The Blood Reaver Corps was hunting Desert Goliath Lizards. Nie Yan believed it would be some time before they moved on to the boss. Seeing their members sit down to recuperate their health and mana, he wasn’t willing to wait any longer. This was a good opportunity to strike.
Nie Yan and the other Thieves slowly closed in on the players of the Blood Reaver Corps.
Nie Yan’s eyes fell on Blood Devil. The enemy leader. In a perfect world, he’d assassinate him first and then kill the rest. However, that was wishful thinking. This was the most famous expert in the Blood Reaver Corps. Nie Yan didn’t want to take the risk, afraid this opponent would prove harder to kill than expected.
Nie Yan focused his attention on a certain Dark Zealot. He wore a black robe with a hood that hid his face. His equipment was the best among the Dark Zealots here, with at least two pieces being Legendary-grade. Taking into consideration where he was standing, Nie Yan could immediately tell he was the Blood Reaver Corps’ number one Dark Zealot.
Dark Zealots were the Priests of the Demon Tribe. If Nie Yan killed the Blood Reaver Corps’ number one Dark Zealot, it would definitely be more meaningful than killing Blood Devil himself. A dozen or so players stood close by the Dark Zealot. However, none of them appeared to be too wary.
The players from the Blood Reaver Corps had yet to spot the threat looming over them. They believed to be absolutely safe and that Asskickers United couldn’t possibly find them. Little did they know that eight Shadow Dancers were quickly closing in on them.
They were still happily chatting with each other, in fervent discussion about the day’s harvest.
「Boss, I’m in position,」Tyrannical said.
「Same here.」
「Me too!」
…
Sun, King of the World, and the other five were already within 10 meters of the Blood Reaver Corps. They had each selected a target.
Nie Yan gauged the distance between him and his target, about seven meters. It was time to take action!
「I’ll take out that Dark Zealot. But first, listen up guys, this is how we’re going to do it.」Nie Yan said. He quickly explained their battle plan.
Nie Yan suddenly shot forward with blinding speed and stabbed Zennarde’s Sword toward the back of the Dark Zealot’s head.
Nie Yan’s movements were too fast. From lurking in ambush to pouncing at his target, it only took a fraction of a second. This kind of speed couldn’t be replicated in real life, only inside the game.
At this moment, the players from the Blood Reaver Corps were quite carefree and relaxed. They had no sense of danger or wariness. Nie Yan was too fast, catching them completely off guard. They didn’t have any time to react, most didn’t even see his silhouette flash past them.
Sensing something off, the Dark Zealot tried to flee. His foot hung in the air mid-step and his staff was still lowered, when Nie Yan stunned him with a Smothering Strike.
Nie Yan pressed the blade of Zennarde’s Sword against the Dark Zealot’s throat and slashed out with a Cut Throat.
PSSFHT! Blood sprayed out, as the Dark Zealot collapsed dead on the ground.
The players of the Blood Reaver Corps finally reacted.
“Boss! It’s Nirvana Flame!” came a panicked voice.
Blood Devil wasn’t blind. Before this player had even started shouting, he already charged toward Nie Yan. There was only six meters between them.
Shadow Waltz!
Nie Yan disappeared from Blood Devil’s view. He then reemerged next to a drow Warlock and and slashed down with Zennarde’s Sword.
−13,888! An instant kill!
The Blood Reaver Corps players resting on the ground quickly shot up to their feet. Their initial confusion and panic quickly took place for a certain calmness. It seemed like they had a plan prepared specifically for a scenario like this.
Seeing he had successfully attracted their attention, Nie Yan shouted in the voice chat,「Kill!」
As the words left Nie Yan’s mouth, Sun, King of the World, and the other Shadow Dancers launched their ambushes. PSSFHT! PSSFHT! PSSFHT! Seven jets of blood sprayed into the air. Seven players from the Blood Reaver Corps were instantly killed.
「What a bunch of trash. So slow,」Tyrannical remarked.
Individually, these players from the Blood Reaver Corps couldn’t compare to the Masters of the Righteous Faction. They mainly relied on their teamwork and coordination. Against ordinary players, it was more than enough. However, this could only take them so far. Whether it was their reaction speed, adaptability, or any other stat, they lost out to Nie Yan and company. So, when Sun and the others launched an ambush on them, they weren’t fast enough to react. Players like Sun, King of the World, and Mistaken Smile wouldn’t let a good opportunity like this slip by.
The players from the Blood Reaver Corps weren’t to be underestimated. After a brief moment of confusion, they quickly got into battle formation. They split into several-man parties and each chose a target.
「I want Nirvana Flame dead!」Blood Devil shouted in a heavy tone. He was trying to calm himself with great difficulty right now. The rage in his heart was like a volcano about to erupt. In only a short moment, they had already lost nine people. In all the battles they had fought so far, this was the first time something like this had happened.
Blood Devil closed in on Nie Yan. He leaped into the air and cleaved down with his greatsword.
Seeing Blood Devil coming down on him, Nie Yan transformed into a blur as several afterimages appeared around him. He employed the Illusion Steps to dodge Blood Devil’s attack.
In this exchange, even though no skills or spells were used, Nie Yan started viewing Blood Devil in a completely new light. To be able to react so quickly, Blood Devil was definitely a worthy opponent.
As Blood Devil cleaved the ground with his greatsword, Dark Shadow pounced toward Nie Yan from the side, his dual blades coming out like streaking meteors.
Seeing the two blades, Nie Yan hurriedly raised Zennarde’s Sword to block. KLANG! He managed to block one of the attacks. However, the other blade pierced through his defenses. He hurriedly retreated back and arched his body back. The blade swept past his stomach, a fraction of an inch away from cutting him open.
Dark Shadow spun around and came slashing forward with his dual blades again. His attack speed was even slightly faster than Nie Yan’s.
Slayers were a purely Dexterity-focused class. Dexterity increased their attack power, movement speed, and attack speed. They would often even forgo other stats and sometimes even neglect their equipment, all in an attempt to raise their Dexterity by another point.
Dark Shadow’s blades came sweeping down again. Blood Devil was also charging in to pincer Nie Yan. Meanwhile, the six players in the immediate vicinity were eyeing Nie Yan like wolves.
Seeing the situation was unfavourable, Nie Yan leaped back and retreated.
「Don’t let them escape!」
Multiple dark orbs of light shot up in the sky and revealed Nie Yan and the others’ silhouettes.
Nie Yan and the others were outnumbered eight to one. Although Silver Wings were weaker than Masters, they were still the highest rank class of the Demon Tribe. Those who could successfully advance to a Silver Wing were definitely experts.
KLANG! KLANG! KLANG! Nie Yan exchanged several blows with Blood Devil and Dark Shadow. He couldn’t do anything to them because they wouldn’t give him the opportunity to attack back. These people were fast and coordinated seamlessly. Ordinary attacks wouldn’t work against them.
Much like Nie Yan, the other Shadow Dancers were also struggling with the large amount of enemies. They could only sit on the defensive, dodging left and right. There was no opportunity to strike back. However, evading these attacks was fairly simple for them. As long as they didn’t run out of skills, they wouldn’t die.
As the Blood Reaver Corps started to get the feeling they were getting the upper hand, one of their players named Bat anxiously shouted in the voice chat, 「Boss! The other Masters from Asskickers United are coming!」
Hearing Bat’s words, Blood Devil’s heart tightened. Looking in the distance, he spotted at least 20 silhouettes rushing towards them. The Mages were the fastest, only a few blinks away from being in range to attack the players from the Blood Reaver Corps. The Warriors and Paladins were a bit slower.
「Our reinforcements are finally here,」Sun said in relief. He had suffered quite a bit trying to deal with so many players at once. He had almost died.
Nie Yan and the others breathed a collective sigh of relief. As for the players from the Blood Reaver Corps, they started panicking. Just a moment ago, nine of their members were killed. They had even lost their top Dark Zealot. This was a heavy blow to their morale. Suddenly seeing so many Asskickers United Masters rushing over, they naturally felt a lot of pressure.
「Boss, what do we do!?」
「Retreat!」Blood Devil gritted his teeth. After being ambushed by Nie Yan and the others, their battle formation had already been messed up. Combining that with their earlier casualties, and they were already on the back foot. They could only retreat for the time being, or suffer severe losses. As for the players who had died, they would have to revive back in the Underworld.
Seeing the players from the Blood Reaver Corps looking like they wanted to retreated, Nie Yan sneered. Want to run? Not so fast!
「Activate your Shackles of Strife Scrolls! Lock down as many as you can!」Nie Yan shouted.
Nie Yan took out a Shackles of Strife Scroll from his bag. After chanting out a few syllables, he targeted Blood Devil. “Leaving so soon? Why don’t you stay and play with us a little longer?”
Apart from Nie Yan, the other Shadow Dancers also activated Shackles of Strife scrolls.
Seeing the Shackles of Strife work, Nie Yan chuckled. “Let’s see where you guys will run off to now!”
At this moment, Tang Yao, Undying Scoundrel, and the rest of the backup finally arrived, completely surrounding the players from the Blood Reaver Corps.
