Chapter 1 A Wandering Soul

The Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na waved her staff, summoning a ball of blazing flames, which fell into the crowd of players. With a deafening roar, the flames exploded, scattering sparks and instantly engulfing some of the players.

Over a thousand players were harvested in that single strike, but even more reckless players surged forward.

They were prepared to exhaust the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na to death. Even the most powerful Boss couldn't withstand such numbers. Time ticked by.

These players never imagined that the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na would be so powerful. The number of casualties rapidly accumulated.

About thirty minutes later, the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na still had 33% of her health remaining, decreasing very slowly. The Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na truly made the players realize what a level 100 mutated lord was, completely different from the previous Bosses. With those earlier Bosses, a few thousand of them would swarm, and the Boss would be nearly finished in five or six minutes.

Glorious Temple's losses were a bit severe, with over two hundred casualties in total.

"Shieldbearers, pay attention to interrupting. Mages, control aggro and lower your damage!" Star of Glory ordered, looking at the team's losses. If the casualties were too great, even if they snatched good equipment, it probably wouldn't be worth it.

Besides the members of Glorious Temple, there were about ten thousand scattered players around the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na, and three guilds had also sent thousand-man groups.

The Iron Behemoth was lured into the town, where about six or seven thousand players gathered around it.

The Iron Behemoth threw punch after punch, each attack knocking down dozens of players, but there were still those who fearlessly charged forward.

These players all harbored dreams of getting rich overnight. The equipment on their bodies was worth at most a few dozen or a few hundred gold coins, and even a thousand gold coins was considered very good. If creatures like the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na and the Iron Behemoth died, the equipment they dropped would be worth at least tens of thousands of gold coins. How could they not be crazy? If they were lucky enough to snatch one or two pieces and sell them to the big shots in those large guilds or studios, they could completely renew all their equipment.

Similar things had happened too many times before, and many people had become rich overnight as a result. The power of role models was enormous. There was even a group of people who were professional treasure snatchers. Once they encountered a Boss fight, they were more active than anyone else.

So, as soon as they received the news that the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na was attacking Krasu Town, they rushed over from all directions.

Nie Yan now understood what it meant for ants to devour an elephant. In the current situation, even if the Wandering Soul Princess and her summoned creatures were strong, they couldn't stop the endless tide of players. There were too many of them! Even if each person only dealt a little damage, they could grind them to death.

The Wandering Soul Princess let out a shrill howl, and all the players within a fifty-yard radius were controlled, each crashing around like headless flies.

The scene was chaotic for a long time. Immediately afterwards, many magic users came forward, frequently unleashing their spells.

Nie Yan didn't dare to approach the Wandering Soul Princess. He stealthily approached the Iron Behemoth to within about twenty yards and cast a Detect on it, discovering that the Iron Behemoth had only 9% of its health remaining. It looked like it was about to fall.

The Iron Behemoth entered a berserk state, pulling out a giant axe from its back and hacking it into the crowd. A crescent-shaped arc of sword energy, over ten yards long, swept across the ground. With a loud crash, hundreds of players were cut down, and a burst of white light illuminated the area.

"Damn, it's gone berserk!"

"Run! Wait for its berserk duration to pass."

"Damn it, are you crazy, still trying to grab equipment? Run!"

The Iron Behemoth frantically chased after the players, and wherever it went, the players were harvested like wheat.

Nie Yan hid in the crowd, watching as the Iron Behemoth swung its sword down. He used Gale Step to dodge away, and where the sword's energy landed behind him, a chorus of screams rang out.

Nie Yan looked back, and at least a hundred people had died behind him.

If you're not strong enough, you can only be cannon fodder.

Wherever the Iron Behemoth went, there was wailing and lamentation.

Nie Yan circled around to the back of the Iron Behemoth, about ten yards away. He aimed at the Iron Behemoth's spine.

Seeing that the Iron Behemoth's health was only about 3% remaining, everyone was waiting to reap the benefits, but no one dared to rush up, because the Iron Behemoth was at its most frantic at this time. Anyone who dared to get close to it was basically killed instantly.

Dense magic bombarded the Iron Behemoth's body, and a series of damage numbers floated above the Iron Behemoth's head.

Seeing that the Iron Behemoth's health had dropped to only about 1% remaining.

"The Iron Behemoth is about to die! Give it one last push!"

"Everyone in the team, cover me while I grab the equipment!"

Some teams quickly set up defensive lines, blocking the players behind them. Some thieves were prowling in front, preparing to seize the treasure. If the people behind them dared to rush up, they would not hesitate to give them a head-on blow. However, the players behind them were desperately pushing forward. The equipment dropped by the Iron Behemoth was enough to make everyone present go crazy. The people in front wanted to monopolize it, but the people behind would not agree.

Seeing that the Iron Behemoth's health was only a sliver away, Nie Yan used Blink, suddenly disappearing from his spot. The dagger in his hand neatly performed a Spinal Break on the Iron Behemoth's back.

The Iron Behemoth's health was reduced to zero, and its body fell apart and collapsed to the ground.

"Sweet, got the Honor Points." Nie Yan glanced at the system notification and obtained over two thousand Honor Points. That last hit was absolutely awesome.

Just as Nie Yan was about to reach out and grab the equipment dropped by the Iron Behemoth, the warriors and thieves on the periphery swarmed over.

"The Iron Behemoth is dead, grab the equipment!"

"Stop that thief!"

Clusters of red flames suddenly condensed in the sky, and then fireballs fell from the sky.

"Damn it, who's casting area-of-effect magic!"

A group of players cursed. Some thieves and warriors couldn't dodge in time and were directly hit by the fireballs, and waves of damage numbers floated up.

"Damn, that's too ruthless, actually using area-of-effect magic on the crowd!" When Nie Yan saw this situation, he knew something was wrong. He used Gale Step to fly outwards, dodging the Flame Storm's attack. After running twenty or thirty yards, he looked back and saw a sea of blazing flames, with corpses lying all over the place inside.

The area-of-effect magic showed no signs of stopping. The mages in the back had worked so hard to deal damage and kill the Iron Behemoth, but the warriors and thieves from other teams were blocking them, preventing them from grabbing the equipment. How could they be willing to let the equipment dropped by the Iron Behemoth be snatched away? In a fit of anger, they used area-of-effect magic. Even if I can't get it, you can't have it either!

"Damn it, whoever casts area-of-effect magic, kill them!" a large team leader cursed.

Seeing this situation, it was so chaotic that it was a bloodbath. The area within thirty yards of the Iron Behemoth was filled with flames. He probably wouldn't be able to snatch any equipment. Nie Yan thought about it and decided to give up. He didn't lack any equipment, and the things dropped by the Iron Behemoth didn't have any special appeal to him. It wasn't worth risking his life to get them. Getting the Honor Points was enough.

Nie Yan looked at the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na in the distance. He should go take a look over there.

Nie Yan flew forward.

The battle around the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na was even more complex than the one at the Iron Behemoth's location. Several large guild teams were eyeing the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na. There were several important forces around the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na, one of which was Star of Glory from Glorious Temple, with about two thousand people. There were also several other guilds, such as Death Descends, Heavenly Net Gate, and Dark Winter, each with at least a thousand people. They were cautiously on guard, while chipping away at the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na's health and preparing to snatch the equipment.

Death Descends, Glorious Temple, Heavenly Net Gate, and Dark Winter were the top four guilds in Calore City, second only to first-rate guilds like Nirvana's Flame and Holy Roman Empire. Some were veteran guilds that had existed since the game's launch, and others were newly emerging. They didn't occupy fortresses, and their income might not be very high, but their strength was not to be underestimated. Generally, each guild had about fifty to sixty thousand people, with a relatively small proportion of elites.

Although Nirvana's Flame was powerful, it had always been wary of these guilds. Once these guilds became stronger, their first target would be the fortresses occupied by guilds like Nirvana's Flame and Holy Roman Empire. For guilds like Nirvana's Flame, these guilds were more dangerous. Those who had nothing to lose were not afraid of those who had something to lose. Anyway, they didn't control fortresses, so what if they failed to attack Nirvana's Flame? At most, Nirvana's Flame would put them on a wanted list, surround them, and intercept them, causing them some losses. If they really couldn't hold on, they could simply disband the guild and the original team could relocate and start over.

Nirvana's Flame was a large and prosperous family and couldn't afford to lose, but they could.

So, if Nirvana's Flame wanted the foundation below to be stable enough, they couldn't let these second-tier guilds grow stronger. Once there was an unfavorable trend, they had to nip them in the bud.

The presidents of these four guilds were all commanding their teams on the front lines. When Nie Yan looked ahead, he spotted the figures of the Bloodfiend Five. They were wandering around about twenty or thirty yards away from the Wandering Soul Princess Ai Na. It was said that Bloodfiend was an organization from the First Military Academy. Two of them were students at the academy, and three were graduates who had already graduated. Their codenames were Ming, Lie, Ying, Su, and Feng. All of their subordinates were thieves.

In the future, he would be living in the First Military Academy for four years. Sooner or later, they would meet.

Last time you ambushed me and almost killed me. This time, it's my turn to ambush you, Nie Yan thought to himself.

Now Nie Yan's strength had greatly improved compared to last time. He wondered if they could escape. Those guys' skills were indeed good. There was a reason why they were able to advance to Shadow Dancer in his previous life, but the current Nie Yan could already be described as a freak.

Nie Yan played with the dagger in his hand, entered stealth mode, and groped towards the battlefield over there.