Chapter 34 – The Holy Crusaders

Nie Yan rapidly approached the earth, his body soon to crash into the ground. With his left arm extended, he activated the ability from the Silk Spinner Ring. A web line shot out and adhered to the cliff face between the vegetation, slowly decelerating his descent. The line was tough and resilient and resembled a rubber band as it gradually stretched itself to the limit.

The tension on the web line continuously increased.

The force of Nie Yan's fall surpassed the silk line's tensile strength and the line gave out with a snap, taking many of the branches and rubble from the cliff face along with it.

Despite snapping, the web line still managed to significantly slow down his falling speed.

−56

「Thud!」Nie Yan fell onto the ground. Fortunately, the fall damage wasn't too high and was within the limits of what his health could handle.

In normal circumstances, if a player didn't have an item such as the Silk Spinner Ring to cushion the fall, they would most certainly die!

Having climbed and fallen over the other side of the mountain, the distance from his current location to Link wasn't too far off. With safety being his number one priority, Nie Yan entered stealth and activated a Basic Haste Scroll. From a half-withered bush at the base of the mountain, he made a sprint towards Link. The large crowds in the town should offer a little protection.

Having failed its attack, the Guardian of Order beat its wings and hovered in the air. Nie Yan had already escaped the valley by entering stealth and disappeared without a trace.

After the fall, Nie Yan and the Guardian were more than one hundred meters apart. Even if the level disparity between them was high, it still couldn't make up for the distance. Hence, even if the Guardian had a clear view of Nie Yan, it would still be unable to see through his stealth.

With regards to how stealth detection range was calculated, it depended on level disparity, the Awareness stat, and observation ability. With some rough estimations, Nie Yan was confident that as long as he stood at least one hundred meters from the Guardian, he would be safe from its detection. Even if it was a Level 100 Elite-class, its level, Awareness, and observational abilities couldn't make up for such a large gap in distance.

Nie Yan turned his head to look back. At this point, the Guardian of Order still hadn't left the area. Rather, it was heading over in his direction to investigate.

Without delay, Nie Yan held his breath and hid behind a large boulder.

The Guardian beat its wings and flew over. As it hovered in the sky, it investigated the area below it for any signs of movement, but didn't manage to discover Nie Yan.

The hunter and the hunted: the Guardian of Order was like the eagle in the sky, while Nie Yan was like the prey on the ground.

There was still roughly a kilometer between him and Link. Under the attentive gaze of the Guardian, there was no way for him to safely travel such a large distance.

There's still another method. I can use the Return Scroll!

It was possible to use the Return Scroll in this location; however, it would take a full twenty seconds to activate. Moreover, when channeling, the scroll would emit a bright light which would definitely attract the Guardian of Order's attention.

With its flying speed, the Guardian wouldn't need more than ten seconds to fly over to Nie Yan and kill him after discovering his location.

As the Guardian gradually descended from the air, the distance between it and Nie Yan became increasingly near.

This'll be troublesome… Nie Yan anxiously thought. If the Guardian were to enter a range of less than a hundred meters, it was possible for his hiding location to be detected. With every step, danger was slowly approaching.

Since I can't hide and avoid it, I might as well try fleeing for my life. Only… I'm not sure if I can make the half mile run.

Just as the Guardian prepared to descend onto the ground…「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Three arrows swiftly came flying over, all shot from afar. Each arrow separately aimed for its head, throat, and heart. The Guardian avoided them by flying to the side, causing all three arrows to miss their target.

In the distance, atop a large withered old tree, a tall NPC archer wearing silver plated armour drew his bow.「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Another three arrows were fired into the air.

The Guardian of Order let out a hiss. Seemingly resentful of the provocation of these low-level beings, it pounced towards the NPC.

Several soldiers approached the archer in the tree. "Commander Nisode, the defensive perimeter has been built. We're awaiting further instructions," reported the several fully equipped soldiers.

"It's approaching. Withdraw to Link! This foolish dragon will experience the divine judgement of the Holy Crusaders!" Commander Nisode shot a glance at the Guardian of Order speeding towards them in the air. Afterwards, he returned the bow to his back, leapt from the tree, and gracefully landed on the ground.

Under Commander Nicole's provocations, the Guardian of Order flew over Nie Yan's head and headed straight for Link.

「System: Level 1 Disaster Warning! Invasion of a dragon!」

The Guardian bellowed in the dragon language, "Blazing Meteor!"

The Guardian brandished its scepter. An enormous meteor formed out of blazing flames fell from the sky and streaked towards Link.

Flames were set ablaze in the sky. The meteor, fifty to sixty meters in size, would most likely engulf the surrounding twenty-five hundred square meters.

"Activate the basic defensive formation!" Commander Nisode climbed up to the tallest tower in Link and issued the order to those below him.

Afterwards, a blue barrier began forming and protected the entire town within it.

「BOOM!」The meteor exploded over the barrier while fire blossoms scattered in all directions. The barrier trembled violently due to the impact. Even all the players within the town could feel the barrier trembling as the remnant heat and fire elements assaulted their senses.

"ATTACK!" Commander Nisode issued out another order from the command tower. Immediately, every ballista within the town aimed at the Guardian of Order and fired.「Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!」Countless bolts flew through the air in a densely packed salvo.

Simultaneously, several thousand Archer and Mage players also fired a volley of attacks.

Meanwhile, the Guardian of Order unceasingly fired off its own magic attacks. Under its barrage of attacks, the barrier began showing signs of breaking as cracks appeared everywhere.「BANG!」A loud explosion echoed throughout the town as the barrier was shattered into pieces. With the barrier shattered, the Guardian rushed into the town and descended to the ground. With a single step, the Guardian crushed a nearby building, sending smashed tiles, bricks, and other building materials flying everywhere.

The appearance of the Guardian wreaked havoc among the players in the town.

"Holy shit! It's a Level 100 Elite monster! Fighters, don't rush forward!"

"Mages! Where are the f*cking Mages!? All of you, fire your spells!"

"Shi—f*ck, dammit!! All of our attacks are misses! The level gap is too high!"

Panic and confusion spread through the players and the town was in a state of chaos and upheaval. Over ten heavily armoured Holy Crusaders rushed forward to engage the Guardian. Surrounding the Guardian, the soldiers began their assault, but their countless attacks fell short and were the equivalent of raindrops as they landed on the guardian's body.

The Guardian was glowing red as a flaming aura surged from its scales. It was a terrifying existence which brought about destruction. With every swing of its scepter, a Holy Crusader would be smashed and sent flying. Buildings were crushed or knocked down, and the ground was scorched and charred, leaving a path of ruin wherever it passed.

"By the glory of the Holy Crusaders, my name is Commander Nisode and I will pass divine judgement upon this sinister dragon! Tyrant Impaling Arrow!" With these three words spoken, Commander Nisode placed his hand on the bowstring. He grunted heavily as he pulled back until it reached its maximum draw weight.「BOOM!」He released the bowstring. The arrow fiercely spiralled forward and carried a biting cold rotating energy along with it.「Bang!」The arrow briefly encountered some resistance when it met with the Guardian's scales only to immediately pierce into and bore its way through the Guardian's body.

−87,829

An unfeasibly high damage value had appeared above the Guardian's head.

The acute damage made the Guardian of Order release an indignant roar containing its wrath and fury. It raised the immense scepter in its grasp high into the air. The surrounding fire elements along with the smoldering remnants of its previous spells began to gather around and took the shape of an immense rotating pillar of flame.

The fighting in Link became increasingly intense. As for the origin of such a disaster, Nie Yan, he was inwardly rejoicing in his mind. Fortunately, the soldiers from Link led the Guardian of Order away; otherwise, I would have undoubtedly met my end.

Nie Yan was lingering around the outskirts of the town. Under the numerous attacks of the town's soldiers, the Guardian of Order would soon be unable to resist any longer. He was curious what sort of equipment such a high level monster like the Guardian would drop. As he thought of this, Nie Yan's mind was full of anticipation. He drew slightly closer to the Guardian at roughly sixty meters away and hid under the cover of a ruined building.

Since there was still a bit of time, Nie Yan took out Assassin's Decree from his knapsack and decided to appraise it with Transcendent Insight.

Assassin's Decree (Gold): Secondary Weapon

Requirements: Level 5

Properties: Attack 26–29, Strength +16, Accuracy +12

Attack Speed: 2.5

Weight: 3 lb

Restrictions: Can be equipped by all factions.

It was a secondary weapon and was truly worthy of being Gold-tier—Level 5 with an attack of nearly thirty. He would be able to equip it once he learned Dual Wielding and reached Level 5. His attack would then rise tremendously when he possessed such a powerful weapon. After glancing at its properties, Nie Yan put Assassin's Decree back into his knapsack.

As for whether the Guardian of Order would drop any equipment, Nie Yan didn't have high hopes. After all, the Guardian of Order was merely a protector and its existence was simply to safeguard the chapters from the Book of Order. These types of beings frequently dropped no equipment. However, there were naturally always exceptions to these cases.