A dazzling and brilliant light flashed. The six Chapters of Order merged together, transforming into an ancient black book. The cover was exquisitely crafted, inscribed with rows of ancient Common script resembling sunken stone carvings and tadpole-like characters that exuded an elegant and ethereal aura.
The book was quite thick with many pages, radiating a mysterious power.
Touching the book, one could feel a magical force that brought calm and tranquility.
The cover bore the title: “The First Volume of the Chapters of Order: Shadow of Darkness.”
System: Do you wish to bind this item?
“Yes!” Without hesitation, Nieyan confirmed the binding. He wanted to bind it first to prevent it from dropping. Once bound, he wouldn’t have to worry about losing it.
System: The item has been bound.
At the moment the Chapters of Order were bound, Nieyan felt a significant increase in his attributes, more than 50% higher than before. Characters emerged on the book’s cover, appearing in the lower left corner: “Owner: Nieyan.”
This legendary item was now permanently marked as Nieyan’s, and no one else could hold it.
Still being pursued, he had no time to examine the item’s properties thoroughly. He needed to find an exit first.
Nieyan activated Shadow Dance and dashed forward, but the vast, endless wilderness seemed to stretch infinitely. No matter how hard he ran, he couldn’t escape this expanse. He sensed the five pursuing mages drawing closer.
The five figures chased behind Nieyan at great speed, gradually closing the distance.
One figure soared into the sky, and time seemed to freeze.
Nieyan looked toward the distant sky and saw the demon-possessed lord Sonia. Her back bore a pair of fleshy wings, flapping as she hovered in the air. Suspended against the backdrop of a full moon, she cast her gaze through the darkness, locking onto Nieyan fleeing below.
Nieyan’s heart felt pierced, and his body gradually slowed. This demon-possessed lord could fly. At their current level, flying creatures were extremely difficult to deal with. They could only be countered by mages, often with limited success, and melee fighters were even less effective.
She had demonic sight; escape seemed impossible. Nieyan quickly placed all unbound equipment into his backpack and continued fleeing.
Sonia waved her staff, muttering obscure demonic incantations.
Nieyan suddenly felt an infinite darkness surge toward him, and countless dark tendrils tightly bound him in place.
No matter how Nieyan struggled, he could not break free from the dark tendrils’ grasp.
Sonia flapped her wings and slowly flew toward him, her flight speed still slow as she hadn’t fully mastered her wings yet.
“That’s the rogue! He’s there! It’s the Queen of Shadows binding him!”
The five white elves quickly surrounded Nieyan, their hands glowing with magical light.
It’s over, Nieyan thought.
The five white elves hurled magical orbs into the sky, shooting straight at Nieyan. Boom after boom, the magical orbs exploded on Nieyan’s body, each dealing over 300 points of damage. He was blasted and fell to the ground.
Sonia flapped her wings and landed beside Nieyan, wearing a puzzled expression. She couldn’t understand why the Chapter of Goodness had vanished after killing Nieyan.
After a long while, Nieyan opened his eyes, finding his soul already at the graveyard.
After struggling so hard, he still died.
System: Do you wish to resurrect?
Resurrection had three options. The first was to find one’s corpse and resurrect at the death site, with a relatively minor penalty: losing 50% experience, five minutes of weakness during which all attributes dropped by 80%, and red-name penalties doubling if killed during PvP.
The second was to accept resurrection from a priest, with the smallest penalty: losing 0%-50% experience, one minute of weakness, and doubled red-name penalties.
The third was to resurrect directly at the graveyard, with the greatest penalty: losing one level, thirty minutes of weakness, and doubled red-name penalties. However, this method was safer.
Nieyan chose direct resurrection. Checking his level, he felt disheartened—he had dropped to level 23. All his hard work was wasted, and he had to start climbing again. Fortunately, training in Eternal City wouldn’t take long to recover.
His attributes were in a weakened state, making training unsuitable for now. Nieyan teleported back to Carol City. He couldn’t wait to check the properties of the Chapter of Order—it was worth risking over a dozen levels and nearly losing all his equipment!
He needed a quiet place. Nieyan entered the Starry Sky Pharmacy and slipped into an unoccupied laboratory.
Nieyan placed the Shadow of Darkness, the first volume of the Chapter of Order, on the table and checked its properties.
Chapter of Order Volume I: Shadow of Darkness—Legendary Item. Item Level: 1. Item Level increases by defeating evil creatures.
Item Description: Holding the Chapter of Order grants divine inheritance; your mission is to spread the glory of the gods.
Item Properties: For every five levels gained, the holder receives five additional attribute points and three skill points. Strength +100, Agility +200, All Attributes +30, Additional +50%. Gains 500 Virtual Attribute Points. Acquires the Shadow of Darkness skill tree.
Usage Restriction: Exclusive to player Nieyan.
Note: Effects activate upon placing the item in the backpack.
The item provided substantial base attribute bonuses. As for the Shadow of Darkness skill tree, he wasn’t sure what it contained. Seeing the Chapter of Order added 500 virtual attribute points, Nieyan’s heart raced.
A full 500 virtual attribute points—what a treasure!
Virtual attribute points differed from real attribute points; adding them didn’t affect personal attributes, or else adding 500 strength would be too extreme. However, they were effective for equipment, meaning even without meeting the strength or agility requirements, one could wear various equipment by allocating virtual attribute points.
Nieyan immediately thought of the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow. If he allocated some virtual attribute points to strength, he could wield the Headless Knight Doro’s mounted crossbow beyond his level. This powerful crossbow would undoubtedly bring Nieyan significant benefits.
Turning to the second page of the Chapter of Order, there was a skill tree with over twenty powerful skills. Several skills at the bottom were activated, including Vanish and Death Strike from the Chapter of Freedom, and Super Insight and Divine Arbitration from the Chapter of Courage. These skills were the same as when holding the Chapter of Freedom and Chapter of Courage.
Many grayed-out skill icons above, including skills like Storm Assault and Shadow Kill, required specific conditions to activate. Some needed to defeat 10,000 evil creatures, while others required defeating 1,000 elite-level evil creatures of the same level.
The skills dazzled Nieyan. Each was no less powerful than Divine Arbitration or Death Strike, but the requirements for activating them were extremely high—ridiculously so.
To acquire such powerful skills naturally required paying a significant price.
Nieyan finally understood the meaning of the Chapter of Order’s prologue: “Holding the Chapter of Order grants divine inheritance; your mission is to spread the glory of the gods.” It seemed his future would involve endlessly defeating evil creatures. With proper equipment, he could even explore dungeons.
The power of Shadow of Darkness was unquestionable, evident from the skill tree filled with formidable abilities.
Turning to the third page, he saw eight pieces of equipment depicted: leather armor, cloak, gauntlets, greaves, boots, shoulder guards, and two daggers. The equipment designs were unique—dark purple sets, each bearing a different rune mark, appearing ancient and timeless. Nieyan was instantly captivated, especially by the two daggers. Their blades had eerily curved edges, exuding a suffocating aura of death, delivering a powerful visual impact.
Ancient Order: Dictator Abak’s Set.
During the distant co-governance era, human leader Abak was a tyrannical ruler who brutally killed human monarch Agnes, exiled the parliament, and plunged the kingdom into darkness under his bloody reign. Later, he was killed by General Brook, and the set was lost. Shadow of Darkness will provide clues, brave adventurer, embark on your journey to find the lost Abak Set.
A legendary set left behind by a legendary lord!
Dictator Abak’s Set!
This was the true divine equipment!
Nieyan checked the quest clues below.
“The Dictator’s Set has been lost for many years. The last sighting of Abak’s Bloody Dagger was over a decade ago in the town of Kulan. Old mage Kiregan might know some information.”
“The leather armor of the Dictator Set was already tattered. It is said a wanderer who found the armor auctioned it at the central Carol City auction house for two silver coins, and it was bought by Count Kelfid.”
Each quest clue could guide Nieyan in his search for the set, although he was certain it would be challenging.
Since it was a legendary set, although the current quest clues seemed simple, Nieyan knew he lacked the strength to collect the entire set. However, this Dictator Set was undoubtedly an extraordinary set of equipment. Back when players were around levels 80-100, having a sub-legendary set was considered divine equipment. Legendary items were seen as mythical treasures, possessed only by one or two players. As for legendary sets, no player dared to dream about them, even in their sleep!
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