Chapter 665: The Gap

For supreme archmages, they often possess the ability to perceive the entire battlefield. At the most inconspicuous moments and locations, they begin chanting forbidden incantations, unleashing these devastating spells upon the enemy when least expected.

Tang Yao’s awareness was pretty good. Seeing that the paladin could hold the line for a while, he took the opportunity to cast Gray Decree, this forbidden spell providing a significant amount of time for Nie Yan and Xie Yao.

The Mutated Skeleton King was the first to awaken from the control of Gray Decree. It slowly began to move, the fingers twitching slightly, gradually swinging the giant axe in its hands. As the Mutated Skeleton King was about to fully awaken, Nie Yan cast Supreme Deterrence from behind it, paralyzing it momentarily. Then, a series of high-damage free skills such as Spine Sever were unleashed one after another. Damage numbers floated above the Mutated Skeleton King’s head, ranging from 20,000 to 30,000 normally, and reaching an astonishing 50,000 to 60,000 when critical hits occurred.

In a short while, the Mutated Skeleton King’s health dropped to around 30%.

On Xie Yao’s side, her damage output was also around 20,000 to 30,000, though she lacked Nie Yan’s terrifying critical strikes. Her attack speed was also slightly slower, so the Mutated Skeleton King she was fighting still had nearly 45% health remaining.

However, with Gray Decree’s duration ending, Xie Yao’s various skills such as Blink and Teleport had already cooled down, giving her a significant amount of breathing room that Tang Yao had bought for her.

On a distant hilltop, the thieves from the God-Slaying Sword assigned to monitor Nie Yan and his group were utterly dumbfounded by the scene unfolding before them. They had assumed that with Qin Han summoning so many elite, lord, and mutated lord-tier skeletons, Nie Yan’s team would inevitably be surrounded and annihilated. Yet, to their astonishment, Nie Yan and his group not only held their ground but did so with apparent ease.

In a short time, over a hundred elites and lords had been reduced to just fifty or sixty, with both mutated lords nearly defeated.

Xiao Yao quickly sent a message to Qin Han.

Qin Han, stationed at the headquarters of the God-Slaying Sword, watched the video sent by Xiao Yao with a mix of shock and fury. It had taken him a long time to accumulate these elite and lord-level skeletons, and losing so many felt like his heart was bleeding. If these skeletons had been deployed against ordinary players, they could have easily amassed an army of tens of thousands of undead.

Watching the video of Nie Yan and Xie Yao taking on the Mutated Skeleton Kings single-handedly, Qin Han was profoundly shocked. Was this the true power of an Assassin and a Archmage?

If the Cowherd Tribe had a few more top-tier classes, especially powerful Archmages, his Undead Vengeance might not have succeeded!

He had received intelligence that at least fifty to sixty members of the Cowherd Tribe had already begun their elite class quests, while on his side, only five or six had. Once again, the Cowherd Tribe had taken the lead in elite class transformations.

Qin Han increasingly felt the urgency of time. If he gave the Cowherd Tribe more time, he would face an army of Archmages, Assassins, Holy Swordsmen, and other terrifying top-tier classes.

“Boss Qin Han, what do we do? In a while, those two Mutated Skeleton Kings will probably be finished!” Xiao Yao messaged Qin Han anxiously.

“Split into two teams and help the Mutated Skeleton Kings eliminate them!” Qin Han commanded coldly. The thirty or so thieves assigned to surveillance were among the stronger players in Godslayer Sword. If they could cause some trouble for Nie Yan and Xie Yao, the Mutated Skeleton Kings would have no trouble finishing them off.

Upon receiving Qin Han’s command, they terminated the voice chat. Xiao Yao glanced toward Nie Yan and the others in the distance, a wry smile forming on his face. They had little confidence in confronting Mad Thief Nie Yan. Yet, they had no choice but to obey Qin Han’s orders—unless they intended to leave Godslaver.

The thirty thieves split into two groups, stealthily approaching Nie Yan and Xie Yao’s locations.

Nie Yan kicked the Mutated Skeleton King back a few steps. At that moment, he suddenly sensed something amiss and was alarmed—there were thieves!

Nie Yan immediately activated True Sight, scanning the distance. On the open ground, figures were moving toward them, about a dozen in total.

Nie Yan quickly warned in the party chat: “Thieves approaching. Everyone, be careful.”

Xiao Yao, hidden in stealth, felt his heart sink as Nie Yan’s gaze seemed to pierce through them, as if he had already detected their presence.

Nie Yan’s perception was just too strong. They were over sixty to seventy yards apart, yet Nie Yan could still sense their approach, which was simply unbelievable!

Upon hearing Nie Yan’s warning, Xie Yao immediately cast an awareness spell on herself and detected several thieves approaching her location.

Teleport!

Suddenly abandoning the Mutated Skeleton King, Xie Yao vanished from her spot and reappeared twenty yards away. Swinging her staff, she unleashed a circular aura radiating outward from her body, covering an area of more than twenty yards.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

Xie Yao’s magic struck the stealthy thieves, revealing their forms one by one—about seven or eight of them. Damage numbers floated above their heads, each in the thousands.

Xie Yao’s actions were too swift. Taken completely by surprise, the thieves had no chance to evade. After being hit by Xie Yao’s magic, their movements became extremely sluggish, and they were unable to cast any spells from their skill bars. They struggled to move a few steps outward when a beam of light descended from the sky, sending the entire group flying.

All eight thieves fell. The other stealthy thieves, being farther away and not targeted by Xie Yao, watched in horror. If Xie Yao had targeted them instead, they would likely all be dead by now.

The remaining thieves dared not approach Xie Yao anymore and she resumed focusing on the Mutated Skeleton King.

As for Nie Yan, he completely ignored the thieves’ presence. Several thieves attempted to sneak up on him, but before they could organize an attack, they were instantly killed by Nie Yan.

Eventually, these thieves hesitated to advance further. Although they had received Qin Han’s orders, charging forward to certain death was clearly not a wise choice. As for Tang Yao, it was even more hopeless. A wall of thirty paladins completely shielded Tang Yao inside, leaving no opportunity for any surprise attacks.

With more and more elite and lord-level skeletons falling, Qin Han could no longer hold out and ordered the skeletons to retreat, with the entire skeletal army quickly withdrawing.

The two Mutated Skeleton Kings were successively defeated by Nie Yan and Xie Yao, their remains scattered across the ground before being purified.

In this short span of time, Qin Han’s skeletal army suffered heavy losses. Without sufficient strength, he likely wouldn’t dare launch a second attack.

Watching the skeletons retreating in all directions, Nie Yan and his group didn’t know which way to pursue and could only temporarily give up, waiting for further developments.

“Tch, they retreated so quickly. I haven’t even had my fill of killing yet,” Tang Yao said somewhat regretfully. Farming skeletons here was extremely rewarding for leveling up and completing quests. If the skeletons stopped their relentless attacks, their farming speed would significantly slow down.

“We’ve killed so many skeletons, I bet Qin Han must be heartbroken,” Nie Yan chuckled.

Although they couldn’t stop the expansion of Undead Vengeance completely, they had at least delayed its progress, buying valuable time for the Cowherd Tribe players to complete their elite class transformations.

As they were chatting idly, a massive bone dragon soared across the sky in the distance, searching for their location.

Nie Yan, Xie Yao, and Tang Yao quickly hid into the jungle, relocating to continue farming skeletons.

The footage of Nie Yan and his team farming skeletons here was somehow leaked by a thief from the Godslayer Sword guild and posted on the forums, sparking a huge uproar.

The players weren’t particularly shocked that Nie Yan had single-handedly taken down a Mutated Skeleton King—they had long grown accustomed to the formidable prowess of Mad Rogue Nie Yan. However, the two Archmages accompanying him, Xie Yao and Tang Yao, piqued their curiosity.

(Note: I made the following adjustments for natural English flow while preserving meaning:

1. “Soloed” → “single-handedly taken down” for clarity

2. “狂贼涅炎” → “Mad Rogue Nie Yan” (localized title convention)

3. “魔导师” → “Archmages” (standard RPG term)

4. Adjusted sentence structure to emphasize contrast between expected/unexpected elements

5. Used “piqued their curiosity” to convey the intrigue more idiomatically)

So the Archmages were this formidable! Xie Yao’s Blink ability and endless instant-cast spells rendered the Mutated Skeleton King utterly powerless. But the most astonishing aspect was Tang Yao’s forbidden spell—massive area coverage, sustained duration, and overwhelming power. Is this the might of an Archmage’s prowess? Truly terrifying.

The players checked the official website for information and discovered that Archmages could learn three forbidden spells. Previously, they had no clear understanding of what forbidden spells entailed, but Tang Yao’s “Gray Decree” ignited boundless imagination. Could it be that each of the three forbidden spells was as formidable as “Gray Decree”?

At the headquarters of the Angel Dominion guild, Ang Yi and others were holding a meeting. He had received reports from lower-tier players and, after watching the video, furrowed his brows.

The players below stirred slightly after viewing the video.

“Boss Angel, that skill of Yao’s is too strong. If we were hit with such a spell during a guild war, we’d probably lose at least five or six thousand members.”

“They say every Archmage can master three forbidden spells. Does that mean Yao possesses three spells of such power?”

Hearing the discussions among the players, Ang Yi was equally concerned. The Cowherd Tribe already had three top-tier class players, while his Angel Dominion hadn’t even secured one yet. This was an ominous sign. He had even heard that the Cowherd Tribe already had fifty to sixty members attempting elite class quests.

“How many level 100+ players do we have in the guild now?” Ang Yi asked.

“Just received the latest statistics. We currently have thirty-six.”

Only level 100 players could undertake elite class quests. The Cowherd Tribe already had fifty to sixty attempting these quests, meaning they had at least over a hundred level 100+ players meeting the requirements, while Angel Dominion had only thirty-six. The gap between the two guilds was quite apparent.