When both parties came across each other, they could still put up a fight if the number of Pseudo-Adept was similar. But, once their Pseudo-Adepts were outnumbered, then the battle would become a lopsided loss. After all, for any Advanced Apprentice from the surface, a Fallen Pseudo-Adept, who wasn’t tied up by an opponent at the same level, was like a fierce wolf. When facing this fierce wolf, the surface Advanced Apprentices found thay were like tame sheep. No matter how well the sheep equipped themselves, and even though they had twice the number of the fierce wolf, they still found themselves unable to resist when facing the fearless wolf.
But surprisingly, out of six Fallen Apprentices in this mine today, only one of them was a Pseudo-Adept. This allocation was obviously lower than their normal standards. On the contrary, there were two Pseudo-Adepts in Kevin’s team of six people, while the rest were all strong Advanced Apprentices.
With their overall strength, it was more than enough to easily suppress the opponent!
As for those seventeen underground mercenaries, besides a few who appeared to be strong and needed special attention, the rest could be simply ignored by these apprentices. If a battle between Apprentice Adepts really erupted, no matter how many mercenaries there were, they would just end up as a bunch of suicidal corpses.
According to Greem’s assumption, when a battle like this happened, where one side had a clear upper hand, it would probably be a battle filled with ambushes, assassinations, and all sort of treacherous approaches. But when the battle truly erupted, he was dumbstruck.
So, this was how a battle was carried out in the Underground World!
Without concealing their suppressive force, Kevin brought five of his team, including Greem and Mary, and quickly blocked off the mine. After that, they threw two deterring Elementium fireballs into the mine, causing all the defending forces of the enemy to be ejected from the mine pit.
It was a natural cavern that was nearly the size of three football fields. It was the perfect battlefield for slaughtering.
It wasn’t tough to tell this place was well used. The place was cluttered with broken stalagmites and stalactites, and the cavern wall was marred with black burn marks. In addition, the ground was stained with old patches of blood that had never been washed off.
At either ends of the cavern, both groups hastily arranged themselves in their own respective formations. They faced each other with a distance of two hundred meters in between.
Naturally, it was the group of underground mercenaries who stood before the Fallen Apprentices.
Most of these mercenaries didn’t even wear a complete set of leather armor. They simply walked into the battlefield with their shabby cloth. Out of these seventeen mercenaries, three of them were Gnoll assassins, two were Lizardman Beastmasters, one was a Soul Hunter, and eleven were Werewolves.
The only ones that required some extra attention were the three Gnoll assassins and the Soul Hunter. The rest of them were just used to attract the attention of the enemy. They were just flesh targets used to absorb the firepower.
The Fallen Pseudo-Adept, who hid behind the formation, was a dark, skinny middle-aged man. When he saw two Pseudo-Adepts from the surface standing on the enemy’s side, his expression turned gloomy and dark.
‘Damn it… Damn it… Damn it! That bastard Philip! He’s the one who said there wouldn’t be any problems even if he was away for one or two days! If that was truly the case, then how did this strong team break through the upper tunnel interception and reach this depth? Philip, you bastard! If this garrison mission fails, you’ll be the one who shoulders all the responsibility!’
Although inwardly he was furiously roaring, this Fallen Pseudo-Adept still remained calm on the outside. He began to give out battle commands.
……
Different colors of Elementium shields sprung up on the bodies of these Apprentice Adepts. There was a bright red Fire Shield, a Lightning Shield, that kept sputtering violently, a powdery dust that hovered around someone’s body, a set of freezing Ice Crystal armor, and a vibrant green armor of thorns…
In just split second, all Apprentice Adepts had covered their body with Elementium protection that came in all different colors, shapes, and effects.
Of course, this was a luxury that belonged only to apprentices. Those mercenaries, who served as flesh shields, wouldn’t able to enjoy it at all.
Unnoticed, three enemy Gnoll assassins had managed to vanish from where they were. Two Lizardman summoners were loudly reciting some hard to understand chants in their language. They quickly summoned four Petrified Lizards, who had muscular bodies and tough skin. The eleven Werewolves fighters had their bodies covered with broken leather armor, a flail or wooden club in one hand and a crude wooden shield in the other. They savagely yelled as they charged their way towards the enemy.
Behind them, after the Fallen apprentices had completed their personal defensive spells, they quickly followed with another round of loud chants of magic spells. But this time, all of them were reciting magic that would unleash offensive magic spells.
“Greem, you can handle those trash!” Although Kevin was an Advanced Apprentice specializing in melee combat, he, after giving Greem an order, immediately joined his peers and began countering the enemy by using long-range offensive magic spells.
After Mary had mutated into a vampire, it seemed that she had forgotten all the magic spells she had learned in the past. She now only owned some innate passive abilities from her own species. Therefore, when faced with such a situation, she simply dissolved into the surrounding darkness and disappeared without a trace.
Numerous colorful offensive magic spells flew past each other in the midair of this spacious cavern. They intercepted and clashed with each other, turning the scene into a glorious sea of Elementium. The raging and unregulated Elementium exploded and swept across the center of the battlefield, flooding the group of Werewolves who were charging the enemy.
Less than half of the eleven Werewolf fighters managed to survive this devastating explosion. Even the remaining five of them could be seen to have suffered different degrees of injuries. A shocked expression covered their faces. However, they were just too unlucky. Before they could regroup and initiate the next charge, a massive figure suddenly revealed itself in front of them.
With the rapid firing of Dirt Spears and a large area of Spikes, all of them were sent to meet their maker in an instant. This was how fragile these common underground creatures were when facing a spell caster.
Greem sat on his Demon Alligator and remained on the spot. He didn’t dive right into the enemy.
The formation of the Fallen Apprentices on the opposite looked rigid and disciplined. If he recklessly charged into them, all it would take was a simultaneously-casted magic spell for him and his Demon Alligator to instantly shatter into pieces.
Greem had learned something new today. It was no wonder Apprentice Adepts used the formations, that even ordinary humans used, in their battles. The offensive strength of the Elementium spells was just too terrifying! Even though those Pseudo-Adepts could act lofty and slaughter a couple of Advanced Apprentices in a small scale battle, they couldn’t when they fought this kind of battle. No matter how conceited or unbridled they were, they didn’t have the courage to run into the enemy’s formation.
The basic defensive strength of those Pseudo-Adepts’ personal defensive magic spells mostly hovered between eighty to one hundred points. A strength like this could be easily broken with just a simultaneous firing of magic spells from three Advanced Apprentices. Therefore, before advancing into the realm of an official Adept, where their bodies could resist this simultaneous attack, none of them dared to take the risk.
So, even though they had outnumbered the enemy in terms of their Pseudo-Adepts, Kevin still opted for suppressive combat tactics. This was the safest approach and involved using the overwhelming advantage of their magical power to crush the enemy’s team.
After two round of exchanges in m
agic spells, the gap between both side’s magical strength was evident. Although many of their magic spells were still being intercepted halfway, the number of magic spells that landed in the enemy’s camp was clearly more than theirs.
As they were flooded by waves of glorious magic spells, the team of Fallen Apprentices started to panic.
Most of the defensive barriers surrounding the Fallen Apprentices’ body had faded. Some of them were even wounded. Contrary to them, Kevin’s team still maintained a neat formation. All their defenses were still intact and they looked rigid and impenetrable.
Sitting high up on Demon Alligator, Greem ordered the Hunter to keep firing Dirt Spikes at those Petrified Lizards who were slowly crawling in his direction. As he ordered, he also followed Kevin’s command and contributed a Flaming Spear. It hit an enemy Advanced Apprentice and made him miserably scream.
As he was sitting high up, he had a clear sight of the entire battlefield. Soon he noticed Mary’s whereabout.
At the edge of the battlefield, within a patch of dark shadow, a muffled snort suddenly exploded.
Right after that, a vague image of a Gnoll assassin suddenly emerged from the darkness. It held clutched its throat and staggered a few steps forward, before finally collapsing onto the ground. Blood kept bursting through its fingers, despite how hard he tried to stop it from leaving its body.
Right when it was struggling to catch its last breath, a few clanging noises rang out from the darkness next to it. Soon, another Gnoll was forced out from the shadows. Both of its eyes were blinded and its body was fully covered with frightening scratch marks. Unwilling to admit defeat, it furiously swung its dagger into the air, while letting out wild roars. But, unfortunately, it could no longer see the enemy.
When nearly all of the blood in its body was drained, it finally collapsed while groaning under its breath.
The continuous death of its two peers had frightened the third Gnoll. This last Gnoll suddenly revealed itself and turned around to flee into a far direction, with the fastest speed it could. But, before it could reach the distance of ten meters, a dazzling red light flashed out. As it flashed out, the Gnoll’s head flew up into the sky, and the headless body was left running. It managed to run a few steps more, before falling to the ground.
The skinny and ugly body twitched unconsciously a few times, before lying motionlessly in the dark.
Chapter 78
Beautiful, beautifully done! Vampires truly deserved to be known as the nobles of the dark night! They could even kill in such a graceful and elegant manner, making it full of artistic flair. Magnificent!
Greem couldn’t help but mutter some praise under his breath. He then refocused his mind and threw out the Flaming Spear in his hand. This time, his target was an apprentice who had five skulls hovering around his body!
The Flaming Spear that suddenly exploded destroyed two skulls of the target. It also managed to trigger the apprentice’s anger. He kept waving his pitch-black staff at Greem, throwing curse spells one after the other at Greem. These spells were all invisible to the naked eye.
After receiving the order from Greem, the Hunter took his position and blocked off all the curse spells. With the Hunter taking care of this, Greem focused his mind and kept launching attacks at the apprentice who appeared to be a necromancer.
All kind of curse spells were launched. There was Scavenger Bugs, Voodoo Skulls, Bone Spears, and even Unnerving Gazes. The magic spells this necromancer apprentice demonstrated had really widened Greem’s horizons. If not because of the fact that he had activated his Elementium Vision, he knew he wouldn’t be able to match this apprentice. He wouldn’t be able to even if he was given nine lives.
Meanwhile, the only threat he brought to his enemy was his Flaming Spear and the Hunter’s Dirt Spear. The lack of long-range magic spells had made Greem realize something. Maybe he should find some time to develop a Golem which specialized in long-range attacks.
Even though Greem’s overall strength was insufficient to break through the necromancer apprentice’s defense, the team members behind Greem could do that. After establishing an advantageous position in this battle, the reckless bombardment of magic spells had brought about tremendous pressure to those Fallen Apprentices.
A few of these Fallen Apprentices started to slowly fall back, as they found it hard to withstand the massive suppressive force.
This was also the basic pattern of the battle between both parties in the past.
They started the battle by lining up in their formation. Both sides would launch long-range magic spell attacks, just like normal human soldiers did. They kept doing this until one side couldn’t withstand the attack and showed signs of defeat. Next would be a small scale of pursuit and annihilation. Small battles would normally occur between two to three Apprentice Adepts anywhere in the surroundings.
Finally, following the powerful sweep by two Pseudo-Adepts from Kevin’s team, the team of Fallen Apprentices fell apart!
Losing all their confidence in victory, the wounded Fallen Apprentices turned around and scurried into the surrounding underground tunnels. It wasn’t tough to tell they were all fleeing in a disorderly manner. Each of them just went their own way, with no one trying to cover their peers or trying to support each other.
Also, all six Fallen Apprentices had actually fled in separate directions. They showed no signs of fleeing as a group.
The distance between this place and Elysium City was long. Perhaps they found their peers with ulterior motives much more frightening than the enemy chasing behind them!
Kevin whistled, splitting eight members of his team into smaller teams. They started to fiercely pursue those fleeing Fallen Apprentices.
Kevin and a Pseudo-Adept had set the enemy’s Pseudo-Adept as their target. The other Pseudo-Adept in their team remained solo, while the rest of the team members had split into a few smaller groups. They all started to chase the enemies’ butt into the darkness.
Greem didn’t team up with anybody. He wore a ferocious smile as he drove the Demon Alligator into the tunnel. He began to chase down the same opponent he was fighting with just now.
…………
In the darkness of the tunnel, there was a perfect silence.
Aaron once again activated the Hasten Ring on his right pinkie, desperately trying to make his fleeing speed faster.
The rough terrain in the darkness was never an obstacle for him. It seemed his skinny body never ran out of stamina, supporting him in rushing through cave after cave.
The underground passage was forever winding and twisting. It came in a very complicated formation. In every single smaller cave or cavern, there were always countless narrow tunnels that could barely allow a person to squeeze through.
Utilizing his knowledge of the surrounding terrain, Aaron had fled three miles in just ten minutes. He had travelled through dozens of tunnels and caverns.
When the glow of the Hasten Spell was dismissed from his body, Aaron finally stopped. He leaned against a large solid cavern wall, panting for breath. His skinny chest was seen pumping rapidly, as he breathed like broken bellows.
Although he was surrounded by silence, Aaron still had his hand tightly clenched around his pitch-black staff.
So long as any noise or movement happened around him, he would be able to launch the bone spear that was stored in the white crystal on top of the staff within half a second.
After catching his breath for a few minutes, Aaron finally managed to regulate his breathing. He listened for any sound that might be audible from the passage he had just come from, but he heard nothing abnormal.
Could he be really so lucky as to not have an enemy following him?
Aaron smiled coldly in self-mockery.
After becoming a necromancer apprentice, his luck had never been good. It was as if the Will of the Adept World hated him, turning him into a sad child abandoned by destiny.
Although he didn’t sense any unusual activity, Aaron was stil
l overwhelmed by anxiety. He felt like a ferocious monster was hiding somewhere in the dark, eyeing him greedily. It was only waiting for the perfect moment to devour him in one brutal bite.
No way! He had to get out of here as quick as possible!
Right when Aaron had made up his mind to leave, he realized the wet soil underneath his feet had turned into a slow moving acid pool. Both his legs had sunk into it without his knowledge.
Damn it, it was an Acid Pool spell!
Aaron forcefully patted his neck, making the bone necklace on his neck flicker. He unleashed two skulls who hovered around his body. These skulls provided him with both offensive and defensive effects. When he was fleeing just now, in order to avoid attracting any attention, he had shut this personal defense mechanism down. This was why he was now caught in the trap by that enemy who hid in the dark.
After he went through the tough battle previously, his defensive skulls were now at the lowest level of performance!
As it was corroded by the strong negative energy, hissing noises was heard coming from the acid pool underneath his feet. This helped Aaron to quickly free himself from it.
Two muffled booms were heard coming from the darkness not far away. A shadow that looked like a small hill started to march forward. The strong aura of Earth Elementium could be vividly identified from afar.
Damn it! It was that bastard who rode on a clay alligator!
What a brave kid. He was only an Intermediate Apprentice, yet he dared to chase after an Advanced Fallen Apprentice!
A hideous smile emerged on Aaron’s face. He opened his brownish, dirty mouth and sprayed out a huge clump of black bugs. They turned into a large black cloud in an instant and swarmed towards the location of that large shadow. After that, he quickly recited some magic spell chants with his hoarse and jarring voice. He revealed fist size skulls in his hand from time to time and promptly them at the enemy.
These were the Voodoo Skulls that he had made himself. They would explode violently when coming into contact with something. They would not only inflict massive physical damage to the enemy, they also carried a magical poison. This frightening magical poison was a type of mixed poison that could even melt down hard rocks.
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