Chapter 836: Forbidden Territory

Nie Yan turned his head with great difficulty and found that the half-demon Angude was already only a hundred yards away.

A premonition of imminent death surged through his heart. Nie Yan glanced at his skill bar. Now was the moment to gamble. The only skill that might save him was Ice Seal—it could at least buy him some time, allowing him to escape later. The Abak Set possessed a Fixed Teleportation skill, but demonized lords like Angude typically had abilities to interrupt teleportation. Nie Yan needed at least ten seconds to successfully cast either Fixed Teleportation or use a random teleportation scroll.

Angude was drawing closer. Nie Yan tightened his grip on the Paternoster Hammer in his right hand, poised to unleash the Ice Seal spell at any moment.

Just then, Guardian Angel Karenna waved her staff, and a beam of white light descended from the sky, shining directly onto Nie Yan.

Nie Yan’s body suddenly regained movement—the fear effect was lifted!

He swiftly activated Wind Step and dashed off at full speed.

“Damn it! It’s a Battle Angel! Disgusting holy creature!” Angude roared furiously and charged toward Nie Yan.

Nie Yan could feel a terrifying, corrosive aura forming a violent whirlwind around him, as if it were about to swallow him whole.

Guardian Angel Karenna waved her staff again, and a massive barrier of light enveloped Nie Yan, completely shielding him.

Angude uttered a few low, guttural incantations. Immediately, enormous black fireballs screamed down from the sky, covering an area of at least five to six hundred yards in diameter.

Nie Yan thought he was doomed. There was no way he could dodge so many fireballs. He glanced at his skills and found that both random and directional teleportation were ineffective.

Just as the fireballs were about to strike, a colossal beam of light erupted from below, shooting straight into the sky. When the black fireballs met the white beam, they instantly disintegrated into smoke and ash.

Nie Yan was somewhat surprised by this unexpected turn of events. He hadn’t anticipated that Guardian Angel Karenna would intervene at this critical moment.

Nie Yan quickly realized the reason—angels and demons were eternal enemies, natural adversaries. That was why Guardian Angel Karenna had chosen to assist him.

Angude kept casting various curses and spells, but each was effortlessly neutralized by Guardian Angel Karenna. If it had been Nie Yan alone, he would have died countless times already.

After running for nearly twenty minutes, Nie Yan still hadn’t managed to shake off Angude. Meanwhile, Guardian Angel Karenna’s mana was beginning to run low.

“I hate this body. My mana is almost depleted. I need time to recover,” Karenna muttered in frustration. She wore a white robe that barely covered her most sensitive areas, her youthful, innocent face slightly furrowed, making it impossible for anyone to feel even a hint of disgust toward her. Nie Yan couldn’t command Karenna directly. Sometimes she would cast a buff or protective shield for him, sometimes she’d completely ignore him, sometimes she’d even disappear without a trace, and other times she’d be asleep in his pocket. This often left Nie Yan quite frustrated about how to deal with her. He never expected that she would save his life at such a crucial moment.

Angude leaped high into the air, soaring dozens of yards up before diving down with a deafening roar.

Seeing Angude closing in, Nie Yan extended his left hand and shot out a strand of spider silk, latching onto a nearby short tree. With a sudden pull, the silk yanked him sideways across ten yards in an instant.

With a thunderous crash, Angude landed heavily, shaking the ground violently.

Nie Yan activated the Haste Running ability on his Abak Boots of Swiftness, his body turning into a blur as he dashed away.

Nie Yan’s original speed was already lightning-fast, but with Swift Dash activated, he became even faster.

Despite using his maximum speed, Angude was gradually falling behind.

Nie Yan glanced back and saw that he had already pulled more than a hundred yards away from Angude. He kept running without hesitation, ignoring all the spells Angude was casting at him.

Guardian Angel Karenna continued to wave her staff, deflecting Angude’s attacks.

About five or six minutes later, the distance between Nie Yan and Angude had grown to over three hundred yards.

The Rapid Sprint ability could last for a maximum of ten minutes, meaning Nie Yan could extend the gap to about five or six hundred yards. But even that wouldn’t be enough—he would inevitably be caught up to eventually.

Nie Yan checked his inventory and realized, for reasons unknown, that the random teleportation scroll still wouldn’t function, likely due to some ability Angude had used on him.

After running further, Nie Yan approached a rocky field filled with protruding stones, making running even more difficult.

In the center of the rocky field was a deep, dark pit, the depths of which were unknown.

Nie Yan glanced back and could still see Angude’s distant figure. He made a decision—take a chance! Nie Yan leaped into the pit, plummeting downward. After about half a minute of freefall, echoes below signaled that he was nearing the bottom. Activating a climbing ability from his Ring of the Crawler, he suddenly veered toward the cave wall, clinging tightly to it, then flipped and landed with a thud.

He had no idea where this cave led, but using his darkvision, he could clearly see the terrain. He sprinted deeper into the cave.

At the cave’s entrance, Angude halted his pursuit. He paused briefly at the entrance but did not descend. Instead, he lingered at the cave’s mouth.

News of Nie Yan being chased by Angude quickly spread among players. Some thieves even witnessed the entire chase until Nie Yan jumped into the cave. Angude’s terrifying power instilled fear in players, so the fact that “Kuang Zei Nieren” (Nie Yan’s in-game name) managed to escape was seen as nothing short of miraculous. Meanwhile, the mighty Guardian Angel Karenna began drawing attention. Previously, Karenna had shown no remarkable abilities, leading players to believe she was merely ornamental. Today’s events changed that perception. Players were now wondering—who exactly is she?

Discussions about both Angude and Guardian Angel Karenna flooded the forums. Another question weighed heavily on players’ minds: how was Nie Yan doing now? Everyone knew that the cave Nie Yan had jumped into was a notorious forbidden zone—any player who entered it never returned alive.

Inside the dark, deep cave, Nie Yan navigated for about three minutes before Bennett’s Spirit floated into the air, hesitating to move forward.

Nie Yan took a few steps ahead but noticed Bennett’s Spirit lingering behind, refusing to follow. He had no choice but to turn back.

What was happening?

“I hate this place!” Karenna muttered in disgust.

Nie Yan felt Karenna, perched on his shoulder, also seemed fearful. What could possibly scare a guardian angel?

Looking deeper into the cave, he saw only pitch-black darkness. He couldn’t see what lay ahead.

He should leave this place as soon as possible, Nie Yan thought. Many areas in Faith were forbidden zones—especially regions where 200-level demonized lords roamed. Anyone who entered those areas was doomed to death. The only option was to escape immediately.

Karenna’s fear of whatever was inside the cave exceeded even her fear of Angude.

Nie Yan deduced that whatever lay inside must be stronger than Angude. Entering further would be a suicide mission.

Nie Yan checked his inventory—two more minutes before he could use the random teleportation scroll again.

He decided to wait.

Angude didn’t seem to be following him into the cave.

Time ticked by. With only two minutes remaining, Nie Yan idly looked around, using his superior darkvision to observe his surroundings within a ten-yard radius.

Suddenly, Nie Yan noticed something—a treasure chest hidden among the rubble in a corner of the cave. He couldn’t tell its level, but it was about nine yards away. He would need to move closer to reach it.

Nie Yan hesitated. The chest was right there—wouldn’t it be a shame to leave it behind?

He looked at Bennett’s Spirit and Guardian Angel Karenna, took a deep breath, and took a few cautious steps forward.

A cold gust of wind blew from the cave’s depths, sending a chill down Nie Yan’s spine.

Nie Yan sensed that stepping forward to retrieve the chest was extremely dangerous.

The cave was filled with eerie winds and faint, ghostly screams echoing from the depths, sending shivers down his spine.

From his angle, Nie Yan could see that the chest was entirely dark golden in color, made of unknown material, and inlaid with black gemstones, appearing extremely ornate.

It was a legendary-level treasure chest!

Beside the chest, something else caught Nie Yan’s attention. He adjusted his angle and looked closer. It was a pile of bones, scattered among the rubble, clearly weathered and decayed from long exposure.

These discoveries made Nie Yan more cautious. He wondered if there were any traps nearby.

Nie Yan decided to test the area. He recalled the stack of scrolls in his bag. After rummaging through them, he pulled out two. These scrolls were specially crafted by Ziyan, whose alchemy had now reached the astonishing Master level. She could create a wide variety of scrolls, and Nie Yan had brought over seventy of them, covering more than thirty types—extremely useful in emergencies.

He used the two scrolls. With two loud pops, two spider-like constructs, roughly the size of basins, appeared on the ground. They resembled real spiders but were actually mechanical devices with no combat capabilities.