Brannigan blocked the entrance to the stone chamber, preventing the skeletal warriors behind him from emerging. In the confined space, Brannigan couldn’t effectively cast spells, and his magic was easily interrupted, so he could only attack by swinging his staff.
After advancing to the rank of Archmage, spellcasters gain certain self-buffing capabilities and some degree of melee combat ability, although this melee strength amounts to only one-tenth of their magical power.
In fact, melee capabilities are quite important for mages when fighting monsters. When their mana runs low and the monster has only a sliver of health left, they have no choice but to finish it off by clubbing it with their staff.
Brannigan still had considerable melee strength, especially wielding a staff in his hands.
Brannigan swung his staff and struck Lefus in the chest, sending Lefus flying backward.
Seeing the situation deteriorating, Nieyan suddenly sprang into action and charged toward Brannigan.
Seeing Nieyan approaching, Brannigan swung his staff, summoning a blazing meteor that hurtled toward Nieyan.
“Quick Steps!”
Nieyan dodged the attack with a burst of Quick Steps, and drove his dagger straight toward Brannigan’s forehead.
“Stun!”
Nieyan’s stun skill had a high success rate. If he could control Brannigan, everything would become much easier.
Brannigan glanced at Nieyan with a hint of disdain. He swung his staff and unleashed a powerful wave of expulsion toward Nieyan.
Halfway through his charge, Nieyan was struck by an invisible force. His body lifted off the ground and flew backward.
“Such a strong expulsion!”
The expulsion skill could only push ordinary players back by five yards; the strength of the expulsion Brannigan used was on a completely different level.
Nieyan activated Death’s Grace, finally becoming immune to expulsion and landing back on the ground.
Nieyan used Shadow Waltz, his body leaving behind multiple illusory images.
Provoked, Brannigan continuously swung his staff. Boom after boom, the ground was ravaged, stones shattered, and craters formed one after another.
Under the powerful Holy Radiance, Brannigan’s health dropped to about 3%.
Although Nieyan hadn’t managed to get close enough to control Brannigan, he had still bought a lot of time. The Golden Earth Dragon and Lefus gradually rose from the ground. Lefus swung his paladin greatsword, casting beams of white light onto himself and the Golden Earth Dragon, charging toward Brannigan.
After Brannigan emerged from the stone chamber, he became extremely powerful. Casting spell after spell, his overwhelming magical firepower pressured both the Golden Earth Dragon and Lefus. Their health dropped rapidly. Without Lefus constantly casting healing spells, they probably wouldn’t have lasted much longer.
Seeing how powerful Brannigan was, Nieyan furrowed his brows. The firepower was too intense; the Golden Earth Dragon and Lefus were struggling to hold on.
He had to think of a way!
Nieyan issued a command to the Golden Earth Dragon, which suddenly accelerated and charged furiously toward Brannigan.
Brannigan swung his staff, unleashing a stream of fireballs that engulfed the Golden Earth Dragon.
The Golden Earth Dragon’s health was instantly reduced by a large amount. Lefus swung his greatsword, casting healing spells onto the Golden Earth Dragon. Finally, the Golden Earth Dragon endured the attacks and reached Brannigan’s side, clawing at him and interrupting Brannigan’s spellcasting.
“Dragon’s Breath!”
A jet of dragon breath blasted into Brannigan, causing him to stagger backward in rage and attack the Golden Earth Dragon.
Nieyan activated Vanish and slowly stealthed behind Brannigan, getting closer and closer to his back.
The Golden Earth Dragon successfully drew Brannigan’s attention, so he didn’t notice Nieyan’s approach.
Brannigan waved his staff, and white magical elements spiraled from its tip, scattering a flurry of icy petals.
The air’s icy magical elements violently fluctuated, and the temperature dropped sharply by several degrees.
As Brannigan was about to finish casting his spell, the Golden Earth Dragon suddenly lunged forward with a Rend, interrupting Brannigan’s spell momentarily. However, Brannigan continued chanting, and his spell wasn’t completely interrupted.
As Brannigan’s spell was about to be unleashed, Nieyan suddenly burst forth, activating Storm Assault to greatly increase his speed. He used Shattering Blow, driving his dagger into Brannigan’s back.
At that moment, Brannigan was still casting his spell, so he couldn’t evade Nieyan’s sudden attack.
With a dull thud, Brannigan’s body stiffened, entering a disabled state. The icy magical elements gathered on his staff dissipated into nothingness.
Success! Nieyan’s heart swelled with joy. He could at least control Brannigan for seven or eight seconds.
That was more than enough!
The Golden Earth Dragon and Lefus unleashed their maximum damage output instantly. Nieyan also took the opportunity to deal massive damage. Cataclysm was ineffective against Brannigan, so he used high-damage skills instead.
“Infernal Severance!”
Nieyan’s Zayenard Sword turned bright red. He swung it down onto Brannigan’s back. The sharp Zayenard Sword cut through Brannigan like butter. As the blade slashed across his back, Brannigan’s health finally dropped to zero. With a loud thud, he collapsed onto the ground.
A crisp system notification chimed in Nieyan’s ear. He checked his level and found that he had finally reached level 100. Brannigan had given far more experience than he had anticipated.
Nieyan thought to himself that once he found the components of the Abak Set scattered here, he could proceed with the quest to advance into a Shadow Dancer.
The Golden Earth Dragon also gained a level, reaching level 90, and learned a new skill called Blazing Tempest, an area-of-effect magic.
Carefully examining the data on Blazing Tempest, Nieyan was secretly amazed. This skill looked extremely powerful. He would need to find an opportunity to test it out.
Nieyan searched Brannigan’s body but found nothing dropped. He spent a long time searching the stone chamber but found absolutely nothing. Nieyan couldn’t help but feel frustrated. Brannigan was such a high-level boss, yet he didn’t drop anything at all. That was simply unreasonable.
Unfortunately, no matter how much he searched, he found nothing. As Nieyan walked out of the chamber, Pharaoh Brannigan’s body slowly dissolved into ashes. Nieyan saw a faint spirit rise from the corpse and gradually vanish into the Holy Spirit Mark on his left hand.
The Holy Spirit Mark had the ability to collect souls. This might be a quest clue, but Nieyan decided not to dwell on it for now.
Pharaoh Brannigan’s body had now been purified. Nieyan checked his title and saw that his Intermediate Demon Hunter title had progressed to 35%. It was still increasing quite rapidly.
Defeating Pharaoh Brannigan had only given experience, with no loot at all, which left Nieyan quite disappointed.
Nieyan sat down and ate some bread to restore his health. The Golden Earth Dragon and Holy Knight Lefus also gradually recovered their full health and mana.
There was still one golden stone door left. Should he open it or not?
After considering for a moment, he decided to open it anyway. Even if he encountered another pharaoh inside, he wouldn’t be afraid. At worst, it would just be another fierce battle.
Nieyan approached the golden stone door and slowly pushed it open. The layout inside was identical to the previous chamber. In the center lay a massive golden coffin. Just as before, Nieyan pressed a button on the coffin, and it slowly opened.
He was fully prepared for battle, expecting another powerful boss like Pharaoh Brannigan to emerge from the sarcophagus. Unexpectedly, the golden coffin was completely empty. In its center sat a chest. This chest wasn’t large, forged from pure gold and firmly embedded in the base of the golden coffin.
Nieyan checked the chest’s level and found it to be of Sub-Legendary quality.
Nieyan felt relieved. If he hadn’t decided to open this stone door, he might have missed this Sub-Legendary chest.
There were two golden stone doors in total—one as a punishment and one as a reward. Nieyan had been rather unlucky, opening the chamber where Pharaoh Brannigan lay first. Without the Golden Earth Dragon and Holy Knight Lefus being so powerful, Nieyan might have been killed. If an ordinary player team had released Pharaoh Brannigan without having a sufficiently strong Divine Warrior, they would have been wiped out for sure.
Even if a player team managed to defeat Pharaoh Brannigan, after a tough battle with no rewards, they probably wouldn’t have dared to open the remaining golden stone door.
Nieyan was somewhat of an exception—he dared to open the remaining stone door even after releasing Pharaoh Brannigan.
He lowered his head and began opening the chest.
System: Chest opening in progress. Completion: 12%… 35%…
With a soft click, the chest opened. Nieyan reached inside and pulled out a skill book.
This skill book was different from ordinary ones. It was about an inch thick, made from a special fabric, and edged with finely stitched dark golden threads. It was exquisitely crafted, with every detail meticulously perfected.
Judging from its appearance alone, this skill book was far more advanced than any Nieyan had seen before.
Seeing the skill book, Nieyan couldn’t help but gasp, “It’s a top-tier class skill book!”
He wondered which class it belonged to. He hoped it was for Rogues!
Eagerly, Nieyan flipped open the pages of the skill book. Ancient text written in Old Common appeared before his eyes. It read: “Release, Shadow Dance Skill.”
It was a Shadow Dance skill!
Nieyan’s heart pounded with excitement. This skill book could only be learned after successfully advancing into a Shadow Dancer. In his past life, he had only heard of Shadow Dance skills but had never seen one. Items like this were far beyond his reach back then. Shadow Dance skills were extremely rare; collecting even one or two was considered fortunate. Mastering just one Shadow Dance skill and executing it flawlessly was already incredibly powerful.
Nieyan calmed his excitement and opened the description of the Release skill to read its details.
Tai Sui Yellow Amulet Paper FuLu Taoist Love Talisman Traditional Chinese Spiritual Charm Attracting Love Protecting Marriage