Shadow Killer was completely convinced of Nie Yan’s strength. Even though their exchange was brief and Nie Yan only used the most basic skills, under that rush down, he had no opportunity to retaliate. This was the difference in their strength.

“You go there, and I’ll go here,” Nie Yan said. Looking up ahead, the tunnel forked into five different paths.

“Alright.” Shadow Killer nodded.

After the two entered back into stealth, Nie Yan said in voice chat,「Everyone, report your coordinates every few minutes.」

In order to avoid accidents from happening, Nie Yan could only rely on this method. Sharing coordinates didn’t take much effort anyway.

「Will do, Boss!」Everyone shared their coordinates.

As Nie Yan ventured deeper into the cave, he heard the beckoning of a voice, causing him to unwillingly head toward it.

It was quite strange. Nie Yan could still maintain a clear mind, but he was compelled to move toward the voice.

After traversing through the winding passageways for roughly half-an-hour, Nie Yan arrived in an enormous chamber. The magnificent sight left him breathless. He could hardly see the ceiling, which had to be at least 100 meters high, while down below was a roaring river of lava that constantly spewed out flames into the air. A stone bridge, hovering several meters above the lava, connected both sides of the room. It was roughly five meters wide and at least 500 meters long. Surprisingly, it just lay flat across the river like a plank with no supporting structure at all. How it didn’t collapse was beyond him.

Looking at the end of the bridge, Nie Yan saw a towering obelisk. A big, burly giant was chained up to it by his four limbs. The chains were short, not giving him much room to move. He was a five-meter tall mass of muscles and lacked the wings of a demon, but his skin was coarse and red just like one. His clothes were torn beyond repair, barely covering his private area.

A Level 180 Demonified Lord. However, bound by chains, he wasn’t nearly as dangerous as other similar existences. Perhaps, even a Level 130 Demonified Lord was its match now. Even so, this monster wasn’t to be trifled with. It could easily slaughter Nie Yan’s group if they weren’t careful.

The demon raised his head to look at Nie Yan, his eyes flashing with a crimson light.

A low and demonic voice rang out in Nie Yan’s mind. Puny human, free me from these shackles, and I shall reward you with boundless power and endless wealth. You will become an unrivalled existence and lord over all others...

Nie Yan involuntarily took several steps forward, but he forcefully stopped himself. He knew if he succumbed to Drakuru’s temptations, he would become a traitor to the Righteous Faction. The consequences would be severe.

Hearing Drakuru’s words, Nie Yan couldn’t help but be reminded of a similar event in the previous timeline. Shrimp Rider. Like many in Conviction, he had a pretty ridiculous sounding character name. He was an elven Shadow Dancer who preferred levelling in the wilderness alone over partying up with others, the low-key kind. As a result, few people understood him. At some point in time, Angels Corps had blacklisted him. So, even on the odd occasion he did wish to find a team, no one would invite him. His anger slowly built up, until one day he released it all. It’d become a black month in Angel Corps’ history, as he slaughtered on average more than 400 of their players each day.

This was a huge humiliation for Angel Corps. They mobilized all their Masters to surround Shrimp Rider before finally killing him. Since his name was dark red from killing so many players, he dropped all his equipment. After that event, he disappeared for a long time.

However, roughly five months later, Shrimp Rider reappeared in public once more. He wore the title of Demon Carnager, a variant class. Wielding two demon daggers, he struck fear in the hearts of all those who saw him. He immediately began his revenge on Angel Corps, killing six of their Masters and countless other elites. They were completely helpless against him, and for a time, he was unrivalled in the entire game. However, in the middle of his massacre, the demon within him gained more control until he became an enemy of the Satreen Empire. After being hunted down by their high level NPCs, he once more disappeared and never showed back up again.

Regarding Shrimp Rider, Nie Yan didn’t really know how to evaluate him. Relying only on his own strength, he had forced Angel Corps to such a sorry state. This was truly worthy of admiration. In the previous timeline, when Nie Yan was being hunted down by the forces of Victorious Return, he went into hiding in the mountains with his team members. He had only killed about 600 Victorious Returns in total, and most of them weren’t even elites of the guild.

Only the most fierce characters would dare to face off against a super guild like Angel Corps.

Nie Yan wondered what would happen if he accepted Drakuru’s offer. Would he end up like Shrimp Rider and become a Demon Carnager? Did the two of them receive the same quest?

Obviously, Nie Yan would never accept Dakuru’s offer. He was Asskickers United’s guild leader. There were far too many people who counted on him. If he became a Demon Carnager, what would become of the guild?

As a guild leader, Nie Yan could no longer behave as wilfully as a solo player.

Seeing Nie Yan refusing to give into his temptation, Drakuru’s eyes shone with an ever increasing demonic light.

Nie Yan suddenly started feeling slightly dizzy.

Crap! Mind control magic!

Nie Yan quivered and hurriedly activated Mind Immune.

Drakuru exerted all his mental strength in an attempt to forcefully control Nie Yan. However, the moment he tried to set up a mental link with Nie Yan, he hit a protective wall.

“Eww! Another demon! I hate demons!” Kalenna pursed her lips. She had appeared beside Nie Yan’s shoulder after waking up. Her small figure could fit in his palm and her delicate face was indescribably cute. She waved her staff and cast a protective aura around Nie Yan.

Drakuru’s mental power was suddenly reflected back at him by a formidable holy power. BOOOM! Almost as if his heart had been struck by a ruthless blow, his body recoiled back and he spat out a mouthful of blood.

Drakur received two debuffs.

After inspecting Drakuru’s stats, Nie Yan’s eyes lit up. This was their opportunity. He had no idea how long these debuffs would last. He immediately contacted the others.「Everyone, gather at 382.2380.28

!

」

In different parts of the maze-like caves structure, players stopped moving and checked their coordinates. With hastened steps, they all went toward a singular direction. Mistaken Smile, King of the World, and One Strike Vow were the first to arrive at Nie Yan’s side. When they set foot on the stone bridge, they looked up ahead and focused their eyes on Drakuru.

“A demon?”

“Looks like it.”

Seeing Drakuru’s large and burly frame, everyone was a bit taken aback. This was a Demonified Lord! Apart from Nie Yan, this was their first time encountering one!

About 30 minutes later, all 21 members of the team were gathered together.

Nie Yan summoned Lil’ Gold and Paladin Lafus.

“We don’t have much time. Let’s hurry up. Bladelight, you pair up with Lil’ Gold. Let him do all the tanking,” Nie Yan said. Lil’ Gold’s defense was quite high, no lower than that of a Champion. It was just that he lacked the defensive skills Bladelight possessed. However, he had Explosive Counter, which would help in upping the DPS.

Besides, if Lil’ Gold died, Nie Yan would only lose some affinity with him. On the other hand, Bladelight would lose an absurd amount of experience if he died. To Nie Yan, the choice was simple.

“Alright.” Bladelight nodded.

Everyone spread out and they formed a battle formation. This battle stage was fairly unique. The bridge was only five meters wide with guard rails on both sides. If they weren’t careful with their footing, they might fall off and plunge into the raging river of lava.

If Drakuru had knockback skills, that would be even more dangerous.

At Nie Yan’s command, Lil’ Gold slowly approached Drakuru. 50 meters... 40... 30... Bladelight followed right behind him, maintaining a distance of three meters between them.

Sensing Lil’ Gold’s approach, Drakuru glared at Nie Yan and shouted in a rage, “Foolish human! You will regret your actions today! I’ll throw all of you into the lava and have your bones melt into nothing!”

Drakuru’s voice shook the entire bridge, causing it to rock endlessly.

Nie Yan and the others felt as if the bridge were about to collapse beneath their feet.

None of them knew what was keeping the bridge up right now, and they couldn’t be bothered to care. In this battle, they knew full well the odds were heavily stacked against them. Death was a real possibility here. Luckily, they’d all levelled up quite a lot in the World of Darkness. So, even if they died, most of them would still come out on top.

At Nie Yan’s command, Lil’ Gold blasted Drakuru with Dragon Breath.

With a flick of his wrist, Drakur materialized an enormous 100-meter long whip in his hand and lashed down at Lil’ Gold.

FWAP! Lil’ Gold suffered a ruthless blow as some of his scales were flayed off.

−90,321

Seeing this damage value, Nie Yan excitedly said in chat,「There’s hope! Guys, we can do this!」

Lil’ Gold had 360,000 health, meaning he could take at least three hits and survive. When fighting a boss, it was already impressive if the main tank could take three hits.

Hearing Nie Yan’s words, everyone’s spirits soared.