A group of 60 or so Variant Lord Warriors, Mages, and Thieves stood outside the entrance to the inner section of the temple. They were gathered in groups of twos and threes and chatting together. Unknowingly, a Mage in red robes had mixed in among them.

Nie Yan was so close to these Variant Lords that he could clearly see their faces.

After brushing past several Variant Lords, Nie Yan found himself in the middle of their group. All around him were Variant Lords. His heart raced, worried his disguise would be seen through. He couldn’t help but take a deep breath to calm himself down. Acting like he belonged there, he continued walking forward.

None of the Variant Lords noticed anything amiss.

After brushing past the last of the Variant Lords, Nie Yan ascended a flight of stairs and entered a corridor. There were at least several hundred Level 180 Variant Lords here. He couldn’t imagine how much manpower would be required to clear this place.

I hope I can get Abak’s Leg Guards of Focus without alerting these guys, Nie Yan thought.

After entering the inner temple, the Holy Stone in Nie Yan’s bag started glowing brighter. This confirmed that the last piece of the Tyrant Abak Set was nearby!

Finding his way through multiple corridors, Nie Yan entered a wide open hall roughly 500 by 500 meters in size. It looked extremely lavish. The floor, walls, and pillars were all made out of pure gold. Before him lay a red carpet stretching out the entire length of the room. At the very end, a flight of stairs led up to a raised platform on which stood a tall, burly giant. Clad in golden armour, he patrolled back and forth, occasionally sitting down on the throne behind him. He looked like an imperious king.

Nie Yan was around 400 meters away from the giant. So, he couldn’t inspect him yet.

Since the monsters outside were all Level 180 Variant Lords, this giant had to be even more frightening. Nie Yan didn’t dare to get too close. He dispelled his disguise and entered stealth.

Nie Yan climbed up to the top of one of the pillars and looked at the raised platform. Next to the throne behind the giant were three chests. He couldn’t help but wonder about their grades.

Abak’s Leg Guards of Focus was probably inside one of these three chests. Nie Yan rubbed his chin. Let’s try and open them.

Nie Yan summoned his shadow clone, which he ordered to sneak toward the giant. Meanwhile, he crawled along the walls and headed toward the three chests from a different direction.

After approaching within 100 meters of the giant, Nie Yan could finally get a good look at his appearance. He was middle-aged with a five-meter tall frame and bulging muscles, wielding a large golden greatsword.

Health: ???/???

Nie Yan couldn’t see Bencroft’s health. He estimated it was at least over a hundred million. This giant was only a bandit chief of Death’s Kiss, but he was already a Level 180 Demonified Lord! He was probably the strongest monster in this outpost.

When Nie Yan approached within 90 meters of Bencroft, he finally had a reaction. He abruptly stood up and swept his gaze across the hall.

Seeing Bencroft looking over in his direction, Nie Yan’s heart trembled. It was time to get to work!

Extreme Vanish!

Nie Yan dashed toward the three treasure chests.

After discovering Nie Yan, Bencroft was about to charge over, only to abruptly lose track of him. He knitted his brows.

At this moment, Nie Yan had already arrived beside the treasure chests and crouched down. There were three chests, a red, blue, and green one. Apart from the colour, they were identical. The outside was studded with gems. They looked quite elegant.

A hundred meters away from the throne, the shadow clone suddenly showed itself.

“You rat! How dare you show yourself here!” Bencroft rushed over toward the shadow clone with large strides.

Nie Yan immediately had the shadow clone turn and flee.

“Die, you wretched Thief!” Bencroft slashed down with his blade and sent a sword beam flying towards the shadow clone.

The shadow clone avoided the attack with Gale Step and escaped toward the exit of the room.

Finding the pray take the bait, Nie Yan thought for a moment before choosing to open the red chest.

About 20 seconds later, Nie Yan received a notification that the shadow clone had been killed.

Reviewing the shadow clone’s final moments, Nie Yan learned that Bencroft had locked it down with Intimidate, then charged over and cut it down with one slash.

Bencroft was heading back towards the throne.

Nie Yan glanced at the chest. It was almost opened. He definitely couldn’t give up now!

Come on! Open up already!

Nie Yan couldn’t help but grow anxious. Bencroft was almost up the stairs! A few more seconds, and he’d be discovered!

Click! The chest lid popped open. This sound was heaven to Nie Yan’s ears!

Nie Yan still had ample time to grab the items inside the chest and leave!

As Nie Yan moved his hand forward to reach in the chest, the scent of gunpowder suddenly wafted up his nose.

Shit!

Nie Yan’s heart trembled. He quickly activated Gale Step and fled as far away as he could.

BOOOM! Flames erupted from the chest as a scorching hot inferno swallowed up everything within a three-meter radius.

The flames were about to engulf him, when Nie Yan extended his hand and shot out a web line. With a hard tug, he swung away and stuck to the ceiling of the hall. Seeing Bencroft atop the raised platform, he immediately activated several skills to increase his Cloaking.

Nie Yan broke out in a cold sweat. If he had been a beat slower, he would’ve been engulfed by the flames. He never expected the chest to be boobytrapped. Thankfully, he didn’t stupidly stick his hand inside.

When Bencroft discovered one of the chests open, he roared out in anger and let loose a storm of curses. He searched around, but failed to find any trace of the intruder. In the end, he could only give up.

Nie Yan glanced at the Holy Stone inside his bag. It was emitting an intense radiance. After opening the red chest, there were still two other chests. One of them contained Abak’s Leg Guards of Focus.

𝓯𝙧𝙚𝒆𝙬𝙚𝒃𝙣𝙤𝒗𝓮𝓵.𝙘𝙤𝙢

After waiting for half-an-hour, Nie Yan summoned Lil’ Gold and Paladin Lafus. He tried to have the two lure Bencroft away, but discovered to his dismay that his earlier tactic wouldn’t work again. Bencroft refused to stray off the raised platform.

Nie Yan decided to try something out. He had Lil’ Gold reach the raised platform and approach within 60 meters of the throne. It was a death sentence. Bencroft charged over and cut Lil’ Gold down with three consecutive slashes. These attacks came so quickly that Paladin Lafus had no chance to heal Lil’ Gold.

Paladin Lafus wanted to run, only to be chased down by Bencroft and killed in two slashes.

This was the might of a Level 180 Demonified Lord on full display! In front of this frightening existence, Lil’ Gold and Paladin Lafus stood no chance whatsoever.

Nie Yan didn’t even have the opportunity to approach the two remaining chests, let alone open one of them!

Shit! What now? Abak’s Leg Guards of Focus are right in front of me. Don’t tell me I’m going to have to give up?

Nie Yan’s heart was unresigned, but his hands were tied.

The minutes ticked away and gradually turned into hours. No matter how Nie Yan racked his brain, he couldn’t come up with a viable plan. He couldn’t continue wasting time here either. The leg guards, the final piece of the Tyrant Abak Set he needed to obtain, was so close yet so far away. He felt incredibly depressed.

Staring at Bencroft stubbornly guarding the throne, Nie Yan knitted his brows. He refused to give up now! Sitting down, he patiently waited for an opportunity. But by the time the servers were about to shutdown, nothing had changed.

The next day, Nie Yan entered the game full of hope. But there was still no change in Bencroft’s behaviour. You stubborn old fart! he cursed. Should I try calling in backup from the guild?

Nie Yan thought for a moment. If he had his forces lead Bencroft away, he could theoretically open the chests! If Bencroft was still stubborn and refused to leave the throne, they could slowly chip away at his health and kill him!

Even though Nie Yan wasn’t sure if this plan would succeed, it was worth giving a try. At least it was better than sitting here doing nothing.

Nie Yan opened up the guild chat and made an urgent recruitment order. He planned to have 500 players come to his aid. This force didn’t just include players from Asskickers United but also 26 Shamans from Heaven Song.

After receiving Nie Yan’s command, Asskickers United’s players immediately mobilized and set off for the Temple of the Goddess of Life.

After arriving within the outskirts of the temple, Xie Yao, King of the World, and several others used their Hyperlink Rings to teleport to Nie Yan’s side. Afterwards, they had the other team members teleport to their side with Group Teleport Scrolls. Before long, 500 people arrived safely within the inner temple without having to pass through the Variant Lords in the outer region.

The appearance of 500 players immediately alerted Bencroft. He started moving around anxiously. However, he didn’t dare to stray too far away from the throne, for fear of someone sneakily opening a chest again.

Nie Yan did a headcount. There were 516 people in total. They could be split into 26 teams.

Seeing the golden armoured Bencroft, the guild members were somewhat nervous. The monster in front of them was a Level 180 Demonified Lord!

“Split into 20-man teams, one Shaman per team!”

King of the World immediately followed Nie Yan’s orders and organized everyone into 25 20-man teams. Nie Yan, Xie Yao, and the other Masters formed their own team.