush in to steal the loot, only to be intercepted by Thunderfire Blaze and the others.
THUD! The Chaos Keeper's heavy corpse crashed into the ground, causing the earth to violently quake.
Nie Yan's eyes landed on a light blue gem next to the Chaos Keeper's corpse. He rushed over and picked it up. Standing back up, he glanced at the Asskickers United players gathered in the vicinity and bitterly smiled. Likely, these guild members had already recognized him. However, if it weren't for them, he would've had to fight with countless players over the drops.
Nie Yan checked his inventory. He confirmed it was the Inheritance of Life gem.
After getting what he came here for, Nie Yan activated Gale Step. His figure blurred before disappearing without a trace.
Holding the Evil Faction players off, Thunderfire Blaze glanced over in the direction Nie Yan disappeared off to, a deep expression on his face.
「Thunderfire, who is that guy? He looks familiar,」a guild member asked. Thunderfire Blaze had so many people come over to clear out the area. He hadn't allowed anyone to interfere in the battle. There was definitely a deeper meaning behind this. Moreover, they had all witnessed that Thief's strength. He was no weaker than the likes of Sun and King of the World, possibly even stronger. However, none of them realized it was Nie Yan.
「You'll all know soon enough.」Thunderfire Blaze mysteriously smiled. He knew Nie Yan had a reason for not revealing himself. Seeing the Chaos Keeper's corpse, his heart boiled over with excitement. The legendary Mad Rogue was back!