Chapter 142 Dark Gladiator

The dark gladiator relentlessly attacked the skeleton gladiator, swinging it around and slamming it heavily against the walls of the underground palace.

Boom, boom, boom. The skeleton gladiator was brutally battered. It lashed out with its giant tail, smashing it hard against the dark gladiator's body. With a loud thud, the dark gladiator staggered back a few steps, but then immediately charged forward again.

In the fierce battle, the skeleton gladiator and the dark gladiator were like two ancient behemoths, fighting to the death.

Nie Yan raised his Bloody Crossbow, skillfully loading it with damage-enhancing arrows. Swish, swish, swish, he fired, and numbers floated above the skeleton gladiator's head. Although they weren't very high, they were still considerable, at least several dozen points each. Occasionally, a critical hit would inflict over a hundred points of damage.

The skeleton gladiator and the dark gladiator were entangled, and Nie Yan's crossbow bolts always found accurate attack points, hitting the skeleton gladiator.

During this time, Nie Yan continuously replenished his health with blood vials and other items, and used Undead Sacrifice on the skeleton gladiator. Unfortunately, he failed three times in a row.

He glanced at his own health, only 12% remaining. It was no longer enough to cast Undead Sacrifice. Bandages and blood vials were all used up, and still on cooldown.

Under the dark gladiator's fierce attacks, the skeleton gladiator's health was nearing its limit.

Nie Yan had originally hoped to turn the remaining skeleton gladiator into his own summon, but it seemed impossible. The dark gladiator's health was also low. If he dragged it out any longer and the skeleton gladiator managed to kill the dark gladiator, it would be too much of a loss.

After nearly twenty seconds of fighting, the skeleton gladiator was punched in the chest by the dark gladiator, its health bottoming out. The skeleton gladiator's wraith rose from its chest cavity, floated into the air, and gradually dissipated. Its skeletal frame lost support and crashed to the ground, shattering into pieces.

Ding! A beam of white light shone on Nie Yan's body. He had finally leveled up again, reaching Level 6.

The 1700% experience bonus for killing a Level 10 Elite was still quite substantial.

Nie Yan walked to the skeleton gladiator's side and picked up the items it had dropped. It was a Level 10 Gladiator's Shoulder Guard for Warriors. Unexpectedly, it was a Gold-grade item: Defense 57-62, Strength +13, Resilience +17. Absolutely excellent stats! It could probably be sold for a lot of money.

Even if the attributes of a Warrior's Gold-grade equipment were poor, its defense stat was still there, which would definitely fetch a good price. What’s more, it added Strength and Resilience—great stats! Its value was only slightly lower than the Lion King Shield.

If someone didn't offer more than twenty silver coins for this equipment, they could forget about getting it from Nie Yan. Of course, it would be a different story with acquaintances, depending on the depth of their relationship.

After killing the skeleton gladiator, Nie Yan's level had advanced to 13% of Level 6. Looking at the level rankings, the highest was only Level 8, and that was a Mage. Thieves, no matter how fast they leveled, couldn't compare to Mages. Some powerful Mages could easily kill monsters above their level by kiting, cornering, or using area-of-effect spells. Skilled Mages could even kill bosses without taking damage. Melee classes were not so lucky. Of course, Nie Yan was an exception.

Nie Yan glanced at the dark gladiator beside him. The dark gladiator's tall body was covered in wounds, but these wounds were healing at a visible rate. Its hands had grown sharper, serrated blades. It looked quite terrifying. The green fire burning in its eye sockets flashed with a cold, eerie light, its eyes daring anyone to meet its gaze.

The dark gladiator lowered its proud head and knelt before Nie Yan.

It was now Nie Yan's summon!

Nie Yan could now freely control it.

Nie Yan looked up at the exit above. This time, he should be able to go up.

Nie Yan stepped onto the dark gladiator's hands. The dark gladiator boosted him up with its hands, and Nie Yan easily soared into the air, leaping onto the open space above the underground palace. The dark gladiator also jumped up after him, landing with a loud boom.

With a super tank, he didn't have to fear those ordinary skeletons anymore.

With the dark gladiator guarding him for the next three hours, Nie Yan was even more determined to obtain the Fragment of Sogoth's Shadow.

Nie Yan walked towards the city center of Sogoth. The dark gladiator followed behind Nie Yan, its tall figure like a giant.

As soon as Nie Yan appeared, countless skeletons swarmed towards him. The dark gladiator pounced forward, its tail sweeping across the ground like autumn wind sweeping away fallen leaves. These skeletons fell to the ground in droves, and his experience steadily increased.

Nie Yan had the dark gladiator clear out large numbers of skeletons. When one or two skeleton mages were left, he would find the right opportunity to use Undead Sacrifice, and soon successfully summoned four skeleton mages. Two Ice-type, one Fire-type, and one Lightning-type, the four skeleton mages guarded Nie Yan's side.

Constantly traversing through the maze-like passages, Nie Yan relied on fragments of memories from when he leveled here before, searching for the entrance to the inner city.

"Leveling here is quite fast." Nie Yan glanced at his experience points. In just a few tens of minutes, his experience had already increased by 8%. As Nie Yan cleared out a large number of nearby skeletons, the skeleton spawn rate couldn't keep up.

Suddenly, some noises came from behind. Nie Yan frowned. It sounded like people talking.

"Leveling here is so fast, but there are too many skeletons here. I almost couldn't get out. If we want to keep grinding here, we need to call for three more Priests. Two Priests aren't enough."

"Too many Priests are cumbersome. It would be better to have more Holy Word Mages. They have a 200% damage bonus, which makes leveling faster."

"That's right. Let's go back and recruit some Holy Word Mages to grind with us."

"There's a skeleton mage elite at the end of this passage. We have to go around it first."

The voices of several players came from behind, clearly audible. Nie Yan was shocked. He turned around and saw eight players facing him from a distance. They had just walked around the corner.

Suddenly, the voices of the players who were talking stopped abruptly.

"Why did you guys suddenly stop talking? Are you all dumbfounded?..." An Arcane Mage asked, puzzled. Following the gaze of his teammates, he immediately stopped speaking.

Nie Yan, dressed in Thief attire, was standing at the end of the passage. That equipment, especially the two daggers in his hands, was obviously extraordinary. How could a Thief be here? What was even more shocking was that standing beside Nie Yan was a huge, dark-red skeleton with a tall figure, a giant tail, and hands covered in thorns. It was clear that it was fundamentally different from the skeletons that roamed here.

In addition to the dark gladiator, there were also four skeleton mages, standing separately, looking at the players.

Because of the dark gladiator's existence, Nie Yan's identity became even more mysterious.

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