Chapter 268 – Divinity
The battle in Kiln Fire Woods which made Nie Yan an overnight sensation had become an unforgettable memory in the minds of the players.
Ever since, the popularity of the Mad Rogue spread like wildfire.
After so long, Nie Yan revealed this gesture yet again. What did it mean? Was it a death sentence?
The guilds in Sinful Gorge were all watching the scene unfold from the sidelines. They had looked on as Nie Yan lured the Golden Dragon to the forces of Radiant Sacred Flame, plunging their ranks into chaos. In the same fashion, they witnessed him directing he cutthroat gesture towards Nightbreak Trickster.
This was a declaration of war! It was pure provocation!
Was Nie Yan planning to repeat the events of Kiln Fire Woods?
Radiant Sacred Flame wasn’t Unhindered, and Nightbreak Trickster wasn’t Hei Zhuo!
When Nie Yan was still relatively unknown, Nightbreak Trickster was already an illustrious figure, a publically acknowledged expert! The only reason he wasn’t the topic of every conversation was that he rarely stepped into the limelight!
From the moment he activated Magic Ignition, Nightbreak Trickster had put on a dominant display. He always kept his opponent on the backfoot. And on more than one occasion, he was only inches from killing Nie Yan.
Although Radiant Sacred Flame had suffered disastrous losses, Nightbreak Trickster still had a good number of people by his side. Among them there was no lack of Warriors and Paladins. With so many people protecting him, he had nothing to fear.
Did Nie Yan really have the confidence to turn the tide under these circumstances?
It was easy to talk the talk, but what about walking the walk?
No one believed Nie Yan would succeed, especially not the target of his provocation.
Nightbreak Trickster’s expression turned even colder. This arrogant gesture was the final tipping point. He began gathering power as magical energy surged around him. His body slowly levitated until it was about half-a-meter off the ground, whereupon the surrounding players felt a heavy pressure descend on them.
The Warriors and Paladins guarding Nightbreak Trickster’s side subconsciously retreated several steps. Their hearts shook in alarm. It was that spell! Even they weren’t quite clear on the specifics of this buff magic.
“You want to kill me, Mad Rogue? Give it your best shot!” Nightbreak Trickster thundered. He resembled a divine being overlooking the world with contempt!
Divinity!
Nightbreak Trickster chanted out a series of deep and resounding syllables as all magical energy within a hundred meter radius surged toward him.
Nie Yan’s expression paled. This son of a bitch even knows Divinity…? Magic Ignition and Divinity were rewards that could only be obtained by completing the first two quests of a six-part quest chain, similar to Karsi’s Blessing. It was rumoured in the previous timeline that those who could complete the second quest were few and far between.
Divinity temporarily granted the player unlimited mana on top of removing the cast time and greatly reducing the cooldown of up to three non-advanced magic spells. Just like Magic Ignition, there was also a heavy backlash for activating this spell.
The magical halos around Nightbreak Trickster vibrated in resonance, producing an audible hum.
Nightbreak Trickster’s body was like a whirlpool, rapidly drawing in the surrounding magical energy in the atmosphere.
He waved his staff, Blizzard!
Storm clouds instantly blotted out the sky, evoking a bone-chilling tempest that plunged the world in ice and snow.
Shit! What the hell? He made Blizzard an instant-cast spell!
Seeing the ice and snow crashing down on the battlefield, Nie Yan jumped down from the tree and melted into his surroundings. He attempted to escape the spell’s range by maneuvering around with Dance of Death.
The howling blizzard swept over the tree behind Nie Yan, instantly turning it into an ice sculpture.
Nie Yan never imagined Nightbreak Trickster to have another powerful trump card at hand. He was heavily considering activating Adjudicator of God right about now. Only this spell could counter Nightbreak Trickster’s relentless barrage of magic! If he had known he would be dealing with this sort of situation, he would’ve taken the time to unlock a few skills from the Glimpse of Darkness! After all, there was no such thing as too many aces up your sleeve!
Nightbreak Trickster’s barrage of attacks was far from over. Countless spells rained down onto the battlefield, freezing everything in their path!
He was unable to detect Nie Yan’s exact position, who had deaggroed the Golden Dragon after entering stealth. All he could do was rely on his high Awareness to determine where to attack.
A pair of icy hands shot out in the direction Nie Yan was fleeing. He quickly pivoted to the side and rolled away.「Boom!」A layer of frost expanded out like a blooming ice lotus, freezing everything it touched in a 5-meter radius.
Thankfully, this spell was slightly off-target and missed Nie Yan by a hair’s breadth. It was clear that Nightbreak Trickster had still underestimated his opponent’s speed.
Nightbreak Trickster sped up his attacks, unleashing one ice spell after another like a gatling gun.
Off to the side, the guild leaders who were dealing with the Golden Dragon while also enjoying the spectacle had dull looks on their faces. They never imagined that the usually low-key Nightbreak Trickster could explode with such ferocity.
Nie Yan was perhaps the only player who could endure such an intense barrage of spells for so long.
Ice Wolf!
Nightbreak Trickster chanted several syllables in a deep tone, invoking the surrounding ice elements to rapidly condense into an enormous wolf, standing 2 meters tall and sparkling translucently. It let out a deep howl, revealing its sharp teeth.
The Ice Wolf bounded toward Nie Yan, leaving behind a trail of ice.
「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Dazzling orbs of light shot up into the sky, revealing Nie Yan’s silhouette under their piercing radiance. The light bouncing off the Ice Wolf’s crystalline body refracted the colours of the rainbow.
The Golden Dragon no longer paid any heed to Nie Yan. It was currently attacking the nearby players of Unhindered and Dark Massacre.1
The area the Golden Dragon laid waste to had become Nie Yan’s arena.
Nie Yan quickly pulled back after seeing the massive Ice Wolf going straight for him. It had 600 health, and its ice armour granted it high resistance against physical attacks. He didn’t dare to underestimate it.
Nightbreak Trickster was actually this low-key. He had so many powerful spells up his sleeve, some that no one in the previous timeline had ever seen him use. He was even more formidable than the top Mages in Asskickers United! Were it not for Nie Yan’s provocation, it would’ve been very difficult to make him reveal his true strength.
“Today, this place will be the burial ground of the Mad Rogue!” Nightbreak Trickster declared in a cold tone that seemed to originate from the depths of the underworld.
If Nie Yan died, would he still be the Mad Rogue?
A fallen legend was nothing but a shell of its former glory.
The Ice Wolf leaped high into the air and pounced on Nie Yan, blasting him with a frigid frost aura. Its sharp claws radiated with a soul-shaking sharp light and swiped toward his throat at a lightning-fast speed. It looked like the ice and snow were about to be dyed red with his blood.
1. Dark Massacre was first introduced in Chapter 33 during the fight with the Guardian of Order.
