Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Even players on the level of Tang Yao, Lustboy, and the rest would only attempt to solo high level Elites at the most. Lords were simply too difficult. Most players wouldn’t dare to challenge them.

As the Darkwing Dragon soared through the sky, Nie Yan looked over the data of the other bosses. The strongest monster in the entire Abernathy Great Grasslands was a creature living in the Nethershadow Swamp, the Ancient Fiend Troll. It was a Level 200 Demonified Lord!

It’s him! Nie Yan’s heart trembled. There were 10 unrivalled super bosses in the Viridian Empire. Most of them resided in the depths of swamps and ravines, rarely ever appearing in front of players. However, they were undoubtedly apex existences. Even legendary NPCs didn’t dare to provoke them. They were that powerful. The rare occasion they did come out of their lairs, it spelled the beginning of a calamity that threatened all life.

Any place they passed through would be destroyed.

These 10 Great Overlords were existences that could shape the world around them.

The Abernathy Great Grasslands’ Ancient Fiend Troll, the Ocean of Death’s Nine-Headed Leviathan, the Forbidden Domain of Sukre’s Black Dragon King, the Mobias North Turndra’s Winterfrost Dragon King… ordinary players wouldn’t dare to approach the territories of these creatures.

Any player unlucky enough to encounter these monsters was fated to die. No matter how strong you were, it was nothing in front of them. They were existences that stood at the peak. Nie Yan estimated only people like War God Kelo were capable of contending against them.

Apart from the Ancient Fiend Troll, there were also six Level 160+ Variant Lords in the Abernathy Great Grasslands. Though not on the same level, they were frightening bosses as well.

At present, Calore was much safer than a remote place like the Abernathy Great Grasslands. However, in the distant past, it was also an untamed wildland. Jebiah the Great had led the 300 Magisters of the Viridian Empire’s Royal Mage Corp in wiping out all the Variant Lords in the territory, including a Level 160 Demonified Lord. In that battle, he lost more than two thirds of his forces, all in exchange for the peace and safety of Calore.

The Abernathy Great Grasslands was filled with danger.

Nie Yan drew seven red circles on his map, then shared it with every Asskickers United player in the Abernathy Great Grasslands. These were forbidden grounds. If they accidentally provoked a Variant Lord or god forbid a Demonified Lord, the consequences would be grave beyond compare.

Nie Yan had only heard of the notoriety of the Ancient Fiend Troll and read a few documents related to it online. As for how strong it actually was or what abilities it had, he had no idea. However, he heard that Lords at this level all had skills that rivalled Forbidden Magic. Any creature with that kind of destructive power couldn’t be killed no matter how many bodies were tossed at it.

At the same time, it was rumoured these powerful Demonified Lords wielded extremely powerful godly items. There was an intrinsic difference between these godly items and Legendary-grade items. As for whether any of this was true or just a rumour, Nie Yan had no way of finding out. He had no clue what a godly item would look like, having never seen one in his 10 years of playing the game in his past life.

One memory that still stuck in Nie Yan’s mind was back when some players provoked the Mobias North Tundra’s Winterfrost Dragon King. As it chased them down south, it slaughtered millions and turned Blaze City into an ice sculpture. Only after it killed the culprits of disturbing its rest, did it finally return north.

Blaze City suffered heavy casualties. More than half the NPCs there were killed. Later on, the administrator of the city banished those who caused this calamity, not allowing them to set one foot in the territory.

That incident allowed players to understand the true might of these high level Demonified Lords. From then on, no one dared to challenge them. The areas where they resided were labelled as the 10 Great Death Zones of the Viridian Empire.

No matter how powerful a Luminous Dancer’s escaping ability was, Nie Yan didn’t dare to approach those Demonified Lords. He was nothing more than an ant compared to a Level 200 Demonified Lord.

Would the Ancient Fiend Troll living in the Abernathy Great Grasslands affect Okoron? Nie Yan was somewhat worried. However, after thinking about it, it was still too early to consider these things.

About 15 minutes later, Nie Yan spotted a giant bear moving around in the distant plains below. He had the Darkwing Dragon descent.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly, a Level 160 Lord with 50,000,000 health[1]. It respawned five days after being killed.

Nie Yan hopped off the Darkwing Dragon’s back, then recalled it back into his pet space. He was about 500 meters away from the Abernathy Grand Grizzly.

Nie Yan had to rely on himself for this battle with the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. He didn’t bring Yallop with him. If he tried having Lil’ Gold or Paladin Lafus duke it out with the Abernathy Grand Grizzly, they would get absolutely destroyed.

Still, Nie Yan summoned Lil’ Gold and Paladin Lafus. He had the two retreat to a safe distance. He then entered stealth and slowly approached the Abernathy Grand Grizzly.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly was leisurely wandering around. Over 20 meters tall and weighing more than 120 tons, it was like a walking fortress of flesh. Its silver fur glistened brilliantly under the sunlight. Its skin was tougher than steel. It was undoubtedly the ruler of this region. However, it had one weakness, and that was it only had melee attacks. Nie Yan generally wasn’t too willing to tangle with Lords that had ranged attacks. Those kinds of Lords were much more difficult to deal with, and the drops they gave weren’t necessarily better. A Lord like the Abernathy Grand Grizzly that only knew melee attacks was much easier to kill.

Nie Yan steadily drew closer to the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. He was already within 120 meters from it.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly appeared to sense something and immediately became vigilant.

“Damn, what sharp senses. He actually noticed me from this far away,” Nie Yan muttered.

Nie Yan took out his Cavalry Crossbow. He loaded it up with five ordinary bolts, then pulled the trigger. Whoosh whoosh whoosh! The bolts went flying out.

Put put put! The bolts struck the Abernathy Grand Grizzly.

−2,998

−3,311

−3,173

…

Nie Yan’s damage was fairly impressive. However, compared to the Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s enormous health pool and frightening health regeneration, it was basically nothing.

“GRWOAAAR” The Abernathy Grand Grizzly was enraged and charged toward Nie Yan. It was deceptively fast in spite of its lumbering size, with each step violently shaking the ground.

Nie Yan immediately turned tail and fled. As he ran away, he reloaded his Cavalry Crossbow with bolts. He was like a marksman or caster, kiting the Abernathy Grand Grizzly.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s health fell at a snail’s pace. Nie Yan’s damage was only slightly higher than its health regeneration. After shooting at it for more than six minutes, he had only shaved away 6,000 health.

However, after being kited by Nie Yan for so long without landing a single hit, the Abernathy Grand Grizzly became thoroughly enraged and entered a berserk state. Its attack power and movement speed increased by 50% while its defense lowered by 30%. It pursued Nie Yan with even greater ferocity.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly jumped right in front of Nie Yan and swatted down with its paws. BOOOOM! Its attack missed, carving out a large gash in the ground. Nie Yan was simply too slippery. “GRAAAAOR!” It let out a deep roar, rearing up on its hind legs and slamming down with its massive paws.

Nie Yan rapidly pulled back, his gaze locked onto the Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s mouth. Its bright red tongue and sharp teeth let out a foul stench.

“Eat this!” Nie Yan rapidly loaded up his crossbow with five Inferno Bomb Bolts, took aim at the Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s mouth, and pulled the trigger.

Whoosh whoosh whoosh! Five bolts streaked through the air. The first one entered the Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s mouth. BOOOOM! A powerful explosion rattled its skull, causing it to stagger unsteadily. Another four explosions followed shortly after.

When something as powerful as an Inferno Bomb went off in a place as weak as the inside of the mouth, the amount of damage it dealt was several times higher than normal. After the five explosions, Nie Yan gazed at the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. Its maw was a mangled mess, with scorched flesh and fur dangling everywhere.

−227,516

−239,971

−211,222

…

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly suffered serious injuries and crashed into the ground. This kind of damage wasn’t something that could be shaken off. It was gasping out in pain.

Inferno Bombs had a secondary special effect. When it hit a vital spot, it dealt additional damage.

Taking advantage of this opportunity, Nie Yan had Lil’ Gold and Paladin Lafus come over and let loose on the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. He circled around it and rained down with a tempest of attacks.

Backbreaker!

Lacerate!

Eviscerate!

…

Nie Yan, Lil’ Gold, and Paladin Lafus dealt an astonishing amount of damage. After hacking and slashing at it for 10 minutes, they had shaved away the Abernathy Grand Grizzly’s health to only 50%.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly struggled back up from the ground, only to eat another five Inferno Bomb Bolts from Nie Yan and collapsed again, completely bereft of all fighting strength. 10 minutes later, it puffed its last breath.

A crisp notification jingle rang out. Nie Yan had levelled up to Level 110.

Nie Yan calculated the time. He had taken about 20 minutes to kill the Abernathy Grand Grizzly. His killing efficiency was quite high. Pity there were no speedrun leaderboards for taking down high level Lords, or else he would definitely take top spot. By using those 10 Inferno Bomb Bolts, he had basically exchanged 10,000 gold for 80% experience. This was definitely worth it.

The Abernathy Grand Grizzly dropped three items, all of which were Warrior equipment. Nie Yan wasn’t too surprised. These types of physical attack, melee monsters generally dropped this kind of loot.

Nie Yan examined the equipment—Grand Grizzly Tenacious Chestplate, Grand Grizzly Tenacious Shoulderguards, and Greaves of Fervent Haste. The chestplate and shoulderguards were Dark Gold-grade while the greaves were surprisingly Sub Legendary-grade. All of them had excellent properties, especially their defense.

Nie Yan thought for a moment. He would come back here when the the Abernathy Grand Grizzly respawned. Perhaps he could get the rest of the Grand Grizzly set. Generally, these complete Dark Gold-grade sets weren’t the slightest bit inferior to individual Sub Legendary-grade equipment.

With so many NPCs of different classes joining Okoron’s army, there was a dire need for equipment ranging from Level 130–180. Nie Yan had to come up with a plan to acquire more.

1. Mad Snail actually put the Abernathy Grand Grizzly as being only 2 meters tall, weighing 1,200 lbs, and having 5,000,000 health. I don’t know if it’s a typo considering it’s a Level 160 Lord, but I decided to add an extra zero there since it made more sense. After all, the Miasma Scorpion King was a Level 110 Lord, and it also had 5,000,000 health. Plus, it was mentioned its health was on the low side in terms of equal level Lords, but that was compensated by its potent poison and insane regeneration.