Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Sadly, the difference in the depth of their strategic thinking caused Ninther to fail to realize the difference between himself and the enemy in who they chose to target. The spellbreaker knight squad he led placed the deciding factor on defeating the enemy leader, Greem. However, Greem had placed all of his hopes of victory on defeating this group of spellbreaker knights!

  Why would it matter how many more witcher-knights there were? Even if was only Greem alone, he was confident he could exterminate all of his enemies within these vast mountains. The only one that concerned him were these spellbreaker knights. Thus, even if he let all the witcher-knights go, he was determined to not let a single one of these spellbreaker knights leave alive.

  Following the retreat horn being blown, the witcher-knights quickly retreated from the valley. A gap of about two hundred meters appeared between the spellbreaker knight squad and the witcher-knight army.

  Seeing this, Flame Fiend Greem let out a roar that shook the skies. It was finally the time for the decisive blow!

  The first sacrifice was naturally the Fire Deity that could be summoned at any time.

  It shook its ten meter tall and terrifying bod, and charging into the middle of the spellbreaker knight's squad formation. Then it blew itself up, generating a terrifying explosion that seemed as if it would rend the skies and rip the ground asunder.

  The sudden blow instantly destroyed the formation the spellbreaker knights had created.

  Since the start of the battle, the twelve remaining spellbreaker knights used their well-trained riding skills and potent knight battle techniques to weave about the battlefield. They constantly charged and rode about, using their dazzling horsemanship to ride about and draw the enemy’s attention as they looked for chances to dash in once more.

  Often times a spellbreaker knight would have just landed an Evil-Killing Blow on the enemy before continuing right past the target, while a second knight would already be charging, his Explosive Cross Slash waiting to be executed. Meanwhile, a third knight would be accelerating and ready to charge at any time……

  It was precisely thanks to this constant attacks and well-honed intertwining and positioning that they were able to crack the defenses and slay the enemy, regardless of how powerful they were.

  But now an artificial volcano had appeared in the middle of the battlefield, following the Fire Deity's terrifying explosion. Intense heat, scorching streams of flame, blazes that filled the skies as well as molten lava that went flying everywhere.... all of this completely disrupted the attack patterns of the knight squad. Everyone could only attempt to flee the vicinity of the volcano with all their might, with no time to care about their formation or attack pattern!

  And this was precisely what Greem wanted.

  This kind of magma hell and this harsh environment might be unbearable for humans, but the Flame Fiend and the Fire Lord they were like fish in water. They laughed loudly. With a strange motion they vanished from the spot, appearing next to a spellbreaker knight that had been isolated from his companions.

  Two clusters of explosive flames that suddenly appeared out of thin air frightened the spellbreaker knight’s colt. Yet before he could even react, Greem and the Fire Lord's great shadows had already appeared within the flames.

  Flame Teleportation!

  The moment they appeared, the two large flame beings extended their palms, and instantly engulfed the spellbreaker knight's body with all sorts of violent and ferocious fire spells.

  Firestorm.

  Flame Pillar.

  Ignite.

  Chain of Fireballs.

  Greem, who was had yet to display all of his strength, held back no longer. He executed his fire spells to the very limits of their power. Under the combined effort of Greem and the Fire Lord, how could a spellbreaker knight with merely a basic elemental resistance hold out against this degree of fiery bombardment?

  The opponent's tough body was swiftly torn to pieces by the vicious spells. Even the magic colt beneath him exploded into tatters of flesh, sent flying in all directions. But before their bodies had been blown out of the centre of the explosion, they had already been turned to dust and ash by the shocking flame streams and violent shockwaves.

  "Edward!" Ninther's pained cries could not save the life of his companion.

  Edward was his most capable assistant in the knight squad, and was also an exceptional spellbreaker knight that was only second to himself. But when faced with the combined power of two adept-level opponents, no amount of anger and unwillingness could make the spellbreaker knights, who had no special means of preserving their lives, any more than a pile of meaningless flesh no different than an ordinary mortal.

  "Retreat……retreat……retreat quickly!" Ninther gritted his teeth several times. Finally suppressing the desire to charge at Greem and fight to his death, he loudly shouted at this companions that had been blown and scattered all over the place.

  Sadly, Greem would never let them run away just like that in this situation!

  Boom! Boom! Two bursts rang throughout the battlefield as two Flame Teleportations were executed. The Flame Fiend Greem had transformed into, and the Fire Lord, had teleported into the path of retreat, securely standing at the mouth of the valley between the spellbreaker knight squad and the witcher-knight army.

  A new blood bath was about to begin!

  Chapter 184

  If the battle before was just a more intense battle to slay evil, the battle now was a bloody brawl that concerned their very lives.

  The Fire Deity's self-destruction had created a terrifying crater in the middle of the valley. The lava in the pool far away was quickly flowing here. Streams of fire radiating unbearable temperatures were filling the hole bit by bit, igniting everything in their path.

  It probably wouldn't take another fifteen minutes before the entire valley would be covered in boiling magma, turning the entire place into an even larger lava pool.

  Thus, with a powerful enemy before them and a sea of flames catching up behind them, the only escape route for the remaining eleven spellbreaker knights was to break through Greem's blockade.

  This was the only way they could live.

  Odd screeches rang out from the woods around the valley. Large groups of bloodsucking vampires swarmed out from within, hurtling towards the witcher-knights that wanted to turn back and save their leaders. As for the woods that the witcher-knights were in, the earth beneath them violently split open. Countless horrifying scorpions surged forth from below the ground, instantly disrupted the formation of the witcher-knights, who had no one to direct them.

  Having sent all their subordinates to deal with the witcher-knights, Bloody Mary and Evil Bugs Acteon turned into a red flash and a cluster of black smoke, rushing out of the woods and leaping over Greem and the Fire Lord to charge straight at the disorganized spellbreaker knights.

  Greem whistled and called over his Lightning Giant as well as two pseudo-adept level stone serpents, and had them blockade the mouth of the valley in his place. He and the Fire Lord, on the other hand, grinned wickedly as they disappeared in a blast of elemental flame that appeared out of nowhere.

  Now that the spellbreaker knights' formation has been disrupted, it was the perfect time to take advantage of the chaos to slaughter the lot. Even Mary and Acteon couldn't resist the urge to attack- why would Greem, who had worked so hard to create this situation, let up now?

  Don't think that just because they were powerful adepts that came over from another world, that they were able to slaughter the knights. Even though their physiques and equipment were superior, allowing them to crush and overwhelm these spellbreaker knights that claimed to share the same grade as them, slaughtering the knights en masse was still an impossibly difficult task compared to driving them off.

  In a one-on-one duel, Mary and Acteon had a seventy to eighty percent chance of victory. But if they were to face two enemies at the same time, their chance of victory would drop to forty or fifty percent. Gr
eem, on the other hand, had the Fire Lord, which was like having an adept-level clone following beside him. As long as he found an opportunity, he could instantly teleport to his opponent's side and the two flame giants would bombard the enemy with spells.

  A spellbreaker knight that could resist one round of such a bombardment- not one existed!

  The clay golems were also endangering their lives to entangle and disrupt the spellbreaker knights at all costs, under the Greem’s instructions. They didn't need to face the enemy head on. All they had to was go underground and hinder the movements of the magic colts.

  At one moment, the battlefield was crowded with eighteen clay golems, three advanced-level stone serpents, the three adepts, and the Fire Lord. Such a chaotic scene might be disaster for the spellbreaker knights, but for the adepts possessing odd and mysterious abilities of their own, there was no better battlefield.

  Mary had her bat wings, and her speed was several times that of the spellbreaker knights in such a constrained area. In this harsh environment, she weaved about the crowd and often used her crimson longbow to shoot at the spellbreaker knights, while occasionally closing up to the enemy's side and using her sharp claws to engage in a bloody melee.

  Mary had taken full advantage of her speed!

  Acteon, on the other hand, was still as mysterious as usual.

  The black smoke he had turned himself into constantly dispersed and gathered around the enemy. Sometimes, he would turn back into his human form, laughing wickedly as he opened his mouth and let out swarms of flying bugs that filled the skies. Other times, his body would simply scatter into tens of thousands of odd scorpions and instantly swarm the enemy.

  When he was attacked by the enemy, he would just turn back into black smoke and quickly escape to another place.

  The spellbreaker knights could only employ fire against such an opponent. Not even their frost swords could do anything to Acteon. After such a prolonged battle, the spellbreaker knights still didn’t know if Evil Bugs was man or bug, not to mention trying to find his weak spot!

  The exceptional magic resistance and flexible runic weapons that the spellbreaker knights took pride in were no longer useful when faced with these arcane casters from another world.

  It didn't matter how badly they wounded Mary; as long as someone amidst the spellbreaker knights was bleeding, Mary's wounds would heal by themselves within a matter of seconds. It didn't matter how many times the evil swarms of bugs were dispersed; when they flew to another spot and gathered, the black-robed Acteon would appear once more.

  It was constant torture for the spellbreaker knights to fight against these tenacious and undying cockroaches. If they still had their stamina, if their formation was still tight, they might be able to kill Mary and Acteon by accumulation of damage due to their advantage in numbers and their constant attacks.

  But now, under the corrosion of the lava pool, they could hardly even find places that were safe to stand. In such a situation, even their survival was a problem- not to mention surrounding the enemy!

  If Evil Bugs Acteon and Bloody Mary could be said to bring chaos and suffering to the spellbreaker knights, then Greem's entrance could be said to have spelled death for them!

  Not even Acteon dared to let both Greem and the Fire Lord land an entire round of spell bombardment on him. Greem, who was an expert with fire Elementium, was able to have a might of over 140 points with every fire spell he cast. The crude equipment of the knights were fashioned to defend against physical attacks, and could hardly resist this level of spell damage.

  Fire Core Explosion!

  Chain of Fireballs!

  Firestorm!

  Flame Pillar!

  Doomsday Volcano!

  Flame Wall!

  ……

  ……

  One after another, powerful fire spells were released by Greem and the Fire Lord. Every spellbreaker knight that they targeted would be blasted into oblivion, shattered into pieces. Not even a corpse would be left.

  While Greem blew up four spellbreaker knights in one go, Mary had only been able to take down one spellbreaker knight. Acteon, on the other hand, had also only killed one spellbreaker knight.

  There was no way around it. After all, fire spells belonged to the battlefield. The lethality and damage of fire spells would always be the greatest in a war. Even though Mary was the same grade as Greem, she was only an agile assassin in the end. Her efficiency and ability of direct skirmishes on the battlefield was insignificant compared to Greem.

  Evil Bugs Acteon, on the other hand, leaned towards being an evil adept. His abilities were numerous and bizarre, often catching his opponents by surprise. Yet when it came to brute force, his abilities were awkwardly weaker!

  To avoid Greem getting all the kills, they could only charge forward with no regard for their lives, battling two spellbreaker knights at a time each. Thus, the only one left for Greem was Ninther, who was now completely alone!

  Compared to his charm and elegance at the start of the battle, Ninther had now turned into a lone wolf cornered by a hunter.

  The shape of his once delicate knight's armor had been bent due to the absurdly high temperatures of the surroundings. Scorch marks, from being burnt and exposed to smoke, covered the armor. All of his hair, skin, and nails had fallen out, replaced with blisters and burns that were constantly bleeding. With every blow that he dealt out, the blisters on his body would burst, and blackish pus and blood would go splatter everywhere.

  The him at this point was bathed in blood!

  He didn't even know how many magic colts he had swapped out. The magic colt he was riding right now was also severely wounded and exhausted.

  Ninther suddenly laughed, bitterly watching Greem as he slowly walked towards him. He got off the magic colt with much difficulty and patted it on its back.

  "Go. If you have the opportunity to escape then go!"

  Perhaps the colt understood Ninther's words. It let out a long whinny, took a look at the mighty Greem, and quickly ran away in fear. Without the burden of the knights, it might actually be able to find a way out through the steep stone cliff surroundings before the lava arrived.

  With great difficulty Ninther, who had chosen to stay behind, took off the red hot armor. He gripped the runic blade tightly with his bloody, burnt hands. He looked calmly upon Greem, who was striding over, as if he was about to die alongside the enemy.

  Greem shook his head when he saw Ninther's provocative eyes. He waved his hands, and the Fire Lord strode past him towards this final enemy.

  Disappointment filled Ninther's eyes.

  This enemy was far too careful. Even when he had the absolute advantage, he still didn't let it go to his head. He was willing to let go of the sweetest fruit of victory in the entire battle!

  It's important to note how much of an honor and glory it was, as the commander of such a large battle, to personally take the head of the enemy leader! Yet the opponent let go of this chance so easily and simply!

  For the first time, Ninther started to understand why he had lost today.

  The opponent… all of the opponents, from the mastermind to the summoned beings, were a bunch of fellows that didn't give a single damn about a knight's honor!

  Ninther had activated inumerable knight battle techniques from the start of the battle until now. Both his stamina and will were at their limits. Looking at the flame giant that was slowly nearing, he pulled out two Elementium crystals pulsing with energy, and stuffed them into his mouth. He ran towards the opponent while screaming.

  One of the Elementium crystals was red, while the other was blue. Clearly, they were one fire crystal and one ice crystal.

  The two Elementium crystals of opposing elements, along with the last bit of blood essence he forced out, would be able to deliver critical damage to the opponent once he self-destructed, even if he couldn't kill the opponent.

  This was his only means of damaging his enemy at this point!

  Greem si
lently smiled, a cold expression on his face, as he looked upon the charging Ninther and the chaotic elemental flux in his body.

  Before Ninther could self-destruct, the Fire Lord vanished in a blast of fire. The earth beneath Ninther loosened and a stone serpent with its mouth wide opened rushed out, completely swallowing him. The stone serpent then swiftly sunk into the ground again.

  A short moment later, a muffled bang echoed from deep within the ground.

  The entire valley silently shook. Countless deep cracks appeared as the earth quaked. The woods nearby shook along with the ground.

  At that moment, countless leaves fell, and dust filled the skies!

  Chapter 185

  The witcher-knight army that had desperately hung on until now had finally crumbled!

  The decimation of their leaders only brought despair to them.

  Edward had died, Anthony had died, Alvar had died, Joseph had died……the list of the dead horrified the soldiers. Now that Ninther's name had been added to the list, it was enough to destroy the witcher- knights’ confidence and will to continue fighting.

  Daniel, Benson, and the two more spellbreaker knights had yet to die, and were still fighting to the death with the other two heretics. But if the witcher-knights wanted to save them, they had to first get rid of the swarms of vampires and bugs, then break through the army of elemental golems standing at the entrance of the valley.

  After all this, they still had to deal with that terrifying flame humanoid.

  The low and tragic sound of the retreating horn rang out again.

  The witcher-knights finally retreated, even leaving behind their companions that were still tangled up by the vampires and the bugs!

  The once proud and high-spirited witcher-knights were now like dogs that had lost their homes and their will, running in shame with their tails between their legs. Their chaotic and frantic shapes could be seen everywhere in the vast, primal woods as they escaped. The pained whinnies of magic colts could be heard all across the forest.