The shield warrior let out a fierce shout and charged forward, swinging his right-hand longsword down. With a thud, it carved a wound into the Stag Leader's body.
The Stag Leader stepped forward, its sharp antlers ramming in.
The shield warrior retreated a step, holding his shield in front. With a bang, the antlers and the round log shield collided, producing a dull sound.
The Berserker and Holy Knight immediately attacked the Stag Leader from both sides.
"Watch your aggro," the shield warrior warned uneasily. Since the shield warrior had a shield unlike other classes, his defense was higher—the Stag Leader could only take off a little over ten HP from him per hit. If the Stag Leader's aggro shifted to the Berserker or Holy Knight, they'd probably be dead in at most five hits.
Whoever first attacks a monster gets the initial aggro focused on them. If someone nearby deals too much damage, has too low a level, or is too weak, the aggro will shift.
“We understand, don’t worry.” The Berserker and Holy Knight said.
The Holy Word Mage and Elemental Mage at the rear began dealing damage, launching spells one after another.
Their cooperation was by the book; killing the Horned Deer Leader in a while shouldn’t be a problem. But little did they know, danger was creeping closer.
Nie Yan was only a few steps away from the Holy Word Mage and Elemental Mage while stealthed. The two mages stood close together, their attention fixed on the Horned Deer Leader.
It would take just half a minute to take down the Horned Deer Leader and farm a piece of equipment—they were thrilled.
The heads of the Holy Word Mage and Elemental Mage were completely exposed before Nie Yan.
Nie Yan crept closer, slowing down with each step. The nearer he got, the more cautious he had to be, or else his prey could slip through his fingers.
Patience was a key trait in judging whether a thief was competent. In a thief’s battle, victory or defeat often hinged on the success of the first strike. Before that strike came a long process of stealth, approach, and preparation. A lack of patience could easily expose one’s flaws.
The fight between the Horned Deer Leader and these players had reached a fever pitch. The Horned Deer Leader kept charging and ramming the Shield Warrior, whose health plummeted to just over twenty percent. He pulled out a basic instant health potion and gulped it down.
“Come on, keep up the DPS—the Horned Deer Leader’s only half health.” The Shield Warrior said, raising his shield to block, then followed with a sword strike.
The Berserker and Holy Knight also intensified their attacks. They had lost nearly half their HP in the fight with the deer, and the only members of the party unscathed were the Holy Word Mage and Elemental Mage.
“Lei Zi, back off a little—why are you charging so far forward？” The Shield Warrior barked at the Berserker.
“Got it, got it.” The Berserker quickly retreated a step.
Among these five, the shield warrior clearly has more combat experience.
"When we run dungeons later, Berserkers and Paladins absolutely must not charge too far ahead—that's just asking to die. We'll deal with today's business, then tomorrow we'll run a small five-person dungeon. You guys get familiar with it first, and after some time, we'll join the group for a big dungeon." said the shield warrior, stepping back a few paces to draw the Horned Deer Leader between two large trees behind them.
"Any guild activities coming up recently？" the Berserker asked, eyes lighting up.
"There are always guild activities. The guild leader and the others have been farming the Treant Forest and the Dark Swamp. Can you guys handle going there？" the shield warrior countered.
The ones farming the Treant Forest and the Dark Swamp are all elites of the Holy Blazing Flame. They have strict requirements for defense, attack, health points, and so on. Without equipment reaching a certain level and skills honed to a certain standard, there's no way to go. The five of them shouldn't even think about it.
"Are there no two-tier dungeons, like the Moose Rat Cave or the Skeleton Cave？" the Berserker asked. Those were also twenty-person dungeons, with lower requirements and decent equipment drops. Only by boosting their gear could they aim for higher-tier dungeons.
"The guild leader will organize them in a few days. Let's level up first, focus a bit, and take down this Horned Deer Leader. It might drop some good gear," the shield warrior said while stepping back another two paces, though his retreat was steady.
The Holy Word Mage and Elemental Mage also stepped back a few paces.
Nie Yan could tell that the shield warrior on the other side was pretty good—he did a very good job holding aggro. As soon as he noticed the Horned Deer Leader's aggro start to shift, he immediately used Shield Bash to pull its attention back.
With each tug and pull, he prevented the Horned Deer Leader from unleashing its full combat power.
If it weren't for a shield warrior like that, they never could have taken down a tier-three Horned Deer Leader.
To avoid being detected by the Saint Word Mage and the Element Mage, Nie Yan moved with great caution, but unexpectedly, the Saint Word Mage and the Element Mage retreated toward him.
Heaven helps me, Nie Yan thought. The Saint Word Mage had already retreated to his side.
Nie Yan raised his dagger and brought it down on the back of the Saint Word Mage's head.
"Muffled Strike！"
Nie Yan hit the Saint Word Mage, and the Saint Word Mage fell into a stunned state.
"Someone's sneak..." The nearby Element Mage sensed movement and turned to spot Nie Yan, but before he could finish his sentence, Nie Yan lunged forward, plunging his dagger into the Element Mage's forehead—stun！
Stun complete, assassinate with a slash, then a vital strike straight to the throat.
Nie Yan moved quickly, unleashing his maximum damage output in a short burst.
-20, -22, -29, -36—four damage numbers floated up from the Element Mage's head. Just as he came to, his health was down to 18 points.
He panicked. Nie Yan's damage output was terrifyingly high.
-5, -5—two damage numbers floated up from the Element Mage's head.
The Element Mage pulled out a low-grade instant recovery potion, but just as he was about to chug it, Nie Yan's dagger lightly grazed his chest—-8, and a damage number floated up from the Element Mage's head.
The Element Mage's hand froze mid-air, his health bottomed out, and he collapsed to the ground.
"One down." Nie Yan scooped up the gear the Element Mage dropped.
When the Saint Word Mage woke up, Nie Yan had just killed the Element Mage. He turned to flee, but how could Nie Yan give him the chance！
Nie Yan caught up from behind and swung his dagger at the Holy Word Mage's back.
-12, -13, -15. All his skills were on cooldown, so only normal attacks remained, but thanks to the thief's fast attack speed, the damage was still considerable.
The Holy Word Mage turned around and cast a Holy Judgment, followed by a Holy Strike, counterattacking Nie Yan and taking 53 HP off him.
The Shield Warrior, Berserker, and Holy Knight were besieging the Deer Leader, while the Elemental Mage and Holy Word Mage, who had been maintaining damage output from behind, suddenly fell silent.
"Someone's ambushing us! It's that thief Nie Yan!" the Shield Warrior said anxiously. This was the critical moment in their fight against the monster—why did this guy have to show up now!
Nie Yan still had over twenty minutes of legitimate defense time against them！
"What do we do！？" the Berserker asked, retreating step by step. The situation now was that they were caught between Nie Yan and the Deer Leader. The three of them had been tanking the Deer Leader all along, and their health was already below half. One wrong move and all five of them would die here. In the blink of an eye, the Elemental Mage was killed by Nie Yan, leaving only the Holy Word Mage—their situation was even more dangerous！
"Let's kill the Deer Leader first！" the Shield Warrior said. The Deer Leader's aggro was all on them. If they didn't kill it, turning around to deal with Nie Yan would only make the Deer Leader make their lives miserable.
The Deer Leader's health was running low！
"Cleave！"
The Shield Warrior swung his sword with a Cleave, while the Berserker and Holy Knight also sped up their attacks, continuously hacking at the Deer Leader.
"Flame Slash!"
The Berserker and Holy Knight each used their most powerful offensive skills, and damage numbers floated up one after another from above the Deer Leader's head.
Everyone was racing against time.
The battle between Nie Yan and the Holy Word Priest had also reached a fever pitch. The two fought while running, Nie Yan leaping and dodging, circling behind the Holy Word Priest as he swung his dagger repeatedly, blood splattering wherever the blade struck.
The Holy Word Priest, meanwhile, fled to shake off Nie Yan while tossing out one spell after another.
Both of their health kept dropping chunk by chunk, but clearly, the Holy Word Priest's health was falling faster. He quickly pulled out a bottle of low-grade instant recovery potion and drank it down, then gulped another slow recovery potion.
+3，+3……
The Holy Word Priest hadn't even finished chugging the slow recovery potion for a few seconds before Nie Yan cut him off with a dagger strike.
"Run this way." The shield warrior shouted anxiously, his heart on fire, as he attacked the horned deer leader while keeping an eye on Nie Yan and the Holy Word Priest's fight. He could see that the Holy Word Priest was no match for Nie Yan.
－18，－15……
The Holy Word Priest had only thirty-six health points left.
"Damn that thief, did he come specifically for us？" the shield warrior cursed as he struck the horned deer leader with one blow after another. Nie Yan had taken out Diancang and the others first, and now he showed up here—this couldn't be a coincidence. Was Nie Yan a friend of Tang Yao and the others？
Nie Yan, I'll remember you. The Radiant Holy Flame Guild won't let you off easy," the Berserker said furiously."
My pleasure. I'll be waiting for you anytime." Nie Yan replied calmly, his expression indifferent. The Radiant Holy Flame was just a small guild at the moment, with no more than a thousand members in total. How could they have the energy to scour the entire world looking for Nie Yan and Tang Yao？ Even if they did find them, they couldn't send the whole guild after them. And even if they did, if we can't beat them, can't we just run？"
Back then, Nie Yan alone turned the five guilds under Cao Xu's Century Financial Group into chaos. With hundreds of thousands of people unable to do anything to him, how could he possibly fear Brilliant Holy Flame？
After his rebirth, Nie Yan was definitely harder to deal with than before.
What did Nie Yan have to fear？
"The second one? No matter how many come, they're just free kills！" Nie Yan said contemptuously, plunging his dagger into the Holy Word Mage's chest and killing him. He checked his health—it was just over fifty points left, about what he expected.
Nie Yan lunged toward them. By then, the Horned Deer Leader's health had been whittled down to about 10%, almost dead. He prepared to snatch the equipment dropped by the Horned Deer Leader.
"Kill！" the Shield Warrior bellowed, using a Shield Bash to knock the Horned Deer Leader back.
The Horned Deer Leader's body faltered.
"Horizontal Slash！" The Berserker's greatsword came down on the Horned Deer Leader.
-15, a big number floated up from the Horned Deer Leader's head. Critical hit！
The Horned Deer Leader let out a mournful cry and collapsed.
The Shield Warrior bent down, scooped up whatever the Horned Deer Leader had dropped, and stashed it in his backpack.
"Too late." Seeing the Shield Warrior pick up the loot from the Horned Deer Leader, Nie Yan stopped in his tracks and backed off.
The Shield Warrior had 25% health left, the Berserker 38%, and the Holy Word Knight 35%. Though none were high, three melee fighters together weren't as simple as 1+1. Plus, a rogue's dagger dealt low damage against heavily armored classes like Shield Warriors. He couldn't take all three, so it wasn't worth the risk, Nie Yan thought.
The Shield Warrior trio, low on health, didn't dare recklessly charge at Nie Yan either. They stood still regenerating their HP. Killing a Horned Deer Leader for a Bronze equipment piece but losing two people? That just wasn't worth it.
“Two more dead.” The shield warrior’s eyes were like daggers; counting this up, the Blazing Holy Flame guild had lost five members to Nie Yan.
Nie Yan was not far away. The shield warrior, Berserker, and holy knight looked at each other, none daring to charge in recklessly. Their health was low; together the three of them could certainly handle Nie Yan, but once separated, no one could say for sure.
Three melee fighters too scared to move because of one thief—this was an utter disgrace. All three felt their faces burning.
Nie Yan stretched out his right hand, thumb pointing down, giving a contemptuous gesture.
“Aren’t you three coming over？ If you’re not coming, I’ll be leaving.” Nie Yan swept a glance at the three, let out a laugh, then looked toward the distant forest. There was movement in three directions—east, south, and west. It was probably Blazing Holy Flame members flanking from all sides, preparing to surround him.
Nie Yan didn’t dare take it lightly. He sprinted outward, like a rabbit darting through the woods.
“Our people are here. Stall him, don’t let him escape！” The shield warrior chased after Nie Yan’s retreating direction.
The Berserker and holy knight followed close behind.
“What took you guys so long?” the shield warrior grumbled in the party chat.
“We found the hiding spot of that arcane mage and almost caught him. If you hadn’t been so urgent in calling us over, that guy would already be dead. What happened on your end？”
“Daozi and Huangni got killed,” the shield warrior said.
“What? Weren’t they with you guys?”
“It’s that thief named Nie Yan again. He ambushed us and took out Daozi and Huangni,” the shield warrior said, leaving out the part about them fighting the antler deer chieftain.
“Damn, that thief again！”
They had never seen such a formidable thief. This guy seemed to appear specifically to target them.
"Probably friends of those guys we took out earlier. He's heading north, let's chase him！"
Several figures darted through the woods.
Nie Yan was very fast. In the blink of an eye, he had opened up a huge gap behind him, but three or four figures were flanking around ahead. No way forward, pursuers behind—if he kept running like this, he'd definitely get completely cornered.
Nie Yan ducked behind a tree and entered stealth.
The shield warrior and his two companions met up with the flanking team members.
"What's going on？ Where is he？" the shield warrior asked, glancing around. Empty. No sign of Nie Yan at all.
"Did he get away？"
"Probably stealthed. Search more carefully."
The players spread out and began a thorough sweep of the area.
Nie Yan held his breath and crept out from cover.
The area was swarming with Blazing Holy Flame members; the danger wasn't over yet.
"How's it going over there？" Tang Yao messaged to ask.
"Took out two more," Nie Yan said, glancing at his backpack. Two pieces of equipment had dropped, but neither was any good—at most they'd sell for a few copper coins at the auction house.
"Damn, you're a beast. I've got to hand it to you, kid," Tang Yao admired. Most of Blazing Holy Flame's members traveled in groups of three to five—how the hell did Nie Yan manage that？
"Where are you now？" Nie Yan asked.
"I just ran into those Blazing Holy Flame guys, almost got caught by them. I fled deep into the mine, and then they went back. The mine is full of level 5 monsters, I can't get out." Tang Yao said, figuring that Nie Yan must have killed two of the Blazing Holy Flame members, and they went back to deal with him. In a way, Nie Yan had indirectly saved his life, but the problem was, his current situation was even more dangerous—everywhere deep in the mine were level 5 rock spiders, and one wrong move could get him killed.
"Just hide there for now. I'll bring you a Town Portal Scroll."
"A Town Portal Scroll makes things a lot easier. Can you even get in？ The exits are all blocked by rock spiders."
"We'll figure it out later. I've got some trouble here, gotta go."