Chapter 972: The Mysterious Throne

Violent magical attacks fell upon Nie Yan, yet they caused him no harm whatsoever.

The attacked Shadow Princes immediately scattered in all directions, leaving a clear path opening up slowly before Nie Yan.

Nie Yan patiently waited, watching the Shadow Princes disperse, before activating Swiftstep and sprinting toward the cliff below.

He would reach the bottom of the cliff in no more than half a minute.

Thanks to the earlier distraction caused by the three Light-Dark Holy Dragons, which drew the attention of some Shadow Princes, most of them had already scattered sideways. Combined with the attack of the Radiant Explosion spell, the remaining Shadow Princes were also dispersed, leaving Nie Yan’s path practically unobstructed.

Just as Nie Yan activated Swiftstep, the two Shadow Princes nearest to him suddenly sensed something. They roared and, ignoring the Radiant Explosion, charged toward Nie Yan.

Damn, even this can be detected!

The distance between Nie Yan and the two Shadow Princes was at least over one hundred yards. He had originally thought that was a safe distance, but unexpectedly, the two Shadow Princes could still sense his presence from over a hundred yards away.

Seeing the two towering Shadow Princes rushing toward him, Nie Yan’s heart tightened—he was no match for them at all!

Luckily, he had prepared in advance. Nie Yan had Guardian Angel Kalenna cast a series of speed-enhancing spells on him, significantly increasing his speed. As long as he could reach the bottom of the cliff, he would be basically safe.

The two Shadow Princes closed in rapidly, quickly shortening the distance between them and Nie Yan.

Nie Yan used a skill to summon three Doom Guardians. Suddenly, three Doom Guardians appeared before him. Guardian Angel Kalenna cast protective light magic shields on them. Nie Yan maintained his speed, rushing past them.

With the boost from the shield magic, the densely packed Radiant Explosions couldn’t harm the Doom Guardians.

The three Doom Guardians charged toward the Shadow Princes, attempting to block their advance.

The two Shadow Princes suddenly erupted in fury, swinging their massive axes downward. With a thunderous boom, three figures were sent flying backward. The three Doom Guardians were no match for the Shadow Princes at all!

However, the three Doom Guardians successfully slowed the Shadow Princes momentarily, causing them to hesitate slightly.

Nie Yan quickly glanced back. The effect was good, and he didn’t stop running. He summoned the Golden Earth Dragon and the Purple-Eyed Earth Dragon, applying protective shield magic to them.

The two Earth Dragons roared and charged toward the Shadow Princes.

The two Earth Dragons could at least block the Shadow Princes briefly, but it wasn’t enough. Nie Yan was still over three hundred yards away from the distant cliff, while the distance between him and the Shadow Princes was less than fifty yards—he was still at risk of being caught.

After summoning the two Earth Dragons, Nie Yan used the Shadow Assassin skill, splitting his body into two. His main body activated Perfect Stealth and dashed forward, while the Shadow Assassin ran in the opposite direction.

With two thunderous booms, the two Earth Dragons were also unable to withstand a single blow from the Shadow Princes and were sent flying, instantly killed!

The two Shadow Princes, at level 210, possessed strength at least seven or eight times greater than level 200 demonic lords. Even level 200 dragon creatures couldn’t withstand a single attack from them.

After eliminating the two Earth Dragons, the Shadow Princes paused momentarily. They sensed two presences—one stronger, moving leftward, and another weaker, rapidly fleeing toward the distant cliff.

These two presences naturally belonged to Nie Yan and his Shadow Assassin.

After a brief hesitation, the two Shadow Princes immediately chased after the Shadow Assassin.

Although the Shadow Princes were level 210 demonic lords, as undead creatures, their intelligence was low. Their minds operated strictly by the system’s hate formula. The Shadow Assassin’s presence was stronger, so their only thought was to eliminate that stronger presence!

They couldn’t comprehend Nie Yan’s intentions or think like humans. Thus, they didn’t consider splitting up and instead charged together toward the Shadow Assassin.

Seeing the two Shadow Princes lured away by the Shadow Assassin, Nie Yan smiled slightly. Everything was going exactly as he had anticipated. This was precisely why he had summoned the Shadow Assassin first before activating Perfect Stealth with his main body.

Seeing his plan succeed, Nie Yan accelerated his sprint toward the cliff below.

Just five seconds later, a system notification sounded.

System: Your Shadow Assassin has died.

However, in those five seconds, Nie Yan had already sprinted over a hundred yards, increasing the distance between himself and the two Shadow Princes to over one hundred and fifty yards. After eliminating the Shadow Assassin, the two Shadow Princes immediately turned back and charged toward Nie Yan.

This time, he had no choice but to fight. Nie Yan looked ahead—the cliff was finally near.

Behind him, the two Shadow Princes drew closer, quickly catching up to him. Their massive axes swung down fiercely.

As the axes were about to strike his head, Nie Yan used Shadow Dodge, narrowly evading the sharp force of the attack.

With a thunderous boom, Nie Yan could roughly imagine the devastation behind him, but he dared not look back now!

The two Shadow Princes missed their attack. Seeing a figure fleeing forward, they became even more enraged, letting out furious roars. Their bodies ignited with black flames as they swung their axes downward, unleashing two massive waves of flame.

The cliff was now only about fifty yards away. Nie Yan’s breath nearly stopped. The roaring flames above were approaching. Given their attack range, dodging one was already his limit. He quickly had Guardian Angel Kalenna cast the highest-tier protective light shield on himself.

Nie Yan pulled out an Expert-level Instant Healing Potion and used a Jump skill. His body soared upward, enduring one of the flame attacks as he flew forward.

With a loud crash, Nie Yan took a direct hit from the flame attack. His protective light shield shattered instantly, and the flames ravaged his body.

A damage number of over 90,000 floated above Nie Yan’s head. Almost simultaneously, he drank the Instant Healing Potion. His body flew backward a distance. He shot a strand of spider silk from his left hand, attaching it to the cliff wall ahead, then pulled himself forward sharply, like a fleeting shadow across the sky.

He hadn’t been killed!

Nie Yan gasped for breath. This was a single strike from a level 210 demonic lord!

Reflecting on it, he suddenly realized that earlier, to move freely within the Radiant Explosion, Nie Yan had cast the Divine Arbitration skill on himself, completely immune to magic. At least 80% of the damage from the Shadow Princes’ flame attack was magical, and that 80% was completely nullified. This meant Nie Yan had only suffered 20% of the Shadow Princes’ attack. Yet even that 20% was enough to shatter his protective light shield and deal 90,000 damage.

Seeing the relentless pursuit from the Shadow Princes behind him, Nie Yan activated his Climbing skill. His body moved like a gecko, sticking to the cliff wall as he frantically climbed upward.

Behind him, the violent crashing sounds seemed to threaten to swallow him whole.

Nie Yan no longer cared about that, focusing solely on climbing upward as fast as he could.

After climbing approximately fifty to sixty yards, Nie Yan looked down. The two Shadow Princes were helplessly circling below the cliff. They couldn’t climb, only growing increasingly anxious.

Looking upward, Nie Yan noticed several massive flying creatures circling overhead. Their size was even larger than that of a ninth-tier Darkwing Dragon. He absolutely couldn’t be spotted by them, or he would be in serious trouble.

Using the protruding bones on the cliff as cover, Nie Yan slowly approached the pyramid-like structure above, carefully maneuvering toward its front. A small entrance was right in front of him, just large enough for a human-sized creature to pass through.

He looked up, confirming that the flying creatures hadn’t noticed him, before cautiously entering the pyramid. The light instantly dimmed.

The narrow passage ahead led who-knew-where. Torches were embedded in the walls on both sides, their flames flickering and extending toward the end of the passage.

Nie Yan remained extremely cautious. He had no idea what strange occurrences might happen inside this building.

After walking for about five or six minutes, Nie Yan looked ahead. The passage opened into a vast hall. The hall was over thirty yards high, with towering pillars creating a grand and imposing atmosphere. The pillars, walls, and ceiling were all adorned with colorful oil paintings depicting battles between demons and angels. Among the murals, a tall and mighty angel and a hideous monster with countless tentacles appeared. They were likely the legendary God of Light and the God of Death.

Surveying the hall, Nie Yan saw no signs of any monsters, which eased his concerns. Looking further ahead, he spotted an empty throne made of some black metal. Something unknown was beside the throne.

It seemed he had worried unnecessarily—there were no monsters around here at all.

Thinking about it, entering this pyramid-like structure had already been an arduous journey. The Shadow Princes outside were all extremely ferocious. This quest could rightly be classified as SSS-tier. If even more powerful monsters appeared inside, there would truly be no hope of survival!

Something seemed to be beside the throne. Nie Yan’s heart raced as he approached. As he stepped into the hall, a powerful oppressive force surged toward him from all directions.

This force was utterly irresistible. Nie Yan felt as if he were about to be crushed into pulp—divine might!

In the face of such terrifying power, everything else was insignificant.

Was he destined to die here in the end? A deep sense of injustice surged in Nie Yan’s heart. He had overcome countless dangers and was now only a step away from completing the task, only to fail at the final hurdle?

Could it be that there was still a crucial step he had not completed?