Chapter 1 The Scene Under the Mage Tower

Beneath the Mage Tower was a chaotic battlefield, players of various classes scattered about. The surrounding open ground was filled with mages, some even perched on the outer branches of trees. Magical light shone from their hands, beams of magic flying in straight lines toward the foot of the Mage Tower.

A group of several dozen warriors surrounded the Evil Warlock Mage in red robes at the base of the Mage Tower. He was an old man, emaciated, his beard and hair bristling, his entire body burning with white soul flames.

His health was only about one-fifth remaining, but even with only one-fifth left, it would still take Triumph at least ten minutes to take him down.

"The undying flame of Sordanmi, your faithful followers summon you from distant Atlanta, let the flames of destruction burn this land. Damned heretics, enjoy the kiss of death!" The Evil Warlock Mage let out a strange, cackling laugh.

The Evil Warlock Mage waved his staff, summoning a torrent of burning flames that poured down like a waterfall, instantly engulfing more than twenty players in the open space in front of him. The flames raged, rising more than three yards high, like a living hell. Damage numbers of over 200 floated above the players' heads. In just three seconds, all twenty-plus players were burned to death.

The surroundings descended into chaos. The raging flames burned unceasingly, lasting for five seconds before finally extinguishing, leaving behind a patch of black ashes on the ground.

The area in front of the Evil Warlock Mage was instantly cleared.

"What powerful magic!" Skinny Dog, who was in charge of commanding, gasped, quickly adjusting the formation to have the warriors in the back fill in.

"Hurry up!"

"Move faster!"

More than a dozen warriors activated Charge, rushing toward the Evil Warlock Mage.

The Evil Warlock Mage cast magic spells in waves, and the priests in the back were extremely busy. Dazzling white light fell from the sky as they healed the warriors. Usually, two or three priests would heal one warrior. The warriors' health fluctuated wildly, making it a thrilling sight.

The mages' Magic Missiles and Fireballs sprayed toward the center. Hundreds of magic spells flew from all directions, constantly exploding on the Evil Warlock Mage's body, creating a spectacular scene.

With the strength of the Crazy Blades, they wouldn't dare to fight a high-level Lord so recklessly. The Crazy Blades didn't have so many high-level players to expend. This was also the difference in foundation between a newly emerged guild like the Crazy Blades and a large guild like Triumph.

Nie Yan gradually crept behind a tree. The nearest player was less than two yards away from him. That player was an arcane mage, yet he didn't notice Nie Yan at all. In a fight, if a mage was approached by a thief in stealth to within two yards or so and still hadn't detected the thief's presence, it could basically be determined that the mage was dead.

"This guy is too difficult to deal with. Scarface, are you guys ready yet!" Skinny Dog saw that the Evil Warlock Mage's attacks were still fierce and shouted to the players on the east side, as he had to resort to his ultimate move.

"Skinny Dog, we're ready!" a tall, sturdy man with a scar on his face shouted.

Nie Yan was slightly surprised, wondering what these Triumph players were planning to do.

"Warriors in the middle, everyone get out of there!" Skinny Dog yelled frantically.

The warriors who had been holding back the Evil Warlock Mage quickly retreated, and Scarface and another group of players took out scrolls, one after another, bursting with light.

Weakness Curse!

Dark Curse!

Art of Icy Confinement!

...

All of them were intermediate-level scrolls, at least a dozen of them, thrown out as if they didn't cost any money. Even Nie Yan felt a little heartache watching.

Triumph was rich and generous. They didn't care about such a small amount of money. If they could kill this Lord, using these scrolls would be extremely worthwhile.

Just as these players were frantically using scrolls to bombard the Evil Warlock Mage, the magic classes behind Triumph made their move, all using area-of-effect magic with super-powerful attacks.

Nie Yan glanced ahead, and a familiar figure came into view. It was actually Orange, the woman who had been defeated once by Nie Yan. The woman was chanting magic in a low voice, and magic elements quickly gathered. A set of syllables had passed, but the magic hadn't been cast yet.

It was estimated to be a powerful magic, otherwise it wouldn't require such a long chanting time.

The magical effects of a large pile of scrolls landed on the Evil Warlock Mage, and the Evil Warlock Mage's attributes immediately decreased a lot, firmly trapped in place by the effects of some intermediate magic scrolls.

The surrounding warriors and mages quickly retreated, leaving a large open space.

Immediately afterward, magic elements rapidly condensed in the sky, surging wildly.

First, pieces of ice fell like hail, landing on the ground and on the Evil Warlock Mage. *Peng, peng, peng*, they exploded into patches of ice flowers, making the surrounding air much colder. A thick layer of frost covered the Evil Warlock Mage's body.

Element Hall ice magic, Frost Hail!

Immediately afterward, arcane fireballs bombarded down in patches, like a storm, savagely ravaging the Evil Warlock Mage and the ground near him.

Arcane magic, Firestorm!

Then another Element Hall flame magic came down.

A full three mages capable of casting Element Hall and Arcane-level magic. This was the foundation of the Triumph Empire. These players had undergone very strict tests before learning these types of magic. These powerful magic spells often had extremely powerful effects in guild wars. Meanwhile, none of Nie Yan's Crazy Blades players had even learned Element Hall or Arcane magic.

From this, it could be seen that the Crazy Blades still had a long way to go in the future.

Under the frenzied magic, the Evil Warlock Mage's health dropped bit by bit, 17%, 13%, 9%...

The Evil Warlock Mage let out a shrill howl in the raging flames. Seeing that his health was about to reach the bottom, his body suddenly changed continuously, rapidly growing larger, transforming into a bear covered in red fur, five yards tall, like an ancient behemoth. His health soared.

"It's Polymorph, everyone be careful!" Orange said nervously, activating Arcane Clearcasting, and shooting out one magic spell after another.

The bear stood up tall, then pounced down, its bear paw swiping out violently, smashing a warrior directly away.

The warriors quickly waved their greatswords to attack the bear, *ding, ding, ding*, their attacks landing on the bear's body, but all were misses.

"It's physically immune! Warriors, all retreat!" Skinny Dog's dagger struck the bear and, finding it had no effect, he immediately shouted.

"It's slow, everyone keep your distance!"

The warriors surrounding the bear quickly retreated, and the mages retreated rapidly, maintaining efficient output while moving. The bear roared incessantly, but its crawling speed was relatively slow, moving toward the forest little by little.

The group of mages retreated backward, releasing magic spells one after another. The spells shot straight at the giant bear's body, *peng, peng, peng*, scattering bursts of sparks.

Damage numbers appeared above the giant bear's head. Although not much, only a few points, the number of Triumph mages was too high. Hundreds of mages accumulated, and the damage value was still extremely considerable.

The battlefield gradually moved backward, and a large group of mages retreated toward Nie Yan's side.

Some mages passed by Nie Yan, but their attention was focused on the bear, and they didn't notice Nie Yan hiding behind the tree.

The surroundings were full of Triumph players. Nie Yan's situation seemed dangerous, but in reality, it was very safe. He put on the black robe that concealed his appearance and name. With so many people and such a chaotic situation, most people wouldn't notice Nie Yan sneaking in.

They simply didn't realize that there would be someone from outside the guild nearby! With so many Triumph players patrolling everywhere outside, how could other players sneak in? Moreover, even if someone did sneak in, wouldn't it be suicide to be surrounded by so many Triumph players?

"It's almost dead, everyone work harder!" Skinny Dog shouted excitedly.

Orange paused her fire, drank a bottle of magic potion, and continued to output frantically.

"I'm out of mana!"

"Me too!"

There were also many who were still short on mana even after using magic potions. They quickly retreated to replenish their mana with spring water in the back.

The bear had only 2% health left. It waved its giant paw, swiping horizontally, and a large tree that required three players to hug was snapped in half. The tree flew out, falling down and killing five or six players.

Although there were heavy casualties, their magic output never stopped.

A group of melee fighters tried to approach the bear. Although their attacks were ineffective, they could still block the bear's attacks, but they were quickly scared away by the bear's powerful attacks.

Nie Yan crept forward, only about five yards away from the bear, hiding behind a tree. Not a single player noticed him!

His superb hiding skills allowed him to completely blend into the background color of the tree.

Skinny Dog, Orange, and the others couldn't possibly have imagined that Nie Yan was actually right next to them, within reach.

Although she felt a faint sense of unease in her heart, as if something was nearby, Orange naturally assumed that all the threats came from the bear.

They were focused on dealing with the bear, who would pay attention to anything else!

Another wave of magic slammed into the bear's body, and the bear let out a shrill roar before collapsing to the ground, its body rapidly shrinking, turning back into the Evil Warlock Mage.

"Finally dead, how many people died?" Skinny Dog asked, feeling heartache over the many deaths just now.

"Didn't count, at least thirty or forty!" Orange looked at the surrounding corpses and said. The Evil Warlock Mage's single magic attack before transforming had wiped out more than twenty people, plus the ones who died later, there were already more than thirty that they had seen.

These players slowly ran out from their respective hiding places.

The scene was a mess. A few players ran over to pick up equipment.

Nie Yan activated Shadow Dance and ran toward the Evil Warlock Mage's corpse. His speed was clearly faster than the Triumph players. There were several pieces of equipment under the Evil Warlock Mage's corpse, shining brightly.