Chapter 149 – A Sentiment Known as Comradery!
Among the many famous Thieves from Nie Yan’s past, Skinny Dog was the most brutal and cunning. With his treacherous methods of mounting sneak attacks, he was known for being as annoying to deal with as a giant wad of gum. As soon he found a target, he’d latch on and never let go. Willing to chase an opponent to the ends of the earth if it meant he could kill them, it was precisely such tenacity that had allowed him to hunt down a Shadow Dancer in the previous timeline.
As for the Elementalist, he was called Underworld Flame. He couldn’t quite seem to remember, but if he recalled correctly, he was a Great Mage in his past life. Anyhow, since he had a little fame, then his skill couldn’t be too lacking either.
Five balls of fire condensed on the tips of Underworld Flame’s fingers. Just as you would with a toy, he began playing around with them as they spun and danced above his hand.
“Now how should we play with them?” Underworld Flame’s eyes narrowed as he stared at Nie Yan who was less than thirty meters away. The atmosphere suddenly became incredibly tense.
“I heard that Nirvana Flame is an expert. It’d be such a shame if he was killed just like that. I really wanted to have a go at him,” Skinny Dog said with slight regret.
Yu Lan and her team had already gotten into formation, but they didn’t dare to rashly act lest the enemy penetrate their defensive line. Under an assault from over three hundred players, they would die without leaving so much as their ashes, much less a complete corpse.
This was an unavoidable defeat!
They were outnumbered fifteen to one. Not even God would be able to save them from their imminent demise!
“Nie Yan, what are we going to do?” Tang Yao anxiously asked. He never thought they would come across such a calamity. This were facing almost certain death. Even if they were stronger, how could they possibly break out of an encirclement of this scale?
No matter how amazing the player was, it would still be impossible!
The players in front of them weren’t like the common fodder that could be seen walking everywhere around the city streets and low-level zones. No, they were Victorious Return’s elites!
Since they found a chance to surround Nie Yan and Tang Yao, why would they possibly let them get out of this alive?
Even individually, Yu Lan and her team might not be able to go toe to toe with the players on the other side. As for Nie Yan and Tang Yao, they could probably take on more than ten of them by relying on their skill and level advantage; several dozen—now that would be as hard as scaling the heavens; however, to take on over a hundred each? Unless godly equipment sets were to somehow fall out of the sky and land right in front of them, they wouldn’t stand a chance!
An individual player might be able to outlevel, outskill, or outgear other players, but they would never become invincible.
“There’s far too many of them,” Bai Kaishui (Plain Boiled Water) said as beads of cold sweat dripped from his forehead.
“Heaven Breaker sure thinks highly of us. These guys are all top-ranking members of Victorious Return. Just a hundred would’ve been enough to deal with us, but he actually sent three times that to be safe. I guess our reputation really does precede us,” Nie Yan said in an unperturbed manner.
As Yao Yao stared at Nie Yan, she couldn’t make out the slightest hint of worry in his expression. She couldn’t help but admire that about him. In such an abysmal situation, he was still able to keep a cool head.
Any and all escape paths were entirely blocked off. It seemed Heaven Breaker really wanted them dead!
Nie Yan had never forgotten that Victorious Return was after his head. It was just that he didn’t fear them while in the wilderness. Even if over several hundred of their members were chasing after him, he was still confident that he would be able to make his escape. However, he had been too cocky. Today, this wasn’t a pursuit but rather an encirclement!
Evidently, these Victorious Return members had been lying in ambush for quite a while, waiting for him to take the bait; otherwise, it would have been impossible for them to corner him in such a way!
His expedition to Black Flame Forest was only a small excursion. Just how did this information leak out?
Nie Yan could only think of one possibility.
He had been sold out, but by who? Just who could have sold him out? Anyone in his team could be the perpetrator. Tang Yao? Absolutely not! Yao Yao? Based on his understanding of her personality from his past life, that wasn’t likely either. So aside from them, Dusk, Yu Lan (Blue Feather), Bai Kaishui, and the rest were all possible suspects!
No one could truly see into the intentions of a person’s heart!
Regardless of his suspicions, the true blame laid in his own carelessness. He had vastly underestimated what Victorious Return was capable of. He never thought they would be able to bribe Yu Lan and her team into setting up an ambush like this.
Based on his impression of them from his past life, they were all decent people. For him to make such an gross error in judgement… With him changing his own destiny in this life, who knows how this could have affected the people around him? If Heaven Breaker had promised them a reward large enough to sway their hearts, it was quite possible that they would agree to setting up this ambush!
Nie Yan coldly swept his gaze over the faces of each member on the team, pausing slightly on Yu Lan herself, before moving on.
All of this was merely a suspicion. As of now, he didn’t have any conclusive evidence.
However, even if it was just a suspicion, he could no longer trust them. He couldn’t say for sure whether or not someone here wouldn’t suddenly stab him and Tang Yao in the back while they were busy tangling with the members of Victorious Return.
If Yu Lan and her team had truly betrayed him, then he was surrounded by enemies on both sides. In that case, it was useless, no matter how hard he and Tang Yao struggled.
「Tang Yao, if we don’t do anything soon, it looks like we’ll be dying here. Prepare to lose your Arcane Fairy. We’re going to make a break for it. If we don’t succeed, then we’re going to die for sure…!」Nie Yan sent a whisper. He was also prepared to use Adjudicator of God and Sacrificial Gambit. It was a shame that he would have to delay the quest he’d planned to do with Tang Yao yet again, but if he didn’t, then there would no longer be a next time…
If today was really going to be the day of his demise, then the least he could do was to give them a proper challenge! He would die while bathing in the blood of his enemies! When he had put that bullet through Cao Xu’s head, he had done so with the exact same conviction!
Tang Yao paused for a moment. Were they really going to die here? Then, he turned to look at the chubby fairy that only knew how to idiotically blow endless bubbles while floating over his shoulder. He really couldn’t bear to see it go away. He had long since gotten used to this blue ball following him around and making ‘blub blub’ sounds wherever they went, Even though it couldn’t speak, and was a bit stupid too, it had always been by his side and had never once left.
「Blub blub blub!」The simple-minded little fairy was completely oblivious to its impending fate.
Tang Yao felt a sinking feeling in his chest and the tip of his nose sour. He turned to Nie Yan with a sad look on his face and asked,「Is there no other way…?」
「No, there isn’t. We don’t have any alternatives. But if your Arcane Fairy dies, we can just find you a new one! Tang Yao! What matters is that we both live to take our revenge another day…!」Nie Yan tightly grasped the grip of his dagger, his expression serious and brooding. Shit, I’ve really fallen head-first today… But it doesn’t matter, in the future, I’ll pay you back ten—no, a hundredfold for this, Heaven Breaker… Just you wait!
Standing by the side, Yu Lan had noticed Nie Yan glancing over her and her teammates, and she was a little taken aback. Why was his expression so cold, as if it could slay demons and gods? It was a stark contrast to his usual gentle demeanor. Even though she hadn’t interacted with him too often, she was still able to roughly determine what kind of person he was. He always wore an amiable smile when with those on his side, and he would only use this sort of icy expression when viewing an enemy. Then, after a moment, it suddenly hit her. He probably suspected that she and her team sold him and Tang Ya out! This notion really wasn’t too far fetched. After all, this group of Victorious Return members didn’t just pop out of thin air; they had obviously been here for some time now. How else could they have known he was coming? If he wasn’t betrayed, then how could he and Tang Yao possibly fall into Victorious Return’s trap? Hence, it was completely within reason for him to suspect them!
Yu Lan pushed down her feeling of being wronged. She wasn’t afraid of death, but she absolutely could not allow herself nor her team to be dishonored! In a single breath, she said in a cold and solemn tone, “Everyone in the Blue Feather Team, listen up. Nirvana Flame and Young Sparrow Hawk got dragged into this mess because of us. If we hadn’t asked them to help with Black Flame Forest, they would’ve never been surrounded by Victorious Return. Today we’ve let down the both of them. As a way to make amends, so long as any one of us remains alive, we will protect them while they attempt to break out of this encirclement!”
No one expected Yu Lan to suddenly speak out these words at a time like this.
Bai Kaishui stared at Yu Lan, and after a moment, he finally understood what was going on. He scanned over the crowd and yelled, “Do we have cowards in our team!?”
The rest yelled back in unison, “No!” Each one of them was brimming with valor.
“Big Bro Bai, Captain Yu Lan, you’ve seen for yourselves. Since when have any of us been afraid of dying? It’s only a level, what’s there to fear?!”
“Our Blue Feather Team might not be the best, but we will never let down our comrades! Today’s affair was caused by us calling Nirvana Flame and Young Sparrow Hawk over. So we will bear the full consequences! Show me some courage everyone! Even if we all have to die, we’ll still make sure that the both of them get out of here alive!” Bai Kaishui shouted. As the main tank of the team, he also held quite a bit of influence over them.
They all shouted in unison, “Yeah! Let’s go all out!”
Hearing Yu Lan and Bai Kaishui’s words, the hand Nie Yan used to grip his dagger slightly trembled. As he looked at these teammates who were all prepared to meet their deaths for him, his frigid heart that had long since lost faith in the good of people began feeling a touch of warmth.
There was a type of feeling that could only be felt by people who fought and died together.
That sentiment was known as Comradery!
It far surpassed level, equipment, and stats, and mattered above else!
In Battle Crazed Alliance, Kill Love had such honor! Even if he was about to face extermination, he would never abandon his comrades! This was also why Battle Crazed Alliance would never perish, because he had a band of brothers that would pledge their lives for him!
Now, there was also such a group of people by his side! Even if they were going to die, they would still preserve their honor by helping him and Tang Yao escape!
A flash of guilt appeared in his eyes. Perhaps it was wrong of him to suspect Yu Lan and her team. Victorious Return might have found out that he was coming here from somewhere else. When he looked at their determined expressions, he started to feel despicable. After going through two lives, he had forgotten that sense of honor and unyielding pride.
“Moon Child, I’m sorry for getting you involved with this. I shouldn’t have invited you to come along with us,“ Yao Yao tugged at Moon Child’s robe and said in a remorseful tone. If she hadn’t convinced Moon Child to join, then she wouldn’t have gotten caught up in such a dangerous situation.
“It’s fine, Yao Yao. We’re sisters who’d go through the nine hells for each other!” Moon Child said with a gentle smile. Like a calm lily swaying in the wind, she was beautiful and pure.
Nie Yan took a deep breath as he began calming his mind. In this state, he would be able to think quickly and clearly. The enemy had many experts on their side. Getting out of their encirclement would be incredibly difficult. It would be best if they could minimize their losses. However, if he couldn’t figure out a plan and Yu Lan’s team were exterminated, then he could only go out with a fight!
Victorious Return’s frontline was slowly approaching, seemingly waiting for an opportune moment.
Skinny Dog and Underworld Flame were coldly staring at Nie Yan and company. They appeared to be whispering to someone.