Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  From villagers, hunters, all the way to the hunting dogs, the cows and the sheep- as long as it was a living thing- everything had vanished, with not a single track that indicated that they had left.

  The few mercenaries that passed by were terrified, and blamed it all on the supernatural. Immediately, they ran all the way back to Blue Hillock City and reported the incident to the castellan.

  And so, in a single day, all sorts of rumours took Blue Hillock City by storm!

  Some said that a monster had appeared in the forest. Some claimed that the villagers were infected by some sort of plague. Some were even more preposterous, spreading the news that some terrifying heretics had appeared there……

  As everyone in Blue Hillock City panicked over the incident, Ninther had already invited the mercenaries into the camp and had to describe all the details they had seen.

  That very night, all one hundred of the witcher-knights suddenly left Blue Hillock City, rushing swiftly towards Colca Village where the mysterious disappearances had occurred.

  Twenty kilometers of mountain road was nothing for the witcher-knights, who were used to traversing long distances. Moreover, most of the knights here were elites from all over the country. Their mounts were also no ordinary warhorses, but specially trained magic colts.

  These magic colts were larger and stronger than ordinary warhorses, possessing fangs and sharp teeth similar to beasts of the woods. More terrifyingly, special scales that were akin to scale armor grew on their bodies, allowing them to shrug off attacks from sharp weapons.

  These magic colts played a significant part in ensuring the witcher-knights were able to ride unchallenged throughout this entire plane.

  These magic colts were only available for the elites amongst the witcher-knights, so it was hard to even see one in a place as rural as Blue Hillock City.

  Thanks to the magic colts' beast-like agility, and sharp claws that excelled at climbing cliffs, the witcher-knight army managed to quickly arrive at Colca Village, situated in the middle of the mountain.

  When they arrived, it was almost dawn already. A thin ribbon of white light had already surfaced on the horizon far away.

  Still, walking into the desolate village still sent shivers down the spines of the knights.

  Most of the witcher-knights stayed outside the village. Only the elites who had advanced into spellbreaker knights followed Ninther on their horses into the small village. Besides proficiency in all sorts of knight battle techniques, some of these elites also possessed several other unique skills.

  Several dozens torches the size of an arm were placed all over the village!

  Multiple witcher-knights who were skilled at tracking immediately started a detailed search of Colca Village. Soon, some hidden clues started to surface.

  Plenty of odd bug sheddings and broken insect exoskeletons were found. They even found large amounts of torn clothes, and human limbs that hadn't been cleanly devoured, in a straw house.

  Judging from all the clues, Colca Village had been attacked without warning two nights ago.

  The direction of the attackers pointed towards the northwest of Greenland Forest nearby, while the attacker themselves seemed to be some kind of terrifying magical insectoid creature.

  Just as the elite knights gathered to discuss their plan of pursuit, a horrified yell came from the direction of the witcher-knights outside the village.

  "Bugs……bugs……"

  "They are bugs……"

  "Everyone be careful!"

  The chaotic noise caused Ninther, the leader of the army, to have a change in expression. Almost instantly, he leapt onto his magic colt and slapped it on the back, charging out of the small mountain village.

  The witcher-knights outside the village were in complete disarray now. Under the light of numerous torches, the knights closest to the forest were stamping their feet without stop, as if they were fighting with something. Three witcher-knights had already fallen beside them, no longer moving even an inch.

  Ninther had just ridden his magic colt there when he was shocked by the horrifying scene before him.

  Scorpions; lots of scorpions, waves of scorpions, mountains of scorpions……

  Countless black scorpions were already crawling on the bodies of the three witcher-knights that fell to the ground. The odd sounds of armor and bones being chewed didn't stop. Very quickly, two of the five knights, still struggling amidst the swarm of bugs, were stung by the black stingers of the scorpions and fell in a daze.

  The other three grabbed onto ropes tossed over by their companions, and were fortunate enough to have been dragged out of the swarm.

  "Where did these bugs come from?" Ninther asked loudly.

  "From the inside of the forest! They swarmed out of the forest and attacked us while we were resting……" An elite knight that had stayed behind shouted back.

  "Set fire to them……use fire to burn them……"

  Following Ninther's command, torch after torch was thrown into the swarm of bugs, falling like raindrops in the ocean. Some witcher-knights even disassembled the hunters’ wooden houses and threw the straw and wooden boards into the fire. As the crackling sound of burning fat, and the pungent odor of scorched flesh filled the air, the rampaging swarm was finally scared, retreating back into the forest like a tide.

  "Sir, look!" A witcher-knight suddenly exclaimed.

  Ninther followed the direction he was pointing at, and with the help of the strand of dawn light, he was able to see a mysterious black silhouette in the depths of the forests, where the swarm of bugs had disappeared.

  It was a mysterious silhouette completely covered in a black robe. It had a large frame, and a pair of ghostly green eyes that were silently looking over from under the shadow of its hood.

  "Heretic!" Ninther said, his rage saturating every syllable of the word.

  There was no need for his instructions. Already, a dozen rune bows had been drawn into full moons. Qiang! Qiang! Qiang!……a series of cracks could be heard as the bowstring were released. A dozen flame arrows streaking red light slashed through the dark sky, turning the spot where the silhouette was standing into a burning field.

  The odd, black-robed silhouette only flickered for a second at the edge of the sea of fire, before vanishing into the depths of the woods.

  "Chase!" Ninther waved his arm vigorously, and turned his head to shout backwards, "Edward, you lead the army forward. I'll go intercept him with some troops!"

  Having said that, Ninther brought along seven or eight companions. They drove their magic steeds to their limits and quickly disappeared into the dark woods.

  The red sun was already halfway past the horizon. The darkness in the woods was slowly receding.

  The thin mist slowly dissipated under the sunshine, spreading moist air inside the forest.

  The mysterious silhouette constantly flickered in the depths of the woods far away. Ninther had shot several flame arrows with his bow, but the shadow had managed to dodge them all while still retaining its speed.

  The magic colts were like terrifying demons, dashing through the woods, scaling cliffs and crossing rivers with ease. The magic colts only needed to jump, aided by the boost of their sharp claws, to cross a small hill nine meters high. The colts could run as if they were in flight, regardless of how rocky and uneven the roads were, as if they were sprinting on flat ground.

  The well trained witcher-knights bent their bodies and leaned onto the backs of the magic colts. They rode on the colts as they jumped and sprinted across vines, bushes, and woods with weeds half the height of a human, closely tracking the mysterious flickering silhouette.

  This was not recklessness or fearlessness on the part of the witcher-knights; rather, it was part of their combat style and methods.

  On the Continent of Witchers, the heretics were few in number and always the targets of pursuit and chase, never able to form an organized or powerful force. Thus, the witcher-knights would always track the heretic
s relentlessly once they found them, rarely wondering about boring and pointless things like the possibility of the opponent setting a trap.

  Yet they had no idea that as they were riding on their horses and speeding across the dense woods, several other mysterious silhouettes was already on their tail, quickly approaching them from above the forest canopy.

  This was a group of odd bloodsucking bats.

  They had wide bat wings and agile movements, effortlessly weaving through the dense foliage, silently closing in on the group of witcher-knights.

  The knight at the rear of the formation was a veteran. His magic colt was already fairly old, and it couldn't keep up with the stamina and explosive movements of its companions. Seven minutes of riding had put a distance of a dozen meters between him and his companions in front.

  With the speed of the magic colts, this distance could hardly be called falling behind. But even so, this distance still caused him to be caught in an ambush.

  Even though he hadn't heard anything, the senses honed from numerous years in the service alerted him to something odd behind him.

  Vigilant, he grabbed the hilt of his sword, bent his body, and turned around slightly to look.

  There was no movement at all in the dark woods. Not a single enemy appeared in his sight.

  Was the bad feeling in his heart just him being oversensitive?

  Just as he was hesitating, he caught a glimpse of something odd above him from the corner of his eyes.

  The enemy was above!

  A bloodsucking bat that had swooped down in front of him suddenly charged forward before he could do anything. In a fraction of a second, Its furry body transformed into a young man with blood-colored eyes and sharp claws.

  The young man in the air knocked the witcher-knight off his magic colt, and the two started a savage fight as they tussled. Before they had even landed, more bloodsucking bats charged forward, transforming into vampires. They ignored the knight’s attempt to resist and struggle, quickly leaping on him.

  In just a few seconds, the witcher-knight had been drained of blood and killed, savaged by the attacks of half a dozen vampires. Just then, the witcher-knight closest to the rear of the group up ahead faintly heard the sound of savage fighting and thrashing behind him as he rode. When he turned back to look, all he saw was a mouth lined with sharp teeth rapidly closing in on him.

  Chapter 178

  The red sun had already risen above the horizon, but the depths of the woods were still dimly lit.

  As the witcher-knights were hot in pursuit, dashing across the dense woods, groups of bloodsucking bats flanked them from behind. Swiftly, they pounced and tackled the witcher-knights in the rear, one after another.

  With their leathery wings and the ability to fly silently, along with their ability to shift rapidly between their batform and human form, none of the witcher-knights were able to defend against the sudden attack when they dove down from above.

  Of course, any knight that made it into this army was no weakling. Even if they were caught by surprise, they were still able to counter attack, severely wounding the attacking vampires. But their bravery in the face of death was useless against the vampires. All they had to do was devour a little fresh blood, and all sorts of serious injuries would be healed in a matter of seconds.

  And so, with their tactic of tackling and then surrounding……then tackling and surrounding again, the groups of vampires took turns and were able to silently kill seven of the witcher-knights.

  Until……

  A pained scream rang through the forest!

  Half of the witcher-knights heard the tragic scream from behind them, even as they were busy chasing the heretic. They turned their heads and were surprised to find a bunch of strange demons tackling one of their companions that had fallen behind, quickly becoming overwhelmed in a swarm.

  A spellbreaker knight let out a battlecry, and tugged on the reins of the warhorse. The magic colt lifted its front limbs, and turned around while its body was still in the air. It kicked a giant tree with its thick hind legs, and rushed forward with the momentum.

  Two dozen witcher-knights in the rear turned around following his battlecry, but their movements were not as smooth or natural as the spellbreaker knight. As a result, they were twenty or thirty steps behind him.

  However, their arrows arrived before they did!

  With a loud snap of the bowstring, a flame arrow streaked through the air and pinned a vampire to a tree behind him. The arm-length bolt had sunk into the vampire's heart, securely pinning him to the large tree. Only a small length of the bolt protruded out of the vampire's chest.

  A human would have died from a pierced heart. But this vampire was still lively, vigorously trying to struggle free. The vampire ignored the burning from the arrow’s elemental flames and grabbed the end of the arrow with his sharp, clawed hands, trying to pull it out with all his might. Sadly, it wouldn't budge.

  With no other choice, the vampire used its limbs to leverage itself against the tree trunk, pushing his body out from the end of the arrow. This action undoubtedly caused the wound on his chest to become even larger, leaving behind a hole one could see through.

  But the vampire didn't care about the injury and leapt on the witcher-knight that was still struggling on the ground. A moment later, when he climbed up from the opponent's body, the terrifying gash on his chest had already disappeared. The exposed skin was still white and smooth.

  "Monsters……These are a bunch of monsters……"

  The spellbreaker knight that saw this roared. He tossed aside the runic bow- it was too weak-and drew his runic sword. As his palm ran across the cool blade, a layer of magic flames swallowed the sword, turning it into a terrifying torch.

  With a shout, the colt beneath him suddenly accelerated, and piercing through the crowd of flying vampires. A dozen flame trails crisscrossed in the sky and slowly dispersed. The dozen vampires, that had just finished with the broken corpse of the fallen witcher-knight, suddenly split into several pieces and exploded into a rain of blood, flesh, and pieces of bones.

  These were low-level vampire spawn after all. They were far less intelligent and resilient than true vampires. Even their bloodsucking regenerative abilities were significantly weaker. Thus, they could only die a horrible death under the combined strength of the spellbreaker knight's battle-technique and flaming longsword.

  The success of the spellbreaker knight boosted the morale of the waning witcher-knights. They activated the runic swords in their hands, shouting as they charged towards the remaining vampires.

  This was the terrifying strength of the knights of this plane? Suppressing the strength of arcanology, diverting their attention to strengthening the physical body, as well as the use of special battle techniques?

  Mary pondered silently, before opening her blood-red eyes.

  After that amazing strike, the spellbreaker knight turned around and shouted to boost the morale of his companions. Just as he slapped his colt and was about to begin another charge, his muscles tensed, and his body stiffened.

  The magic colt below him already felt what he was thinking. Under his urging, the magic colt slowly turned its body. The spellbreaker knight's eyes flashed. His cold eyes landed on the top of a tree far away, which was shrouded by leaves.

  A hundred meters away, on top of that tall tree, the layers of branches and leaves had hidden the enemy's body, but they could not hide those terrifying pair of crimson eyes. When his gaze met with the enemy's, a heavy air of blood spread across the battlefield.

  This was a heretic that was as powerful as he was! Was today's occurrence a trap they had laid out beforehand? No, I must relay this news to Ninther……

  Faced with the situation before him, several ominous thoughts surfaced in knight’s mind. But just as he was distracted, the pair of bloody eyes suddenly disappeared..

  This was bad!

  The spellbreaker knight gathered his focus while raising his left arm. The small
shield on his arm activated to form an oval energy-shield that covered the front of his body entirely.

  The energy shield had just barely formed when a swift impact smashed into it. Five terrifying claw marks appeared on the the semi-translucent shield.

  The spellbreaker knight grunted, and used the energy shield to divert the slim silhouette pushing against it. A flame blade slashed forth from his right hand.

  Normal witcher-knights could only use the runic weapons to achieve a combined strike of physical and elemental force in melee range, while relying on the runic bows for long-ranged attacks. But spellbreaker knights were able to rely on a unique way of attacking to infuse elemental energy into the invisible shockwaves of their blows, forming a mid-range knight battle technique.

  The range of such knight battle technique attacks were not very large. Most of them could reach five to ten meters away. Once they exceeded this range, the shockwave would disperse, and the attached elemental energies would naturally disperse as well, causing the might of the attack to severely deteriorate.

  But this kind of elemental shockwave, that could extend freely and escape the constraints of the weapon itself, could bring about horrifying damage to enemies within ten meters. The crude elemental shields conjured by normal heretics could not defend against the double blow of elemental damage, and the shockwaves' ability to break through defenses.

  As such, the deciding factor for any witcher-knight advancing to spellbreaker knight was their ability to condense and unleash this unique shockwave!

  Of course, this was a secret closely guarded by the witcher-knights. Today, Mary was about to use her body to personally experience the terrifying power of the knight battle-technique.

  The flame blades were like burning scimitars slashing through the skies, quickly chasing after Mary's retreating silhouette and stopping her from escaping.

  A fierce grin appeared on Mary's pretty face. She didn't retreat. Instead she stepped forward, her sharp claws slashing and leaving behind eight layers of visible bloody marks in front of her. In the next second, the blood marks clashed with the flame blades, combusting into a small firestorm.