Chapter 584 – Sacrificial Gambit

By the time Nie Yan cycled through all his crowd control skills, he had dealt 300,000 damage in total. With the combined effects from his bleed and poison, the Wendigo was taking more than 1,000 damage every second.

As the Wendigo recovered, it let out a furious roar. Its monstrous paws swatted toward Nie Yan.

Its attacks were exceptionally powerful. A bloody glow emitted from its sharp claws.

Even if Nie Yan survived one hit, he would definitely die after the second.

Nie Yan employed Shadow Steps, as afterimages appeared to trail behind him. Every time it looked like he was going to get hit, he would always manage to dodge by a hair’s breadth. BANG! BANG! BANG! The Wendigo left deep craters in the earth as rubble and dirt flew everywhere.

From beginning to end, the Wendigo didn’t manage to land a single hit. Its attack carried the destructive power of a raging tide but failed to deal any damage to Nie Yan. Letting out an enraged roar, its onslaught became even fiercer.

Nie Yan dodged an attack with Illusion Steps, then threw out a kick, planting his foot deep into the Wendigo’s abdomen.

The Wendigo let out a groan and staggered several steps back.

Nie Yan pounced forward and slashed out, drawing an arc across the Wendigo’s throat with Zennarde’s Sword. PSHHH! Blood sprayed into the air.

Nie Yan was calm in the face of such a monstrous beast. He maintained a steady tempo. This definitely wasn’t something he could accomplish relying solely on the 10 years of gaming experience from his past life. He had grown immensely since returning to the past, almost as if he were a whole new person. Instead of the mediocre Thief of yesteryear, he was now the Mad Rogue Nirvana Flame!

This was an unwavering conviction. In this life, whether his name resounded through the world or his body was torn and crushed to pieces, he would never allow himself to fall back to mediocrity.

About 10 minutes later, as Nie Yan continuously chipped away the Wendigo’s health, it gradually fell below half.

As long as nothing unexpected happened, taking down the Wendigo would only be a matter of time.

…

While Nie Yan faced off against the Wendigo, a silhouette was rapidly dashing through the forest at the foot of the mountain.

A Thief in silver leather amour activated a speed boosting skill. He was currently evading the attacks of a Level 110 Elite Mad Direwolf. It was much faster than him, but he was dodged its attacks thanks to his skilled maneuvering. Making use of the surrounding boulders, trees, and other obstacles, he gradually pulled farther away.

After he put enough distance between them, he activated Gale Step and disappeared into stealth. The Mad Direwolf finally lost sight of him.

He gazed down at the bundle in his hand. Inside was a Level 110 Dark Gold-grade necklace. He socketed it with a gem that lowered the level requirement. It was a fairly decent piece of equipment. Even though he had braved through great danger to open that chest, it was worth it.

Since no one dared to explore high level maps at this stage of the game, rare treasure chests often appeared in them. The items that came out of these chests were usually good. This was an opportunity waiting to be exploited, and so he did. He planned to snag himself a few pieces of Level 100+ gear to prepare himself for the future.

He was only Level 81. Any of the monsters in this map could easily kill him. So, he was taking a great risk being here.

He was about to set off elsewhere in search for treasure chests, when he suddenly felt the ground beneath him shake. As he turned toward the source of the vibrations, he spotted a clearing halfway up the mountain. A battle was taking place. A small silhouette appeared to be dancing around a large monster. Since he was too far away, he couldn’t see it clearly.

“Another player? Here…?” He was momentarily dazed. “Is he fighting that giant monster alone? No way…”

He pondered for a moment, then decided to go over and take a look.

…

Nie Yan’s battle with the Wendigo only intensified. Its attacks became faster and fiercer by the second. He was starting to have a hard time dodging with footwork alone. Whenever he was forced into a corner, he had no choice but to rely on his escape skills like Gale Step.

The Wendigo only had 30% health left!

Nie Yan glanced at his skill bar. Counter was already off cooldown. Seeing the Wendigo charging over, he sidestepped out of the way and ruthlessly planted his elbow into its sternum, briefly crippling it. He followed up with a slash to the throat.

Phantom Assassination!

−11,150

−10,881

At this moment, a silhouette was watching Nie Yan from behind a tree some distance away.

A Smile Not Meant For Me never expected to see such a shocking sight here. He could hardly believe his eyes. How reckless! Before today, if someone told him they had witnessed a Thief attempting to solo a Level 110 Lord, he would’ve laughed in their faces. Prior to reaching Level 100, this wasn’t brave or daring but outright suicidal! However, right before him was a player accomplishing exactly that!

His gaze fell on the flaming black dagger in the Thief’s hands. Zennarde’s Sword! It was Nirvana Flame!

A Smile Not Meant For Me had heard of Nirvana Flame’s name on more than one occasion. This player was a legendary existence, an idol revered by many Thieves. There was a time when he looked down on Nirvana Flame. Many people in this world cheated their way to the top. Whether he was really as strong as the rumours said, who could know for sure. The videos circulating online could be easily edited.

A Smile Not Meant For Me didn’t interact much with other players. Every day he would grind, train, open chests, and occasionally return to town to sell off his haul for credits. As a skilled solo player, his business was fairly good, enough to secure a decent living for himself. He mostly focused his energy into pushing his own limits. Since he conducted himself in a low-key manner, he rarely did anything to put himself in the limelight. His title as a Luminous Dancer was the only reason he became famous in the previous timeline. At present, most players had never heard of him, He was just a nameless player. However, the number of Thieves that stood above him could be counted on one’s fingers.

A Smile Not Meant For Me was thoroughly shaken. He couldn’t help but sigh in admiration. Nie Yan was perhaps the only one who would dare to challenge a Level 110 Lord.

Nie Yan seemed fairly relaxed when facing the Wendigo, nimbly dodging its fierce attacks as though he were taking a stroll in the park. From beginning to end, it couldn’t touch a single hair on his body. From time to time, when it looked like he was about to get hit, he would dodge using some odd footwork and retaliate at the same time. As it pounced on him, he used Counter to cripple it for a total of three seconds.

“What a frightening skill…!” A Smile Not Meant For Me gulped.

After inspecting the Wendigo, he discovered it had less than 10% health left. On the other hand, Nie Yan was still at full health.

A Smile Not Meant For Me felt heartfelt admiration toward Nie Yan. This was someone who undoubtedly stood at the absolute pinnacle among Thieves!

Despite not participating in any rankings, A Smile Not Meant For Me was fairly proud of his skills. Many famous Thieves only looked so-so in his eyes. However, after witnessing the legendary Mad Rogue in action, he lost all arrogance and started seriously reevaluating his position among Thieves.

“Nirvana Flame, you’re my goal…” A Smile Not Meant For Me clenched his fists. He could sense the large gap between them. If it were him up against that Wendigo, there were only two possible outcomes. He would either flee for his life or end up dying. He definitely wasn’t a match for it.

In the past, A Smile Not Meant For Me would sneer when he heard people calling Asskickers United a mecca of elites. Now, he was seriously reconsidering. A single person could only accomplish so much by themselves. They might even end up falling into mediocrity. If he continued fumbling ahead by himself, who knew how long it would take him to reach his goal?

According to the rumours, Asskickers United had several other Thieves who were only second to Nirvana Flame. It would be foolish to think that so many top Thieves had gathered around him purely by coincidence. A Smile Not Meant For Me made a decision.

As Nie Yan continued his assault, the Wendigo’s health fell to critical levels. It let out a thunderous roar as its snow white fur turned red. It had gone berserk.

The Wendigo’s attacks from before seemed simple and weak in comparison to now. It let loose like a raging hurricane.

Nie Yan was really feeling the heat. The Wendigo’s attacks were even fiercer than he expected. He was forced to use all his escape skills like Gale Step and Shadow Waltz to dodge.

The Wendigo rushed forward like a bulldozer. Seeing he had no way of evading, Nie Yan shielded himself with the Darkbright Barrier.

BANG! The Wendigo’s paw slammed into Nie Yan’s side. The Darkbright Barrier shattered like glass, and he was sent flying away.

Nie Yan drank a Master Health Potion, restoring his health back to full. He felt a burning sensation all throughout his body. It seemed he was also inflicted with corrosion. He quickly drank a Corrosion Resistance Potion. Seeing the Wendigo charging over, he dodged out of the way with Phantom Assassination and plunged Zennarde’s Sword into its neck.

After the previous encounter with the Miasma Scorpion King, Nie Yan didn’t dare to rely on Hell Execution. He continued using his powerful skills to deal damage. The poison and bleed also continued to shave away at the Wendigo’s health.

As the Wendigo lunged forward, Nie Yan rapidly pulled back. Seeing it had less than 1% health left, he went in for the finish.

Sacrificial Gambit!

This was a skill from the Chapter of Freedom—now a part of the Glimpse of Darkness—which allowed Nie Yan to sacrifice 30% of his current health to unleash an explosive attack.

With a large bang, Nie Yan’s dagger embedded itself deep into the Wendigo’s chest.

−52,091!

A fountain of blood gushed out.

The Wendigo let out a low whimper and crashed into the ground.

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