…………
The sudden attack by the mysterious heretics instantly shook the city of Herdurand.
For the rest of the night, troop after troop of witcher-knights charged into the city, taking it under their control. They then searched for evidence of the outsiders by going through each and every house.
Naturally, the normal citizens had no ability to resist the witcher-knights and could only let them investigate their houses. However, rich merchants and influential nobles would not accept such humiliation lying down. Armed conflicts of varying scale happened all over the city.
Sadly, the giant-dragon partner of the honorable Third Grade dragon knight had been severely injured, and was on the brink of death. This had utterly enraged the authorities of the witcher-knight army! Therefore, amongst those who dared to stop the advance of the witcher-knights in their search, the servants and guards were killed without exception, while the merchants and nobles were caught and imprisoned in the witcher-knight's camp.
For one night, the entire Herdurand City was in chaos!
The angry merchants and nobles blocked the entrance to the castellan's quarters, unceasingly expressing their greatests protests towards the city hall. But the rulers of the city, led by Great Duke Lington, never showed their faces. As such, various malicious rumours started to spread. Many citizens were secretly discussing the possibility that the Great Duke Lington had been put under house arrest by the Lord dragon knight.
Just as chaos happened back there, the Greenland Forest several hundred kilometers away welcomed an important character.
Riding a flying giant-dragon at nearly a thousand feet in the sky was not a very comfortable or casual business. At this height, just the wind blowing at you could take away every last bit of warmth in your body. Even a person wrapped in coats and furs would feel the chill all the way down to their bones.
But with Jefferson's powerful Third Grade dragon knight physique, he wouldn't feel even a bit of discomfort in such an environment.
He bent down to look at the sea of trees that stretched on and on. Everything in his vision was a verdant green that went up and down. It was probably delusional to try and find a troop of a hundred witcher-knights in such a vast forest.
Jefferson lightly tapped the green dragon beneath his body. Ysondre understood, and folded his wings to rapidly dive downward, stretching his neck and letting out a long dragon's roar that rang across several dozen kilometers as he did so.
He couldn't find that troop of witcher-knights, but as long as they were still in this forest, they would naturally find a way to contact him when they heard this signature dragon's-roar.
Thus, the green dragon unfurled his large dragon wings slightly less than a hundred meters away from the canopy. It circled about the mountainous sea of trees, occasionally letting out loud, clear roars. With the giant dragon's stunning flight speed and loud voice, the witcher-knights should be able to hear it, as long as they weren't deaf.
Sadly, even after several rounds of circling about the vast forest that stretched for several hundred kilometer, they still had not detected any sort of feedback from the forest beneath them.
Had Ninther brought the troops deep into the woods?
Jefferson frowned, but the doubt in his heart was extinguished the moment it rose.
Ninther was not like those newly advanced spellbreaker knights that were prone to rash decisions. If he had planned to bring the knights deep into the forest, he would have sent someone to inform the others of his actions. However, Jefferson had not managed to get any useful information from Blue Hillock City. It was almost as if the hundred-man army of witcher-knights had completely vanished in the woods.
It seemed there was something odd about this stretch of woods!
Chapter 195
In the adepts' base.
A group of adepts were gathered in one corner of the base. Their heads were raised, silently gazing at the black dot constantly circling far away on the horizon.
Beside them, an extremely large illusion barrier hid the entire valley, causing it to blend into the woods around it. From the skies, one couldn't tell anything was odd with the scene.
Meanwhile, behind them the entire adepts' base was as busy as an enormous construction site. Countless robotics beasts, voodoo beasts, and elementium golems were busy working, while the outline of an adept's tower was slowly appearing.
A nine-level adept's tower that stood two-hundred meters tall was supposed to be erected here, according to the original plan. As compared to the mid-tier adept's tower in the World of Adepts, this tower would prioritize defense and offense, while the non-combat facilities within would be greatly reduced.
Such an adept's tower might not be very comfortable to live in, but when the World of Adepts wanted to rapidly expand outward, it was a necessary war fortress. Every time adepts arrived in a foreign plane, the first thing to do was to construct such a simplified war tower.
Once they built the tower, the adepts who had entered the plane would be free from the planar laws' oppression within the adept tower’s radius. This created a beneficial battle environment for the adepts on their home territory.
Currently, the three underground levels of the adept's tower had been completed. However, above ground, only a basic structure for the first two levels had been constructed. Under the command of the adepts, several robotics beasts were carefully carving arrays on the inner walls of the tower.
This was another world after all. It wasn't possible to use the exceedingly costly interplanar ultra-long-range teleportation to transport all of the construction materials over. Thus, all of the luggage the second batch of adepts brought with them were rare materials and resources. The stones and timber used to construct the tower, on the other hand, could only be gathered here.
If this were a normal adept's tower, the body of the tower would be built from numerous layers of compound rocks. The outer wall would be constructed of strongly magic-resistant materials, such as obsidian and steelrock, while the inner wall would use special rocks with excellent magic conductivity such as augite, bloodstone, and volcanic rock.
Of course, the specific rocks which were selected to construct the tower would be adjusted based on the individual attribute of the adept stationed in the tower. An adept's tower built in this fashion would naturally contain a living environment that was compatible with the stationed adept's attribute, and could greatly accelerate the rate of the adept's growth.
Sadly, the lack of resources in this world turned all of this into mere fantasy. This simplified war tower could only be built out of resources gathered in the woods. The materials used to form the tower were all taken from the mountains nearby.
The adepts had already commanded the large number of elementium golems to excavate a nearby hill, completely mining out everything inside. It was with such a method that they were barely able to keep up with the huge consumption of rocks for the adept tower’s creation.
These normal rocks didn't have such outstanding magic properties as the precious rocks usually used for construction, and their quality was hardly satisfying. In order to compensate for the inadequacies of the wall itself, the adepts had to carve large numbers of Strengthening arrays on the tower walls.
This undoubtedly caused an even greater consumption of rare materials and resources!
The initial investment of resources required for the invasion of another plane was astounding.
Don't think of it as just a simplified war tower. Even this structure alone could exhaust several decades worth of a small-sized adept clan’s reserved resources. Moreover, if the war turned sour, the adepts and resources that could be successfully retrieved from the other plane were very few. Most of the investment would have been for nothing.
This was why plane wars were both the only shortcut for small and mid-sized adept clans to grow, but also an appalling nightmare that could destroy the foundations of a clan.
As such, every adept clan was extremely
cautious when faced with an unknown plane. They would seal all information, to avoid opposing clans from finding out their plans, while amassing large numbers of resources. This would allow them to construct their war tower in the shortest time, such that they may have a solid foundation in the following plane war.
Indeed, the true plane war had yet to start!
The several battles that Greem and the others had engaged in were at best overtures and appetizers before the start of the plane war. A true planar war was infinitely more savage and bloody than a normal war. It was not something that the likes of Greem and the rookies would be able to imagine with their inexperienced minds!
Looking at the black dot persistently circling on the horizon, an adept couldn't help but start cursing in anger.
No one would dare make any large actions within the camp while there was such a threat circling above their heads. The progress of the construction would inevitably be affected.
"Sir Fügen, don't you think we should send some voodoo beasts to lure it away?" Someone couldn't help but suggest.
"We cannot act recklessly! Right now, there isn't a single adept within the base that is a match for a Third Grade dragon knight. If we exposed the location of the base, it probably wouldn't take more than a couple of hours before the most powerful beings of this plane appeared. Then, the expansion plan the clan has prepared for several decades would have to be given up!" Adept Fügen shook his head coldly and rejected the suggestion of his subordinate.
"But allowing the dragon knight to keep circling around here is not a solution either!" An adept sighed, "The illusion barrier can only extend up to a height of 80 metres. Once the war tower is erected, it would definitely be the most obvious landmark in this stretch of woods. As long as the dragon knight isn't blind, he would definitely see it. When that happens…"
"Hmph," Adept Fügen shook his head and spoke, "What do you take the dragon knights of this plane for? To use a Third Grade dragon knight as a patrol scout? In my opinion, this dragon knight is searching for the last group of witcher-knights we exterminated. As long as he can't find them, he will definitely… hmm?"
Just as they were speaking, the dragon on the horizon far away suddenly stopped his actions. After a quick pause and a loud dragon's roar, the dragon knight drove the dragon southwest without any hesitation.
Based on the direction, he was probably returning to Blue Hillock City!
Adept Fügen was stunned for a moment, before turning back and giving out an order, "Immediately contact Muret in Blue Hillock City. Check if anything important happened. I have a feeling that the dragon knight was in a hurry when it left earlier, almost as if something had happened!"
"Understood!" The few adepts behind him bowed and accepted the order, then promptly turned to leave.
A short while later, an adept hurried back.
"Sir Fügen, big news! Big news!"
…………
It was the early morning of the second day when Keoghan and the other three returned to Blue Hillock City.
Before they could even sit down and take a breather, a personal order from Second-Grade Adept Sir Fügen had already been brought before them. Thus, they once again rushed towards the adept's base!
There, Sir Fügen asked details about their actions in Herdurand City.
All the clan adepts who stayed in the base looked at each other in amazement when they finished hearing Adept Keoghan’s retelling of events. They could hardly believe what they heard. Even Sir Fügen lowered his head and remained silent after hearing the entire thing.
Assaulting a Second Grade green dragon? Throwing a city closely guarded by hordes of soldiers into utter chaos, while beating the other dragon-knight’s dragon partner to the brink of death?
Such an absurd and unbelievable story. Even the most cliched novels about heroes and dragons wouldn't beat this, would it? This was a Second Grade dragon!
In all seriousness, even if it had been Sir Fügen who had engaged a dragon alone, he probably wouldn't have been able to do much to a Second Grade green dragon! After all, dragons could fly and possessed shocking magic and physical resistances. Moreover, adolescent dragons even possessed Dragontongue magic. Wasn't this equivalent to a combination of both elementium adepts and body refining adepts? And a combination that could even fly!
This was why dragons had the terrifying ability to challenge enemies above their Grade levels, regardless of what plane they were in!
The only reason the Third Grade dragon knight would choose Second Grade dragons as their partners was because they had absolutely no means to beat these Second Grade dragons that had thick hides, could fly, and spit their saliva all over the place!
Yet the four adepts before him, with two of them being rookies that had barely advanced for a half a year, together managed to beat a Second Grade green dragon to the brink of death? It sounded unbelievable. But judging from the clues, it seems this was the only thing that could the dragon knight’s odd actions previously!
It was undoubtedly important to search for the witcher-knights in the forest, but it was far more important that his companion's partner had been beaten to the brink of death back in their home base– so important that he had no choice but to rush back to Herdurand City.
After thorough deliberation, Fügen could only choose to believe them.
But with this happening, it was hard to predict how the following events would unfold!
First, they exterminated a witcher-knight vanguard army composed of a hundred men. Now, such a bold assault happened in Herdurand. If the opponents were not able to figure out that the invaders they sought were hiding nearby, they would be a group of complete morons!
Cutting off the legs of a Third Grade dragon knight was indeed fairly good news, but this came at the price of the enemy possibly arriving earlier. Whether this was for better or worse was very debatable.
Sir Fügen didn't dare let these few people out to Blue Hillock City anymore. He had finally recognized that this couple of adepts were not people that abided by conventional rules. If he let them out, they would surely create another huge commotion in a few days. With a bitter smile on his face, he could only keep them in the base.
Greem and the other three, on the other hand, had also obtained spoils of war from Herdurand City. They needed a safe, quiet place to digest and turn them into part of their strength. And so they easily agreed to stay. Mary, in particular, could be said to be the one that benefited the most out of the four.
Vampires would always be busy chasing after the blood of the powerful!
Keoghan, Ferrier, and Greem had at best obtained some green dragon flesh and blood as excellent crafting materials. But Mary could directly convert the consumed dragon blood into blood energy to increase the limits of her power. This terrifying ability was the scariest trait of the vampires!
And so, Mary went into seclusion the moment they returned to the adept's base!
This was the third time Mary had gone into seclusion. For Mary, each solitude was a chance to massively increase her power!
Chapter 196
A small five-person adventure group trekked through the woods with difficulty.
From their formation, it was clear that this was an adventuring party with powerful combat strength.
An extremely strong warrior was carving a path at the very front, using the large sword in his hand to cut a narrow route through the dense vegetation. A scrawny rogue was following behind the warrior, his mousy eyes, cautiously on the lookout, incessantly drifting about the shadows around them.
Besides those two, there was an archer with an arrow already knocked, his expression alert. There were also two powerful spellbreaker knights who had taken off their heavy knight's armor, and were currently only wearing chainmail.
The bushes were dense, and the trees stretched forever.
Coming into this place, and all you would see is darker and lighter shades of green. It was honestly difficult to even find any other color.
The thick and knotted roots of ancient trees, the resilient vines that wound together, the bushes and vegetations that grew everywhere, as well as all sorts of wildflowers and weeds that couldn't be named, were more than enough to completely fill the spaces between each of the large, ancient trees. It was undoubtedly an exceptionally tortuous task for any traveller, without preparation, to walk through such primitive woods.
Flowing rivers, streams in the mountains, and solemn valleys… these were all common sights in the woods. If the terrain had been flat, crossing through these places would not take more than a couple of minutes. Yet here in this dense forest, they often had to take two to four hours of great effort to pass through.
The warrior, rogue, and archer were veterans who often spent their time doing jobs in the Greenland Forest, and were therefore unfazed by the difficulty before them. However, the two spellbreaker knights that were closely following behind, now without their magic colts, were having an absolutely difficult time getting used to the pain of journeying through the hills and rivers.
The had only gone less than four kilometers into the woods, yet the two spellbreaker knights were already sweating all over. The simple chainmail on their bodies felt as heavy as a mountain.
Even so, neither of the spellbreaker knights expressed their discomfort, and neither of them suggested a rest. They grit their teeth and endured, walking behind the three adventurers step by step, exploring the woods before them slowly.
The group finally stopped for a break after arriving at the bottom of a small cliff.
The two spellbreaker knights painfully dragged their heavy bodies to the side of a flowing mountain stream, scooped up the cool water and had a hearty drink. The warrior who led the party did the same.
If it hadn't been for the path he cut open, these two knights, who were used to wrapping themselves up in their tin cans, would never have been able to reach here by themselves.
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