The shield warrior let out a fierce roar and charged forward, his longsword in his right hand slashing downward with a thud, leaving a wound on the leader of the antlered deer.
The antlered deer leader took a step forward, its sharp antlers charging directly at him.
The shield warrior took a step back, raised his shield to block, and with a loud crash, the antlers collided with the wooden shield, producing a dull sound.
The berserker and the holy knight immediately flanked the antlered deer leader from both sides.
“Keep an eye on the aggro,” the shield warrior warned anxiously. Because the shield warrior had higher defense due to his shield, the antlered deer leader could only chip away at his health by around ten points each hit. If the aggro shifted to the berserker or the holy knight, they would likely be killed in no more than five hits.
The person who initiates the attack on a monster will usually have the aggro focused on them first. If someone nearby deals excessive damage, is too low in level, or too weak, the aggro may shift.
“We know, don’t worry,” replied the berserker and the holy knight.
The holy mage and elemental mage behind them began casting spells, launching streams of magical attacks.
Their coordination was decent enough, and it seemed feasible to defeat the antlered deer leader in a short while. However, what they didn’t realize was that danger was quietly approaching.
Nie Yan had stealthily approached within just a few steps of the holy mage and elemental mage, who stood very close together, their attention focused entirely on the antlered deer leader.
It would only take about half a minute to kill the antlered deer leader and obtain an item drop, and they were excited at the prospect.
The holy mage and elemental mage’s heads were completely exposed to Nie Yan’s view.
Nie Yan slowly crept closer, moving increasingly cautiously. The closer he got, the more careful he needed to be, for a single misstep could cause his target to slip away.
Assessing a rogue’s competence, patience is also crucial. The outcome of a rogue’s battle often hinges on whether the first strike is successful. Before that first strike, there is always a long process of stealth and approach. Without patience, it’s easy to be caught in a vulnerable moment.
The battle between the antlered deer leader and the players had entered a critical phase. The antlered deer leader continuously charged and attacked the shield warrior, whose health had already dropped to just over 20%. He took out a basic instant-healing potion and drank it.
“Everyone, keep up the damage. The antlered deer leader is down to half health already,” the shield warrior said, blocking with his shield before launching another sword strike.
The berserker and holy knight also increased their damage output. In the fight against the antlered deer, they had each lost nearly half their health. The only two in the team who remained unscathed were the holy mage and elemental mage.
“Leizi, step back a bit. Why are you rushing forward?” the shield warrior shouted at the berserker.
“Got it, got it,” the berserker quickly stepped back a little.
Among the five, the shield warrior clearly had more combat experience.
“In future dungeons, the berserker and holy knight absolutely cannot rush too far forward; that’s just asking for death. Once this is over, tomorrow we’ll try a small five-player dungeon first so you can get used to things. Then later on, you can join larger groups for bigger dungeons,” the shield warrior said, stepping back a few paces and luring the antlered deer leader between two large trees.
“Are there any guild activities coming up recently?” the berserker’s eyes lit up as he asked.
“There are always guild activities. The guild leaders have been farming Treant Forest and Dark Swamp. Can you guys handle that?” the shield warrior countered.
Only the elites of the Radiant Holy Flame guild could farm Treant Forest and Dark Swamp. There were strict requirements for players’ defense, attack, and health. Without meeting certain equipment and skill thresholds, it was impossible to participate. Their group of five had no chance.
“Are there any lower-level dungeons, like the Muskrat Caverns or Skeleton Cave?” the berserker asked. Those were also 20-player dungeons with lower requirements and decent loot. Upgrading their gear would allow them to tackle higher-level dungeons.
“The guild leader will organize something in a few days. Let’s focus on leveling up first. Pay attention and concentrate. Let’s finish off this antlered deer leader first; maybe we’ll get some good gear,” the shield warrior said, stepping back a couple more paces, though maintaining a steady retreat.
The holy mage and elemental mage also took a few steps back.
Nie Yan could tell that the shield warrior on the opposing side was quite skilled. Whenever the antlered deer leader showed signs of shifting aggro, the shield warrior immediately used Shield Bash to reestablish aggro.
Through this careful balance, the antlered deer leader was unable to unleash its full combat potential.
Without such a skilled shield warrior, they wouldn’t even be able to fight a level-three antlered deer leader.
To avoid detection by the holy mage and elemental mage, Nie Yan moved extremely cautiously. However, he didn’t expect the holy mage and elemental mage to retreat toward his direction.
“This is perfect,” Nie Yan thought to himself as the holy mage had now approached right next to him.
Nie Yan raised his dagger and struck the holy mage’s head from behind.
“Blindside!”
Nie Yan hit the holy mage, causing him to enter a stunned state.
“Somebody’s stee—,” the elemental mage next to him noticed the movement and turned to spot Nie Yan, but before he could finish his sentence, Nie Yan lunged forward, plunging his dagger into the elemental mage’s forehead, stunning him.
After stunning him, Nie Yan followed up with a bleed effect and then a critical strike straight to the throat.
Nie Yan moved quickly, unleashing maximum damage in a short amount of time.
-20, -22, -29, -36—four damage numbers floated above the elemental mage’s head. As he just regained consciousness, his health was already down to 18.
He panicked; Nie Yan’s damage output was just too terrifying.
-5, -5—two more damage numbers floated above the elemental mage’s head.
The elemental mage pulled out a basic instant-healing potion and tried to drink it, but Nie Yan’s dagger lightly slashed across his chest, dealing -8 damage.
The elemental mage’s hand froze midair as his health dropped to zero, and he collapsed to the ground.
“One down,” Nie Yan said, picking up the elemental mage’s dropped gear.
As the holy mage regained consciousness, Nie Yan had just finished off the elemental mage. The holy mage turned to flee, but Nie Yan wasn’t about to let him go.
Nie Yan chased after him from behind, slashing at the holy mage’s back with his dagger.
-12, -13, -15—his skills were all on cooldown, so he could only perform basic attacks. However, due to the rogue’s high attack speed, the damage was still quite significant.
The holy mage turned around and cast Holy Judgment, followed by another Holy Strike to counterattack Nie Yan, dealing 53 damage.
The shield warrior, berserker, and holy knight were still engaged with the antlered deer leader when the elemental mage and holy mage behind them suddenly stopped casting.
“Somebody’s ambushing us! It’s that rogue, Nie Yan!” the shield warrior exclaimed anxiously. This was the critical moment in their battle; why did he have to show up now!
Nie Yan still had over twenty minutes of self-defense time against them!
“What do we do!?” the berserker asked, retreating step by step. The situation now was that they were caught between Nie Yan and the antlered deer leader. The three of them had been tanking the antlered deer leader and were down to less than half health. One misstep could lead to all five of them dying here. In the blink of an eye, the elemental mage was killed by Nie Yan, leaving only the holy mage. Their situation had become even more dangerous!
“Let’s kill the antlered deer leader first!” the shield warrior said. The antlered deer leader’s aggro was entirely on them. If they didn’t kill it first and instead turned to fight Nie Yan, the antlered deer leader would make their lives miserable.
The antlered deer leader’s health was running low!
“Whirlwind Slash!”
The shield warrior swung his sword, and the berserker and holy knight also quickened their pace, continuously slashing at the antlered deer leader.
“Flame Slash!” “Holy Light Slash!”
The berserker and holy knight both unleashed their most powerful attacks, each dealing damage numbers that floated above the antlered deer leader’s head.
Everyone was racing against time.
Meanwhile, Nie Yan and the holy mage’s battle had also entered a critical phase. They fought while running, Nie Yan sprinting and jumping around to get behind the holy mage, continuously slashing with his dagger, splattering blood everywhere.
The holy mage, on the other hand, was fleeing while casting spells.
Their health bars steadily decreased, but clearly, the holy mage’s health dropped faster. He quickly pulled out a basic instant-healing potion and drank it, followed by a slow-recovery potion.
+3, +3…
The holy mage’s health slowly increased for a few seconds before Nie Yan interrupted him with another dagger strike.
“Run this way,” the shield warrior shouted while attacking the antlered deer leader and keeping an eye on Nie Yan and the holy mage’s battle. He could see that the holy mage was no match for Nie Yan.
-18, -15…
The holy mage’s health was down to just 36 points.
“Cursed rogue! Could it be that he specifically targeted us?” the shield warrior cursed while striking the antlered deer leader. Nie Yan had first taken down the Cang people and now appeared here. This couldn’t be a coincidence. Could Nie Yan be a friend of Tang Yao and others?
“Nie Yan, I’ll remember this. The Radiant Holy Flame guild won’t let you get away with this,” the berserker angrily said.
“It’s my pleasure. I’m always ready to welcome you,” Nie Yan replied calmly. At this point, the Radiant Holy Flame was just a small guild, with no more than a thousand members in total. They didn’t have the resources to search for Nie Yan and Tang Yao everywhere. Even if they found them, they couldn’t mobilize the entire guild to confront them. And even if they did, if they couldn’t beat him, they could at least avoid him.
Back then, Nie Yan alone had caused chaos in five guilds under Cao Xu’s Century Financial Group, with hundreds of thousands of players unable to catch him. How could he fear the Radiant Holy Flame now?
Nie Yan after his rebirth was definitely more formidable than before.
What was there to fear?
“The second one. The more of you come, the more you’re just feeding me!” Nie Yan said contemptuously, plunging his dagger into the holy mage’s chest and killing him. He checked his health, which was still at around 50 points, as expected.
Nie Yan rushed toward them, and at this point, the antlered deer leader’s health was down to about 10%, nearly dead. He was preparing to grab the loot dropped by the antlered deer leader.
“Kill it!” the shield warrior roared, using Shield Bash to knock back the antlered deer leader.
The antlered deer leader staggered for a moment.
“Linear Slash!” the berserker swung his greatsword down on the antlered deer leader.
-15 floated above the antlered deer leader’s head—a critical hit!
The antlered deer leader let out a mournful cry and fell to the ground.
The shield warrior bent down and picked up the loot dropped by the antlered deer leader, placing it into his backpack.
“Too late,” Nie Yan muttered, stopping in his tracks and retreating as he saw the shield warrior pick up the loot.
The shield warrior still had 25% health, the berserker had 38%, and the holy knight had 35%. Although their health was low, the three melee fighters grouped together were not simply 1+1. Additionally, a rogue’s dagger did minimal damage against heavily armored classes like the shield warrior. It wasn’t worth the risk to attack all three of them, Nie Yan thought.
The three melee fighters, with low health, also dared not rashly charge forward to surround Nie Yan. They stood in place, healing themselves. Killing an antlered deer leader for a bronze item but losing two members was not worth it.
“Two more dead,” the shield warrior’s eyes were sharp as knives. By this count, five members of the Radiant Holy Flame guild had already fallen to Nie Yan.
Nie Yan stood not far away. The shield warrior, berserker, and holy knight looked at each other but dared not attack recklessly. Their health was low, and the three of them grouped together could definitely handle Nie Yan. However, if they separated, anything could happen.
Three melee fighters too afraid to move against a single rogue—this was a great humiliation, and the three of them felt their faces burning with shame.
Nie Yan extended his right hand, flipped his thumb downward, and made a gesture of contempt.
“Aren’t you three coming? If you’re not coming, I’m leaving,” Nie Yan said with a laugh, scanning the three of them. His eyes glanced toward the distant jungle. There were movements in the southeast and west directions. It was likely that members of the Radiant Holy Flame were converging from all directions, preparing to surround and capture him.
Nie Yan didn’t dare to be careless. He sprinted outward like a rabbit weaving through the trees.
“We’ve got backup coming. Hold him down and don’t let him escape!” the shield warrior chased in the direction Nie Yan had fled.
The berserker and holy knight followed closely behind.
“Why did you call us over so late?” the shield warrior grumbled in the party chat.
“We found the hiding spot of that arcane mage and almost caught him. If you hadn’t rushed us over here, we would have already taken him down. What happened on your end?”
“Dazi and Huangni were killed,” the shield warrior said.
“What happened? Weren’t they with you?”
“It was that rogue, Nie Yan again. He ambushed us and killed Dazi and Huangni,” the shield warrior said, omitting the fact that they had been fighting the antlered deer leader earlier.
“Damn it, that thief again!”
They had never encountered such a formidable rogue before. It was as if this rogue had specifically appeared to target them.
“Probably a friend of the people we previously killed. He went north. Let’s chase!”
Several figures darted through the trees.
Nie Yan was fast. In the blink of an eye, he had created a significant distance from his pursuers. Ahead, three or four figures were trying to cut him off. With no way forward and pursuers behind, continuing like this would surely lead to him being cornered.
Nie Yan turned behind a tree and entered stealth mode.
The shield warrior and his three companions met up with the others who had been converging.
“What happened? Where is he?” the shield warrior asked, scanning the surroundings. The area was empty; there was no sign of Nie Yan anywhere.
“Did he escape?”
“He must have gone into stealth. Search carefully again.”
The players dispersed and began a thorough search of the area.
Nie Yan held his breath and stealthily moved outward.
There were Radiant Holy Flame members everywhere here; the danger had not yet passed.
“How are you doing?” Tang Yao sent a message.
“I took down two more,” Nie Yan replied, glancing at his bag. Although two items had dropped, they were nothing special—worth only a few copper coins at an auction house at best.
“Awesome! I have to admit, you’re amazing,” Tang Yao marveled. Most of the Radiant Holy Flame members traveled in small groups of three to five. How had Nie Yan managed to take them down?
“Where are you now?” Nie Yan asked.
“I ran into those Radiant Holy Flame guys earlier and almost got caught. I ran deep into a mine, and they went back. The mine is full of level-five monsters; I can’t get out,” Tang Yao explained. Presumably, Nie Yan had killed two Radiant Holy Flame members, prompting them to return to deal with Nie Yan, which meant Nie Yan had indirectly saved him. However, the problem was that his current situation was even more dangerous. The mine’s depths were filled with level-five rock spiders, and a single misstep could cost him his life.
“Stay hidden there. I’ll send you a recall scroll.”
“A recall scroll would be very convenient. Can you get in? The exits are blocked by rock spiders.”
“I’ll figure it out later. I’ve got some trouble here. I’ll talk later.”
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