Chapter 255: Theocracy

Nie Yan and others remained in place to recover. Once their health and status were fully restored, Nie Yan stood up and said, “Let’s continue.”

The four of them used the same method as before, slowly luring the goblin slicer toward the sculpture area. With the experience from their first attempt, their coordination had improved significantly.

The goblin slicer gradually entered the sculpture area.

“Be patient, let’s wait a bit longer,” Nie Yan anxiously wiped the sweat from his palms. The goblin slicer had now entered the designated area. If they made even the slightest mistake, all their previous efforts would be wasted, and they would have to die again.

Cui Can Dao Guang (Brilliant Blade) was still adjusting his attack position. Finally, the goblin slicer became extremely restricted among the many sculptures, unable to move forward or backward. Just as it prepared to use its Accelerated Charge ability, Brilliant Blade suddenly moved into the prearranged coordinates and assumed a defensive stance, effectively blocking the creature’s path.

The goblin slicer charged forward, crashing into one of the nearby sculptures with a loud bang. Several metal-cast sculptures trembled slightly from the impact, but none were toppled.

Brilliant Blade adjusted his position slightly, wedging himself behind the goblin slicer’s right flank.

“Nie Yan, I found an even better spot!” Brilliant Blade exclaimed excitedly. Now wedged behind the creature’s right rear, the goblin slicer was completely immobilized. It was blocked in front by several towering sculptures and pinned from behind by Brilliant Blade’s heavy shield. It couldn’t attack Brilliant Blade directly, nor could it break free, making it a perfect stationary target!

Although Brilliant Blade’s ability to trap the goblin slicer involved some luck, his sharp instincts played a decisive role. After all, he was one of the top three shield warriors from his previous life—definitely not someone to be underestimated!

“Let everyone come over,” Nie Yan said. This way, they wouldn’t even need healers anymore; the spellcasters could just pour their attacks into the creature!

Players who had been watching from a distance immediately rushed forward. Seeing the goblin slicer completely immobilized, they widened their eyes in disbelief. “F***, this actually worked! Is this how we’re going to take down a level 40 boss?”

“Bring a few more shield warriors to hold it down—don’t let it break free!” Nie Yan ordered. Yi Yan and a few other shield warriors rushed forward, forming a human wall.

The mages spread out and began preparing their spells. A series of magical projectiles soared through the sky, bombarding the goblin slicer and sending sparks flying.

Each mage’s attack only dealt around ten points of damage, with Tang Yao’s being the highest at around sixty points. However, his Arcane Sprite provided significant bonuses due to its ability to ignore level differences.

With over two hundred mages launching coordinated attacks, the overall damage output was quite impressive.

“F***, this thing’s health regeneration speed is terrifying!” Tang Yao exclaimed. Despite dealing high damage, the goblin slicer’s health barely dropped, decreasing at a snail’s pace—only a tiny fraction over several seconds.

“All mechanical units above the Energy class have automatic repair systems!” Nie Yan explained. He raised his Ranger Crossbow and fired at the goblin slicer. Five arrows streaked across the sky with brilliant silver light, all hitting their mark and dealing over one hundred points of damage in total.

“Holy sh*t, that’s so much damage!” Tang Yao was shocked by the impressive damage numbers Nie Yan had just displayed. Nie Yan’s crossbow attack had even surpassed his own magical damage!

Tang Yao looked at Nie Yan, who was now holding a massive crossbow. The weapon was intricately constructed, covered in strange runes and featuring a streamlined design. It resembled the large crossbows mounted on the walls of Karol City, creating a strong visual impact. The weapon emitted no glow, clearly hidden by Nie Yan.

While attacking the goblin slicer, Nie Yan had been thinking about how the Ranger Crossbow of the Headless Knight Doro dealt such low damage. But now, after comparing it directly with regular mages’ spell damage, the difference was immediately apparent.

Although mechanical units’ metal armor could significantly reduce the piercing damage from arrows and completely negate the 100 fire damage from the crossbow, the Ranger Crossbow’s attack still remained impressively strong!

“Boss, what kind of crossbow is that in your hand? It’s too powerful!” Xia Chong Yubing (Summer Insect Winter Ice) and others kept casting spells, shocked that their magical attacks couldn’t even match Nie Yan’s shooting damage. It was really demoralizing.

After all, rogues weren’t supposed to be a ranged class!

They could immediately tell Nie Yan’s crossbow was no ordinary weapon. A crossbow of this size was something they had never seen before—extremely powerful and imposing.

How could Nie Yan even lift such a massive weapon?

The design was also incredibly intricate, with five arrows loaded, exuding a chilling aura.

Quintuple Arrows!

Who had ever seen a crossbow with quintuple arrows? Triple was already considered excellent!

With a loud twang, five arrows shot forth, flashing cold light in midair. They struck the goblin slicer with a series of metallic thuds, with some arrows even piercing into its iron armor.

Out of the five arrows, four dealt around twenty points of damage, while one arrow critically hit for over sixty points.

Triple damage critical strike!

This terrifying crossbow possessed astonishing attributes that left everyone in awe.

The other party members couldn’t help but glance over, deeply impressed by this incredible weapon.

“Boss, what kind of crossbow is that?”

Since everyone was now asking about his crossbow, Nie Yan could no longer keep it a secret. “It’s the Ranger Crossbow of the Headless Knight Doro.”

Everyone was momentarily stunned. Equipment names typically followed a limited format. Items like Divine Authority Staves, Shatterer’s Blades, or Courage Shields were usually below Epic quality. However, when an item carried an NPC’s name as a prefix—such as the Headless Knight Doro’s Ranger Crossbow or the Grett Divine Authority Staff—it was generally at least Sub-Legendary, if not outright Legendary. The more powerful the NPC, the stronger the attributes of their legacy equipment.

Just from the name, “Ranger Crossbow of the Headless Knight Doro,” it was clearly at least a Sub-Legendary item.

Currently, it was already extremely difficult for players to find a single Epic-quality item, with one such item often costing an ordinary player their entire fortune. As for Sub-Legendary items, no one even knew how many existed across all of Grendale. These items hadn’t even appeared on the official website, highlighting their extreme rarity.

Nie Yan actually managed to obtain a Sub-Legendary item. However, considering the Guild Vault’s highly coveted Gremarion Staff, they could somewhat accept it. Their leader, Nie Yan, was just too powerful—he had acquired two divine-grade items!

“Boss, let us see the stats of the Ranger Crossbow of the Headless Knight Doro!” Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan (Undead Bad Guy) said, his curiosity tormenting him.

“Yeah, let us take a look!” the other party members eagerly requested, wanting to know exactly what attributes this massive crossbow possessed.

Since revealing the crossbow’s stats posed no harm, under the strong urging of the party members, Nie Yan shared the Ranger Crossbow’s attributes in the public chat window. The party members immediately gasped in astonishment.

“F***, so powerful!”

Attack 307-327, 30% piercing damage, 30% chance for 3x critical strike damage, 100 fire damage, and Quintuple Shot. These stats were absolutely godlike for a crossbow-type item. No wonder it was a Sub-Legendary item.

The 30% piercing damage could largely ignore most armor types except for heavy or metallic armor. The other attributes were also extremely impressive.

“Boss, your Strength is already 800?” Wu Feng (Silent Edge), who was assisting Brilliant Blade from a distance, was shocked after seeing the equipment’s stats. After all, as a Berserker, he only had 370 Strength so far.

Only then did the others notice that this Ranger Crossbow required 800 Strength to wield—an incredibly high requirement that was truly intimidating.

“I have a special method that allows me to equip this crossbow,” Nie Yan replied. Although the Ranger Crossbow was bound to Shadow Dancer, there was no need to show off all his equipment.

This “special method” was obviously about reducing equipment requirements. Many items could be used with reduced requirements, such as the Eternal Set worn by Brilliant Blade, which could be equipped 10 levels below the requirement.

The others didn’t ask further questions. After all, they couldn’t expect Nie Yan to reveal all his equipment. That would be too dangerous if enemies found out. Nie Yan’s Ranger Crossbow had indeed left everyone in awe.

Brilliant Blade and others firmly held their ground against the goblin slicer. No matter how hard it struggled, it couldn’t break free and was completely trapped. Even when it entered a berserk state, it had no effect. The party members continued bombarding it with spells. After two minutes, the goblin slicer’s health finally dropped to zero, and it collapsed to the ground.

White light flashed from many party members as they gained levels. The goblin slicer had provided a substantial amount of experience, allowing nearly half the party to level up. Nie Yan checked his experience bar and found it had increased by over 70%—quite impressive.

Brilliant Blade searched the ruins below and surprisingly found five pieces of equipment, several gems, and a fragment of an Energy Key.

The goblin slicer had dropped a huge loot! Their luck was great!

“What did we get?” Nie Yan asked.

Some party members helped identify the equipment.

“Divine Authority Staff, Radiant Sword, Divine Authority Robe, Divine Authority Boots, and Eternal Armor!”

They shared the stats of the Divine Authority Staff, Radiant Sword, Divine Authority Robe, Divine Authority Boots, and Eternal Armor in the group chat. Since these were all dropped by a boss, they were all Epic-quality items.

They had even obtained three pieces of the Divine Authority set. If they could defeat all five bosses, they might be able to complete a full Divine Authority set. This level 40 Epic-quality set would rank among the best priest sets of its level.

“Radiant Sword for 20,000 guild contribution. Any paladin interested?” Nie Yan asked in the guild chat.

“Give it to me. I have enough contribution,” Tuo Ba Shi (Tuo Ba Time) replied. The Epic-quality Radiant Sword had excellent stats, even catching his interest.

Nie Yan traded the Radiant Sword to Tuo Ba Shi, then turned to DaTou LaoGe QiZai (BigBro Seven) and HeiSe TianTang (Black Heaven), asking, “Who wants the Divine Authority gear?”

“Ladies first,” DaTou LaoGe QiZai said chivalrously. Now that they knew this place could drop Divine Authority sets, they could always find more later.