Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World
chapter-223

“It appears that I’ve underestimated my own defensive capabilities and the Rank 6 Shield,” Bladelight mused after glancing through his character information. It felt invigorating to have such formidable defense! He was practically a raid boss!

The Rank 6 Shield was teetering on the verge of collapse after bearing the brunt of the attacks of the players from Holy Empire for so long. It looked like it was moments away from shattering into pieces, but the outcome of this battle was already written in stone.

Bladelight was indomitable beyond compare! He stood unscathed, like an iron tower, despite the barrage of attacks he received. Seeing he still had over 60% of his health left, the several players still alive on the stage felt a profound sense of powerlessness rising up in their hearts. Dammit! This Fighter is way too tanky, isn’t he!?

「Bang! Bang!」Two Fireballs blasted Bladelight, sending a shower of embers flying everywhere. The Rank 6 Shield collapsed, shattering into countless fragments that dissolved into the air.

Although the three other Berserkers understood Ruined Maple’s excitement, they glanced at their remaining health which ranged between 300 to 400 points each. Even if they surrounded Bladelight, two hits from his Whirlwind Slash would finish them off with ease.

Bladelight’s damage was simply too ferocious. In contrast, the damage they dealt him was simply too pitiful. Even without the Rank 6 Shield, they could only deal 30 to 40 damage to him with each attack.

Being fully aware of this fact, who among the four of them still dared to approach Bladelight?

Bladelight took advantage of this moment of hesitation to chase down the last two remaining Mages. The Elementalist made a futile attempt at casting Repel, only for Bladelight to cut him down with two skills. The Arcane Mage also failed to escape his grasp. Bladelight incapacitated him with Tendon Break, then sent him flying with Flame Slash.

At last, Bladelight turned to the four remaining Berserkers. After a brief stare-down, they summoned up the courage to charge at him.

They activated all their skills while fiercely lunging at Bladelight.

Thunderous Blow!

Sword-light from the barrage of attacks flew all over the arena. The Berserkers, in an effort to pull themselves out of the perilous situation they found themselves in, ruthlessly hacked at Bladelight and forced him back step by step.

−39

−36

−35

...

A string of damage values floated up above Bladelight’s head as his health dropped at the speed of molasses.

Under the frantic attacks, every step Bladelight retreated was stable. His movements didn’t show the slightest trace of panic. With his formidable defense, he could disregard their attacks entirely.

Seizing an opening, Bladelight brandished his sword.

Whirlwind Slash!

Bladelight’s sword whirled through all four berserkers as damage values displaying over 200 floated up above their heads, leaving them with only a sliver of health away from death.

Bladelight activated Shield Bash and sent a Berserker flying. The berserker’s health dropped to zero mid-air, and by the time he fell on the ground, he was long dead.

Flame Slash!

Bladelight cut down another Berserker.

Of the initial ten, only two were left standing!

Frenzy Slash!

The sword aura emanating from Bladelight’s blade resembled a violent storm as he stabbed out at the two Berserkers in front of him, blasting them away.

With a little over half his health left, he stood tall over the corpses which littered the arena stage, evidence of the bitter struggle that occurred just moments ago.

A lot easier than I thought, Bladelight mused. He didn’t expect the Rank 6 Shield to absorb so much damage. What surprised him the most was that he still had 52% health remaining! Didn’t that mean he could’ve still taken on a few more opponents? This battle was a complete one-sided slaughter!

He had relied on his superior equipment and level to suppress them, but relying on such an advantage to slaughter players like chopping vegetables really did feel great!

Warriors were the most gear-reliant out of all the classes. No matter how skilled of a Warrior a player was, if their equipment was garbage, they were nothing but dregs. That being said, the equipment on a Warrior generally reflected the strength of the player. A good Warrior could absolutely rely on their skills to improve their gear quality.

The battle was over, and the audience was dumbstruck by Bladelight’s performance. What shocked them the most was that Bladelight still had over half his health remaining. This was astonishing! To win a 1 vs. 10 so easily, he was probably the only person who could pull off such a feat.

Bladelight’s defeat of the ten players from Holy Empire was further validation of the Everlasting Silver Set’s formidable properties. This ignited Sleepy Fox’s desire of obtaining this set more than ever. If he had a few more Fighters on Bladelight’s level, then the upcoming battle for the stronghold would be a cinch; Radiant Sacred Flame and Victorious Return would have no choice but to step aside!

Sleepy Fox took a deep breath to calm down the shock in his heart. He finally said in a calm tone, “Let’s see your other players.”

Nie Yan shot a glance at Sleepy Fox. Don’t try and hide it from me. I know you’re not as calm as you’re pretending to be.

When Bladelight jumped off the arena stage, One Strike Vow walked up to meet him.

“Wow, nice equipment. Where did you get it?” One Strike Vow asked with a brilliant smile which left several of the surrounding players dazed.

Even Bladelight wasn’t immune to her charms. Rubbing his nose to hide his embarrassment, he said, “You’ll need to ask Nirvana Flame.”

At this moment, the ten Holy Empire players on the stage resurrected. Every one of them had bitter smiles.

Bladelight chatted with One Strike Vow for a while before walking up the spectator stands.

“You worked hard.” Nie Yan nodded to Bladelight.

Bladelight laughed, then sent a whisper,「It was a piece of cake.」

「If you say that out loud, you’ll enrage Sleepy Fox half to death.」Nie Yan chuckled. Killing a Fighter such as Bladelight required a special method. Many powerful crowd control spells were a must. He’d have to be locked down with crowd control while everyone bombarded him with attacks. It might require the participation of players, of classes such as the Shadow Priest or Paladin, who could do well in PvP and also heal.

In this battle, aside from showing off the might of his equipment, Bladelight displayed his formidable judgement. He had taken out a few of the Mages first so as to alleviate the pressure on him while he fought the Berserkers.

Even if it was Nie Yan, he could do nothing more than battle Bladelight to a draw. Bladelight’s defense was too solid. Taking him out would be no easy task. If a Thief met a Fighter such as Bladelight in the wilderness and still insisted on ambushing him, it was the perfect example of an idiot. The sensible thing to do was to just ignore each other and go their separate ways.

「What about the other matches?」Sleepy Fox asked Eternal Phoenix beside him.

Eternal Phoenix looked at the statistics and said,「There were over 70 matches in total. Most of our skilled players have fought.」

「And the results?」Sleepy Fox asked.

These conversations could only be done in chat. He certainly didn’t want Nie Yan hearing him.

「We’ve won 10 matches and lost over 60,」Eternal Phoenix said with a wry smile.

「Why is it so low?」 Sleepy Fox knitted his brows and asked in a grave tone. It must be understood that the players he brought with him today were the best Holy Empire had to offer!

「I don’t know… These guys are too strong!」Eternal Phoenix sighed. He didn’t know where this group of such powerful players popped up. He couldn’t help but praise them. Asskickers United was deserving of its name. It was full of asskickers!「Those players who appeared in Kiln Fire Woods still haven’t fought. Aside from them, One Strike Vow and a few others haven’t gone up either. Everyone on their side that has fought so far have no prior achievements that would’ve made them noteworthy.」

Sleepy Fox glanced at Nie Yan with a complicated expression. In a clash against Asskickers United’s elites, Holy Empire had suffered a complete and utter defeat! He somewhat envied Asskickers United. With such a powerful bunch of players, why worry about any major events? It was no wonder Victorious Return viewed them as their greatest rival!

Sleepy Fox thought of Asskickers United’s mysterious background. After considering the matter over and over again, he decided that no matter what happened later on, he would avoid becoming enemies with them at all costs. He felt such a thing was far more terrifying than offending both Victorious Return and Radiant Sacred Flame.

It appeared that Holy Empire was far from being strong enough. Only by working on their own strength could they weather through future storms.

Eternal Phoenix, Undying Battle Fervour, and a few of the other best players still hadn’t acted. But even if they acted now, it would be meaningless.

Nie Yan was enjoying the battles. After a Berserker from Holy Empire defeated two Asskickers United players in a row, a Holy Mage from Asskickers United got up on the stage.

The Holy Mage’s face was vaguely familiar. Nie Yan felt he had seen it somewhere before in his past life.

“Who is he?” Nie Yan asked Young Seven standing beside him. He was more familiar with the other top players in the guild.

“His name is Fond of the Sunny South. He’s a strong Holy Mage, ranks in at least the top 20 of the guild,” Young Seven replied. He wasn’t too familiar with this person, but Sunny South’s skills still left somewhat of a deep impression on him, which was why he gave such an evaluation.

In a guild like Asskickers United where talented players were numerous, ranking in the top 20 was an amazing feat!

Fond of the Sunny South… Nie Yan couldn’t help but feel a little emotional. Sunny South was one of the players he had asked Guo Huai to scout. Later on, he didn’t know what the outcome of the recruitment was, nor did he bother to ask. In his past life, he had dueled Sunny South and suffered a crushing defeat. Just like him, Sunny South was also a step away from receiving the ultimate title for his class. The difference, however, was that while he had given up, Sunny South continued to diligently attack that final barrier. Later on, he heard Sunny South was successful in becoming a Sage, but the information wasn’t too reliable.

In the previous timeline, Sunny South was one of the few players who refused to join a team. He was a Mage who relied only on himself and slaughtered his way to the peak. According to rumours, he was a former member of Radiant Sacred Flame. But because the guild leader angered him, he cursed up a storm in the guild chat, and as a consequence, he was booted from the guild. From then on, he never joined any other guild. He even flatly turned down the generous offers of Holy Empire and Sapphire Shrine

He dared to curse the guild leader in the guild chat. This guy has quite a reckless personality. Nie Yan’s mouth curved into a faint smile. If a guild member cursed me out, how would I react? He briefly pondered over the question before shaking his head. He’d probably deal with the person in a calm manner. If they made good points, he wouldn’t hesitate to admit his faults. After dying once, such matters had long since become trivial to him.

On the arena stage, Sunny South bombarded the Berserker with spell after spell, then activated Repel, temporarily holding the opponent at bay. After Repel wore off and the Berserker closed in, he cast Sheep Transformation, turning him into a sheep, and sped back several meters. Following several more exchanges, he concluded the match by blasting the Berserker to death.

“He’s strong. He’d have no problem entering the top 15 of the guild,” Nie Yan said. The guild leader of Radiant Sacred Flame must’ve bashed his head on a door to expel such a powerful player from the guild. But in this timeline, Sunny South was a member of Asskickers United.