This hall is a basement with a very unique structure, shaped like an ellipse. Various items made of metal were placed on the table, their bizarre forms making it impossible to discern their functions. In the corners of the hall were many jars and pots, clearly left there for many years. Some of the jars were broken, from which spilled black powder—raw materials of some sort.
Nie Yan sniffed the air; there was a strong smell of gunpowder.
Suddenly, he recalled something. In his previous life, there was supposedly a mid-sized guild, the Moon Wolf Guild, which had discovered some raw materials in this castle. When they were preparing to send people to transport them, the Triumph Guild suddenly intervened, wiping out the Moon Wolf Guild and seizing the materials.
It seemed those events were not just rumors.
On the nearby table were some other items—several scroll-like objects, their purpose unknown. Nie Yan’s attention, however, was completely focused on the “Bloody Dagger of Dictator Abak.” It was said that this tyrant had slaughtered countless people with the dagger, its blade soaked in blood and imbued with strong curse power that ordinary people couldn’t control.
The dagger was simply stuck in the wall, with a stream of blood slowly trickling down it—eerie yet strangely beautiful.
The Abak Set was Nie Yan’s ultimate goal; with this set of equipment, he would have no further desires. To obtain this set, one had to follow the clues provided by the quest, collecting each scattered piece one by one. This process would take no less than two or three years.
Since he had now discovered the Bloody Dagger of Abak, he must obtain it at all costs!
At this moment, the evil spirit Pesins came rushing down the stairs.
“You damned human, damned Holy Light!” Pesins bared a hideous expression, waving her sharp claws.
Hearing Pesins’ words, Nie Yan’s heart sank. This evil spirit possessed low-level intelligence. Among all creatures, intelligent beings were the most troublesome. They wouldn’t engage in endless battles; if they couldn’t win, they would call for help. If you were nearly dead, they would chase you relentlessly no matter how far you ran. If their health was nearly depleted, they would find ways to escape.
Nie Yan glanced at Pesins’ health bar—it still had over 110,000 HP.
Draining her health would indeed be no easy task.
By himself alone, he was afraid he couldn’t handle Pesins. That left only one option—get help!
Suddenly, Nie Yan held out a Flash Powder. With a loud pop, the powder exploded, emitting a blinding light.
Pesins let out a piercing scream, her eyes unable to open due to the intense light.
Nie Yan quickly retreated, activating his Intimidation skill and moving to a corner of the hall.
He opened the Sacred Hire interface, searched for a bit, gritted his teeth, and hired a level-seven mercenary paladin, Jio, whose attributes were 200% of his own. The cost was two thousand gold coins per hour.
For the Bloody Dagger of Abak, Nie Yan was willing to go all out.
Jio, holding a greatsword, stood by Nie Yan’s side.
“Respected Demon Hunter, I am honored to serve you. May the Holy Light be with you,” Jio stared at the distant Pesins with solemn righteousness. “To spread the faith of the Holy Light, to carry out the will of the Holy Light, and in the name of the divine, eliminate all evil creatures—that is the duty of a paladin!”
Mercenaries summoned through Sacred Hire were all devout paladins with only low-level intelligence.
Pesins regained her vision. She hesitated at a distance of five or six yards from Nie Yan, somewhat reluctant to enter. This was the effect of Nie Yan’s intimidation. The newly appeared paladin also instilled some fear in her.
Paladin Jio should still be able to hold out for a while. Nie Yan immediately began chanting spells, reciting incantations one after another. He was preparing to summon a Golden Earth Dragon when a strong spatial fluctuation surged forth.
As long as the Golden Earth Dragon was summoned, the three units working together would definitely eliminate Pesins.
Just then, Pesins suddenly let out a sharp, piercing scream. A powerful, explosive sound rolled toward Nie Yan, impacting his body.
-32, a damage number floated above Nie Yan’s head, interrupting his summoning spell directly.
Nie Yan’s body jolted, his mind momentarily dazed. He hadn’t expected Pesins to possess a mental attack skill similar to Fear Howl.
Bosses with intelligence were indeed too troublesome.
The summoning of the Golden Earth Dragon failed!
Together with Paladin Jio, they should still be able to defeat Pesins. Nie Yan glanced at Jio’s skill bar. Most importantly, Jio had healing skills. Checking the cooldown time of the healing skill, it was about twenty seconds, with a healing amount of 2000—sufficient enough.
Nie Yan charged toward Pesins.
Pesins let out a low growl and rushed forward, her claws swinging.
Nie Yan used Quick Step to dodge Pesins’ attack, sidestepping past her. With Zennarde’s Sword in hand, he slashed her back in a single swift motion. His attack was indeed fast.
Pesins struck again, her claws hitting Nie Yan, causing a damage number to rise above his head.
-1357.
A beam of white light fell on Nie Yan’s head, instantly restoring most of his health—Paladin Jio had cast a healing spell on him!
At this moment, Paladin Jio charged forward with a Charge ability, delivering a Holy Strike to Pesins. Blinding light erupted as the powerful Holy Light struck Pesins.
Pesins let out a piercing scream, and a damage number of -15928 floated above her head.
Holy Light was effective against undead!
This was also why countless paladins especially enjoyed hunting undead creatures.
The damage from Paladin Jio’s attack also surprised Nie Yan, who felt a surge of excitement. If Jio’s damage output was this high, then dealing with Pesins would be much easier than he had imagined!
Paladin Jio let out a deep shout and cast Purify, a beam of light shining upon Pesins.
Under the illumination of the Holy Light, Pesins’ face contorted, exuding a strange, bloody aura.
Nie Yan’s heart tensed. He didn’t care anymore. He accelerated his attack frequency while Paladin Jio continued his fierce assault.
-6738, -12957…
Within moments, Pesins’ health dropped below 10%, seemingly on the verge of death.
Just one more attack would finish her!
Suddenly, Pesins let out a piercing scream—the Fear Howl!
At the very moment his mind was hit by the mental impact, Nie Yan didn’t even have time to think. His mind became chaotic, and his body involuntarily ran outward.
Paladin Jio was the same.
Pesins turned her attention entirely to Jio. His damage output was higher, and the undead naturally harbored a deep hatred toward Holy Light beings.
She kept attacking, swinging her claws. Blood splattered as her attacks drained Jio’s health all the way down from over 5000.
Jio collapsed to the ground.
Pesins turned and lunged toward Nie Yan.
Fortunately, mental magic usually had a short duration. The first six seconds of Pesins’ Fear Howl were a strong control effect, meaning Nie Yan couldn’t use any skills during this time, and his body would act uncontrollably. After six seconds, there would be about ten seconds of weak control, during which Nie Yan could use skills but still couldn’t control his movements.
Mental Immunity!
As soon as the six seconds of strong control ended, Nie Yan immediately used Mental Immunity. Seeing Pesins rushing toward him with her claws about to strike, he quickly used Shadow Dance Step to dodge her attack and circle behind her.
Checking Pesins’ health, it was down to 6783. Nie Yan immediately tensed his muscles, raising Zennarde’s Sword toward her throat.
At this moment, Pesins used a skill!
Triple Strike!
Her claws slashed across Nie Yan’s chest, dealing -1356 and -1287 damage.
At this critical moment, Nie Yan executed a Coup de Grace—-6783 damage. Pesins let out a scream.
Nie Yan feared that Pesins might still have some actions left after dying, so he quickly used a mid-tier instant healing potion, restoring a large portion of his health. He prepared bandages, ready to apply them to himself at any moment.
Pesins fell to the ground. A white soul drifted upward from her body, looking around in confusion before floating toward the window.
A pool of shadow was left behind, dissipating from purification.
Finally, she was dead. Nie Yan exhaled in relief.
Pesins dropped two pieces of equipment—one for a Shadow Priest and one for an Arcane Mage, both of dark gold quality. He had no interest in these items. He walked toward the wall ahead, where the Holy Light Stone vibrated intensely, radiating brilliant light. With a hard pull, he yanked out the Bloody Dagger of Abak.
The dagger exuded a strong corrosive aura. Nie Yan could feel that, had it not been for the Holy Light Stone’s sacred energy dispersing this corrosive force, he would have died the moment he touched the Bloody Dagger.
This dagger could only be retrieved by someone who had obtained the Shadow Stalker quest!
Nie Yan’s gaze fell on the nearby table. There were several old parchment scrolls, their age evident from their gray color and cracked appearance.
They seemed to be some kind of formula!
Nie Yan was about to walk over and pick them up when he suddenly felt a faint, strange sense of danger—subtle, almost imperceptible. Yet he reacted immediately.
A rogue!
With his perception, he couldn’t detect the other’s position at all!
The surroundings were empty.
He couldn’t find him!
This was a level-50 area. If he encountered a rogue here, the opponent would be at least level 50 or higher. The other’s stealth must be extremely high; otherwise, he couldn’t evade Nie Yan’s perception in such a relatively confined hall!
He must have just entered the hall, otherwise he would have attacked earlier while Nie Yan was fighting Pesins.
Nie Yan narrowed his eyes, a flash of killing intent passing through them. He walked toward the nearby table, reaching out to grab those scrolls.
I bet you won’t stay hidden!
Just as Nie Yan extended his hand, a cold gleam shot straight toward the back of his head.
Finally, he moved!
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