After climbing three floors, Nie Yan entered a hallway guarded by Level 90 Forgesmiths. Fortunately, they were patrolling in units of one.

Seeing one approaching in his direction, Nie Yan cautiously snuck behind the Forgesmith and struck it in the back of the head with Smothering Strike, then followed up with Backstab and Eviscerate. The Forgesmith was about to recover from the stun, when he circled around to the front and struck out with a Concussive Blow and Cutthroat. After which he quickly retreated, kiting back while allowing the bleed damage to slowly finish it off.

Nie Yan was only dealing a few hundred damage each hit, the highest of which reached 600. However, the bleed damage he inflicted was stacking up considerably, enough to kill the Forgesmith.

Nie Yan traversed through the 600 meter-long winding hallway, killing around 30 Forgesmiths in his path, and entered a dark hall. All around stood enormous golden statues depicting devils, beasts monsters, and other malevolent creatures. Below them, tall hulking silhouettes could occasionally be seen patrolling around.

At the other end of the hall in front of a spiral staircase stood a statue of a six-armed giant clad in golden armour. It was five meters tall and resembled a saintly figure. Each hand wielded a different weapon, a hammer, sickle, spade, staff, greataxe, and flail.

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. This was Mine Slave Igrin!

Normally, Mine Slave Igrin was only a statue. However, as soon as a player got close enough, it would awaken and transform into a powerful Level 90 Lord.

At least 200 Level 80 players were required to take down Mine Slave Igrin. A Fighter with high enough health, defense, and resistances was also a must.

Nie Yan surveyed his surroundings. Roughly 30 Forgesmiths were wandering around in the hall. These Forgesmiths were much taller than the ones before, and their appearances were even more malevolent.

Nie Yan inspected one of the Forgesmiths with Transcendent Insight.

Health: 50,000/50,000

Dealing with the Demonsmiths would be incredibly tricky. Nie Yan wondered if it was possible to sneak past them. Not alerting these Elites would be his best bet.

Nie Yan hid behind the statues, using them as cover as he stealthily advanced forward.

Back in the hallway, six Thieves were following Nie Yan’s trail. Every now and then, they would encounter the corpse of a Forgesmith on the ground. The more they saw, they more they felt apprehension in their hearts.

“Sky Felled, are all these corpses the work of Nirvana Flame? This is too frightening! He’s clearing these mobs while all we’re doing is following his trail. Yet we haven’t even seen his shadow!” They were all playing the same Thief class, no doubt. So why did it seem like Nirvana Flame was on a whole other plane of existence?

“Let’s hurry up and catch up first. We’re no match for Nirvana Flame, that much is clear. In a while, Blazing will arrive with reinforcements. The guild leader wants us to seize this opportunity to ambush Nirvana Flame. Maybe we’ll get lucky and actually kill him. Remember, don’t reveal your identities. If you’re discovered, just say you belong to Alliance of Mages. These are the guild leader’s direct orders,” Sky Felled said. They had temporarily withdrawn from their guild and concealed their appearances with black cloaks, all for the sake of preventing their identities from being exposed.

The number of people targeting Nie Yan were too many to list. Leaving aside his equipment, of which not a single piece wasn’t coveted by every Thief, Alliance of Mages, Divine Protectors, and Angel Corps had placed a 30,000 gold bounty on his head. This sort of reward was enough to move countless hearts. Many players wanted to assassinate Nie Yan. But since he rarely appeared in public, there was almost never an opportunity. This time the circumstances were different. Everyone had seen Nie Yan enter Golden City all by himself. Some daring people would naturally try to test their luck.

Their group had hidden their identities precisely because they couldn’t afford to provoke Asskickers United whose might could easily crush their guild.

They were driven by greed in the beginning. After following Nie Yan’s trail for a while, their nerves got the better of them and they requested for help from the outside.

What Sky Felled didn’t know was that after them even more players entered Golden City, all of whom were Thieves. Alliance of Mages and Divine Protectors had also come.

All these Thieves only had one target, Nie Yan!

None of them knew why Nie Yan entered Golden City. They were all waiting for the perfect moment to strike, when he was either distracted fighting mobs or meeting some kind of danger.

Nie Yan was still sneaking through the hall. Looking up ahead, he saw numerous shadows moving around. It appeared there were quite a few Demonsmiths. Getting past them would be tricky. Since they had ranged skills, even crawling over the walls and ceiling wouldn’t grant him safe passage.

“Screw it!” Nie Yan gritted his teeth. He retreated into a secluded corner and summoned Lil’ Gold and the Rank 10 Paladin Lemonte. Taking out his Cavalry Crossbow, he shot some bolts at the ground and gradually lured a Demonsmith over with the sounds.

“Dealing with one should be okay...” Nie Yan circled behind the Demonsmith and struck it in the back of the head with Smothering Strike.

「Bang!」Lil’ Gold blasted the Demonsmith with Dragon Breath. Paladin Lemonte activated Indomitable Will and rushed forward.

Under the combined assault of Nie Yan, Lil’ Gold, and Paladin Clement, the Demonsmith’s health rapidly fell. When it recovered from the stun, it tried to shout and call over its companions.

Concussive Blow!

Nie Yan struck the Demonsmith in the forehead and stunned it again.

Undead Rite!

Demonsmiths were creatures of darkness, so he could take control of them with this skill.

Undead Rite has failed!

Undead Rite has failed!

...

When the Demonsmith recovered, it smashed its hammer into Lil’ Gold, forcing him several steps back.

?3,273

Thankfully Lil’ Gold’s health and defense were quite high. An ordinary pet wouldn’t even survive a single hit from the Demonsmith.

Nie Yan cast Undead Rite again.

Undead Rite has failed!

The Demonsmith tried calling over its companions again. Nie Yan already had his hands full dealing with just one. He couldn’t imagine himself dealing with two or more.

Nie Yan hurriedly raised his leg and delivered a swift kick into the Demonsmith’s stomach, forcing it to swallow back the words in its throat.

Lil’ Gold blasted the Demonsmith with several Dragon Breaths in a row, causing a string of damage values to float up above its head.

Paladin Lemonte targeted the Demonsmith with Purification, scorching it with cleansing holy light.

The Demonsmith repeatedly bashed Lil’ Gold with its hammer. Meanwhile, Nie Yan had Paladin Lemonte on healing duty in the rear, continuously restoring Lil’ Gold’s health. Whenever the Demonsmith tried to call for its companions, Nie Yan would interrupt it with a kick. The Kick skill had a fairly short cooldown anyway.

A while later, the Demonsmith finally collapsed to the ground.

Seeing Lil’ Gold with only 20% health remaining, Nie Yan breathed a sigh of relief.

At this moment, Zennarde’s Sword suddenly lit up with a brilliant light. A powerful energy erupted forth as though something was released. Nie Yan’s heart trembled. He quickly checked the stats of Zennarde’s Sword.

Nightmare Curse of the Dead: Reduces the player’s stats by 30%. (Effect halved by Barbarian Kelowitz’s Blessing)

Description: A godly weapon created by Kallander and imbued with the dark magic power of Dragon King Zennarde. Failing to subdue the evil energy within Zennarde’s Sword will result in a fatal backlash. Six Divine Seals were placed on this sword by the God of War Kelo. (Seals: 5/6)

Properties: Attack 812–830, Critical +50, 20% chance to deal 500% Critical Damage, Ignore Level +15, Ignore Armour

Hell Execution: Chance to instantly execute an enemy when their health falls below 20%. Success rate is determined by level difference and enemy defense. Energy Cost: 50. Cooldown: 3 seconds.

Apocalyptic Extinction (Junior): Inflict the enemy with 5 types of Curses: Rank 3 Exhaustion, Rank 3 Cripple, Rank 3 Disease, Rank 3 Fear, and Rank 3 Corrode. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 1 hour.

Restrictions: None

-Creator: Kallander

Its stats had improved greatly, especially the attack power. It was now comparable to that of a Level 90 Dark Gold-grade weapon. The stat penalty of Nightmare Curse of the Dead was reduced from 50% to 30%, and Hell Execution and Apocalyptic Extinction had also both received an upgrade.

After so long, one of the seals on Zennarde’s Sword was finally lifted. Nie Yan couldn’t help but wonder what it would look like in its final form.

The black flames surrounding Zennarde’s Sword grew even more fierce. The pulsating flames were truly stunning to behold.

Nie Yan collected the loot the Demonsmith dropped on the ground. He then returned into the corner to recuperate. He had Paladin Lamonte continuously cast Heals while he applied a Combat Bandage on Lil’ Gold. Before long, Lil’ Gold recovered back to full health.