Chapter 311: The Deceiver’s Necklace

Nie Yan searched the official website for some keywords such as Bennett, Empress Finas, and so on.

There was an introduction about Empress Finas, who was a ruler of an ancient tribe that worshipped spiders and lived underground. They were neutral evil creatures who often attacked other races, including humans, dark elves, and fallen humans, viewing them all as food. They were a group of cannibals with sharp mandibles. They were known to the outside world as the Spiderkin.

This was a brief background introduction, and Nie Yan only glanced through it briefly.

One by one, the troglodyte guards fell to the ground, leaving a trail of corpses.

The entire team moved in a very orderly fashion, steadily advancing forward.

Soon, after more than twenty minutes, only the last troglodyte guard remained. Though it was also a level 50 elite, its entire body was bright red, differing from the other troglodytes whose skin was more greenish in hue.

“This troglodyte guard is a bit different from the ordinary ones. It might be a quest monster!” Cui Can Dao Guang (Cui Can Daoguang) said beside him, and with a shield bash from his heavy shield, he attacked the troglodyte guard.

Demoralizing Roar!

Cui Can Daoguang roared, drawing the troglodyte guard’s aggro.

The mages behind launched spells at the troglodyte guard. Nie Yan circled behind it, swinging Zennarde’s Sword repeatedly. Damage numbers over 500 floated above the troglodyte guard’s head.

Magical blasts erupted on the troglodyte guard’s body, showering sparks.

Cui Can Daoguang slowly lured the troglodyte guard to a large open area nearby. The team members spread out. There were seven warriors, one paladin, three rogues, six mages, two priests—nineteen players in total. The team had a slightly high number of warriors, but it was still reasonable. Having more warriors meant a thicker frontline.

In the middle, the troglodyte guard charged repeatedly, trying to break through the encirclement, but the warriors held their positions perfectly, giving it no opportunity.

Under the team’s continuous damage, the troglodyte guard’s health gradually approached the 20% threshold. Suddenly, it roared furiously, its body swelling, turning a vivid red, exuding a sinister aura.

The troglodyte guard swung its spear, unleashing a Shockwave attack. Cui Can Daoguang and others were stunned and knocked back.

As the troglodyte guard launched the Shockwave, Nie Yan used Dash Step to dodge the attack.

The troglodyte guard knocked Cui Can Daoguang, Shui Se Yantou (Shui Se Yantou), and others backward, then charged toward the mages with its spear.

Suddenly, Nie Yan appeared in front of the troglodyte guard. The Flash Powder in his hand exploded with a bang, emitting blinding light in all directions. The troglodyte guard shrieked in pain. Its eyes were small and its vision was already weak. The Flash Powder blinded it completely, causing it to thrash around aimlessly like a headless fly.

Nie Yan’s timing with the Flash Powder was perfect. Without his quick reaction, the troglodyte guard might have already begun chasing the mages.

This elite was so fierce. Everyone couldn’t help but exclaim. It was much tougher than the previous elite troglodyte guards. The mages quickly scattered.

The troglodyte guard recovered from the blindness, but another Flash Powder exploded in front of it, plunging it back into blindness. Two Flash Powders were still effective, but the third might not be.

The mages unleashed powerful damage, especially Tang Yao and others, whose spells never stopped. They no longer cared about aggro, just focusing on dealing as much damage as possible.

Cui Can Daoguang and others finally recovered from the stun and rushed back toward the troglodyte guard, re-encircling it.

The troglodyte guard’s health kept dropping until it finally neared its limit.

“It’s almost dead. Everyone hurry up!” Nie Yan shouted in the team chat.

The team members intensified their attacks. Finally, Tang Yao’s last spell exploded on the troglodyte guard. It shrieked piercingly, its entire body glowing red, its head rapidly swelling like a balloon.

“Everyone, get out of the way!” Nie Yan suddenly had a bad premonition.

Nie Yan, Cui Can Daoguang, and others immediately scattered and ran outward.

The troglodyte guard’s body swelled more and more until it reached a critical point, then with a loud bang, it exploded. Blood splattered everywhere, a wave of blood sweeping over the team, instantly killing five warriors, including Cui Can Daoguang and Shui Se Yantou.

The distant mages also felt a strong shockwave.

At the center, where the troglodyte guard’s corpse lay, a seductive figure emerged. It was completely naked, with arms like spiders—sharp and covered in hard bristles. On either side of its cheeks were sharp hooks. It had been parasitizing inside the troglodyte guard’s body.

Apart from these unusual features, its other parts looked human. Spotting Nie Yan, who was closest and hadn’t been caught in the explosion, it immediately lunged toward him.

Its hands were its deadliest weapons.

This was the legendary Spiderkin.

Its movement speed was extremely fast, and in an instant, it reached Nie Yan.

Seeing the Spiderkin lunging, Nie Yan used Shadow Step and vanished.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Several mages’ spells exploded on the Spiderkin’s body.

Spiderkin Feini: Level 50 Elite, Health 2200/2200.

Its health was low, only 2200, but no one knew its attack power yet. It turned its target, when Leng Ao Ying (Leng Ao Ying) shouted nearby, rushing forward with a shield bash that struck it.

It was thrown backward by the powerful impact, but landed gracefully and quickly charged toward one of the mages.

Its sharp spike slashed down, instantly depleting over 900 health from the mage, who fell to the ground.

Just as it paused briefly, Nie Yan’s Flash Powder exploded with a bang, emitting blinding light that momentarily halted its movement, blinding it and causing it to lose its sense of direction.

Nie Yan’s dagger reached its throat. A Backstab followed by a critical strike caused blood to spurt, dealing over 500 damage. Then came a series of fire damage and bleed effects.

After the Backstab, Nie Yan immediately followed with a Ambush and Shiv. Tang Yao and others continuously bombarded it with spells, causing its health to drop significantly.

It turned to attack Nie Yan, but Nie Yan used Shadowstep to dodge and disappeared.

Damage numbers floated above Spiderkin Feini’s head as it roared, trying to locate Nie Yan. After locking onto his position, it lunged toward Nie Yan’s stealthed form.

It detected him! Nie Yan quickly ran outward. Every distance he ran gave the team more time to deal damage. The bleed and fire effects could last longer.

The Spiderkin’s health kept dropping.

It began chasing Nie Yan, quickly closing in. Its right hand, with the sharp spike, stabbed toward Nie Yan’s back.

With only 500 health left, as the spike came from behind, Nie Yan rolled aside, dodging the attack. He roared, “Critical Strike!”

Nie Yan’s dagger slashed across the Spiderkin’s throat, passing it by with a sharp and decisive motion.

The Spiderkin’s movement and attack speed were far higher than Nie Yan’s, yet he could still dodge its attacks with his reflexes and counterattack. This was unimaginable for ordinary players.

Nie Yan’s critical strike dealt over 300 damage to the Spiderkin.

Thanks to Zennarde’s Sword’s level-ignoring effect, his damage remained high even against level 50 monsters, significantly higher than his level 40+ teammates.

Boom! Boom! Boom! Five or six spells exploded on the Spiderkin, finally bringing its health to the brink. It collapsed to the ground.

“Hmph, this one was tough,” Nie Yan exhaled in relief.

Seeing the Spiderkin fall, Tang Yao and others finally relaxed their tense nerves.

They had watched the Spiderkin chase Nie Yan, their hearts pounding. The nearby melee players couldn’t help him. They had thought several times that Nie Yan might die at the Spiderkin’s hands. Yet, unexpectedly, Nie Yan miraculously survived and dealt such high damage.

Dai Tou Da Ge Qi Zi (Dai Tou Dage Qizi) and Li Li Hua Sha (Li Li Hua Sha) approached.

Nie Yan looked at the corpses on the ground and said, “Let’s resurrect them.”

Only after reviving the team members could they continue forward.

“It wasn’t easy defeating this Spiderkin. Let’s see what gear dropped,” Tang Yao said. This Spiderkin was so tough; the gear it dropped should be decent. There might even be some quest items.

Nie Yan looked around and found several items near the Spiderkin’s corpse. He bent down and picked them up.

There were three items in total. One was an accessory for an arcane mage, and another was a necklace.

This was a rather unique necklace. It was made of gray metal, with three sharp teeth attached to the front, giving it an ancient and distinctive appearance.

Nie Yan examined the necklace’s attributes.

Necklace of the Deceiver (Epic): Special item, requires Focus 50, Stealth 30.

Item Attributes: This item has two states—one of Lawful Good and one of Lawful Evil. When switched to Lawful Good state, the player appears as Good-aligned. When switched to Lawful Evil state, the player appears as Evil-aligned. Using this item reduces all attributes by 30% for 3 hours. Skill cooldown is one full day. (This skill can be detected by certain abilities.)

User Restriction: None.

Seeing the item’s attributes, Nie Yan’s heart skipped a beat. This was a great item, and he clearly understood its value.