Thunderbird lived up to his name as the fastest and most mobile adept.
When he realized he had been locked onto by the dragons, he immediately sped out of the dense woods. In a series of lightning flashes he escaped the attack range of the dragons.
One after another, terrifying dragon breath razed the ground from above!
This previously lush forest instantly turned into a land of death and decay. The green trees, vines, thorns, and bushes corroded and withered in the green poison mist in a single second, turning into dead and dry plants.
The dragons were extremely fast while flying. In just a slight dive, they had already closed in on the adepts' defensive lines.
When the powerful bodies of the four green dragons sliced across the canopy, countless terrifying spells of all colors blasted into the skies, chasing after the dragons.
The very next second, the four green dragons personally demonstrated to the world once again why the dragons were able to become rulers of the skies even amongst all the planes in the multiverse!
Their lithe and agile bodies rapidly turned and rolled in the skies, as the spells locked onto them followed closely behind and drew bright and pretty lines across the sky. With every barrel roll, some of the spells would collide and explode in a blast of explosive fireworks.
When the spells behind them had reached an insignificant number, the green dragons turned around with great agility and neutralized the last few spells with thick green dragon breath.
Then they let out sky-rumbling roars as they flew upwards into the sky, full of pride, and once again showed off their elegant bodies high in the air without sustaining even a single scratch.
If it wasn't out of fear of affecting his allies' morale, Greem would have burst out in applause for the green dragons' performance.
What were the rulers of the skies? What were the rulers of all living beings in a plane? This was a raw show of the dragons' immense strength!
All those impractical fellows that fantasized about slaying dragons only needed to look at their performance to understand the massive difference in strength between them and the dragons.
Compared to the dragons, the adepts looked like a bunch of human-shaped magic sticks that could only stand about as they cast their spells. In terms of the practicality and flexibility of combat, the dragons were far superior when compared to the adepts!
However, most of the adepts were not bothered by this.
Compared to most of the magical creatures of the material planes, the spellcasting ability of adepts was not particularly amazing. However, back in the World of Adepts, they still very firmly held the dominant position and assumed a dictatorial role!
Why? It was nothing special. It was just that the adepts had wisdom and knowledge, as well as the awareness to use external factors to their advantage!
Chapter 220
The adepts hiding in the darkness of the woods showed no fear, even when faced with these mighty and terrifying green dragons. Moreover, the gazes they directed at the dragons had become even more passionate and intense.
How cool would it be to have a dragon as a pet!
Perhaps because the dragons' performance had provoked him, an adept slowly rose into the skies from the forest a kilometer away from the dragons and confronted them from a distance.
The adept had a wrinkled face and was wrapped in a black robe. He held in his hand a long staff glowing with powerful magical radiance. Indeed, it was the one and only Second Grade adept in the base, Sir Fügen.
A single Second Grade adept was no real threat when pit against a group of adolescent green dragons. After all, even the weakest amongst them was at Second Grade! Moreover, the dragons' powerful bodies and ability to fly were unmatched even across all the material planes, allowing them to easily challenge enemies above their Grades. It was an easy task to fight against a human with the same grade as them, especially if it was an adept, who were known for their weak and frail bodies.
A young green dragon that had left the Dragon Valley for the first time, and had only participated in a planar war for the first time, roared and charged out from the formation. It seemed like he wanted a duel with this Second Grade adept that had appeared out of nowhere!
The other green dragons in the sky roared in unison, and the massive soundwave caused the entire forest to tremble.
They did not stop the young green dragon's impulsiveness out of their desire for glory. Instead, they were cheering for him in Dragontongue.
The young green dragon became even more excited. He flapped his fleshy wings and rose even higher into the sky. When his aura had reached its very peak, he let out a loud dragon's roar that seemed as if it would rend the clouds apart, before diving quickly down at the insignificant and weak enemy.
This was a terrifying lifeform that was over twelve meters long from head to tail, and six meters tall when it stood upright. Dark green dragon scales the size of bowls covered his entire body, gleaming and shining brightly in the broad daylight. The dragon's massive head was two meters long, with light green poisonous mist smoking out of his snout, making him seem all the more mysterious and terrifying. Whenever he roared, one could see the ghastly concentrated ball of acid at the back of his throat.
Large and wicked spikes started on the back of his neck and went all the way to the tip of his long tail. Whenever he beat his large, finely-scaled wings, a powerful gale would flow about his elegant and perfect body.
A green dragon!
A young green dragon that had just grown out of being a whelp, and had just barely reached maturity!
He might only be the Second Grade, but when his powerful body with flowing curves was displayed before everyone, it seemed as if his grade was no longer that important.
Bringing with him an overpowering aura of might and his devastating roar, the Second Grade green dragon fell from the sky. Like a green meteor descending, he charged towards Second Grade human adept Fügen with an unstoppable momentum.
An ominous feeling rose in Willis' heart as he was directing the knights in the woods faraway. He frowned at his companion's recklessness, but he couldn't find anything wrong or odd when he scanned the battlefield nearby.
This undoubtedly put him even more on edge!
The green dragon was charging! The distance was closing!
In the blink of an eye, less than a hundred meters were left between the dragon and the accursed human adept.
Disdain glowed in the green dragon's amber eyes when he saw that the human had no intention of dodging. He, who had plenty of hunting experience in the woods, had already simulated countless action plans in his mind to deal with different situations.
If the human adept dodged to the left or right, he would turn his head in the instant he passed by and engulf the adept in terrifying dragon breath. If the opponent dodged downwards, he only needed to fly down slightly and his sharp and thick dragon claws would instantly pierce the weak defensive barrier and tear the adept the pieces.
Engaging directly with a green dragon? Not even magical creatures that were famed for the strength of their physical bodies dared to do something so suicidal!
Yet the human adept before him still behaved oddly and completely out of his predictions. Even when a terrifying green dragon was charging at him, he still chose to stand there calmly while he cast a spell. Even the loud dragon roars could not overpower the clear and crisp notes of his magical chanting.
Sir Fügen blasted a green beam into the woods beneath him.
Almost immediately, the previously quiet woods suddenly came to life!
Continuous frightening green vines that were as thick as water jars rose into the skies, rapidly entangling the body of the charging green dragon and pulling it towards the ground. Terrifying wooden spikes gleaming with a metallic sheen covered the vines. As they tightened their grip on the dragon, the spikes crunched against his scale armor, letting out a screeching sound as they clashed.
Caught by surprise, the green
dragon could no longer maintain its flight, crashing into the dense woods beneath like a falling meteor.
A massive pillar of dust rose to the sky as a powerful shockwave spread through the woods. Everyone could clearly see that the woods in a hundred meter radius around the dragon had been completely flattened by this deafening impact. Countless broken trunks, branches, and wood splinters shot out in every direction under the force of the violent shockwave, further damaging the trees around the area of impact. Numerous leaves fell from endless trees.
Meanwhile, the Second Grade green dragon had just climbed out of the massive crater and was shaking its head in pain. Suddenly, countless adepts appeared from the woods around it and spells blasted at it one after another.
The green dragon straightened its body in anger and was about to unfold its wing to escape from these despicable and shameless enemies. However, its body suddenly faltered as several thick green vines burst forth from the ground once again, rapidly entangling the dragon and keeping it bound to the ground.
The very next second, the violent spells exploded and devoured the green dragon's silhouette amidst its fearful and angered roars.
The green dragon did indeed have exceptional magic resistance, but it also had limits. When faced with so many terrifying attacks, even he couldn't help but cry out in pain, despite his powerful defenses.
The surrounding adepts were well aware of the green dragons’ high magic resistance. As such, they did not use pure elementium spells, instead opting for spells with more mixed attributes and physical damage.
Repeatedly, spells like Crimson Fireball, Magma Fireball, Violent Soundwave, and Space Distortion violently raged against the green dragon's body. The large dragon scales were blasted into pieces and the flesh beneath was quickly eaten away by the horrifying tide of spells.
Just as the green dragon frantically struggled against the tide of spells and the green vines, even more opportunistic fellows swarmed out of the forest. Bloodthirsty magic wolves with rotting coats of dark fur, violent apes betraying a reckless and fearless light in their bloodshot eyes, slim and small bloodsucking bats screeching as they flew, as well as seven or eight odd beetles with green wings and black shells spotted with corpse spots…
These beasts took advantage of the green dragon being entangled by the vines and endured the bombardment of the adepts as they leapt onto the green dragon's body, frantically devouring the exposed flesh.
The pain of being eaten alive put the dragon through intense agony. It opened its large mouth, and a terrifying breath of poison mist covered its own body.
The extremely corrosive poison mist instantly killed large swathes of the enemy.
All the beasts engulfed by the poison mist melted into a sticky green liquid in an instant, as if they had been thrown into a pool of acid. Even their tough bones couldn't be preserved when they came into contact with the mist. The frail vampire spawn were the weakest of all. Contact with the mist would melt them into a pool of green liquid in three to five seconds as they screeched in agony.
Only those odd beetles seemed completely unbothered by the poison breath of a Second Grade green dragon. They continued to stubbornly bite away at the green dragon's flesh. The green vines seemed to possess powerful corrosion resistance as well, as they did not burn away under the green dragon's breath.
The green dragon was extremely angered. Its wounded body struggled desperately to break free of the vines, while its bony dragon's tail that resembled a massive meteor hammer swung upwards, finally crushing one of the odd beetles into a fine paste of blood.
A peculiar bug screech rang out through the woods, and the beetles seemed to have received some sort of instructions. All of them crawled to the underbelly of the dragon, crouching and eating at the flesh there. This was a very advantageous position. With the dragon's massive body, and its immobility in this situation, it was extremely hard for it to have its attacks reach its underbelly.
Loud dragon roars filled the skies, and instantly the sky was blotted out by the massive bodies of the green dragons!
The other three green dragons, still carrying the dragon knights on their backs, dove downwards like arrows shot from a bow, trying to save their companion.
Sir Fügen, who remained levitating above the canopy, waved the staff in his hand several times and once again summoned countless green vines to rise into the skies from the surrounding woods, wrapping towards the charging green dragons.
Slash. Slash. Slash…
Three blinding suns suddenly rose on the backs of the dragons. Violent and concentrated energy blades clashed with the green vines. The vines that were able to resist even the powerful poison breath of a green dragon were unable to endure the Third Grade dragon knights’ violent attacks, instantly being shredded to pieces and falling apart.
In the time the green vines retreated, the three dragon knights slashed at the trapped green dragon's side and the vines extending from beneath the ground were quickly cut.
The unrestrained green dragon broke free of its bindings in anger, forcing away its enemies with a large breath of green poison mist before taking to the skies with all its strength, struggling and stumbling as it did so.
Sadly, its badly wounded dragon wings were no longer able to support its continued flight through the sky.
Its left wing was completely broken, dragging behind its body and unable to be unfolded. The tip of its right wing had been cut off and several large holes had appeared on it. The wounds on his chest, below his ribs, and on his abdomen were the most severe. Large patches of dragon scales were missing and the wounds were bloody and messy. One could see the thick tendons and white bones within the green dragon's body through the missing flesh.
Such terrible injuries had clearly robbed it of its ability to fly.
After struggling slightly in the air, the green dragon cried sorrowfully as it fell downwards.
Sharp winds whistled in the sky. An even larger and more muscular green dragon dove down, enduring the tide of spells and grabbing its companion's body with its strong hind claws. It beat its wings and flew into the sky with strenuous effort.
The dragon knight standing on the back of the green dragon waved his longsword, and one after another, bright flame blades blasted out, destroying the incoming spells in terrifying flashes of sword light. Even so, the spells that made it through his defenses and blasted on the two green dragons still caused them to let out muffled grunts of pain.
Dragon scales and dragon skin had exceptional magical and physical resistance; any other flying magical creature would already have been shot down from the skies.
Two massive green breaths engulfed the nearby woods. The other two dragon knights had come to help with the remaining green dragons. The evil adepts quickly scattered and ran through the terrifying dragon breath and the dragon knights' terrifying blade radiances, finally giving the two surrounded dragons some breathing room.
The green dragons were finally able to fly away from the adepts' battlefield with much difficulty!
Chapter 221
Neither side seemed to have sustained any deaths in this first battle, but the knights had clearly lost a powerful ally.
Willis felt anger rise in his heart at his green dragon companion’s severe injuries, but he grit his teeth and suppressed his emotions.
He waved his hand and the witcher-knight army, already waiting in formation, started to advance slowly.
The humiliation and pain the adepts inflicted on him would be paid back tenfold... a hundredfold. And the price they will be paying in would be their lives!
Willis could already tell that the number of adepts on the other side were not very many. There were at best only two dozens of them. Moreover, most of them were low-grade adepts. There wasn't a single high-grade adept among them that could make him feel fear and respect.
If that was all the force the enemy had, Willis was certain that the army was not needed. He alone, along with the dragon knights, would be more than en
ough to exterminate these evil adepts.
However, for some odd reason, every time Willis looked at the gigantic adepts' tower in the distance, an indescribable and irrational fear would rise up in his heart. It was almost as if… as if there were some terrifying demon there, its mouth wide open, waiting for him to enter.
It was precisely this sense of fear that caused Willis to recall the green dragons and have the witcher-knights advance instead. If there were truly any terrifying traps in that tower, the six thousand witcher-knights would be enough to force it out.
What Willis needed to do was lead the green dragons to drive in the most ferocious killing blow, once all the hidden enemies had shown their ugly faces.
The green dragon squad was a dagger to slit the enemy's throat, while the witcher-knights were a hammer to crack the enemy's tough shell. He knew this very well!
Eleven muscular and powerful radiant knights appeared at the front of the formation. The intense light of energy radiated from their bodies. They would be the ones to lead the most savage charge at the enemy later. The ninety-eight spellbreaker knights formed groups of two, with a group of a hundred witcher-knights following behind each pair.
They were in the middle of a vast stretch of forest, with no flat paths for them to start a charge. However, the knights in shining armor still pulled down their visors and pushed their magic colts forward slowly. The might and glory of an army several thousand men strong still caused the onlooking adepts to feel a little nervous.
The knights' army had slowly begun to accelerate!
Sir Fügen looked at the iron knights slowly closing in. While caressing the snake-eye ring on his left little finger, he coldly ordered, "Start Operation Plague!"
With his order, strange ripples started to repeatedly spread across the forest. Wherever the ripples passed through, the witcher-knights and the colts under them would start to go into a panic. Some of the magic colts would even frantically jump about while whinnying, tossing the knights off their backs.
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