Shortly after exiting Okoron, Nie Yan received word that Half-Demon Angud had reached the outskirts to the south of the city. Roughly 200 guild members were unlucky enough to be in his path and were slaughtered.

「Tell me his exact coordinates!」

「237.285.238!」

King of the World, Sun, and the other Thieves were scouting the surroundings. Suddenly, an anxious voice rang out in the voice chat.「Watch out! Angud is approaching fast!」

Nie Yan searched for Angud. He was standing in the middle of an open field about 50 meters by 50 meters in size. Other than a few small bushes, there was nothing here that could obstruct his view.

「Get in position. Angud is approaching from the south.」

「Boss, we see him!」a Thief called out.

「Are the traps set?」Nie Yan asked anxiously.

「Yep! We used our most powerful traps!」

Nie Yan looked toward the south. Something was fast approaching. The silhouette turned from a black blur into a terrifying half-demon. Angud!

「Don’t get too close. He’ll come to u—」

BOOOM! Angud landed on the ground at high velocity, dirt flying everywhere.

A string of notifications popped up. Three Thieves in the vicinity of Angud’s landing zone failed to escape in time and were instantly killed.

Angud’s demonic eyes pierced through the cloud of dust and locked onto Nie Yan. He broke into a sprint and leaped into the air before crashing back down to the ground like a streaking meteor! Taking a few steps, he launched himself into the air again. Each landing felt like the world was collapsing as the earth quaked violently.

“Boss, he’s here!”

Nie Yan watched Angud charging over with narrowed eyes. We finally meet again!

Seeing Angud quickly closing in, the expedition team tensed up.

“Summon your pets and block him. Don’t let him close in on Nie Yan!" Bladelight shouted.

“We’re on it!”

From Smoke Stub to any random member of the expedition team, all of them summoned their respective pets. From giant tundra bears to sharp tusked mammoths, they charged forward to intercept Angud.

Seeing the pets rushing to his aid, Nie Yan retreterated behind them.

The tundra bear arrived in front of Angud and swiped down with its paw.

“Nice timing!”

“Yes!”

As the attack was about to land, Angud slid forward and slammed his tail into the tundra bears neck. BAM! It was knocked off its feet, airborne for a good two seconds.

“Fuck! He’s too strong!”

“Everyone, get away!”

Below the still airborne tundra bear was a group Mages. They quickly blinked away. BANG! It crashed into the ground, kicking up a cloud of dust.

Instant kill!

One by one, the other pets were knocked off their feet by Angud. Nothing could stop his advance. However, they achieved their goal. Angud’s charging speed had been greatly reduced.

Angud chanted an incantation and raised several dozen skeletons from the ground. Their bones sparkled with a golden sheen. With shields raised and swords held high, they charged toward the nearby players.

A shower of spells rained down from the sky and bombarded the golden skeletons.

“Level 180 Elites!”

“Don’t panic!”

“Warriors, pull their aggro!”

None of the expedition team members panicked at the appearance of the skeletons. They stuck to their role and adapted accordingly.

“We’ll be drinking bone soup tonight!”

“Haha! If we can take them down, sure!”

The melee players surrounded the golden skeletons and locked them down, while the Mages never stopped firing their spells.

Angud raised his arm into the sky and spread out his palm, conjuring a massive, crimson ball of flames. His entire body ignited with an ominous, black aura.

According to legend, demons came from the very depths of the earth. Surviving an eternity within the harsh, lava-filled environment, they mastered control of fire. The flames in their body could engulf everything.

“Wretched mortals, you’ve annoyed me for the last time! I can detect the presence of the Death God’s Edge. Hand it over to me, or else I’ll annihilate you all in both body and soul!” Angud’s voice thundered across the battlefield. With a wave of his hand, the crimson ball of flame descended on Nie Yan.

A dark, gloomy energy swept over Nie Yan, causing his body to go rigid.

It was the fear effect!

This time, Nie Yan dealt much better with it than before. He could still move his body, albeit with difficulty.

Nie Yan had learned from their last encounter that the fear effect would be manyfold stronger if he looked Angud directly in the eyes.

Nie Yan gauged the trajectory of the crimson ball of flame. Activating Gale Step, he fled for safety.

BOOOM! The ball crashed into the ground and exploded like a bomb, sending out a powerful fiery blast which instantly engulfed several nearby Warriors.

Nie Yan retreated a hundred meters back while ordering in voice chat,「Cover me! I’m going to summon War God Kelo! I’ll need at least 15 seconds!」

「Leave it to us. Even if every last one of us has to die, we’ll hold him back!」Bladelight replied, then charged toward Angud with several other Warriors in tow.

Nie Yan looked at Angud. The space between them was covered in a dense bed of traps. Should be good enough to buy me a few more seconds, he thought.

Nie Yan was about to crush a Kelo Runestone, when several anxious voices cried out in chat.

「Boss! Angel Corps’ forces are here!」

「Enemy Thieves!」

「Boss, several thousand Angel Corps troops are making their way over here!」

...

Nie Yan knitted his brows. Like he predicted, Angel Corps would pounce on this opportunity.

Suddenly, Nie Yan sensed an unfamiliar presence. His lips curved into a sneer. You managed to approach within 30 meters of me. Not bad...

Eyes of Truth!

Nie Yan’s eyes blossomed with a profound light. Looking around, he locked onto three Thieves in an instant.

Just as he was about to take action, Nie Yan noticed several silhouettes closing in on the Thieves at lightning speed. PSFHT! PSFHT! PSFHT! Several streaks of light flashed out in the air. The three Thieves dropped dead at practically the same time. Sun, King of the World, and Mistaken Smile materialized as their blades dealt killing blows.

King of the World chuckled. “Focus on summoning War God Kelo. Leave this trash to us!”

Many more Thieves attempted to ambush Nie Yan, only to be dealt with by King of the World, Sun, and Mistaken Smile before they could get anywhere near him.

Quite a few corpses littered the ground.

Because of the interruption, Nie Yan had already missed the most opportune time to crush the Kelo Runestone. Angud had broken free from the Warriors locking him down, sending six of them flying, and charged toward him again.

BOOM! BOOM! BOOM! Angud detonated the Thunderstorm Totems on the ground as lightning engulfed the surroundings. However, it didn’t deal the slightest damage to him.

“Bladelight, let’s stop him together!” Smoke Stub charged toward Angud from the flank.

“Sure!”

Bulwark of the War God!

Bladelight’s muscles bulged out and brimmed with extraordinary power. He looked like a fortress of flesh.

After becoming a barbarian Raider, the Bulwark of the War God skill grew even more powerful.

“Come at me, you half-baked demon!” Bladelight rammed his shield into Angud.

“Begone! Angud swung his palm down at Bladelight, who quickly raised his shield to block. KLANG! He was sent skidding several meters back. A damage value of 137,000 floated up above his head. He only had 12,000 health remaining.

Nie Yan hurriedly had Kalenna cast Heal on Bladelight. Young Seven also followed up with his own Heal. Bladelight’s health was restored to full.

“Hah, that tickled! I expected more of a Demonified Lord!” Bladelight snorted and charged back up to Angud.

Nie Yan crushed the Kelo Runestone as it turned into fine powder. He felt an energy locking onto him. Likely, War God Kelo was confirming his position. Please arrive quickly! He couldn’t help but pray.

“Y-you!” Angud became enraged. His arm ignited with flames as he sent a fist flying towards Bladelight.

Bladelight accidentally looked into Angud’s eyes. His black pupils were like a bottomless abyss, threatening to swallow him whole.

Shit, I can’t move! Bladelight’s heart turned cold. He was immobilized! He gritted his teeth as he attempted to raise his shield, but it felt as heavy as a mountain.

It was already too late!

BAM! Angud punched Bladelight in the chest, knocking him down.

“Dammit!” Smoke Stub had tried to save Bladelight, but he was a step too late. He slashed down on Angud with his sword, when a powerful force gripped onto his neck. His attack came to a halt mid-swing, while his body was raised into the air. KRAAACK! Blood dripped down and soaked into the earth.