In a graveyard several kilometers away from Barthe, one spirit after another appeared. They were Tang Yao, Undying Scoundrel, and the others who had just died.

Spirits could see other spirits. The Masters glanced at each other with bitter smiles.

“Damn. Looks like we wiped,” Bladelight said. After he died, he watched the others appear one by one in spirit form. Almost everyone was here.

“How did you guys die?” Mistaken Smile asked. He was one of the first to die. So, he had no idea what happened later on.

“GAHHH! We were so close to killing Drakuru! So close! 10 more minutes, and he would be dead!” Undying Scoundrel said while gripping his head. What they didn’t know was that Drakuru was a quest boss. He could only be killed by Paternoster’s Warhammer after bringing his health down below a certain threshold.

Nevertheless, the keyword was almost. In the end, they had failed to kill the boss.

20 spirits were present in the graveyard.

“Huh? Where’s Nie Yan?” Xie Yao asked in surprise.

Only then did everyone realize Nie Yan wasn’t among them. It had already been more than 10 minutes since Drakuru called down that apocalyptic meteor shower. Could it be that Nie Yan had survived it?

“The boss is still alive?”

“If he died, he’d be here. Maybe he managed to pull off another miracle?” Bladelight said.

Everyone chatted excitedly. They all hoped Nie Yan had killed Drakuru, but they knew that that possibility was extremely slim, to the point of being non-existent. In all likelihood, he had simply managed to take cover from the meteor shower.

“Let’s revive and rest here for a bit,” Bladelight said.

They released their spirits and resurrected in the graveyard. Each of them lost a level as well as a piece of equipment. However, this kind of loss was bearable. After grinding in the World of Darkness for so long, it could still be considered a win.

The 20 team members sat down to recuperate and waited for word from Nie Yan. No one dared to send him a message, for fear of distracting him. Especially so after opening the team window and finding out he was still alive.

...

After entering the portal, one scene after another flashed through Nie Yan’s mind. They were related to the Orc King and Paternoster’s Warhammer, telling the tale of how a man and his weapon had wiped out one powerful enemy after another to establish the Satreen Empire before finally losing it all due to Drakuru’s betrayal.

Nie Yan also learned of the meaning of the Assassin’s Heart. As an assassin, even if you knew the path ahead was perilous and death was assured, for the sake of upholding justice, you would forge ahead with the resolve to die and complete your mission.

Nie Yan successfully completed the mission. He had assassinated Drakuru and obtained the Assassin’s Heart as a reward.

After who knew how long, Nie Yan finally regained consciousness. Looking around, he found himself in the inner district of Barthe. The sight of streets filled with monsters and buildings all around were a welcome change.

“I’m finally out!” Nie Yan breathed a heavy sigh of relief.

Nie Yan checked the properties of the Assassin’s Heart.

After seeing the properties of the Assassin’s Heart, Nie Yan’s eyes lit up with joy. He had really hit the jackpot this time! His stats were already ridiculously high. Now they were even more ludicrous. The All Control Skill Ranks +3 property was pretty decent. Not to mention the All Stats +30%, which unlike the bonuses from his equipment, was permanent.

As for the Equipment Set Slot +1, that meant Nie Yan could wear two sets of equipment at once, allowing him to easily and quickly switch between them. Plus, he could do it in combat. Gaining an additional equipment set slot was even better than the All Stats +30%!

Even though Nie Yan only gained bonuses from the active equipment set, he could wear equipment sets with different properties. Many possibilities came to mind. For example, he could spec one set to have high magic resistance and the other to have high physical resistance. Like this, he could change his set depending on whether he was facing a Mage or a Warrior. In fact, if there were a group of Mages and Warriors, he could even switch between both sets in between attacks. Then again, he could also have his second equipment set be random crappy gear, so that if he died, he wouldn’t lose anything of value.

The Equipment Set Slot +1 really increased his adaptability.

Nie Yan recalled players would receive a second equipment set slot at Level 180. He didn’t expect to receive one early from the Assassin’s Heart. He wondered if he would receive another one at Level 180.

After checking the properties of the Assassin’s Heart, Nie Yan looked at the two items Drakuru dropped and was dumbstruck.

One of the two items was a tower shield. It was made out of some unknown metal and was extremely heavy. It would take a strong Fighter just to lift it up. It was blood red and covered in all sorts of eccentric runes, which all led to the center where there was a demonic face.

Nie Yan inspected the shield’s properties.

Demonic Mental Corrosion: All Stats -30% and inflicted with the fear status effect when health falls below 30%.

Requirements: Level 180

Description: A tower shield Drakuru crafted from Blood Lunarit. It possesses incredible defensive capabilities and can be socketed with up to six gems.

Properties: Defense 7,830–8,812, Block Rate 70%, 30% chance to nullify an attack, Magic Resistance +100, Strength +50%, Health +60%, Dark Armour.

Demon’s Disdain: Taunt all enemies in a 30-meter radius. Duration: 5 minutes. Cooldown: 20 minutes.

Demon’s Gluttony (Passive): Every basic attack drains 500 + (2*Strength) mana from the enemy and converts it into health.

Restrictions: None

Nie Yan sucked in a cold breath of air. “My god! 8,000 defense!” He had never seen a shield like this before. Even in his past life, the most powerful shield only had a little over 5,000 defense. The other properties were also far better than anything he’d seen on a shield before.

If Demon Drakuru’s Tower Shield were socketed with a few level requirement reduction gems, Bladelight could probably equip it right away.

With a shield like this, Nie Yan could form an expedition team and hunt down high level bosses, among which was the Lava Giant who had killed countless players in the Kiln Fire Woods.

Before long, the equipment quality of their top rank members would rise by another few notches.

Apart from Demon Drakuru’s Tower Shield, there was also a translucent crystal. It was another Shattered Divinity!

Nie Yan already had three Shattered Divinities. He still had no idea what they were used for. So, he put it away with the others in his bag.

「Where are you guys right now?」Nie Yan asked in voice chat.

After hearing Nie Yan’s voice, the chat immediately boiled over with excitement.

「Boss, what happened? Did you die?」

「No way! If he died, there’s no way he would be Level 149. Boss, don’t tell me you killed Drakuru!?」

「D-did you really kill Drakuru?」

Nie Yan was bombarded with questions. Everyone was excited and impatient.

「One at a time guys. I can’t hear anyone like this. Yeah, I did kill Drakuru.」Nie Yan chuckled.

「How did you do it? I remember Drakuru still had 500,000 health when I died!」Undying Scoundrel asked. He found it hard to believe that Nie Yan could deal so much damage to Drakuru.

「Drakuru is a quest boss. He ended up becoming invincible near the very end. So, my Annihilation Slash did no damage to him. The only way to kill him was to use Paternoster’s Warhammer,」Nie Yan explained.

After hearing Nie Yan’s words, Undying Scoundrel and the others came to a realization. This was a quest, and Paternoster’s Warhammer was a key item used in completing it. Without it, Drakuru was invincible. They had to bring his health down to a certain level, then finish him off with the hammer.

「Did Drakuru drop anything?」

「Oh, right! Did you complete that Assassin’s Heart quest?」Bladelight asked.

𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

「Yep. I obtained the Assassin’s Heart. Apart from that, I also got a shield,」Nie Yan said. When he mentioned Demon Drakuru’s Tower Shield, he couldn’t contain his excitement. He immediately shared its information in the chat.

The properties of Demon Drakuru’s Tower Shield were revealed in front of Bladelight and the others.

The chat went silent. They were all left speechless by the shield’s properties.

「My god! 8,000 defense and 70% block rate! If Bladelight were to equip this shield, I doubt I’d even be able to break through his defense!」Smoke Stub sighed in admiration.

By equipping this shield, Bladelight would truly be invincible. A Fighter like this would be an unrivalled tank across the entire server.

「Socket it with a few level requirement reduction gems, and Bladelight will be able to equip it,」Young Seven noted.

Level requirement reduction gems were extremely hard to come by for ordinary players. But for them, it was nothing difficult.

「With the quest completed, let’s go take care of the Blood Reaver Corps. After we’ve dealt with them and Bladelight has equipped the shield, we’ll go hunt some high level bosses. Our first target is the Lava Giant!」Nie Yan excitedly said.

「A Level 200 Lord?」

Everyone was stunned. After thinking for a bit, with a tank with such high defense, even facing a Level 200 Lord would be no problem! They were filled with anticipation. Soon, the quality of their equipment would rise by leaps and bounds!