Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed The World - Chapter 410

Chapter 410

Chapter 410 - Armoured Catapults

After passing through a long and narrow tunnel, Nie Yan arrived in a spacious lava-filled chamber with a 60-meter high ceiling . Two giant lava monsters guarded the area up ahead . They were six meters tall blob-like creatures composed completely out of lava which regularly oozed out onto the ground .

They looked like miniature versions of the Lava Titan in Kiln Fire Woods . They were immune to fire and had high physical defense . The only way to effectively deal damage to them was with ice magic . Their attacks were also troublesome to deal with since they dealt neither physical nor magic damage, but rather lava damage along with additional fire damage from a burn debuff .

Level 80 Elites, a lot of health too… It was impossible for Nie Yan to kill these two Lava Giants . He could only try to sneak around them .

Nie Yan checked his surroundings . The ground was pockmarked with pools of bubbling lava . The two Lava Giants completely blocked his way forward . Everywhere they went they left behind a trail of lava that wouldn’t disappear for a long time .

The ceiling was glowing red hot due to the heat coming from the pools of lava below . Thankfully, the yellow Sulfur Crystals appeared unaffected . He could probably get around the Lava Giants by climbing across the walls .

Nie Yan entered stealth and made his way forward . He leaped over some lava flow and started clambering across the wall with the Crawler Ring .  

The two Lava Giants were oblivious to Nie Yan’s presence thanks to his high Cloaking .

Suddenly, the Lava Giant closest to Nie Yan stopped and looked in his direction .

Nie Yan froze in his place . He hurriedly activated a few skills that increased his Cloaking .

The Lava Giant stared at Nie Yan’s hiding spot for a long time before swinging its right arm and lobbing a glob of lava in his direction .

Nie Yan’s heart tightened .  Did I get discovered?

However, Nie Yan quickly noticed the glob of lava was only aimed in his general direction . 「Bang!」It struck the wall several meters to his side, opening up numerous cracks . The tremors were so intense he nearly slipped off .

Nie Yan couldn’t help but break out in a cold sweat . The Lava Giant’s attack was truly frightening!

After not discovering anything, the Lava Giant turned around and returned to a passive state .

Nie Yan continued creeping his way forward . Some of the crevices on the wall were more difficult to climb over than before . Just as he placed his hand over a Sulfur Crystal and put his weight on it, a chunk snapped off and loudly shattered on the ground .

Crap! I’m done for! Nie Yan silently cursed as he saw the two Lava Giants charge toward him .

Nie Yan was out of options . He leaped off the wall and bolted toward the closest exit .

The two Flame Giants slung globs of lava at Nie Yan . They arced through the air and struck the ground around him, splattering flames everywhere .

Before the splashing lava could hit him, Nie Yan activated Gale Step to avoid taking damage without breaking pace .

The two Lava Giants quickly caught up to Nie Yan . They sent their lava fists hurtling towards him from different directions .

When it looked like Nie Yan was going to be turned into a meat patty, he shot a web line from his left hand at the wall up ahead and swung away to safety . With the Crawler Ring still being active, he quickly climbed up the wall before leaping away .

The two Lava Giants slammed into each other, sending their colossal bodies crashing into the ground .  

Nie Yan took advantage of this opportunity to bolt far away, escaping his pursuers .

This map was unexplored, so there were many Elites still roaming around . Nie Yan moved deeper into the cave with extreme caution, for fear of attracting any unwanted attention .

After travelling for about an hour, avoiding the detection of numerous Lava Giants, Nie Yan couldn’t help but let out a deep sigh . Just how deep was this cave?

Checking the time, there were about five hours left before the meeting with Warlance . It looked like he was going to be late at this rate . Even now he still hadn’t found his goal . He still had no clue where Bennett’s Soul was leading him to .

After travelling through another rugged tunnel, Nie Yan saw an exit up ahead . It led to a giant chamber of 1,000 by 1,000 meters with a 20-meter high ceiling . Lava flowed over the floor, and there were almost 30 Lava Giants wandering around .

A lone pillar roughly 14 meters tall stood at the center of the chamber . There appeared to be something placed on top of it .  

Reaching the top of the pillar was going to be a tall order . The Lava Giants guarding the vicinity would immediately swarm any intruder that got too close . Nie Yan would normally just get past them with the Crawler Ring . However, the ceiling was also flowing with lava, making climbing or even swinging with a web line impossible .

Nie Yan was in deep thought when he suddenly received word from Guo Huai that more than 50,000 players from Bloodlust Blades were moving towards the Blackstone Stronghold . Asskickers United had one Intermediate Stronghold and three Basic Strongholds . Among them the one with the weakest defense was precisely the Blackstone Stronghold . Even though it was developed, there weren’t many NPC archers and zero siege crossbows . The defenses on the walls paled in comparison to those of their other strongholds . The real-world business district inside also wasn’t yet fully developed .

Although the loss of the Blackstone Stronghold wouldn’t be a huge blow to Asskickers United, it was still a stronghold! And perhaps more importantly, who was to say Bloodlust Blades would be satisfied with just one stronghold? They would definitely want a mile after taking taking an inch!

「How did Bloodlust Blades get over there?」Nie Yan asked .

「Around 50,000 set off by horse five hours ago . Another few thousand teleported to Calore . I had Sapphire Shrine and Holy Empire hold off the ones that teleported here . They won’t get out of the city,」Guo Huai replied . He had handled things in a timely and appropriate manner .  

Riding on horseback took a long time, but it was the most cost effective method . Not to mention if all 50,000 players from Bloodlust Blades teleported to Calore, Asskickers United would keep them locked up within the city walls .

Bloodlust Blades definitely had something up their sleeves since they dared to attack the Blackstone Stronghold .

「Have Alliances of Mages and Divine Protectors shown any sign of movement?」Nie Yan asked . What he was most worried about were these two guilds joining the fray . They had basically grown unhindered in their territories, so it would be troublesome if they participated in this conflict .

「Both of them dispatched a thousand elite players . Angel Corps also sent over 500 players to stir up trouble,」Guo Huai replied in an anxious tone .

Nie Yan knitted his brows . A war wasn’t simply won with numbers alone . A group of 20 elites working together could easily wipe out more than 1,000 ordinary players with area-of-effect magic . Angel Corps, Divine Protectors, and Alliance of Mages had all sent over there elites . This matter had just become a whole lot more troublesome .

「Any other news?」Nie Yan asked before sinking into silent thought . It seemed like war was unavoidable . If Asskickers United was defeated, the enemy would cling onto the momentum and follow up with an even fiercer onslaught . But if Bloodlust Blades lost, it would most likely lead to the guild disbanding . No matter how you looked at it, neither side could afford to lose . It would be a battle with their fates at stake .

「This is a video recorded by our scouts . Take a look . 」Guo Huai sent over a video to Nie Yan .

Nie Yan found a safe hiding place and opened up the video .

This video was probably recorded by a Thief . It showed a fairly up close view of the forces of Bloodlust Blades marching onwards . After a while, a giant siege machine came into view . It was made out of wood and covered in metal plates . At the center was a long, solid wooden beam with a bucket at the end large enough to hold boulders and similar sized objects . Its design was intricate .

Nie Yan’s face paled after seeing this giant siege machine . Although he had never participated in sieges in his past life, he had seen these types of contraptions while passing through battlefields before . This thing was called an Armoured Catapult!

There were many types of ranged siege machines, such as trebuchets and catapults . Where trebuchets had a larger range, catapults were more destructive . They could launch six exploding iron balls at a time, wreaking havoc to the enemy lines and walls . Armoured Catapults were true killing machines, even excelling in war on an open battlefield . A single launch could wipe out a huge slew of players .

In the previous timeline, Nie Yan had watched several hundred Armoured Capaults decimate a Tier 6 reinforced wall after just two bombardments .

「What is that thing?」Guo Huai asked . His knowledge in the game was limited . But judging from the appearance, he could guess it was a ranged siege weapon . He just didn’t know how powerful it was .

「It’s an Armoured Catapult . Do you know how many they have?」Nie Yan asked with a frown .

「We don’t know yet, but probably not many . 」

「Mobilize the Hundred Thieves to find out exactly how many Armoured Catapults they have!」Nie Yan ordered in a serious tone . This information was critical .