Executioner Skeleton: level 13 sub-elite, HP 1200/1200.
These Executioner Skeletons had even more health than the Dark Gladiators, and there were numerous ones.
If these Executioner Skeletons died, they wouldn’t respawn again. In his past life, Nie Yan had visited this place before, but by then, all these Executioner Skeletons had already been completely eliminated. Back then, he only knew that someone had taken away a fragment of the legendary item, the Shadow of Sogot, but he hadn’t known how much it had cost them to obtain it.
Seeing so many Executioner Skeletons here, Nie Yan could imagine the ferocity of the battle that had once occurred here in his past life.
“Didn’t expect so many sub-elite creatures,” Nie Yan frowned slightly. Thinking about it, it made sense—fragments of legendary items naturally had many powerful monsters guarding them.
Nie Yan’s gaze swept over the nearby terrain, wondering if there was a way to bypass these Executioner Skeletons. However, the area was too open; once he moved out, his target would be too obvious and easily detected. The only obstacles available were the upright pillars, but these were far from sufficient.
Nie Yan could have the Dark Gladiators distract the Executioner Skeletons while he sneaked past, but there might be other unknown dangers inside the pyramid, making it too wasteful to sacrifice the Dark Gladiators.
As he was killing nearby monsters, he pondered how to deal with the current situation.
Was it possible to turn the Executioner Skeletons into summoned creatures?
He ordered the Dark Gladiators to retreat into the maze, then jumped onto the top of the city wall and took out the Bloody Crossbow, aiming the crosshair at the surrounding Executioner Skeletons.
“Fifty-two yards, too far. Fifty yards, still too far.” Nie Yan was about to look for another suitable position when suddenly, an Executioner Skeleton walked toward his direction, getting closer and closer.
That one! Nie Yan pulled the trigger and fired three bolts. Swish, swish, swish—the three bolts simultaneously hit the Executioner Skeleton.
The green flames in the Executioner Skeleton’s eye sockets flickered, locking onto Nie Yan standing on the wall. It immediately swung its great axe and charged toward Nie Yan.
The Executioner Skeleton emitted a strange, grating mechanical sound as it approached, swinging its great axe downward.
At this moment, more than thirty surrounding Executioner Skeletons simultaneously surged toward him.
Seeing the Executioner Skeleton’s great axe coming down, Nie Yan jumped backward off the wall.
With a loud crash, the great axe smashed into the wall. The already severely eroded wall crumbled like deadwood under the impact, breaking off a large section. With another crash, the wall collapsed, and the Executioner Skeleton broke through the wall and stepped inside.
Nie Yan retreated backward, dodging the flying debris. Seeing the right opportunity, he cast a ritual of the undead, immediately losing 30% of his health.
A mental impulse struck the Executioner Skeleton.
The Executioner Skeleton hesitated momentarily, but quickly, it violently struggled, swinging its great axe downward at Nie Yan.
“Not good, it failed.” Nie Yan quickly rolled to dodge the Executioner Skeleton’s blow, then leaped upward, landing on another wall, and then jumped down, swiftly disappearing into the maze.
The Executioner Skeletons rampaged through the maze’s walls, failing to find Nie Yan’s trail, and eventually returned in frustration.
There were just too many Executioner Skeletons here. It was inconvenient to even find an opportunity to use the ritual of the undead on one of them, and the success rate was too low. Even if he managed to control one Executioner Skeleton by chance, it would surely be torn apart quickly by the others. Using this method to pass through this open area was extremely difficult. Spending two or three days to clear all these Executioner Skeletons would be too wasteful.
It seemed that retrieving the Shadow of Sogot was indeed quite challenging.
Nie Yan could only reluctantly wander the maze with the Dark Gladiators, letting them continue to kill regular skeletons. Fortunately, leveling here was not slow, which was somewhat comforting.
With three hours remaining until server shutdown, Nie Yan cast the ritual of the undead three more times, but made no progress, failing to control a single Executioner Skeleton. The remaining time the Dark Gladiators could stay was now only about half an hour.
Was he really going to give up today? If he did, next time he came here, he might not necessarily have such a powerful helper as the Dark Gladiators, and perhaps by then, someone else might have already taken the Shadow of Sogot.
As Nie Yan was at a loss, distant voices approached from not far away.
“It’s them again,” Nie Yan frowned slightly. After such a long time, these people had also explored here. With outsiders around, his plan couldn’t proceed smoothly. Before successfully obtaining the Shadow of Sogot, he didn’t want anyone to know about its existence. However, he soon thought that even if these people arrived here, with so many Executioner Skeletons present, they certainly wouldn’t dare to take a single step forward, let alone take the Shadow of Sogot.
Unless they also reached level ten or so and brought a large group of people, they could clear out all these Executioner Skeletons. Nie Yan still had ample time to retrieve the Shadow of Sogot.
At this moment, six figures gradually appeared within Nie Yan’s field of vision.
The Dark Gladiator stood like a guardian at Nie Yan’s side, its eerie gaze fixed on the approaching players. The three skeleton mages also took up suitable attack positions, ready to attack at any moment. One must always be cautious of others.
In cities, players often maintained a peaceful mindset and could easily make friends. Once outside the city and in the wilds, however, everyone became wary of others, filled with suspicion and fear of being backstabbed. Even the slightest misunderstanding could lead to an unending feud.
Even with the Dark Gladiator by his side, if the six of them attacked simultaneously, there was still a possibility they could kill him quickly. Nie Yan had to be prepared.
The leader, Qi Zai, and Wang, among others, also noticed Nie Yan and stopped in their tracks.
“Hello, we mean no harm,” Wang spoke cautiously. Their six companions also appeared extremely wary; their lives depended entirely on Nie Yan’s decision.
“Whether you mean harm or not has nothing to do with me,” Nie Yan replied indifferently. Right now, he was the one in control, not Wang and the others.
The leader, Qi Zai, and others looked at the Dark Gladiator beside Nie Yan. Nie Yan’s words were indeed true.
“We just want to be friends. I think we have no enmity between us.” Leader Qi Zai stepped forward, calmly looking at Nie Yan.
Despite being at an absolute disadvantage, Leader Qi Zai’s attitude remained neither humble nor arrogant.
Truly a remarkable figure who had once led the way in his past life, he indeed had some courage, seemingly unafraid of life or death, trying to use this as leverage to further engage with Nie Yan.
Nie Yan’s mind raced—he was at a loss about how to enter the central pyramid. Perhaps Leader Qi Zai and the others might be of some help.
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