Nie Yan had killed Divine Flame too quickly. Two bolts was all it took, both hitting in practically the same instant. The Priests had no time to react.

“Shit. The boss died! Everybody, don’t let Nirvana Flame escape!”

The players from Divine Protectors surrounded Nie Yan, or at least his last known location, but they still couldn’t catch him.

Nie Yan would only pop out for the briefest second when least expected, fire out a volley of bolts, then disappear back into stealth like some sort of phantom. Even if Nie Yan emerged in front of them, they wouldn’t have the time to react.

“We can’t stop him! Should we retreat?” Crazy Magic asked. If they continued lingering around here, they would only end up as target practice for Nie Yan.

“If we leave, we’ll become laughingstocks. We’ll be called spineless cowards!” Bloodlust Mad Blade refused.

“At least we’ll have our lives!” Crazy Magic anxiously yelled. Just as he spoke out these words, five bolts flew toward the back of his head.

“Crazy!” Bloodlust Mad Blade yelled.

Crazy Magic hurriedly blinked away, evading the attack. Just as his feet touched the ground, another volley of bolts flew toward his back. Put put put! He was turned into swiss cheese as the bolts pierced right through him. Blood dripping from his mouth, he staggered unsteadily before collapsing on the ground.

Seeing Crazy Magic drop dead, Bloodlust Mad Blade couldn’t help but curse. Right now only he and Heaven Breaker remained alive. They couldn’t escape with Unknown Transfer Scrolls or Return Scrolls. Originally, the Spatial Lock Domain was meant to trap Nie Yan’s group. Who would’ve thought they would end up falling victim to it instead!

“That makes two.” Nie Yan chuckled while hidden in stealth. His gaze locked onto Bloodlust Mad Blade and Heaven Breaker. “You two are next!”

It didn’t take long for news of Divine Flame’s death to spread. The forums went into an uproar.

「Nirvana Flame really killed Divine Flame? No way, right?」

「It’s confirmed. The information came from my friends in Divine Protectors!」

...

Shortly after, word of Crazy Magic’s death spread too.

Players checked Nie Yan’s post on the forums. The list had actually been updated, with Divine Flame and Crazy Magic’s names crossed out. They’d been killed. Only the original poster could edit their own posts. Nie Yan even had the leisure to spend time on the forums! This made it seem like assassinating Divine Flame and Crazy Magic was a walk in the park. Sure enough, Shadow Dancers were something else.

Before long, more information came out. It turned out Divine Flame and Crazy Magic had been killed by Nie Yan’s crossbow. No one knew what to think of this, it exceeded all of their expectations. They would never again underestimate the ranged power of a Thief!

「The post just got updated again!」

Several minutes later, following Divine Flame and Crazy Magic, Bloodlust Mad Blade, Heaven Breaker, and several other notable players of Divine Protectors had been crossed out from the list as well. Nie Yan was killing people at an astonishing pace. Over half the people on the list had been killed within 30 minutes.

The players on the forums sighed in admiration. Sure enough, Divine Protectors was no match for Asskickers United. Even with so many people, they couldn’t do anything to Nirvana Flame.

At this moment, Nie Yan surveyed his surroundings. He had already taken out most of the players on his list. Putting away his crossbow, he headed for the edge of the square.

Under the assault of the two flying mounts, Lil’ Gold was starting to falter. With countless spells bombarding him, his health had already been chipped away to only 20%.

The Wind Serpent and Thunder Hawk firmly locked down Lil’ Gold, not allowing him any opportunity to attack.

Nie Yan activated Gale Step. He flitted across the square and pounced toward the Wind Serpent.

The rider of the Wind Serpent was a Mage. He had his Wind Serpent dive down. BANG! It swung its tail at Lil’ Gold, causing him to stagger back.

“This Golden Dragon is way too god damn tanky!” the Mage cried out in exasperation. He had never met such a doughty pet before. Lil’ Gold’s battle prowess was comparable to a flying mount, not to mention he had a wide array of passive and active skills. Just what did Nirvana Flame feed him?

The Mage suddenly felt a cold chill behind his neck. His heart tightened. What-

Before the Mage could react, Nie Yan appeared behind him. With a Cut Throat, Zennarde’s Sword drew a red arc across his throat. An instant kill.

Sensing the death of its master, the Wind Serpent started wildly flailing in an attempt to throw Nie Yan off.

Nie Yan brandished Zennarde’s Sword and ruthlessly stabbed the Wind Serpent in the neck. PSSHFT! It easily pierced through the scales and flesh.

Lacerate!

Nie Yan twisted his wrist and drove Zennarde’s Sword deeper. A large wound was opened on the Wind Serpent’s back, a fountain of blood gushing out. It wailed out in pain. The more it struggled, the worse and the larger the wound grew.

At this moment, the Paladin riding the Thunder Eagle finally noticed something off. Seeing Nie Yan mutilating the Wind Serpent, he was scared out of his wits. Nie Yan was the monster he feared most. The thought of fighting never even crossed his mind. He had his flying mount turn around and flee.

“Want to run? Not so easy!” Nie Yan’s eyes flickered with a cold light. He shot out a web line at the fleeing Thunder Eagle. With a hard tug, he took to the air and flew 50 meters before landing on its back.

Nie Yan shot forward and slashed down with Zennarde’s Sword, instantly killing the Paladin. He then struck the Thunder Eagle’s back with Backbreaker, a Rank 18 skill. The flames shrouding his blade flared out brightly. KRAACKT! The Thunder Eagle’s spine was snapped in half. It let out a mournful screech, plunging down from the sky and crashing into the ground.

Several unlucky players couldn’t get away in time and were directly crushed under the Thunder Eagle’s large body. They didn’t even get a chance to scream before transforming into rays of light.

Nie Yan stood atop the Thunder Eagle’s corpse and swept his eyes over the square. Seeing his eyes brimming with killing intent, the crowd of players from Divine Protectors lost all confidence to attack and instead turned tail and fled away.

Nie Yan pulled up Divine Recruitment and summoned Paladin Lafus.

Lafus raised his sword in the air and cast several Radiant Heals, restoring Lil’ Gold’s health back to full.

With renewed vigour, Lil’ Gold gave chase after the players running for their lives.

A one-sided slaughter started taking place.

The entire Karukes Stronghold was in chaos. The casualties on the side of Divine Protectors was rapidly rising. Bladelight, Lei Su, and Smoke Stub had slaughtered their way up five arrow towers and destroyed them. The five casters hadn’t sat idly by either. Casting AoE spells, they killed players in droves.

Divine Flame and the others revived in the graveyard.

「What’s the situation right now?」Divine Flame anxiously asked.

「Boss, we’ve already suffered more than 10,000 casualties! Their magic is too damn powerful!」

「Shit! What about our flying mounts?」Divine Flame cursed in a dejected tone. Nie Yan’s group only consisted of 12 people. Yet why did he feel so powerless against them?

「We’ve lost five so far.」

Divine Flame’s heart sank. Even flying mounts weren’t a match for Nie Yan and the others. Just how did they do it?「Send over the videos!」

After a while, Divine Flame received several videos. The first was of Nie Yan killing the Wind Serpent and Thunder Eagle. His movements were a complete blur. Looking over at another video, Smoke Stub had evaded the dive of a Griffon and slashed down with his greatsword, running his blade through its upper body. Afterwards, Lei Su and Bladelight finished it off. In another video, a Wyvern had encountered Black Hell, Lustboy, and Young Sparrow Hawk. Black Hell immobilized it with Shadow Bind, causing it to crash down from the sky. Then Lustboy and Young Sparrow Hawk blasted it to death with magic. Finally, an Achlys Dragonfly was shot down from the sky by Yao Yao and Young Seven.

This group of players was way too overpowered!

Even if all the defenses in the Karukes Stronghold were activated, it wasn’t built to contain monsters like Nie Yan.

「God dammit! Blast them with the cannons! I want them dead no matter what it takes!」Divine Flame roared.

「We’ll end up hurting our own people!」

「I don’t give a shit!」

「Boss, Soaring Angel is flying over here with a group of 20+ players. He’s requesting we cooperate with him,」a player reported.

「Fine, listen to his commands!」

「Understood!」

Nie Yan’s group was wreaking havoc and destruction in the Karukes Stronghold. The players from Divine Protectors retreated into the arrow towers, cannon towers, and other relatively safe places and started firing the cannons and ballista at Nie Yan’s group. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Every barrage of cannonfire shook the entire stronghold.

「Watch out, guys. Don’t let yourself get hit by the cannons,」Nie Yan warned. A direct blast from a cannon, and even tanky Warriors like Bladelight, Smoke Stub, and Lei Su would instantly die.

Shells flew left and right in the Karukes Stronghold, whistling across the air. BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! The ground violently shook with every explosion, causing many people to lose their balance.

「Lei Su and Bladelight died,」Smoke Stub suddenly reported in a grave tone.

Nie Yan’s heart sank.「How did that happen?」

With Lei Su and Bladelight’s strength, who could possibly kill them!?

「It was Soaring Angel! We were caught off guard!」Smoke Stub said. When they were breaking into an arrow tower, they had suffered an ambush. Soaring Angel had come prepared. He had several Mages lock the three of them down with formations. If Lei Su and Bladelight hadn’t covered for him, he too would be dead right now.

「That bastard’s here too!?」Nie Yan’s expression turned cold. Angel Corps had actually come too! Soaring Angel had also become a Master. Plus, he had brought along many Level 100+ elites. If they really went all out, killing Bladelight and Lei Su was indeed possible.

Nie Yan pounded his fist against a nearby wall. He was incredibly vexed. These were the first casualties they had suffered since the start of the battle in the Karukes Stronghold.