Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World Chapter 204

Chapter 204 – Birth of the Mad Rogue!

Nie Yan was like a specter walking among the shadows. He left his pursuers unable to discover his whereabouts; they had lost all sight of him.

Eyes of the Divine!

Eyes of the Divine!

Five Paladins from Victorious Return activated Eyes of the Divine at the same time, releasing rays of holy light into the area. But even after activating the skill, they were unable to spot even a trace of Nie Yan. Logically, their Eyes of the Divine should be able to see through Nie Yan’s stealth, or at the very least reveal a hint of his silhouette—unless his stealthing capability was above the range where they could detect him.

As they searched in the direction they thought Nie Yan had gone, a sound came from behind. Their minds trembled. Did Nie Yan already circle behind them?

“He’s behind us!” cried out a Paladin who spotted Nie Yan after turning towards the source of the sound.

Meanwhile, Nie Yan judged the distance and headed for Hei Zhuo and Yu Long, his body light and his silhouette blurry as he swept past.

What an incredible movement speed! In just under five seconds, Nie Yan’s elusive figure moved over fifty meters! These players, who had not seen such speed in the game before, couldn’t wrap their heads around it.

There were still over seventy Mages alive after Lava Roar. They wanted to bombard Nie Yan with spells, but as they began chanting, they found their magic disappear before it could even take shape. The magical energy in the area was too unstable! There was no way for them to gather enough for a spell.

The Warriors didn’t stand idly by as they led the charge, only to find that they couldn’t keep up with Nie Yan. He was just too fast! With his astounding base speed boosted by Shadow Dance and a Haste Scroll, he could even outrun Warriors that used Charge.

Even with so many players trying to stop him, Nie Yan thought nothing of the blockade. To him they might as well not be there.

It wasn’t long before he stood in front of the two leaders. The only thing standing between him and Hei Zhuo now was the Paladin, Yu Long!

Yu Long activated Eyes of the Divine, locking on to Nie Yan and firmly blocking the way to Hei Zhuo.

“Nie Yan, is it? Come, let me see just how skilled you are!” Yu Long roared. Because the magical energy in the air was so unstable, he couldn’t activate any holy magic or buff himself with blessings. Radiating an imposing aura, Yu Long fiercely chopped at Nie Yan with Radiant Slash.

Meanwhile, Hei Zhuo hadn’t expect Nie Yan to arrive so quickly. He tried to cast a spell but found that the magical energy in the area was still too chaotic. He felt powerless. There was nothing he could do but place his hopes on Yu Long, praying that the Paladin could cut down Nie Yan.

Yu Long’s fierce swing was easily dodged by Nie Yan, who stabbed a dagger at his forehead in response. He saw that Nie Yan was just a flashing silhouette as his strike hit nothing but empty air. His mind trembled. My attack missed? What an incredible speed!

Yu Long’s eyes were blinded by the cold glimmer of Nie Yan’s dagger which was aimed at his forehead. Thinking that such a frontal attack was likely to be a Concussive Blow, he quickly entered a defensive stance and moved his sword to block. Since he couldn’t activate Indomitable Will, he didn’t dare to take such a blow from Nie Yan head on. He had only taken a single step back before Nie Yan disappeared from his line of sight. His heart clenched in worry.

Not good! Hei Zhuo!

With an elegant twist of his body, Nie Yan brushed past Yu Long. His speed had reached the peak!

It was as if he had become one with a deity.

He was using footwork that could rival a professional dancer. It was on the level of a Shadow Dancer!

Nie Yan thought back to when he was a Level 180 Great Thief, recalling the feelings of unrivalled speed and life or death in his grasp.

In that moment, the experiences of two lifetimes merged into a whole!

The resonance formed by the collision of both lives through space and time allowed Nie Yan to enter a deep trance of self-reflection. The shackles which prevented him from breaking through to a Shadow Dancer in the previous timeline finally melted away. Only after a sudden flash of insight did he finally realize what he was lacking. It was that graceful agility, that preeminent tenacity, and that relentless momentum!

This was a Shadow Dancer!

Nie Yan’s thoughts were very clear. He completely ignored Yu Long, as if the Paladin didn’t exist. No one could block his movements, not the Paladin in front of him nor anyone else!

As Yu Long felt Nie Yan brush past him in a blur, a feeling of humiliation rose within him. With a horizontal sweep, he swung his sword at Nie Yan only to miss again.

Nie Yan was like a shadow, intangible and uncatchable.

A sense of frustration began flooding through Yu Long. Even though the inability to cast holy magic was a major handicap to him, Yu Long wasn’t confident in his ability to stop Nie Yan even with the aid of holy spells. Nie Yan was just too much of a speed demon.

Hei Zhuo, noticing Nie Yan rush towards him, hurriedly tried to retreat. However, the dagger rushing towards him was like Death wielding his scythe, creating a looming sense of despair.

It was completely undodgeable!

Hei Zhuo’s mind went blank as the dagger pierced his forehead. In the blink of an eye, Nie Yan had circled around to his back and landed a Backstab and an Eviscerate with crisp, controlled actions that showed no sign of sloppiness.

As his eyes dimmed, Hei Zhuo fell to the ground with a thud.

After completing the kill, he stood still, creating a visual contrast with his speed-blurred form from before.

Seeing this, the several hundred players still alive all stared blankly at Nie Yan along with the corpse of Hei Zhuo. Many of them even forgot to keep moving.

Hei Zhuo… died?

From the time they first noticed Nie Yan to the time Hei Zhuo died, only fifteen seconds had passed. Fifteen seconds that had passed by in just a flash!

Nie Yan had truly performed an unimaginable deed. Under the noses of over almost five hundred players, he had slain Hei Zhuo!

By the time Yu Long turned around, Hei Zhuo was already dead. He hadn’t expected the Elementalist to die in such a short time. Such speed left a person without time to even react or think!

As the two people faced off, Yu Long looked Nie Yan straight in the eyes. Lifting the greatsword in his hands, he issued a challenge, “I’m next. Let’s see just how you finish me off!”

Nie Yan faintly smirked at Yu Long before vanishing into thin air.

He couldn’t be found anywhere.

What did the smirk signify? Disdain? Contempt? Maybe something else?

Nie Yan’s final actions deeply struck at Yu Long’s soul.

Yu Long suddenly felt the strength drain from his body. He felt cold sweat on his back as he realized that he had lost, completely and utterly. He was completely cowed by Nie Yan’s immense speed. If the two of them crossed blades again, would he even be able to last more than a few seconds?

Nie Yan had used a single stunning blow, as if to tell the world that he was unmatched!

“Boss, he left.” A Paladin walked to Yu Long’s side. He looked at Nie Yan’s silhouette dashing in the distance before disappearing among the trees.

No one tried to pursue him because they knew it’d be a futile effort.

Everyone finally learned what a Thief truly was today. In the face of a massive army, they could effortlessly behead the general and the soldiers would scatter. Even though this saying was normally used to describe valiant generals of the past, it was quite fitting on Nie Yan.

“Huh?” Yu Long suddenly woke up from his stupor.

“What do we do next?” the Paladin asked.

His voice had barely faded before the blazing Lava Titan appeared behind their army. It roared angrily, giving off an aura of intense power. With a sweeping wave of its arm, lava flowed out in massive waves as it used Lava Breaker to cover Yu Long’s remaining forces.

With a crashing boom, the lava swallowed everything in its path, including the five-hundred-plus players who had survived the first Lava Roar.

Nie Yan ran several thousand meters before looking back at the angrily roaring Lava Titan. No one caught within its lava skills would be able to escape its merciless wrath. As he looked in the distance, he saw that everything around the Lava Titan had become a sea of lava. Only a few lonely boulders poked out like islands above the water.

If he activated an Unknown Transfer Scroll here, he might end up being teleported back into the lava. To avoid this, Nie Yan jumped on a boulder to wait. Lava Roar’s silencing effect still had around twenty seconds to go before it expired.

As the ground beneath him was covered by the surging lava, Nie Yen quietly sat on his boulder waiting for time to pass. Watching the red waves flowing beneath him and the monster raging in the distance made Nie Yan a distant feeling.

His achievements today would become a legend, retold countless times in the future.

Kiln Fire Woods had turned into a sea of lava, with all the trees burning up and falling in.

Just how many corpses were buried under the lava?

Nie Yan didn’t have any way of knowing. He figured only Unhindered and Victorious Return would have access to such statistics. Of course, they would never reveal it to the public.

But was there really a need to know?

After a while, Nie Yan stood up and lazily stretched his body. He had a pure smile on his face and muttered in a pleased tone, “I did pretty good.”

If Yu Long saw Nie Yan’s expression right now, he would definitely be taken aback. It was vastly different from the cruel smile that Nie Yan had shown on the slope top.

Above the rolling lava, Nie Yan began activating a Return Scroll. With a flash of radiance, he disappeared from the area.

A video was published on the official forums with the title: ‘The Destruction of Unhindered and Victorious Return!” In the second round of the battle, both Victorious Return and Unhindered were defeated. Looking back at Asskickers United, aside from all ten members of the strike force being branded with red names, not a single one of them died.

A picture was released online as well. It was the group photo of Nie Yan and the others. The image would forever be preserved in the minds of all players. Because of the demise of over 20,000 players from Unhindered and Victorious Return who transformed into brilliant rays of light, the players on the forums would remember the ten faces in the picture. They were ten people who created a legend.

From now on, Asskickers United would rise to even greater heights, becoming a mighty entity that none would dare to offend!

All the players in the Viridian Empire would remember the name of Asskickers United.

Every video related to these events was released one after another on the Viridian Empire discussion board of the official forums. Players were able to watch through the entire course of events. The emergence of the frightening Lava Titan left everyone breathless. However, what left people the most captivated was that unrivalled, graceful strike by Nie Yan. They were thoroughly shocked by such a godly person.

「Godly Thief, Nirvana Flame!」

「Viridian Empire’s Number One Thief, Nirvana Flame!」

「Mad Rogue, Nirvana Flame」

Maybe the final nickname was just a bit more resounding, maybe the arrogant cutthroat gesture Nie Yan made toward Hei Zhuo left a deep impression players, or maybe everyone just felt that Nie Yan was completely out of his mind for daring to charge into a crowd of five hundred players to kill Hei Zhuo. Whatever the case, the name stuck and spread like a wildfire across the forums.

The nickname Mad Rogue would be the glory of Asskickers United.