Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

Chapter 978 – Returning to Hell! Unbeknownst to Nie Yan, while he was busy reinforcing his equipment, countless players flocked to Hell with 20-man teams. The end result was them being quickly surrounded by an endless horde of undead and killed.

It was a quick and painful lesson. Hell was a boundless pit of undead.

However, many people refused to accept this outcome and formed 1,000-man expedition teams. It took 12 expedition teams in total to gain a foothold and clear out a safe area. From there, they expanded outward to hunt monsters. Like this, a large number of players, many of which belonged to Asskickers United, entered Hell and so began a grand levelling spree in this brand new map.

Hell was a special map with only two entrances, one in each great faction. The Death God’s Edge was the key to opening the Gates of Hell. If the Righteous Faction opened Hell, their players could enter Hell for an exclusive amount of time, and vice-versa with the Evil Faction. So, the players from the Righteous Faction would have to thank Nie Yan for all the benefits they could reap from this place.

The surroundings at the Gates of Hell were bustling with activity, filled with players looking to join teams. Nie Yan couldn’t be more familiar with this kind of scene. In the previous timeline, he would frequently be on the lookout to join expedition teams. The earnings he could make with them were far better than if he were alone.

Nie Yan lightly chuckled. He walked past Archangel Tallod and entered through the gates. Tallod was incredibly busy. There were 60 expedition team leaders lined up in front of him. They received quests to enter Hell and collect undead items. After turning them in, they would receive ample experience and gold. If they did enough quests for Tallod, they could even receive a high level item.

Nie Yan had no interest in doing these quests, nor did he have any plans on lingering in the outskirts hunting monsters. The real rewards were in the very depths of Hell. With a flash of light, he appeared inside the map.

Some players saw Nie Yan arrive alone, shock forming in their eyes. This guy was mad! Someone actually dared to enter Hell all by themselves?

Seeing the skeptical looks directed at him, Nie Yan could guess what these players were thinking. Not sparing them a second glance, he set off, transforming into a blur.

The players gaped open their mouths. What frightening speed! Who was he? A race car in human form?

What happened next astonished them even more. The temperature around Nie Yan plummeted. All the moisture in his immediate vicinity froze into icicles and dropped to the ground. As he flitted forward, the undead that approached within a 30-meter radius of him were instantly turned into frozen statues. BANG! BANG! BANG! They exploded into fine powder of ice.

Nie Yan sped ahead with remarkable speed. Skeletons and wraiths alike exploded into particles of ice as he ran past them.

Nie Yan traversed a thousand meters in an instant, a long stretch of ice and mist trailing behind him.

“Holy shit! What kind of ice magic is that? It’s terrifying!”

“That’s crazy! Imagine if he ran a whole circuit around Hell. Just how many times would he level up?”

None of the people present ever imagined levelling up in this way. They gazed at Nie Yan’s rapidly departing back with envy on their faces.

Little did they know that Jotunheim’s Descent wasn’t ice magic. Though many monsters had died in Nie Yan’s wake and the levelling speed was good to the ordinary player, it simply couldn’t be compared to what he could achieve with the Divine Eclipse Dragon. The little amount of experience he was gaining this way didn’t enter his eyes.

Some 15 minutes of running later, Nie Yan glanced back and no longer saw anyone behind him. The exploration of Hell was going far slower than he expected. He could deal with the Umbra Demon Kings without worry.

About an hour later, Nie Yan reached his destination. The Level 300 Bone Emperor was taken down by War God Kelo, leaving behind only the collapsed mountain and the ruins of the pyramid tower. However, the Umbra Demon Kings were still there, refusing to disperse.

About 200 Umbra Demon Kings were gathered together. This place would soon be labelled a forbidden death zone for ordinary players, but all Nie Yan saw was walking sacks of experience. After killing all of them, he’d likely have no problem reaching Level 200! The amount of experience a Level 210 Demonified Lord gave was several million times that of an ordinary Level 180 undead!

Briefly observing the Umbra Demon Kings, Nie Yan opted to summon the Divine Eclipse Dragon. He decided not to use Doppelganger for now. He’d have it position itself on top of a hill about 1,000 meters away from the Umbra Demon Kings and cast Forbidden Magic. After scattering them with the magic, he’d lure a few over with his crossbow and pick them off bit by bit!

Nie Yan quickly got to wok. The Divine Eclipse Dragon started chanting in dragon tongue.

An enormous amount of holy energy converged in the sky.

BANG! BANG! BANG! Holy flames rained down on the ruins of the pyramid tower.

The Umbra Demon Kings hurriedly scattered.

Nie Yan lingered around the outskirts of the area. Seizing the opportunity, he pulled out his Cavalry Crossbow and fired a volley of bolts. Put! put! put! The five bolts struck one of the Umbra Demon Kings. Even though his crossbow wasn’t high level and its base attack power was nothing special, after his stat bonuses were applied, it still dealt considerable damage at 10,000 damage a bolt.

“HHGRRAWO!” The Umbra Demon King charged toward Nie Yan.

Nie Yan turned around and fled. He was much faster than the Umbra Demon King. However, he slowed down on purpose to let it catch up to him.

Nie Yan’s luck was pretty good. Only one Umbra Demon King followed him.

After luring it away from the others for a good 600 meters, Nie Yan came to a halt.

When the Umbra Demon King arrived within 30 meters of Nie Yan, its movement slowed down to a crawl as a thick layer of ice spread across its body. Jotunheim’s Descent was in full effect!

“HHHAGHW!” the Umbra Demon King roared and chopped down with its greataxe.

With a Gale Step of Nirvana Flame, Nie Yan turned into a streak of light and reappeared behind the Umbra Demon King.

Backbreaker of Nirvana Flame!

Nie Yan’s dagger stabbed into the Umbra Demon King’s spine. BANG! A deluge of ice ruptured from the wound, an astonishing damage value of several million floating up in the air.

A God-rank ice rupture wasn’t to be looked down on!

“HHWRAWH!” the Umbra Demon King roared out in pain. It wanted to swing its greataxe at Nie Yan, but its movements were too slow. Nie Yan had already circled back around again. BANG! Another explosion of ice went off.

Nie Yan’s every attack procc’d the ice rupture effect. Its damage was beyond frightening. The range varied, but it was always more than 10 times higher than his normal damage.

BANG! BANG! BANG! A series of explosions continuously rang out. Resembling the heavy beats of war drums, it followed a unique tempo!

This was the rhythm of Nie Yan’s attacks!

At this rate, Nie Yan could take down the Umbra Demon King in less than half an hour!

This was an astonishing speed. If Plenty, Tang Yao, Bladelight, and them were to find out that Nie Yan could solo a Level 210 Demonified Lord at only Level 196, and within half an hour no less, just what kind of reactions would they have?

While Nie Yan was chipping away at the Umbra Demon King in front of him, two more started approaching him from some distance away.

“Shit!” Nie Yan cursed. Taking on three Umbra Demon Kings at the same time would prove difficult even for him.

Nie Yan knew he had to act quickly. He drew all three Umbra Demon Kings another 3,000 meters away. Like this, there was no chance of any more coming over.

The two other Umbra Demon Kings also had their movements slowed to a crawl after entering the range of Jotunheim’s Descent. The speed at which they swung their greataxes was over 30% slower than before.

Nie Yan evaded a greataxe, then retaliated with a Counter. BANG! Another explosion of ice went off.

From Nie Yan’s point of view, the movements of the Umbra Demon Kings were slow like a snail’s. He could easily evade all they threw at him. Not to mention his ice rupture only served to further slow them.

The three Umbra Demon Kings were practically moving in slow motion. Meanwhile, Nie Yan was dancing around them like a butterfly and stinging them like a bee. Any time the ice rupture debuff was about to wear off on one of them, he would reapply it with an attack.

If Nie Yan were to attack by himself, who knew how long it would take for this battle to be over. So, he had the Divine Eclipse Dragon come over, splitting into five with Doppelganger and activating Enrage, and summoned Lil’ Gold and the Violet Eye Dragon. Seven dragons altogether joined the fray. A dense barrage of single-target magic rained down on one of the Umbra Demon Kings. A large string of damage values immediately floated up in the air as its health started plummeting downward.

The damage was astonishing, leaving Nie Yan satisfied.

The Divine Eclipse Dragon dealt too much damage, drawing the aggro of the Umbra Demon King. But still slowed by Nie Yan, it had no chance of catching up to any of the dragon’s clones. Especially since with every step it took, an ice rupture would go off on its body.

About 15 minutes later, the first Umbra Demon King let out a mournful cry and collapsed to the ground. A white light fell over Nie Yan. His eyes lit up. A level up! The experience from a Level 210 Demonified Lord was quite ample!