Description: Pauldrons used by Phantom Earley. Contains traces of Earley’s soul.

Requirements: 620 Dexterity

Properties: Dexterity +50, Speed +50, Stealth +20, Cloaking +10, Reflex +10.

Phantom Form (Rank 7): Increase Stealth and Cloaking by 60 and Speed by 50. For the first 10 seconds, the user cannot be seen through by eye or illumination skills. You cannot attack while in this state. Duration: 30 seconds.

Weight: 2 lbs

Restrictions: Thief

After seeing the stats of Phantom Earley’s Pauldrons, Nie Yan realized Phantom Form was the skill Shadow Killer had used to escape from him previously! This skill was quite decent on top of being rare.

Nie Yan equipped Phantom Earley’s Pauldrons. Looking at his character window, he was basically fully decked out with Sub Legendary and Legendary-grade equipment.

At this moment, Shadow Killer had already revived in the graveyard. He still had a dazed look on his face. This was the first time he suffered the taste of defeat, losing at the hand of Nirvana Flame. Even though Nie Yan had used a trick, a loss was still a loss. This was the fact.

Shadow Killer had to admit Nie Yan’s assassination methods were superior to his own. When he carried out an assassination, he often only fought the target directly, relying on his skill to secure victory. Meanwhile, Nie Yan made use of everything, from special tools to objects in the environment. No one could predict when, where, or how he would take action, making it almost impossible to defend against.

「Our bet, you haven’t forgotten it, right?」Nie Yan connected to Shadow Killer via voice chat. He was the victor.

「I admit defeat... Like we agreed upon, I’ll assassinate three people for you. Just give me the names, which three do you want me to kill?」Shadow Killer replied in a somewhat gloomy tone. He was a man of his word and wouldn’t renege on his end of the bet. He had a premonition that Nie Yan wouldn’t let him off the hook easily.

After thinking for a moment, Nie Yan felt this wasn’t the right time to lure Shadow Killer over to his side. He would have Shadow Killer fall out with the Century Financial Group and Angel Corps first!

Nie Yan originally planned to have Shadow Killer assassinate Crazy Magic and Divine Flame. However, King of the World and Sun were already on the job. Shadow Killer was no longer needed.

「Your first target is the guild leader of Angel Corps, Soaring Angel. That’s it for now. I’ll tell you the next target once you’ve carried out the first assassination,」Nie Yan said. As long as Shadow Killer attempted to assassinate Soaring Angel, regardless of success or failure, he would become an enemy of Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group.

Shadow Killer clenched his fists. Nie Yan was forcing him off the edge of a cliff. If he attempted to assassinate Soaring Angel, he would receive the ire of the Century Financial Group and Angel Corps. If he was just one person, that was fine. However, he had an obligation to the people in Darkness Immortal. If he went through with Nie Yan’s request, the gaming organization would fall into a dire state. If he refused, he would undoubtedly be turning his back on his pride as well as everything he stood for.

From the moment he succumbed to Nie Yan’s blade, Shadow Killer’s fate was sealed.

「Well... if you think my request is too difficult to complete, or that you’re too weak to complete it in the first place, forget it. We can act as if the bet never happened. I guess that’s all the name of Shadow Killer amounts too,」Nie Yan said in a tone laced with ridicule after noticing Shadow Killer’s hesitation. His words were harsh, ruthlessly trampling on Shadow Killer’s dignity.

「Give me some time. I’ll definitely give you an answer...!」Shadow Killer gritted his teeth. He couldn’t make the decision right away.

Nie Yan let out an indifferent chuckle.「I’ll be waiting, then.」Shadow Killer was at an impasse with two choices available to him: assassinate Soaring Angel and fall out with Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group, or abandon his pride and become a laughingstock among everyone.

Finished talking with Nie Yan, Shadow Killer hung up the call. He started walking aimlessly with a vacant look on his face. He was frozen with indecision. Dark Immortal was his lifeblood. He didn’t want it to fall into ruin solely because of him. If it was just him, even if he was hunted like a dog by Angel Corps and the Century Financial Group, he wouldn’t be afraid. However, as the leader of Dark Immortal, he naturally had other commitments to consider. He couldn’t freely do as he pleased.

Nie Yan’s request was quite ruthless. But as a guild leader, he had to learn how to show no mercy to his enemies.

Shadow Killer was still Nie Yan’s enemy. If he couldn’t be recruited, it was better to eliminate him completely!

As Shadow Killer brooded over what choice to make, the Dark Immortal members were in the middle of grinding mobs and levelling. Included among them were Hoss and Show Hand. The 20-man team had traversed a mountain ridge and were setting off to hunt a Level 80 Elite.

“With us betraying the boss like this, do you think...” Hoss had a hesitant and anxious look on his face. He was still feeling a bit guilty about what they had done behind Shadow Killer’s back.

“If you were really that loyal and devoted to him, you shouldn’t have betrayed him in the first place. Since we’ve already crossed the point of no return, we can only see this through till the very end! It’s not like we have much choice anyway, or are you telling me you want to oppose the Century Financial Group? Shadow Killer only has himself to blame, for leading us into this dead end. We have our own livelihoods to think about,” Show Hand replied in a cold tone.

The two didn’t seem to have any misgivings discussing this topic out in the open. Their teammates didn’t appear all too bothered either.

“The boss is contacting us.” Show Hand’s voice chat rang. Seeing it was Cao Xu, he quickly picked up.

「Has there been any movements from Shadow Killer?」a deep voice rang out from the other end.

「Shadow Killer ordered us to track down Nirvana Flame’s location,」Show Hand respectfully replied.

「I see... Let him keep playing his little game then,」Cao Xu said. Shadow Killer was like a latrine stone, foul and hard.

Show Hand suddenly noticed Shadow Killer had dropped a level.「Shadow Killer died!」

「What happened?」Cao Xu knitted his brows.

「I don’t know.」Show Hand shook his head. He only just found out.

「Find out,」Cao Xu ordered.

「Understood!」

After Cao Xu hung up, Show Hand wiped the sweat off his forehead. Talking with a bigshot like Cao Xu was quite nerve-wracking. As far as back when Shadow Killer had first lost to Nie Yan, Cao Xu had already bribed Show Hand, Hoss, and everyone else in Dark Immortal over to his side. All of them belonged to Century Financial Group. Shadow Killer’s authority had long since been undermined. He repeatedly refused Cao Xu’s attempts to acquire Dark Immortal, but little did he know that the organization he founded was already no longer his, having become a vassal of the Century Financial Group. Show Hand, Hoss, and the others had always been reporting Shadow Killer’s movements, even going as far as to describe his plans in detail. Cao Xu was aware of everything happening behind the scenes. This was the most frightening aspect of Cao Xu. The Century Financial Group’s capital was limitless.

Cao Xu had probably deduced that Shadow Killer was killed by Nie Yan. Aside from Nie Yan, no one could kill him. At best, players like Sun and King of the World could force him to a draw.

After a while, Cao Xu received word about Shadow Killer’s defeat to Nie Yan from Show Hand. He also learned about their bet.

「What do you think Shadow Killer will decide?」Cao Xu asked.

「After having known him for so many years, I think he’ll definitely go through with the bet. He won’t abandon his principles,」Show Hand carefully replied, trying to gauge Cao Xu’s reaction.

「I see... So you’re saying Shadow Killer will agree to Nie Yan’s request to assassinate three people?」Cao Xu’s eyes flashed with an ice-cold killing intent. Shadow Killer had always been proud and difficult to tame, much like a wild stallion. Add this to his bet with Nie Yan, he became a person that was no longer of use. Such people would be disposed of!

「Correct,」Show Hand nodded.

Cao Xu pondered in silence for a moment before passing down an order to his subordinates. Under his arrangement, a conspiracy to eliminate Shadow Killer for good took form.

...

Back in Moonlight City. King of the World, Sun, and the other two had already infiltrated the Alliance of Mages guild headquarters. They were closely observing Crazy Magic and Divine Flame. Right now, there were more than 20 people in the lobby. They couldn’t find a suitable opportunity to take action. They could only patiently wait.

Nie Yan was hurrying over, planning to team up with the other four. With Shadow Killer already down, if they could successfully assassinate Crazy Magic and Divine Flame, then upload the video online, what kind of stir would this cause?

A guild leader being assassinated by an enemy within the walls of their very own stronghold, this would undoubtedly become a disgrace that could never be wiped away. It would be a severe if not fatal blow to Alliance of Mages’ morale.

Nie Yan stealthily made his way toward the main lobby. He was about to enter, when he received a call from Guo Huai.

For Guo Huai to contact him at this moment probably meant the matter was urgent.

「What’s up?」Nie Yan asked.

「Bladelight just got in touch with me. He was approached by people from the Century Financial Group. They offered him a ￥20,000,000 a year, five-year contract. They promised him the best benefits anyone could offer if he joined them. Bladelight declined their offer, then forwarded the content of the contract to me. Here, you take a look too. He also wasn’t the only one they approached.」

Nie Yan glanced at the contract. The terms listed were far superior to anything Asskickers United could offer at the moment. A contract like this, perhaps the Century Financial Group was the only existence that could flaunt their wealth to this extent. Nie Yan’s expression darkened. The matter he was most afraid of had finally happened! A long-standing powerhouse such as the Century Financial Group naturally wouldn’t be willing to be forced out of the Viridian Empire, least of all by a bunch of upstarts. It was only a matter of time before they took retaliatory action, and their most powerful tool was their vast wealth! In the previous timeline, the once unrivalled War God Tribe was slowly eroded from within by the Century Financial Group’s interference. Nie Yan couldn’t help but wonder if Asskickers United was destined to go down the same path.