As Nie Yan’s heart skipped a beat, he understood what it meant. This was a closed area; how could the system allow him to obtain the Chapter of Courage so easily!
Logically, there should be a guardian for the Chapter of Order—the Keeper of Order. Why hadn’t it appeared yet?
Nie Yan had only briefly seen the Keeper of Order in a video, but its powerful image was deeply etched in his mind.
As he was pondering, the ground trembled violently, rapidly cracking open as if something were about to emerge from beneath the earth. Nie Yan looked back toward the pool, which was now blocked by rocks.
No time to lose—he had to escape immediately. Scanning the area, there was no way out, so he could only climb up the mountain!
Nie Yan chose a slope that wasn’t too steep and began climbing upward nimbly. Trees growing horizontally along the rock face provided many handholds.
Suddenly, Nie Yan remembered something. Right—the Weaver’s Ring. He hadn’t appraised this ring yet, but now that he had Super Insight, appraising this item should pose no problem. Taking out the Weaver’s Ring, he cast Appraisal.
Weaver’s Ring (Bronze): Special Item.
Properties: Fires a strand of spider silk that adheres to an object. Maximum length of the silk is 5 yards, and it can withstand a maximum pulling force of 200 pounds. Skill cooldown time is twenty seconds.
Weight: 1 pound.
Restrictions: Usable by all factions.
After equipping the Weaver’s Ring, Nie Yan wanted to appraise the Assassin’s Doctrine next. Suddenly, a powerful surge of heat erupted from beneath the valley’s center. The ground shattered instantly, massive boulders thrown into the air, trees toppling and bursting into flames. The scene was one of utter destruction.
The center of the valley resembled a terrifying volcanic crater, devouring everything it could touch.
The sleeping giant had awakened. It emerged from the distant depths of the earth, a servant of the gods, wielding the power of divine judgment.
“There’s not much time left,” Nie Yan had no time to appraise the Assassin’s Doctrine as he continued climbing upward. A wave of searing heat caused his foot to slip, nearly making him fall.
Regaining his balance on a tree, he looked up. There was about two yards to the next foothold. He leapt powerfully, reaching high to grab a protruding rock. With a slight pull, he climbed a little further upward.
A massive head appeared within the valley’s fissure, followed by the body and torso.
It was a six-yard-tall giant, with twin wings on its back covered in black scales. It wielded a crystal staff over three yards long and was engulfed in blazing flames. As soon as it appeared, scorching whirlwinds began to blow through the valley.
With his Super Insight, Nie Yan clearly saw the giant’s attributes.
Keeper of Order (Low Intelligence): Level 100 Elite, Health 200000/200000.
“Sougbjsoidgsdguosnghu,” the giant’s deep chanting echoed far into the distance. In Draconic: “Darkness and light alternate; I uphold the divine will, guarding order. Any villain who dares steal the Chapter of Order shall face divine judgment.”
Legends say the Keeper of Order is a lifeform born from the union of dragons and giants. They were exiled to the barren wilderness of time until finally receiving divine purification and entrusted by the gods to guard the lost Chapter of Order.
The Keeper of Order scanned the surroundings and, looking upward, spotted Nie Yan, who was nearly at the mountain peak. With a flap of its wings, it rapidly ascended.
“Sdgjgo!” Draconic magic: Black Flame Storm!
In the sky, a searing black cloud quickly gathered, hurling fireballs toward Nie Yan’s position. With a thunderous boom, the fireballs exploded in all directions, scattering sparks that ignited everything they touched.
In the nearby town of Link, not far from the Lein Hills, the ground violently shook, unsettling the players gathered there.
“What’s happening?”
“Look at the mountain across from us!”
The mountaintop was shrouded in searing black clouds, within which a massive figure hovered in midair, resembling a destroyer from hell.
Link Town Alert: A dragon-type creature has appeared in the southern part of the town. Unrelated players are advised to leave.
After a while, a series of white lights flashed from the direction of the teleportation array, and a large group of fully armed NPC soldiers clad in gleaming silver metal armor appeared. Bearing the insignia of the Holy Crusade, numbering in the hundreds, they quickly assembled in the town square.
In the Empire of Grinland, two of the most powerful military forces exist. One is under the Grinland Empire’s Council of Elders, known as the Holy Crusade, numbering about 500,000, with the Supreme Commander being Archmage Emperor Jobiah. They are responsible for the defense of the Grinland Empire. The other is the Temple Guard of the Temple of Light, known as the Temple Sentinels, smaller in number at around 50,000. Their sole responsibility is to protect the Temple of Light and safeguard the faith of Grinland.
These hundred or so soldiers belonged to the Holy Crusade, dispatched to protect Link Town.
“So it’s a dragon-type creature!”
Players gazed at the Keeper of Order appearing in the sky, murmuring amongst themselves.
Dragons were a distant and powerful existence. In the Dark Age (-2678~230), dragons established a mighty empire across this continent, enslaving all races. Later, their rule was overthrown by a united army of giants, humans, elves, orcs, and dwarves. To prevent retaliation from the dragons, they slaughtered dragonkind across the land, and dragons never regained their former glory. However, many dragons still roamed various corners of the continent.
They mistook the Keeper of Order for a dragon. In fact, outwardly, the Keeper of Order differed only slightly from dragons.
Some players began to think strategically. If a dragon had appeared and a large force of NPCs had arrived, surely a battle would ensue between the dragon and the NPCs, and they might benefit from the chaos.
One guild after another deployed to Link Town—Radiant Temple, Dark Slaughter, Holy Roman Empire, and others, each sending thousands, even several thousand players.
If the dragon-type creature dropped any equipment, it would be an enormous temptation for them.
The entire town of Link was armed to the teeth, with ballistae on the towers fully activated.
Nie Yan looked up. A massive figure hovered in the sky. The Keeper of Order’s vast wings blocked out the sunlight. After casting its spell, dark clouds gathered in the sky, and black fireballs fell like meteors, covering the area where Nie Yan was located.
Balls of black fire exploded around Nie Yan, creating deep craters, scattering stones, and scorching the ground black.
Nie Yan calmly judged the direction of the fireballs from the sky and chose his evasion points accordingly. This required exceptional vision and judgment. Fortunately, the black fire wasn’t too dense, but its explosive power was terrifying.
“He’s coming down,” Nie Yan looked up and saw the Keeper of Order’s massive body diving toward his location, like a hawk swooping for prey. This level of creature, the Warden of Hell, was far beyond his current capabilities.
Nie Yan’s fragile life couldn’t even withstand the slightest touch from the Keeper of Order.
Nie Yan sprinted around the mountainside, reaching a rock and looking down. Below was a cliff nearly eighty to ninety yards high. Glancing back, the Keeper of Order was already closing in. Without hesitation, he leaped downward.
With a thunderous crash, the Keeper of Order struck the spot where Nie Yan had just stood, shattering the rocks into pieces.
Nie Yan plummeted down the cliff, accelerating rapidly. He could feel the plants growing on the cliff wall whizzing past his ears. Occasionally, a protruding branch slowed him for a moment before snapping under his impact with a loud crack.
-7, -9, -5—damage numbers floated above Nie Yan’s head.
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