Thankfully, Jotunheim's Descent only affected players Nie Yan deemed enemies. Otherwise, he would literally become a person no one could approach.
Nie Yan equipped the reforged Tyrant Abak Set. The sleek outfit had a unique appearance. Keeping in line with the style of a Thief, it wasn't too conspicuous. The surface of the armour was polished to a glossy shine, flickering with a metallic radiance. An intricate rune was engraved on every piece, each completely different from the other, but forming a peculiar harmony with each other.
Azure streaks of light circulated around the surface of the armour. The powerful frost aura caused the air around Nie Yan to condense into ice crystals. Simply being near it, people in the surroundings would feel a bone-chilling cold.
Nie Yan's gear had already reached the peak of endgame. As for accessories and so on, their impact was minimal. He could simply head to the guild treasury and pick out what he liked.
Things like accessories were merely minor details. With the new Tyrant Abak Set, Nie Yan's stats already reached a level countless players could only dream of.
The Winterwalker Phantom Leather Armour provided 12,830 defense, the Leg Guards of Glacial Focus 6,832 defense, the Glacial Gloves of Sealing 5,290 defense, the Cape of Frozen Ruin 3,290 defense, the Vorpal Frost Striders 3,293 defense, and the Dark Frostwinter Shoulderguards 3,272 defense. Combined with Nie Yan's base defense and other defense bonuses, he breached 80,000 defense.
For a player under Level 200, this was unimaginable.
Nie Yan estimated he could even tank the damage of the Level 210 Umbra Demon Kings head-on now.
"Thank you for helping me reforge the Tyrant Abak Set, Bronnick," Nie Yan said.
Bronnick hurriedly shook his head. "No need to thank me, sir. I was only doing my job."
Nie Yan recalled his Legendary Thief and Great Hell Judge titles. Considering how high of a rank they were, it was only natural that NPCs would treat him with such reverence.
"Sir Nirvana Flame, I must warn you. A great calamity will descend on this world. To be able to forge this equipment for you is not only my honour but also my contribution to the living beings of this world," Bronnick said.
Nie Yan was stunned. A great calamity? He tried to suss out some more information out of Bronnick, but to no avail. Bronnick was extremely tight-lipped regarding this matter.
Nie Yan ultimately decided to drop the matter. He could always use Great Prophecy to find out what was going on. Then he could start preparing, likely for the release of a new expansion.
After reforging the Tyrant Abak Set, Nie Yan had one less worry on his mind. He teleported to Okoron and picked out some new accessories to replace his obsolete ones. This was also where the Void Silver Ore came in handy. He didn't require a full ingot to craft an accessory. Just a few was enough. So, together with what was left of his ancient ores he crafted a necklace.
Nie Yan found a secluded place to use Great Prophecy, but it failed to show anything. It appeared whatever calamity was coming couldn't be predicted. He would have to slowly figure it out.
With his new equipment, Nie Yan was ready to take on those Level 210 Umbra Demon Kings. He left his private villa and walked out onto the streets of Okoron.
Nie Yan was inconspicuous in his black cloak. Cloaked players could be spotted walking the streets all the time, and those with the same build as him could be found everywhere. Even if Tang Yao, Bladelight, and them bumped into him, they still wouldn't recognize him.
As Nie Yan walked through the streets, the players around him parted to the sides and stared at him in shock.
They felt a deep chill permeate into their bones. Looking at the source of the bone-chilling aura, they found a mysterious player hidden behind a cloak. They couldn't even see what kind of equipment he was wearing, As they tried peaking at the face under the hood, they felt an icy cold gaze pierce through them, causing their hearts to shiver uncontrollably.
The passerby couldn't help but wonder who this mysterious person was. A powerful ice Mage perhaps?
Sure, many ice Mages gave off cold auras, but it was never this intense! Even when they were casting ice magic, it wouldn't have such a strong effect on the surroundings!
Nie Yan hadn't even activated Jotunheim's Descent, or else who knew how many people would be frozen to death in his wake!
Jotunheim's Descent didn't have a cooldown. It could be toggled on and off at will. If he activated it, it would be a calamity for the players around him.
Nie Yan was caught off guard by the stares of alarm directed at him. He didn't expect his equipment's ordinary aura to have such a powerful effect.
After passing by the entrance of Asskickers United's guild headquarters, Nie Yan briefly hesitated. However, this wasn't the time to reveal himself. He would wait until he was strong enough to defeat Plenty with absolute confidence.
Nie Yan browsed his quests while walking along the streets of Okoron, when his voice chat rang. It was Guo Huai.
「Nie Yan, I just received word that Plenty is doing his Legendary advancement quest. Apparently, he will succeed within the next two months. What do we do?」Guo Huai asked anxiously. From his point of view, Nie Yan stood zero chance of winning if Plenty advanced to a Legend.
Nie Yan lightly chuckled.「Don't worry, I already guessed he would be tackling his Legendary advancement quest. Two months, huh? Longer than I expected. I thought he'd only need a month.」
「W-why are you acting so nonchalant? If he becomes a Legend, how will you win?」Guo Huai exclaimed. He couldn't resist the urge to dispatch Shadow Killer, King of the World, Mistaken Smile, and them to interfere with Plenty's advancement. Little did he know that Nie Yan already was a Legend.
「He's late. I am a Legendary Thief now,」Nie Yan said. Guo Huai was one of his own. There was no need to hide anything. Plus, Guo Huai knew better than to blab this information to others.
Guo Huai dropped his jaw in shock. He muttered in disbelief,「H-how did you? How is that possible? You've only been back for what, three months? Tang Yao has been doing his Legendary class advancement quest for close to two years now, and he's only 90% finished! How did you complete yours so quickly?」
「Nothing is impossible. I already accepted the quest three years ago and completed most of it. I was only missing two Shattered Divinities. After collecting them, advancing was pretty easy.」
「T-three years ago...」Guo Huai muttered in shock. It turned out Nie Yan was already doing his Legendary class advancement quest three years ago, and had come so close to completing it back then! Guo Huai couldn't imagine what the present Nie Yan would look like if he'd never taken a break from the game. He excitedly said,「Hah, here I was worried about you all for nothing. Turns out you were already prepared. Guess I can rest easy now. In the two months Plenty is taking to finish his class advancement, you can work on catching up to him in level. Speaking of which, what level are you now?」
「Level 196,」Nie Yan replied.
「Damn! You monster! That's some insane levelling speed! You're almost Level 200! At this rate, you might even overtake him!」Guo Huai clicked his tongue. If Nie Yan were to reveal his current level to the public, who knew what kind of uproar it would cause. He was simply inhuman!
「Oh, one more thing. Sun, King of the World, and them have already helped you find three chapters from the Book of Order. However, the last chapter, the Chapter of Holiness, is the core chapter. So, you can only get it yourself,」Guo Huai said. When Nie Yan completed the Book of Order, he would become the Supreme Pontiff, which was the Righteous Faction's equivalent of Plenty's Chairman of the Dark Council title. The level difference would be negligible. The two would also be evenly matched in terms of titles and class advancement. As for equipment, Nie Yan had just gotten himself a Sacred set. In terms of skill, Nie Yan definitely wouldn't lose out to Plenty. His chances of winning started looking better and better.
Little did Guo Huai know that Nie Yan had recently obtained Great Hell Judge, a title no less inferior to Supreme Pontiff or Chairman of the Dark Council. Furthermore, he could also use Kalenna's ultimate defensive spell now.
Nie Yan chuckled. He couldn't be bothered to flaunt about every little thing. What mattered the most was that he was confident in himself.「Have them hold onto the chapters. I'm going to raise my level some more. I'll let you know when I go collect the Chapter of Holiness.」He wanted to take this one step at a time. If he waited until he was Level 200 to retrieve the Chapter of Holiness, his chances would be higher. After all, Plenty had only completed the Book of Chaos at Level 205. The quest for collecting the last chapter likely wasn't ordinary.
「Got it. If you need anything, just let me know,」Guo Huai said.
「I collected a large amount of Deceased Skulls while in Hell. I've deposited them all in your personal storage. Find a way to deal with hem.」
「I see them. I don't know what we're going to do with all of them though. They're all really powerful. It's not worth it to sell them to the Evil Faction. We'll only be making the enemy stronger, and scrapping them seems like a huge waste too.」
「Who says we need to scrap them? Fallen Angel still has a lot of enemies. We can just sell the Deceased Skulls to them for a slight discount.」
「Hah! Why didn't I think about that? What a ruthless move! I'll get to it right away. 」
「Remember to sell them for cheap, or else they won't be able to afford them. Also, don't sell too many at once, or else they'll try reselling the skulls in the marketplace.」
「I know, I know. How long have I been running errands for you now?」Guo Huai chuckled. This time, they could deal a sneaky blow to Fallen Angel. Plenty would likely be in for a real headache.
Nie Yan chatted with Guo Huai for a bit longer before hanging up. After restocking on his consumables, he teleported to the Gates of Hell.
The entrance outside the Gates of Hell was packed with players, many seeking to join teams. Only expedition teams of 1,000 people or more dared to enter. Nie Yan ignored these players and headed directly for the gates.