Chapter 72 - Thief

Elemental Hall Magic, which could only be learned by Elementalists, came from the various Elemental Shrines scattered across the continent. It was divided into sixteen ranks, with rank sixteen denoting the highest possible rank. The Thousand Swallows Burst from just a moment ago was classified as a rank one Elemental Hall Magic. It had a long channeling time, requiring a full set of syllables to successfully cast. The long casting time made it impractical in one-versus-one battles. As for team battles, it could be easily cancelled by a Paladin using Silence. Such reasons made it unsuitable for PvP. Not to mention its lengthy cooldown period, which came to a total of two entire days. Hence, Elementalists that learnt rank one Elemental Hall Magic would only cast them during emergencies. Naturally, if it was a high-level Elemental Hall Magic, for example the rank sixteen Mantra of Silence, it would be an entirely different case.

After Thousand Swallows Burst ended, Candy stealthily circled round a Marsh Monitor’s back. She raised her dagger and struck the back of its head with Smothering Strike. The dagger flickered with a cold glint as she arced the blade through her target’s neck. Her methods were efficient and brutal. The low-health Marsh Monitor stood no chance and collapsed to the ground.

“Flame Slash!” Eternal Sin cleaved down as his greatsword was enveloped by an intense blaze.「Boom!」His blade directly beheaded and cauterized a Marsh Monitor’s neck. The raging flames continued burning until its entire body was charred black.

The five remaining Marsh Monitors charged past and made a bee-line for the three Mages in the rear. However, Eternal Sin roared and stopped them in their tracks by using Taunt!

The moment his Taunt came out, the five lizards immediately aggroed onto him and unleashed a flurry of attacks. −15, −16, −18… Several damage values emerged and rose above his head. Fortunately, his defense was solid, so despite being encircled, these lizards posed no threat.

The Priest in the rear cast Dispel, removing the paralysis debuff, then followed up with Lesser Heal. As a result, Eternal Sin immediately recovered a large chunk of health.

With all five Marsh Monitors aggroed onto him, Eternal Sin brandished his greatsword and activated Whirlwind Slash. Immediately, his spinning blade swept through their bodies and dealt over fifty damage to each.

Su Yan (White Smoke) and the Arcane Mage continued casting spells in the rear.

Despite being besieged by Marsh Monitors, Eternal Sin firmly held his ground like an immovable boulder. The earth was splattered with blood, some from the lizards and some his own. Amidst the madness that shone in his eyes, he erupted in a frenzy intertwined with ruthlessness and bloodlust. His entire being was akin to an enraged beast, his every action hammering fear into one's heart.

Su Yan and the others couldn’t help but tremble when witnessing Eternal Sin in such a state. He was simply a killing machine that maniacally swung his sword for slaughter.

The only one who remained unperturbed was Candy. She curled her lips and uttered, “Boring...” before lightly yawning. She then rummaged through her knapsack and took out a piece of fruit candy that could be bought at the NPC general store. Popping it into her mouth, she entered Stealth and approached a Monitor Lizard from the rear. Smothering Strike! Upon activating the skill, she struck the lizard on the backside of its head with the pommel of her dagger. Now that it was stunned, her blade easily pierced its flesh and sent out a spray of blood.

Eternal Sin and his team had fairly good synergy. Within a brief timespan, they were able to easily make short work of the dozen or so lizards.

Candy retrieved her dagger from a Marsh Monitor’s corpse and calmly wiped off the blood.

“Big Guy, the monsters here are too scarce. Let’s go somewhere else,” Candy said to Eternal Sin.

Only Candy would dare to call him in such a way since the others didn’t have the nerves to do so. This sense of familiarity came from having known each other for a long time. As for how long? No one knew. However, one fact remained consistent throughout the years: whenever Dark Empire was overturning the entire world of those previous games, Candy was never absent.

Although Candy and Eternal Sin didn’t establish a guild, the rallying power they held within Conviction was still extremely astonishing.

Eternal Sin strapped his greatsword on his back and turned to face the other members. “Let’s take a small break. We’ll switch locations afterwards.”

And so, atop a mound of dry earth under the shade of a tree, six players rested while eating Bread and drinking Spring Water.

...

Although the clamour of battle had recently ended, Nie Yan continued heading towards its source as he dashed through the marsh. Eventually, six players entered his sight.

At the same moment, Eternal Sin and his party also discovered him and quickly stood up in response.

Nie Yan observed the other party’s equipment as he neared, and he was particularly surprised by Eternal Sin’s equipment. What a strong group of players! Even then, the Serpentine Lizard was closing in from the rear, so he no choice but to disregard their strength and press on.

“It’s a Thief…” Eternal Sin said, after getting a better look at Nie Yan, though in no way did he believe this single Thief would pose a threat. Why? Because the strongest Thief in the game was standing right here beside them. Not to mention, with his high health and defense, there was simply no reason to fear any Thief in the first place. Even if Nie Yan’s equipment did look somewhat decent to him, to this day, there had never been a single Thief that could defeat him. This wasn’t confidence born out of arrogance but rather confidence that came from absolute strength.

“Oh?” Candy’s figure gradually faded before completely merging with the greenery in the background.

As Nie Yan ran, his eyes fell on a certain patch of shrubbery off in the distance. The other side’s prowess using Stealth was near flawless. Ordinary players or even experts might not be able to detect her presence, but she definitely wouldn’t go unnoticed by him.

Candy felt a tinge of surprise as she saw Nie Yan’s gaze focus on her. Oh…? It seems they encountered an interesting fellow.

Though he could clearly sense the open hostility in the moment he appeared before them, his circumstances were quite dire since the Serpentine Lizard was already close to his heels. He had to take this gamble, but he wasn’t naive enough to believe these six would help him out of the kindness of their hearts. So, he was left with no other choice. He would pass the Serpentine Lizard off to them and make use of their power in order to survive!

He accelerated his pace and bolted straight for Eternal Sin and the others.

Eternal Sin unstrapped his greatsword and firmly grasped it in his hand. The blade was at an inclined angle and firmly planted on the earth so he could be ready to receive his opponent. He stood no further than two meters from his Mages. Though he personally wasn’t afraid, things could get quite dangerous if he let this Thief enter their rearline.

Eternal Sin, who wore the Death’s Sacrifice set, resembled an iron wall that blocked the path to the three Mages behind him.

Just as Eternal Sin was prepared to cut down this Thief, the bushes in the distance stirred with activity, causing his heart to leap in surprise. Don’t tell me there’s more people at his rear?

He soon discovered what followed the Thief from behind wasn’t a player but rather… a gigantic lizard! It was several times larger than the ordinary lizard monsters in this area.

“Shit... It’s a Serpentine!” Candy drew in a breath of cold air upon seeing the lizard’s distinct gait. They were a terrifying existence: apex predators, killers of the marsh, and capable of reaching lightning-fast speeds.

“Level 7 Sub-Elite?” Eternal Sin stammered and retreated several steps back to the mound. They could have easily handled the situation if the second figure had been another player, but what arrived was a Level 7 Sub-Elite instead! It was an existence that was difficult to deal with even at their levels. Not to mention their Priest had yet to learn Revive. It would be a disastrous loss if one or two of them ended up dying due to this.

As Nie Yan drew increasingly near, the Elementalist at Eternal Sin’s rear brandished their staff and sent lightning crackling toward him.

This Thief’s intentions were already quite obvious to them. He wanted to pass the Serpentine Lizard off to them. Naturally, Eternal Sin and his group wouldn’t be polite. None of them dared to receive such a flaming hot potato.

Behind the bolt of lightning, Su Yan and the Arcane Mage’s attacks arrived in tow.

By this time, the Serpentine Lizard was basically nipping at his heels. It wound up its body, and in the next instant, pounced at him like an arrow. In response, Nie Yan rolled to the side and evaded its attack and incidentally, Lei Fa’s (Lightning Magic) bolt of lightning.「Bang!」However, he was unable to avoid a Holy Strike aimed prior to where he rolled to.

−67

「System: A member of the party led by player Eternal Sin has taken the initiative to attack you. You are free to retaliate in legitimate self-defense. Duration: 30 minutes.」

Dammit! What kind of damage is that!? Nie Yan inwardly cried out in alarm. He rolled again and avoided the oncoming Arcane Fireball. Just as the spell passed by him, he felt a murderous intent nearing his back.

Their Thief!