Chapter 1 A Journey Through the Barren Lands

About two months had passed, and on the wastelands of the dark world, a group of twenty-one people were slowly advancing.

Nie Yan looked ahead. The volcano was almost within reach. The time spent on this journey was much longer than they had anticipated. Everyone's levels also increased extremely slowly. Nie Yan reached level one hundred and forty-five. Tang Yao, Xie Yao, and the others, who leveled up slightly faster, were only at level one hundred and forty-six.

However, Nie Yan received a lot of good news during this period. Black Heaven, Fallen Frog, Wudao, Hei Bai, Wufeng, Happy Hermit, and Love Jiangnan seven people successively advanced to top-tier classes. At this point, the Niu Ren Tribe already had twenty-eight top-tier class players. Among them, the three great divine priests were all in the Niu Ren Tribe. Angel Corps and other major guilds, as well as some free players, also successfully advanced to top-tier classes, totaling only nine people, including three from Angel Corps.

The Niu Ren Tribe always had a great advantage in the number of top-tier class players. With twenty-eight top-tier class players gathered together, plus Nie Yan's Golden Earth Dragon and Paladin Leves, they shouldn't suffer too much when facing the Bloodfiend Knights. In 1v1 situations, the top-tier classes of the Green Flame Empire were far stronger than the Silverwings of the Demonkin Tribe. Teamwork was another matter, as the Bloodfiend Knights were renowned for their coordination, having caused countless teams from the Green Flame Empire and the Saturn Empire to suffer in the past.

With so many top-tier classes, Nie Yan felt a little more at ease. It would be difficult for the Bloodfiend Knights to run rampant on their territory.

Nie Yan received news that the Bloodfiend Knights were giving the major guilds of the Saturn Empire a headache. They had sent hundreds of thousands of people to search for the Bloodfiend Knights' whereabouts, but to no avail. Instead, they had been killed tens of thousands of times, suffering heavy losses. The players of the Saturn Empire were panic-stricken, practically turning pale at the mention of them. The thieves sent out by the Niu Ren Tribe had lost track of them several times.

Nie Yan and the others were about to reach the foot of the volcano when they received a message.

System: You have discovered Mount Mephisto.

Seeing this message, Nie Yan raised his eyebrows. This volcano was actually named after the NPC Mephisto.

They should be reaching their destination soon.

After receiving this message, the Paternoster Hammer in his backpack became even more violent, emitting bursts of rampant lightning and ice power. He felt as if a soul was stirring and awakening within the Paternoster Hammer.

‘System: You sense a powerful dark force, the great spirit! It is gradually awakening, you hear its call. This is the fragmented soul and will of the God of War. It roars in anger! Kill him, the despicable Dirakru, that shameless and vile scoundrel!’

Scenes flashed through Nie Yan's mind. It was a complete story fragment. Dirakru was an orc, once the commander of the Saturn Empire's orc legion. In the war with the Demonkin Tribe, his mistakes led to the collapse of the legion. To shirk responsibility, he killed several innocent generals. From then on, demons bred in his heart. He attempted to seize the Saturn Empire's throne. After being discovered by the Orc King, he severely injured the Orc King and fled, embarking on a life of escape. The Orc King died from his injuries, plunging the Saturn Empire into thirty years of civil war. Dirakru became a public enemy of the Saturn Empire. During his escape, he finally allowed demons to control his mind, becoming a demonized lord.

A crisp system notification sounded. Nie Yan glanced at the system prompt.

Quest Progress: Assassinate the traitor Dirakru. Before that, talk to Mephisto first.

It was an assassination quest. He didn't know the specific details. Since this volcano was named after Mephisto, he should be nearby.

"Boss, how's your quest going?"

"I just received a system notification to find someone named Mephisto."

"Let Sun, Wang Zhe Tian Xia, Ying Sha, Xiaorong, and Yi Chui Ding Qing find him separately. That'll be faster," Shui Se Yan Tou said. It would take a lot of time for their group to search the entire vicinity of the volcano. It would be better to split up. It wasn't suitable for mages and warriors to go. Only thieves could go.

"Nie Yan has to stay. It won't be good if we don't have a single thief here," Cui Can Dao Guang said.

Nie Yan thought for a moment and looked at Sun, Xiaorong, and the others. "Then I'll have to trouble you guys."

"You're too kind," Xiaorong Bu Shi Wei Wo Xiao Xiao said.

The five of them acted separately, entering stealth and searching in all directions. Each person was responsible for a region, spreading out completely. Nie Yan and the others continued to advance.

"Boss, what kind of quest did you take on?" Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan and the others asked. The journey had been fraught with dangers. They had almost been wiped out several times. One could imagine how difficult the quest was, so they became curious about it.

"It's a quest to obtain the Heart of the Assassin, assassinating a demonized lord. The difficulty is very high. If it really doesn't work, I can only die and leave. It's just a pity about the few items on my body. It took me so long to get them, and I have to drop them again. I don't know if I can come in again next time, or if I can find an exit," Nie Yan said. If he died, the loss would be too great.

"What items? Are they items that will definitely drop upon death?" Xia Chong Yu Bing asked, stunned. He had also seen a few items that would definitely drop upon death. They generally had good stats.

Nie Yan thought about it. There were no outsiders here, so he said, "It's a hammer." He shared the stats of the Paternoster Hammer.

Dead silence.

A moment later, Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan said in shock, "Damn, a divine artifact! There's actually something like this in Faith? The stats are insane!"

"It's a pity I can't use it."

"Some of the stats are useful though. Didn't Boss Nie Yan use this ice sealing skill to deal with that demonized lord in Clemency Fortress last time?"

"Mm," Nie Yan nodded.

Everyone chattered at once. They were all frightened by the stats of the Paternoster Hammer. It was a true divine artifact. Ordinary equipment was garbage compared to it. Even though they couldn't use it, just looking at something like this was very satisfying.

"What is Divine Power?"

"I think these divine artifacts should be quest items. Players might never be able to use them. Otherwise, there wouldn't be a Divine Power requirement. I've never even heard of Divine Power. And the Strength and Agility requirements are too high. Even if we level up to two hundred, we might not be able to reach them. I estimate that even wearing a full set of Legendary equipment wouldn't be enough to meet the requirements," Lei Su said.

"Maybe," Nie Yan nodded. Lei Su's words made a lot of sense.

"Even if it's just a quest item, the quest related to this item is definitely not simple!" Shui Se Yan Tou said. Even just as it was, the Paternoster Hammer was worth a lot.

"I also have a Scythe of Death here. The stats are similar. It's also unusable. It's related to the Archangel Tyrael. It's also a quest item," Nie Yan said, sharing the stats of the Scythe of Death.

Everyone exchanged glances. It was one thing for Nie Yan to have found the Paternoster Hammer, but he had actually found a second one.

"No matter what, we can't let Boss die," Sha Bu Si De Huai Dan said. If Nie Yan died, both of these items would be gone.

"We'll talk about it when the time comes," Nie Yan said. If he really couldn't leave the dark world, then he would have to die and go back.

As they were talking, a large group of demon hyenas slowly surrounded them.

"Brothers, time to get to work," Cui Can Dao Guang said, raising his shield and walking forward.

Everyone didn't dare to be negligent, selecting their respective positions and preparing to meet a hard battle.

Tang Yao and the others were already constructing firewalls. Nie Yan had the Golden Earth Dragon guard one side, preparing to face the onslaught of demon hyenas.

Just as Nie Yan and the others were starting to clear out the demon hyenas, Nie Yan received a message from Guo Huai.

Nie Yan kicked a demon hyena away with one foot, then stepped forward and struck another demon hyena with an elbow, knocking it away again. He connected to the voice chat.

"What's the matter?" Nie Yan asked, retreating to the rear.

The surrounding team members were nervously grinding, a scene of chaos.

"Our people have lost track of the Bloodfiend Knights again, but this time is different from before. This time, the target was lost near the Krasom Canyon, which is right on the border between the Green Flame Empire and the Saturn Empire. The Saturn Empire has been heavily pursuing the Bloodfiend Knights recently. I estimate that the Bloodfiend Knights are coming to our Green Flame Empire."

Hearing this news, Nie Yan's heart shook. Two months had passed, and the Bloodfiend Knights hadn't come to the Green Flame Empire. He had been praying to be able to delay for a few more days, but what was supposed to come was still coming.

If the Bloodfiend Knights entered the Green Flame Empire, the Niu Ren Tribe would definitely not be able to stay out of it. With Nie Yan and the others not around, the Niu Ren Tribe really lacked experts who could deal with the Bloodfiend Knights. Plus, their information was so well-informed that it would be very difficult to pursue them.

"Is there anything else?" Nie Yan asked.

"Just received news that the Bloodfiend Knights' leader, Bloodfiend, has just advanced to Warlord."

"Warlord?" Nie Yan's heart tightened. "How could this guy be so fast?" But then he thought about it. Roughly calculating, the Bloodfiend Knights had been on the surface for almost three months. The number of players they had killed was countless. As the leader of the Bloodfiend Knights, that guy's kill count must have reached a terrifying level. If it were Nie Yan, staying underground for two months, he estimated that he could also advance to Warlord.

"These guys are killing too fiercely. The Saturn Empire is about to collapse from being messed up by them. Dozens of guilds are besieging them, but they still can't do anything about them. It's impossible to calculate how many casualties they've suffered. It's normal for them to have killed their way to Warlord," Guo Huai said with a wry smile.