Rebirth of the Thief Who Roamed the World

The Darkwing Dragon pounced on the next Nether Hawk. PSSFHT! Its powerful claws latched onto the bird’s body and tore the poor creature in two, blood and guts raining down from the sky.

“Shit! Stop him!”

“That toothless lizard is even scarier than before!”

"H-how did it end up like this!?”

The players from Pantheon lost their heads in fear. But there was no evading this calamity. They had to meet it head-on.

The last of the three Nether Hawks swooped in from the flank and dive-bombed the Darkwing Dragon with outstretched claws. KLANG! The attack bounced off as if it had struck a steel plate. Not only did it fail to deal any damage to the Darkwing Dragon, but it also almost broke its claws!

The rider of the Nether Hawk was dumbstruck. He didn’t expect the Darkwing Dragon’s scales to be so hard. Fuck! What kind of defense is this!?

Before the rider could recover from his shock, the Darkwing Dragon charged over and rammed into the Nether Hawk. BAM! It was sent flying.

The sheer size difference between the Darkwing Dragon and Nether Hawk was impossible to overcome. The Nether Hawk instantly died from the blow. This was the disparity between a Rank 6 and Rank 8 flying mount!

After taking out this Nether Hawk, the Darkwing Dragon pounced toward a nearby Black Demon Vulture.

The rider of the Black Demon Vulture paled in horror. He hurriedly had his flying mount turn and flee, but he was still a beat too late.

The Darkwing Dragon chomped down on the Black Demon Vulture’s back. “SQUAAWK!” The pitiful bird let out a blood-curdling cry as one of its wings was torn right off.

These Rank 6 flying mounts were like ants in front of the Darkwing Dragon!

When the players from Pantheon gazed at the Darkwing Dragon, they noticed its appearance had completely changed. It was more than one and a half times larger than before and brimmed with strength. The black scales covering its body looked like glistening gems while a dark aura circulated around its body.

The Darkwing Dragon was like a murderous asura covered in blood.

A powerful draconic might swept out from the Darkwing Dragon, causing the Rank 6 flying mounts to tremble in fear. None of them dared to move.

Nie Yan stood on top of the Darkwing Dragon, looking like a lofty god high above the clouds.

With this turn of events, the players from Pantheon lost all will to fight.

“We can’t win! Retreat!”

“Run!”

“M-my flying mount won’t listen to me!”

“S-same with mine!”

The players from Pantheon frantically urged their flying mounts to flee. But, alas, none heeded their call, frozen stiff by fear. The sole exception was a flying mount lucky enough to be a little further away than the rest. The draconic might didn’t effect it as much. It turned and fled, afraid to look back.

Nie Yan’s gaze locked onto a Silverring Blightfly below him. The Darkwing Dragon suddenly swooped down.

“He’s coming!”

“Get out of the way!”

The Warrior riding the Silverring Blightfly looked up, only to see the massive frame of the Darkwing Dragon blot out his vision. An immense pressure threatened to overwhelm him.

“GEEEGH!” the Silverring Blightfly let out a sharp cry.

The Warrior had no idea where he got the strength from, but he managed to stiffly steer his Silverring Blightfly around. With a frantic beat of its wings, it shot away.

Want to run? Not so easy! Nie Yan coldly snorted.

The Silverring Blightfly was simply too slow. The Darkwing Dragon swooped down and clutched onto its abdomen. PSSFHT! A gooey green liquid sprayed out into the air.

“GEEGH! GEEGH!” the Silverring Blightfly cried out. It frantically beat its wings and broke free from the Darkwing Dragon’s grasp, only for another claw to reach for its head. POP! Brain matter, green blood, and bits of exoskeleton fell down from the sky.

Even without a head, the Silverring Blightfly continued flying for some distance before plummeting towards the ground.

“GROOAAR!” The Darkwing Dragon opened its maw and blasted a nearby Phantasia Butterfly with jet black flames.

The Phantasia Butterfly trashed about in the flames before crashing down towards the ground.

The Darkwing Dragon carried out an absolute massacre. The Rank 6 flying mounts, which ordinary players viewed as powerful beyond compare, couldn’t put up the slightest resistance. After breaking through to Rank 8, the Darkwing Dragon’s strength skyrocketed.

The players from Pantheon had lost the will to fight. The Darkwing Dragon’s brutality caused them to tremble in fright. They wanted to flee, but their flying mounts refused to listen to their orders. They could only watch on helplessly as they were picked off one by one. They stared at Nie Yan riding atop the Darkwing Dragon. His gaze was ice-cold without the slightest trace of sympathy. He was ruthless.

The thick stench of blood permeated the skies, not dissipating for a long time. 

Today, another attempt to end Nie Yan’s undefeated legacy failed. It was unlikely anyone could put a stop to him for a long time to come.

...

Back in the Pantheon guild headquarters, Godking was discussing the benefits of going to war against Fallen Angel with the other core members, when he received a report. His expression darkened.

“Boss, what happened?”

“Boss?”

…

Everyone noticed the change in Godking’s expression.

Godking shook his head. “It’s nothing. You guys continue.”

The people in the conference hall looked unconvinced. However, since Godking didn’t wish to speak, they could only drop the subject.

Godking had just received word that the aerial force he sent to ambush Nirvana Flame was almost completely wiped out, with only a few riders escaping because they were allowed to. He couldn’t pass down this information, since it was of the highest confidentiality. The loss of about 30 flying mounts caused his heart to bleed. Pantheon had suffered massively in this battle.

The Death God’s Edge… Godking clenched his fist. He originally didn’t want to provoke Nirvana Flame, but in the end he couldn't resist the temptation of this Sacred Object. Never in his wildest dreams could he have predicted that the Darkwing Dragon, while on the verge of death, would suddenly break through to Rank 8 and slaughter so many of his guild’s Rank 6 flying mounts. He couldn’t help but sigh. Just how powerful of an existence was a Rank 8 flying mount? At this stage of the game, it was doubtful if any flying mount could rival the Darkwing Dragon.

Godking ordered the people under him to continue closely observing Nie Yan, but he no longer dared to take action by himself again. He could only put all his hope in Half-Demon Angud.

…

Nie Yan gazed far off into the horizon. Several flying mounts had fled away. The amount of effort it would take to chase them down wasn’t worth the payoff.

The Darkwing Dragon wobbled unstably in the air, likely because of exhaustion.

Nie Yan chanted an incantation and recalled the Darkwing Dragon, then dropped down from the sky.

Right before hitting the ground, Nie Yan activated Featherfall.

Nie Yan’s feet gently touched the ground. Looking around, the scene before his eyes would cause most people to gasp in shock. All around him were the mangled corpses of flying mounts, with wings, heads, claws, and other body parts strewn everywhere. Few were intact. Most were still dripping with blood, which had yet to dry. This had been a brutal slaughter.

Nie Yan wasn’t the slightest bit perturbed by this carnage, having witnessed far gorier scenes in his past life. He walked to the corpse of a Rank 6 flying mount and split its skull open with his dagger, revealing a glistening black gem. He dug it out and raised it up to the sky. Another Rank 6 Darkness Life Core!

Most of the flying mounts in the underworld were of the darkness attribute. So, there was no lack of Darkness Life Cores, which Nie Yan just happened to need!

After digging out the first Darkness Life Core, Nie Yan started scavenging the other corpse, lest someone else snatched away his spoils. 

About 20 minutes later, Nie Yan collected 26 Life Cores, among which 21 were of the darkness attribute. They were neatly stacked up in his bag.

A light bulb lit up in Nie Yan’s head. The Righteous Faction frequently carried out large-scale hunts on low rank flying mounts. Most likely, there were players in the underworld who did the same. And since most flying mounts here were of the dark attribute, these players would just happen to sit on stacks of Life Cores Nie Yan desperately wanted.

Nie Yan glanced at the sparkling Life Cores in his bag, then back at his Darkwing Dragon in his pet space.

The Darkwing Dragon appeared completely burnt out. Nie Yan picked out a Darkness Life Core and tossed it into his pet space. CRUNCH! CRUNCH! The Darkwing Dragon caught the Life Core in its mouth and ground it into pieces. After swallowing the Life Core, it closed its eyes and went to sleep.

Before long, the energy contained inside the Life Core was absorbed by the Darkwing Dragon. Its scales flashed with a dazzling brilliance and appeared even stronger than before.

The Darkwing Dragon had already overcome the previously rampaging energy while breaking through. Now, its body was even more resilient and could contain over a hundred times more energy than before. There was no need to worry about overfeeding it.

Nie Yan had no idea when the Darkwing Dragon would wake up. At that time, he could continue feeding it Darkness Life Cores.

The Rank 8 Darkwing Dragon was an amazing bonus for Nie Yan.

Rank 9 was incredibly difficult to reach. That meant that the Rank 8 Darkwing Dragon could rule the skies for a long time to come.

Since this aerial battle took place in a remote corner of the Demon Tribe, few players were aware of it. Nie Yan sent over footage of the battle to Guo Huai.「Help me find out who these people are.」

Guo Huai immediately carried out an investigation. Before long, he reported back to Nie Yan.「We already found some clues when we were investigating Half-Demon Angud. All signs point toward Pantheon.」

「Pantheon, huh? Just like I thought,」Nie Yan faintly smirked. With the Death God’s Edge in his hand, Pantheon wasn’t likely to sit still.

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Translator: LittleShanks (Follow me on Twitter)
Editor: Sietse