The lustful black bull behind was startled. At first, Nie Yan’s sword blade was definitely going to kill him. Unexpectedly, just when it was about to strike, the sword suddenly changed direction, grazing right past him and killing several teammates beside him, while he himself survived.
The result was quite good, and Nie Yan revealed a faint satisfied smile.
His mastery of Annihilation Slash had reached its peak. This level of micro-control was unimaginable for ordinary players.
In the blink of an eye, eleven out of the twenty players had been killed.
Only nine remained alive, including the two top-tier players.
The only ones capable of challenging Nie Yan were Lieyan and Piaolai Piaoxiang. The rest were merely cannon fodder.
Seeing Jifeng sacrifice himself to save Lieyan, Lieyan roared furiously, his eyes bloodshot like a wild beast, charging straight at Nie Yan.
With his protective aura fully activated, Lieyan became as solid as a diamond.
Realizing something was amiss, Piaolai Piaoxiang waved his staff, ready to assist Lieyan. He continuously employed skills like Blink, making it nearly impossible for Nie Yan to keep track of him. Once an Archmage activates Blink, as long as their mana reserves hold, they can use it repeatedly, rendering them exceptionally challenging to handle.
“Hold Nie Yan down. Everyone, use your teleport scrolls now!” Piaolai Piaoxiang ordered firmly. Swinging his staff, he summoned a torrent of explosive flames that cascaded from the sky toward Nie Yan.
Nie Yan flipped and dodged constantly, the flames never managing to hit him.
His eyes locked onto a shaman, and he charged toward him with lightning speed.
Nie Yan’s speed was simply beyond human limits.
As Nie Yan approached, the shaman quickly crushed a random teleport scroll. A flash of light, and he had vanished.
The others dared not pick up their fallen teammates’ equipment and quickly used their random teleport scrolls as well.
“Die, you damned thief Nie Yan!” Lieyan bellowed, springing into the air and bringing his sword crashing down.
Lieyan imagined the sword strike hitting Nie Yan, a loud boom echoing. However, after the dust settled, he still couldn’t find Nie Yan—the figure he saw was merely an illusion.
“Liye, don’t be reckless. Come back, retreat quickly!” Piaolai Piaoxiang shouted loudly upon seeing all his teammates flee.
Nie Yan suddenly appeared behind Lieyan and slashed downward.
Feeling the killing intent from behind, Lieyan executed a whirlwind slash outward.
Nie Yan leaped backward, dodging Lieyan’s whirlwind slash.
Hearing Piaolai Piaoxiang’s shout, Lieyan couldn’t help but curse inwardly. After a brief skirmish, he realized that defeating Nie Yan was impossible for the two of them. If they continued, they might end up being taken down by Nie Yan. Though frustrated, he crushed his random teleport scroll.
A flash of light, and Lieyan escaped.
Seeing Lieyan leave, Piaolai Piaoxiang also crushed his recall scroll.
Everyone had fled, and Nie Yan smiled faintly. In fact, he had the chance to kill Lieyan earlier but chose not to. Letting Lieyan live was more beneficial. Lieyan would surely feel grateful to Jifeng and remember his favor. Considering this, he decided not to kill Lieyan.
Although Nie Yan only eliminated eleven players in this ambush, the outcome was highly satisfactory.
Nie Yan collected all the dropped items from the ground. Combined with the previous two, he now had a total of eleven pieces of equipment, including three sub-legendary and one legendary warrior item with impressive attributes. These would surely interest the warriors in his guild.
After finishing up, Nie Yan dashed toward Blanford Town, disappearing into the vast desert sands.
The news of Nie Yan’s appearance in the Sauterne Empire quickly spread. As soon as he arrived, he ambushed the elite team of Angel Tyranny, killing eleven out of twenty players.
Many found it hard to believe that Nie Yan alone accomplished this, yet it was indeed true.
The elite team of Angel Tyranny was no group of novices.
Angel Tyranny remained silent about the incident, and Nie Yan did not upload the video online. Players were curious about the details but could only speculate.
At that moment, in the main hall of Angel Tyranny, Angwing Angel and others were watching the video brought back by Lieyan and his team.
“Nie Yan’s skill is too brutal. One move instantly killed nine of us,” Lieyan said, still shaken.
Nie Yan’s Annihilation Slash left a lingering shadow in the hearts of everyone present.
“How did you get targeted by the Mad Bandit Nie Yan?” Angwing Angel asked sternly.
Lieyan and others recalled this question.
Piaolai Piaoxiang’s heart trembled. “We only informed the twenty of us when assembling the team. No one else could have known unless there was a leak!”
“There must be a mole, otherwise Nie Yan the Mad Bandit couldn’t have intercepted us! Damn it!” Lieyan slammed his fist against a stone pillar. If he ever found out who betrayed them, he would tear that person apart!
Jifeng watched coldly from the side without speaking.
“Earlier in Blanford Town, we spotted someone in a hood. We assumed it was just a passing player, so we didn’t pay it any mind. Never did we expect it to be the infamous thief Nie Yan,” Piaolai Piaoxiang said with regret. Before this incident, they had never imagined that Nie Yan had already reached the Sauterne Empire, let alone that they would be ambushed by him.
“Do you know where you went wrong?” Angwing Angel coldly scanned Lieyan and others.
Lieyan lowered his head, somewhat dejected. “Yes, we were too careless.”
They assumed no one in the Sauterne Empire would dare provoke Angel Tyranny, so they were completely unprepared, leading to their defeat at Nie Yan’s hands.
Lieyan looked at Jifeng, patted his shoulder, and said with some guilt, “Brother, thank you for saving me. If you hadn’t elbowed me away, I would have been the one killed instead of you.”
Jifeng smiled. “It’s okay. I just thought charging in might provoke Mad Thief Nie Yan. I didn’t expect him to slash at me, so I had to push you out in a hurry.”
“Earlier, Huolie and Guangying excluded you. I hope you don’t hold it against me,” Lieyan said. Previously, Jifeng was excluded partly due to Lieyan’s involvement, as Lieyan had allocated items originally belonging to Jifeng to Huolie and Guangying during a dungeon run.
“No worries, I’ve already forgotten all about it,” Jifeng chuckled, though inwardly he sneered. In Angel Tyranny, more than just Huolie and Guangying had excluded him.
An elf mage watching the video suddenly noticed something strange. “Did anyone else record the video?”
“I did.”
“So did I.”
Several individuals pulled out their videos and compared them, immediately spotting some discrepancies that were hard to notice under normal circumstances but became apparent upon closer inspection. Originally, Nie Yan could have slain the Lustful Black Bull with a single strike, but during the swing, his blade slightly veered off course, allowing the black bull to narrowly evade. Such precise micro-control was probably only within the capabilities of the legendary Mad Bandit Nie Yan.
Jifeng analyzed the video, his admiration for Nie Yan growing boundless. Nie Yan’s execution was flawless. By skillfully micro-controlling his sword swing, he let the lustful black bull escape. Once Lieyan and others noticed, they would surely believe Nie Yan intended to secretly spare the black bull, leaving the black bull unable to clear his name. The difficulty of Nie Yan’s maneuver was unimaginable, leaving everyone in awe.
“Color Bull, what were you doing when the mad thief Nie Yan attacked you with his sword?”
“I was stunned. What happened?” Color Bull asked, puzzled by the strange looks everyone gave him.
“Judging by Nie Yan the Mad Bandit’s sword trajectory, if he had intended to kill you, there would have been no escape. Yet his blade abruptly shifted course, sparing your life. Why?”
“Mad Bandit Nie Yan’s sword redirection was truly masterful, precisely grazing past you. You claim to know nothing about it,” the elf mage sneered.
“What do you mean?” Color Bull began to understand, growing angry.
“You know what you did,” the elf mage coldly replied. He never got along well with Color Bull, and after watching the video, he was convinced Color Bull was the mole.
“You suspect me of being a traitor? If I were, may I be struck by lightning! Do you think I won’t beat you up?” Color Bull swore fiercely, attempting to attack the elf mage.
Everyone rushed to stop Color Bull.
Jifeng joined in, pretending to restrain him, a faint, barely noticeable smile on his lips. Their plan to frame Color Bull had succeeded. At this point, even Angwing Angel would find it hard not to suspect Color Bull.
“Enough! Everyone stop!” Angwing Angel coldly commanded.
“Boss,” Color Bull called out, sounding somewhat aggrieved.
Angwing Angel cast a cold glance at Color Bull and declared, “Disperse! No one is to speak of today’s events outside. You’ve already brought enough shame upon Angel Tyranny. Inform all members of Angel Tyranny that the notorious thief Nie Yan has arrived in the Sauterne Empire. Stay vigilant!”
“Yes!” everyone responded.
Color Bull stood still, his eyes dim. In Angwing Angel’s gaze, he saw cold indifference. It meant Angwing Angel had already begun to suspect him. Though nothing had been proven, being suspected by his leader made staying in Angel Tyranny pointless. He felt disheartened.
Color Bull had decent connections in Angel Tyranny, and immediately three people came to comfort him.
“Color Bull, we believe you’re not the mole!”
Looking at their earnest expressions, Color Bull’s eyes welled up. He patted their shoulders, his voice slightly hoarse. “Brothers, thank you!”
At a time when everyone doubted him, having these few good brothers who unconditionally trusted him was enough.
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