Chapter 1 Clemensie Fortress

In the center hall of the Clemensie Fortress guild headquarters, a space of about ten by ten yards, Angelic Dominance’s inner circle gathered.

The arrangement here was simple. Angy Winged Angel, clad in tight-fitting azure leather armor and holding a longbow, entered and asked Lieyan, who was standing to the side, "How familiar are you with the skills of top-tier classes?"

"We've just begun to understand. I've been watching combat videos of Lei Su, Brilliant Knife Light, and others recently, but there's still a gap," Lieyan said with some shame. In terms of understanding top-tier classes, the players of Niuren Tribe were far ahead of them.

"Can't we get more information about top-tier classes from Niuren Tribe?" Angy Winged Angel frowned. Information about top-tier class skills, the origin of some sub-legendary and legendary equipment, were all secrets of Niuren Tribe. They controlled them very tightly, making it virtually impossible for Angelic Dominance to obtain them. Unless someone from Niuren Tribe's top echelon defected. However, no matter how Angelic Dominance's intelligence network operated, they couldn't poach any top-tier experts from Niuren Tribe. They had poached quite a few second-tier members, but how could truly confidential information fall into the hands of second-tier members?

Lieyan shook his head.

"Has Shaq returned?" Angy Winged Angel asked.

"He's back and heading this way," Lieyan said.

After a while, a player walked into the hall. He was about five foot seven, slender, and didn't quite have the handsome appearance of a typical elf. The skin on his face was already loose and covered with wrinkles, making him look somewhat aged.

This somewhat elderly player was the famous Butcher Shaq!

The reason he was called Butcher Shaq was because when he was grinding monsters or leveling up, he absolutely wouldn't allow anyone else to touch the monsters or items he had his eye on. He would often slaughter all the nearby players.

He was already over fifty years old, but he walked steadily and nimbly. Although his skin had improved a lot, being an elf, it was still covered with wrinkles. His hands were very thin, with no meat at all, but they gave a sense of power, like an eagle's claws. His eyes were deeply sunken in their sockets, and the corners were covered with wrinkles. However, his black pupils were not as cloudy as those of ordinary elderly people, but were very bright, with a sharp look.

"Shaq, you're back. How did the mission go?" Angy Winged Angel asked with a warm smile.

"It's done." Shaq glanced at Angy Winged Angel and nodded slightly. He didn't care for Angy Winged Angel's hypocrisy. If Angy Winged Angel hadn't paid him handsomely, he wouldn't have stayed in Angelic Dominance at all. Shaq himself preferred to be alone, but he had to admit that joining a guild could make his advancement path much smoother. After all, sometimes, no matter how powerful a person was, they couldn't compare to a large guild like Angelic Dominance.

"I heard it was a legendary quest? The rewards should be good."

"Yes, Demon Shadow Dance," Shaq said.

Hearing Shaq's words, Angy Winged Angel was shocked. He was very annoyed by Shaq's cold attitude, but now, he had to appease these high-level figures like Shaq. Therefore, he still smiled and said, "Demon Shadow Dance, is it an advancement of Shadow Dance?"

"No, it's just a high-level title. I heard that Niuren Tribe's Crazy Thief Nie Yan is a Saint Shadow Dance, and Smiles Not Included is a War Shadow Dance. It's roughly the same."

Angy Winged Angel raised an eyebrow and asked, "Where did you get the news that Crazy Thief Nie Yan is a Saint Shadow Dance and Smiles Not Included is a War Shadow Dance?" Niuren Tribe hadn't leaked any information at all.

"I accidentally heard it from an NPC," Shaq said. Angy Winged Angel didn't even know this news. Angelic Dominance's intelligence work was too poor.

Angy Winged Angel's heart sank. He didn't know how to deal with the Shadow Dancers of Niuren Tribe. Shaq alone wasn't enough. He had sent people everywhere to search for experts in the Satreen Empire and offered high salaries, but the effect was very limited. Although Shaq and others had joined, it was still very difficult to compete with Niuren Tribe in terms of top-tier class players.

"Boss, Piaolai Piaoqu and Can Ren are here."

As the three of them were talking, two players walked into the guild hall.

Can Ren was a Tauren Shaman whose strength was no less than that of Angy Winged Angel and Shaq. In Angelic Dominance, his strength was definitely in the top three. When fighting Angy Winged Angel himself, he could maintain a win rate of over 80%, and when fighting Shaq, he could maintain a win rate of about 30%. The reason he lost to Shaq was because of class counters.

Can Ren had a very high status in Angelic Dominance. Angy Winged Angel had thought about making Can Ren the vice president of Angelic Dominance, but Can Ren refused because he didn't want to get too involved in guild affairs. In Angelic Dominance, he was the fourth to advance to a top-tier class, but the Shaman's advancement quest was much more difficult than the quests of other classes. They had their own unique system.

"The five of us top-tier classes are finally all here," Lieyan said excitedly.

"We're far behind Niuren Tribe. According to the latest news, Shili Huasha and Yi Chui Dingqing have just completed their class change quests and have also advanced to top-tier classes. That makes twenty, four times as many as us," Can Ren said.

Angy Winged Angel felt a headache coming on. It was very difficult for Angelic Dominance to add even one top-tier class. They had worked so hard for so long, but they had only added two. There were many people waiting in line to change to top-tier classes, but the failure rate was as high as 99%. It was like a difficult birth, and they couldn't squeeze them out no matter how hard they tried. On the other hand, Niuren Tribe kept receiving news that so-and-so had successfully changed to a top-tier class, and the gap was getting bigger and bigger.

How difficult it was to catch up with Niuren Tribe's footsteps! Angy Winged Angel couldn't help but feel a little discouraged.

"Although they have so many top-tier classes, it's not that easy for them to come to Clemensie. I already have a way to deal with them. Defending the city is definitely not a problem," Angy Winged Angel said.

"The giant cannon is done?" Can Ren was stunned for a moment and asked.

"It's already in the late stages. I'm not referring to the giant cannon," Angy Winged Angel shook his head.

Can Ren and the others were a little curious. What method would Angy Winged Angel use to deal with top-tier classes? The more they were exposed to top-tier classes, the more they felt their power. Niuren Tribe had so many archmages. Clemensie Fortress might not be able to defend against them.

"Now that the five of us are here, I'm going to call the brothers below to go to Fingrease to explore. Get ready."

The other four nodded.

Angy Winged Angel sent a message to the players below Angelic Dominance. Soon, Angelic Dominance's elites quickly gathered towards Clemensie Fortress.

Nie Yan was flying in the sky on his Darkwing Dragon. He checked the Darkwing Dragon's injuries. Most of the wounds on the Darkwing Dragon's body had healed, and dense scales had grown. He was surprised to find that these scales had changed significantly from before. They were darker and more crystal clear than before.

The Darkwing Dragon's size was also larger than before, and its muscles were stronger.

Although it still exuded a dark aura, the dark aura seemed to have some death aura. This was a corrosive force. This force was very subtle and was masked by the dark aura, but as the Darkwing Dragon's master, Nie Yan could still clearly feel the difference.

He didn't expect that after being injured once, the Darkwing Dragon would undergo such a change.

Perhaps the death aura of the necromancer Bordman and the dark aura emitted by the Darkwing Dragon were from the same source, so the necromancer's death aura didn't directly kill it. Now, it had some promoting effect on the Darkwing Dragon.

Although the Darkwing Dragon was still in a state of minor injury, it was much stronger than before and showed signs of advancement. If it successfully advanced, the Darkwing Dragon would become an eighth-tier flying mount, which made Nie Yan very excited. In his previous life, the highest-level flying mount seemed to be only a ninth-tier griffin, which was held by Potian at the time. There was also an insurmountable gap between griffins and dragons. Dragons were higher creatures, while griffins were just the most ordinary lower creatures.

It was only two or three minutes away from Clemensie. In order not to be discovered by the people of Angelic Dominance, he put away the Darkwing Dragon and jumped from the sky.

He didn't dare to land directly on the ground like Brilliant Knife Light and others. A few seconds before landing, he used a Feather Fall skill to slow down his speed.

After reaching the ground, Nie Yan immediately activated Gale Steps and flew towards Clemensie Fortress.

"Nie Yan, are you okay? I just received news that Angy Winged Angel is gathering all the elites of the guild and gathering towards Clemensie Fortress," Guo Huai sent a message to Nie Yan anxiously. He thought that Nie Yan had been discovered after entering Clemensie Fortress.

"I haven't entered Clemensie Fortress yet. What is Angy Winged Angel gathering players for?" Nie Yan frowned. His timing was really bad.

"Ji Feng hasn't sent back any news yet. Angy Winged Angel didn't tell them. They might be going to a dungeon or exploring a map." Hearing Nie Yan say that he hadn't entered Clemensie Fortress yet, Guo Huai breathed a sigh of relief and said, "Angelic Dominance has already gathered so many experts. You should stay away from Clemensie Fortress for now."

Nie Yan thought for a moment and said, "Since I'm already here, there's no reason to go back. It wouldn't hurt to meet them."

Guo Huai understood that he couldn't stop Nie Yan's decision. He could only ask Ji Feng to pay close attention to the situation in Clemensie and report immediately if there was anything unusual. For some reason, he felt a sense of unease in his heart.

Nie Yan ran across the wilderness and entered a canyon area. In the center of the distant canyon, the towering walls of Clemensie Fortress were already faintly visible.