Compared to the towering five-meter-tall Serestolt, the Dark Gladiator resembled a malnourished child.
Clad entirely in golden armor, Serestolt resembled a Titan giant resurrected from ancient times, exuding a heavy and oppressive aura.
If Serestolt approached closely, it would be extremely dangerous!
Under Nie Yan’s mental command, the Dark Gladiator suddenly leaped high into the air and lunged toward Serestolt.
Seeing the Dark Gladiator charging toward him, Serestolt’s eye sockets flickered with green flames, filled with contempt for the seemingly weak opponent. He swung his left hand, sending the Dark Gladiator flying away.
The Dark Gladiator rolled and crashed into a corner, a damage number “-139” floating above its head.
Serestolt’s attack was terrifying. Despite the Dark Gladiator’s high defense, it still lost over 20% of its health in one hit.
The Dark Gladiator staggered back to its feet and charged toward Serestolt again.
Nie Yan needed the Dark Gladiator to keep Serestolt occupied so he could have enough time to escape.
It wouldn’t be easy to summon a creature like the Dark Gladiator again in the future. Although it was a pity, there was no choice. Moreover, the Dark Gladiator’s summoning duration was nearly over.
The Dark Gladiator tightly grabbed Serestolt’s waist. Serestolt raised his massive sword, swung it, severing one of the Dark Gladiator’s arms. Then with an elbow strike, he sent the Dark Gladiator flying again.
Serestolt was an undead. Like all undead, he moved clumsily, his actions extremely stiff. Therefore, the Dark Gladiator could narrowly evade some of the fatal attacks.
The Dark Gladiator landed, with only 21% health remaining, barely able to withstand another hit from Serestolt.
Nie Yan’s heart was extremely tense. The Dark Gladiator had only slightly hindered Serestolt’s movement but still couldn’t prevent Serestolt from approaching him.
Eight seconds… six seconds… five seconds…
Serestolt raised his massive sword. The sharp blade gleamed with icy light—it was a deadly butcher’s knife!
Nie Yan seemed to see a vision of himself being dismembered. Glancing at the struggling Dark Gladiator nearby, he felt a surge of urgency. Hurry, hurry, hurry!
The Dark Gladiator rose, barely regaining its footing before charging at Serestolt again.
As Serestolt’s massive sword was about to strike Nie Yan, the Dark Gladiator dashed over and slammed into him with a loud crash. Serestolt staggered back a few steps, furious, and swung his sword horizontally.
The flash of cold light passed, and the Dark Gladiator was sliced in half, scattering bones across the ground.
After cutting the Dark Gladiator into pieces, Serestolt turned and walked toward Nie Yan.
Three seconds, two seconds, one second.
Finally, the Return Scroll completed its casting. A white glow flashed, and Nie Yan vanished into thin air.
The scene changed. Nie Yan reappeared in Karol City, still feeling tense. He had finally escaped that monster. The only pity was that the Dark Gladiator was gone.
Sigh, well, there was no help for it. Even if it hadn’t been killed by Serestolt, the Dark Gladiator would have disappeared anyway.
However, he had obtained the Sogot Cloth Boots, completing his objective. The next step was figuring out how to equip them.
“Where are you now?” Nie Yan sent a message to BigBro7 and the others.
“We’re already back at the pharmacy in Karol City,” BigBro7 replied. They had run out of potions in Sogot Ancient City and returned early.
“Come to the auction house,” Nie Yan messaged BigBro7.
“Okay.”
After a while, BigBro7 and the others approached from the east side of the street.
“Hello,” Nie Yan nodded to them. This time, without their help, he wouldn’t have obtained those gems or the Sogot Cloth Boots.
“Hello,” BigBro7 and Forgotten greeted him in return.
“Did you complete your task?” Forgotten asked, not prying into the details, respecting Nie Yan’s privacy.
“Yeah,” Nie Yan nodded. “As agreed, I’ll give you a piece of epic gear.”
“Forget about the gear,” BigBro7 declined.
“You lost two team members. I can’t let you go unrewarded. Otherwise, it would be too unfair,” Nie Yan insisted, opening a trade window with BigBro7. He had a decent impression of BigBro7 and the others—they were honest people, worth getting to know better in the future.
BigBro7 accepted the trade request and was shocked upon seeing the item placed in the trade window.
It was a warrior’s shoulder armor. Although it required level 10 to equip, it was undoubtedly an excellent piece—+13 Strength, +17 Stamina. Such gear would easily be worth at least 30 silver coins on the market.
BigBro7 had expected Nie Yan to offer a random piece of epic gear just to fulfill the agreement. Even the most basic epic gear was valuable, given its base attributes. But he never expected Nie Yan to give such an exceptional item. This time, BigBro7 didn’t refuse. If he declined for the sake of politeness, it would be irresponsible toward his team. A piece of warrior armor like this was extremely important for their team!
“We’ll accept it with gratitude. If Nie Yan brother needs any help in the future, we’ll definitely do our best!” BigBro7’s tone was sincere, no longer superficial as before.
Nie Yan had initially planned to give a common epic gear just as a gesture. But after seeing how hard BigBro7 and the others had worked to distract the monsters, even losing two teammates, he couldn’t let them suffer losses. After all, he had no use for this warrior’s pauldron, and money wasn’t an issue for him.
If they had hesitated and refused repeatedly out of politeness, Nie Yan would have felt annoyed. He preferred straightforward people who were easy to get along with and not pretentious. Glancing at the team members behind BigBro7, he said, “If I need help in the future, I’ll definitely look you up. Maybe I’ll even form a party with you.”
“We’d be delighted,” Forgotten interjected. They didn’t have a fixed team yet. Although they had wanted to form one, they hadn’t had the chance. If Nie Yan was willing to include them, they’d be more than happy. Previously, they had wanted to recruit Nie Yan into their team, but now it seemed impossible. Their small team couldn’t retain such a big name.
Only a week after the game’s launch, few players had formed teams. For Nie Yan, this was undoubtedly an ideal time to gather top-tier players. He could frequently collect good items, farm high-level elites, and occasionally join a team for dungeons, which was also a good option.
After chatting with BigBro7, Forgotten, and others for a while, Nie Yan found them quite agreeable and added them as friends for future contact.
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