Chapter 15 The Ambush

Nie Yan's movements were incredibly fast, from the Flash Powder at the beginning to the subsequent pounce, a continuous series of actions.

Having played games for so many years, Nie Yan understood what kind of attacks were most deadly for a Thief. One was control, restricting the target by inflicting stun, sleep, or freeze, and the other was speed, too fast for the opponent to dodge.

Nie Yan landed a stun, hitting Nightshadow and inflicting the Stunned status.

He then realized that this Nightshadow was from Triumphant. Again, Triumphant! This guy wore a set of black leather armor. Judging from the style of the equipment, it was the best Blackwing set currently available for combat Thiefs. This guy was probably a high-ranking character in Triumphant.

However, no matter how big the newcomer's background was, they definitely couldn't compare to Nie Yan in terms of combat skills or experience.

Nie Yan wouldn't show any mercy to those who tried to ambush him. Just as he was about to finish off Nightshadow, a black fireball whistled through the air.

Arcane Fireball!

There were more of them. Nie Yan was shocked. If he continued to attack Nightshadow, he would have to take a scorching Fireball. With someone interfering, it was impossible for him to kill Nightshadow in a short amount of time. He rolled to dodge the Arcane Fireball and glanced into the distance. On top of a boulder, a female Arcane Mage had just finished casting a spell, perfectly timing a Feeble on him as he rolled away.

Nie Yan checked his status. He had a Feeble status, reducing his attack by 30% for twenty seconds. A Feeble completely negated Nie Yan's offensive capabilities against Nightshadow.

What fast casting!

The Feeble effect lasted for twenty seconds. With his attack so weak, the Ghoul King charged up as well. On the other side, a Warrior in a Stalwart Defense Set also charged forward.

The Ghoul King roared as it pounced towards Nie Yan, its blood-red claws swinging down.

"See where you can run!" Cang Dao stood behind Nie Yan, blocking his escape route.

There were three of them, and as soon as the fight started, Nie Yan knew that they weren't easy players to deal with. Furthermore, the Ghoul King's aggro was focused entirely on him. As long as Cang Dao and the others didn't attack the Ghoul King, its aggro wouldn't transfer.

In other words, Nie Yan was surrounded.

At this moment, Nightshadow woke up.

"Don't let him get away! He's Nie Yan, the one the guild leader wants!" Nightshadow was still shaken. If Ju Zi and Cang Dao hadn't arrived in time, he would have been dead.

The last time Nie Yan killed Purpleflame, a highly respected member of Triumphant, it was a huge blow to their elite group. Every member of the elite group was the cream of the crop, and for a casual player to easily kill one of them, stalling their dungeon progress for a day, was like a slap in the face. The guild leader of Triumphant, Po Tian, was furious and issued a bounty within the guild. That was just Po Tian's personality. He was used to getting his way and didn't tolerate any opposition.

"Understood, don't worry. He won't get away." Cang Dao used Charge, swinging his greatsword at Nie Yan.

Surrounded on all sides, Nie Yan was unwilling to let them steal the Ghoul King, but he had to retreat for now and save his life. He used Shadow Dance and disappeared from their sight. Relying on the speed bonus from Shadow Dance, he flashed away.

Unexpectedly, Nie Yan disappeared suddenly. Cang Dao's greatsword struck empty air, as Nie Yan was already far away.

"Be careful, he's stealthed!"

"He's so fast, I couldn't stop him!" Nightshadow felt a surge of anxiety. Fighting a pro like Nie Yan was an exciting yet dangerous thing.

Nie Yan used Stealth to escape the Ghoul King's line of sight, causing the Ghoul King's aggro to shift to the nearby, weaker Nightshadow.

Taunt!

Cang Dao used Taunt to pull the Ghoul King's aggro back. He activated Life Activation, granting him +300 health, +36 defense, and +13 poison resistance. His stats instantly became much stronger, allowing him to hold off the Ghoul King.

"Be careful, don't get ambushed," Nightshadow reminded Cang Dao.

"Don't worry, that guy is fast enough that we really can't do anything to him. But the Ghoul King is definitely ours!" Cang Dao said confidently. In his current state, what could Nie Yan possibly do?

Generally, in the wild, Thieves would avoid Warriors. Warriors had high defense and high health, while Thieves' attacks had limited effectiveness against Warriors. On the other hand, Warriors' attacks could easily break through the fragile leather armor of Thieves.

That's why Thieves generally only targeted cloth-wearing mages.

After activating Life Activation, Cang Dao's health, defense, and everything else reached a new level. In this situation, any Thief who tried to ambush him would be courting death. It was a superior form of contempt! Even if you stood there and let him hit you, could he kill you in fifteen seconds?

A lot could happen in fifteen seconds in a battle. He could use Hamstring to completely cripple Nie Yan.

Nightshadow saw that Cang Dao had pulled aggro and began to attack the Ghoul King together with Cang Dao. However, he didn't dare to be as reckless as Cang Dao. Meanwhile, Nie Yan seemed to have vanished into thin air.

From behind, Ju Zi's Arcane Magic bombarded the Ghoul King, causing its health to drop with each hit, by at least a hundred each time.

Nie Yan frowned slightly. This Arcane Mage had terrifying damage!

"Drink an antidote!"

"Keep it up, we'll take it down soon!" Cang Dao said excitedly. He had picked up a bargain. He could kill an elite without much effort.

They were being quite rude, trying to steal the Ghoul King directly.

Seeing the Ghoul King he had painstakingly whittled down about to be stolen, Nie Yan was furious. He originally wanted to save some skills for the quest, but facing this situation, enough was enough!

He glanced at his skill bar and moved towards the Arcane Mage named Ju Zi. He had to kill her first. Her damage was too high. If the Arcane Mage was down, without her support, Nie Yan could deal with Nightshadow and Cang Dao.

"Ju Zi, be careful," Nightshadow warned. That Nie Yan always made him feel insecure. The guy was very strong, even stronger than some of the Thieves in their group.

"Just a Thief? I've killed hundreds of Thieves," Ju Zi said disdainfully.

Nightshadow thought about it. Ju Zi's skills ranked third in the entire Triumphant guild, and her equipment was the best available for Arcane Mages, coupled with complete skills. There weren't many who could beat her, so there was nothing to worry about.

"He has some strange skills. Be careful. Don't get caught off guard."

"Don't worry!" Keen Perception! Ju Zi cast a skill, looking towards the direction Nie Yan was approaching from in Stealth.

Just then, Nie Yan shook out a Web Scroll. A web fell from the sky, trapping Ju Zi within. Because magic-type players had high resistance to transformation skills, which could easily fail, he chose to use a Web Scroll.

The Web firmly trapped Ju Zi. Nie Yan waved his dagger and rushed towards her.

Although the Web could trap a person in place, it couldn't stop the player from casting magic.

Nie Yan pounced on Ju Zi, preparing to use Sap. Ju Zi couldn't escape. If Sap succeeded, she would definitely die!

Ju Zi waved her staff with her right hand. Dispel!

A powerful force pushed Nie Yan away, forming an insurmountable barrier between her and Nie Yan. Her staff waved, and dazzling magic elements danced. Arcane Fireball!

Another black Arcane Fireball sliced through the air, flying straight towards Nie Yan.

This woman actually had Dispel, a rare skill that all Thieves dreaded, which could push an opponent ten yards away for five seconds.

Not being able to get close to a mage meant that a Thief couldn't use attack skills on them, making them a target for the mage's attacks.

Nie Yan rolled to dodge the woman's attack.

"Ju Zi, over here! Kill the Ghoul King first. We'll deal with that guy later!" Cang Dao said anxiously in the party chat, because the Ghoul King was about to die soon. The Ghoul King's attacks were too strong at this time. As long as they killed the Ghoul King quickly, Nie Yan couldn't cause much trouble. Ju Zi had plenty of tricks to deal with Thieves. It wouldn't be hard to toy with him.

Ju Zi glanced contemptuously at Nie Yan, who was ten yards away. An Arcane spell left her hand and exploded on the Ghoul King, ignoring Nie Yan's existence. This was blatant contempt for Nie Yan.

It would take Nie Yan a few seconds to rush to Ju Zi's side, and she had plenty of counter-magic during that time.

He originally wanted to kill Ju Zi first, and then deal with Nightshadow and Cang Dao, but now it was too late.

Ju Zi, Nightshadow, and Cang Dao came from the elite group of Triumphant, gathering almost all the excellent resources of the entire Triumphant guild. Their equipment and skills could reflect the deep heritage of a large guild.

Although Nie Yan's equipment wasn't bad, the advantages of the Bravery Chapter and the Freedom Chapter would only be gradually reflected at higher levels. Although Soergot's Shadow was good, it was only a single piece, so Nie Yan's current equipment, when properly evaluated, was slightly worse than theirs.

Moreover, in a three-on-one situation with a highly skilled Arcane Mage watching from the side, it was difficult for Nie Yan to go all out when dealing with Nightshadow and Cang Dao.

If it really came down to a fight, Nie Yan wasn't afraid of Ju Zi, but it would be difficult to kill her in a short amount of time. At this moment, the Ghoul King's health was almost gone.

If the Ghoul King was stolen, the equipment would be secondary. For Nie Yan, it was a slap in the face. He couldn't afford to lose face!

Nie Yan used an acceleration scroll and pounced on Cang Dao. The dagger in his hand gleamed with cold light. Damn it, he would go all out. So what if he was a Berserker Warrior?