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Age of Adepts c1-1513

Page 264

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼


  For the sake of the tower and their own lives, all the apprentices were controlling the offensive arrays to the best of their abilities. Every time a magma fireball formed, they would hurl it towards the ugly tentacled creature climbing on the walls as well as at the wyvern king that fought with the manticore leader.

  Fireballs exploded in the skies and flames spread in every direction!

  The two monsters fought in the harsh environment just like this, circling above the tower, occasionally clashing while tearing and biting at each other.

  Of course, Greem wasn't in a good position! Even his manticore subordinate was fighting with all his might!

  The Flame Fiend retreated again and again under the combined attacks of Tula, the Demon-Hunting Spider, Dana the Medusa, and the Giant Berserk Gelada. He had no choice but to keep his back against the tower and remain on the defensive.

  Fortunately, the sea of lava was still rising. It had already sealed off all exits in the cavern and had submerged the first level of the tower.

  Greem stood tall above the sea of lava. His legs had already turned into half-molten flowing magma. Viscous lava was continuously being drawn from the sea of lava to his body to repair the damage he sustained.

  The time for his transformation was up. Greem had to withdraw from his second phase transformation. He sealed the Flame Fiend's Heart once again and relied on his first phase transformation to hold the magical creature lords at bay. Greem silently waited for the moment the sea of lava completely flooded the cavern.

  The magical creatures that were counting on the lava to subside quickly realized that the situation would only get worse. Defending themselves in this harsh environment was already a problem, and only a few of them could have any chance of helping in the attack against Greem.

  Seeing that the magical creatures were starting to stir, Eva had no choice but to expose herself.

  She left the stone pillar she was standing on and floated to the middle of the magical creatures. An odd but intense mental flux immediately engulfed the entire place.

  Eternal Sleep!

  It was an ordinary and straightforward Spiritual spell that was able to guide living beings into sweet slumber!

  An ordinary magical creature might have fallen asleep within seconds. However, all the beings that had managed to survive until this moment were strong magical creatures with exceptional strength. If it weren't for the fact that the sea of lava limited their freedom of movement, Greem would be in an even more challenging situation.

  All the creatures affected by Eva's Eternal Sleep felt their minds waver for a second. If this had been any ordinary circumstances, it would be no more than a quick nap for them. However, right now, they were all clinging to stone pillars and stone walls due to the lava.

  They had nowhere to stand. Instead, the creatures barely hung onto the walls in all sorts of weird and twisted positions. This slight flicker in their consciousness caused two of the four remaining magical creatures to slip up and fall into the sea of lava.

  And among them was Unguja the Three-Headed Demon Hound!

  The boiling lava scorched their skin and there was no place for the monsters' feet to settle on in the flowing magma. They roared wildly but were still powerless to resist the terrifying heat and flames that penetrated through their bodies and roasted their flesh a bright red.

  The sizzling sound when flesh met magma was torturous.

  A thick burning smell filled the entire place!

  Only one of the two magical creatures that fell into the sea managed to escape. It was Unguja!

  He was, after all, a magical creature lord and had a far more resilient body compared to the other ordinary magical creature. Even so, Unguja was not in good condition at all.

  A muffled boom.

  A massive fire bubble popped in the middle of the lava and Unguja scrambled out from within, howling in pain as he did so. His charred limbs hugged a stone pillar tightly as he once again climbed up.

  The other magical creatures couldn't help but look at him.

  Tssss.

  The magical creatures drew in a cold breath of air.

  The previously mighty Unguja had become a hideous and mangy mongrel.

  His hair and skin had all burned away; only black and purple burns remained on the surface. A mere seven or eight seconds in the lava and already his thick hide had blackened into charcoal.

  As he moved around, his carbonized skin peeled off and revealed the vivid red flesh and muscles beneath. Blisters of all sizes covered his body, while blood and pus continued to flow out from his exposed muscle structure. Purple and black blood would splash every time one of his blisters popped.

  It was almost as if Unguja had been skinned and roasted over a campfire. Not a single piece of untouched flesh was visible across his body. He was bright red and bleeding.

  The magical creatures sympathized with Unguja's fate. They all cast hateful gazes at the cause of this incident– Eva. Almost instantly, a chain of purple-black lightning and a cloud of acid immediately ravaged the spot where Eva was standing on.

  Eva screamed in pain and immediately fled. She desperately flew towards the tower which, at this point, had been half-submerged in lava.

  Greem and the others had discovered the disturbance in the distance as well. Tula's spider webs, Medusa's snake arrows, and the giant berserk gelada's stone projectiles formed an impenetrable line of defense. It seemed like they wanted to exterminate the traitor in one fell swoop.

  Gargamel was frightened out of his wits. He quickly flew out of the tower and shouted at Greem, "Saver her!"

  At the same time that Gargamel shouted, Greem's gigantic body of flames disappeared. He emerged from the sea of lava beneath Eva.

  "Get down!" Greem waved the staff in his hand as a terrifying suction pulled Eva down from the air. A raging wave of fire rose to the sky and formed a wall that protected against all incoming attacks.

  By the time the gelada's projectiles were able to force apart the wave of fire, both individuals had vanished once again.

  Greem's towering silhouette emerged from the sea of lava again, and he quickly sent the unharmed Eva back into the tower. It was only now that Greem had the time to raise his hand and remove the snake arrow biting into his shoulder.

  With its head in Greem's grasp, the snake could not bite his hand no matter how much it struggled. A flame ignited in his hands and instantly reduced the poison snake to ashes. Greem rubbed his fingers together, and all the dust slowly fell.

  "What is it? Do you still not admit your loss today?" Greem's black eyes stared at Dana the Medusa without any emotion. He spoke coldly, "Run now, and you still have a chance to escape. Continue fighting, and all you can do is wait for your death by lava!"

  Meryl and Gargamel flew out of the tower as Greem threatened them. They levitated in the air and stared coldly at the magical creature lords.

  By this point, all of their subordinates and servants had died to the sea of lava beneath them. If they continued to fight instead of retreating, they would be forcing Greem to pull out all the stops.

  "Human, are you not at your limits as well!" Demon-Hunting Spider Tula hung from the ceiling as its wicked mouth clattered. A furious mental voice boomed out in the air, "You still intend to scare us away after slaughtering so many of our tribe members? Tsk, tsk, tsk. I can't wait to conquer your tower and taste the fresh meat inside!"

  The eyes of the magical creature lords turned blood red when they heard Tula's words.

  This trick of theirs was too cruel and wicked. To have flooded this place with subterranean lava! All of their tribe members and servants had been exterminated. Even if they managed to escape this place today, they would be reduced to nothing but lone lords with no vassals to serve them. They couldn't suppress their rage when they thought of this. They once again prepared themselves for a fight as they surrounded the adepts.

  Seeing that the negotiations had fallen apart, Greem immediately projected his Spirit in
to the tower's control center. He chose a red command from the list of items without hesitation.

  In next second the tower trembled as hundreds and thousands of streams of lava blasted out from within the structure. It was a beautiful sight. From afar, it looked just like a flowering tree of fire.

  The face of the magical creatures flushed white the moment this happened.

  This attack enveloped the entire caverns. It was a terrifying rain of fire that fell from above. This…how were they supposed to dodge an attack like this, or even escape?

  The magical creatures quickly split into two parties.

  One party followed behind Tula and recklessly charged at the adept's tower. They wanted to smash open a path to survival by doing so. The Dark Tentacular led the other party. They turned tail without any doubt and rushed towards the other end of the caverns.

  As long as it was able to find a crack that allowed passage, the Dark Tentacular had absolute confidence in escaping.

  Dana the Medusa, as well as the Giant Berserk Gelada, chose to charge with Tula. However, the Wyvern King was not as courageous as his previous performance suggested. He decided to leave with the Dark Tentacular.

  He had no choice. The fight with the manticores had inflicted severe injuries on him. He no longer had the confidence to attempt a breach on that unpredictable tower.

  The fight of life and death erupted in front of the adept's tower, just like that!

  Chapter 416 Abnormal Transformation

  Unlike in the battle earlier, everyone gave their full effort from the very start this time.

  The invading magical creature leaders had no way out now.

  The first earthquake had destroyed all the underground tunnels. If they wanted to run, they would have to use their own bodies to carve out a path through the layers of shattered rock.

  Moreover, they would undoubtedly be pursued by the human adepts, even as they tried to make their difficult escape.

  That was why the other magical creature leaders didn't follow after the Dark Tentacular and the Wyvern King. Instead, they chose to charge towards the tower.

  In their eyes, the adept's tower was their only chance of survival.

  Anyone could tell that the tower had been severely damaged by the forceful extraction of lava from underground. As long as they were able to push inside and slaughter all the adepts and apprentices within, they would be able to take over the entire place.

  They would have a place of shelter from the flood of lava.

  Yet, at this moment, three human adepts stood in their way.

  Three accursed adepts who stood in the way of their survival!

  That was why it turned into a battle of life and death immediately.

  Greem endured the discomfort and unsealed his Flame Fiend's Heart once more.

  A tall and impressive figure emerged under a rain of lava and fire. Magma and flame composed its wicked and resilient body. Strange runes floated around it, and sharp magma spikes covered the monster's shoulders, elbows, knees, and back. The ends of the spikes were glowing red from heat. It was frightening to look at, even from a distance.

  When the burning figure finally stood up, the lava beneath its feet all flowed up towards its body as if the substance had sentience. A thick layer of magma armor formed wherever the lava flowed.

  Several shields made of fire materialized around the Flame Fiend's body and started orbiting him. An even denser and broader magma shield appeared at the same time. The fifty-centimeter thick magma still dripped with lava.

  Let alone touching these shields, just getting close to them would make one feel parched and dried out from the heat.

  Behind the shield, a pair of glowing red eyes shone in the Flame Fiend's crimson head. Greem held the Blaze of Destruction in his left hand and a flame whip in his right. He opened his large mouth, and white steam came surging out as he let out a warning roar at the magical creatures.

  All the magical creature leaders who locked eyes with Greem couldn't help but feel fear creep up their hearts.

  This…this bastard turned into a terrifying abyssal flame fiend?!

  At this moment, Greem was not doing well either. The red alerts from the chip had filled his consciousness.

  "Second phase transformation complete.

  "Signs of assimilation of the body of flames detected. Source of foreign energy has been identified as the Flame Fiend's Heart!

  "Current assimilation progress: 3%……

  "Host transformation complete! Physical strength significantly increased! Bodily attributes significantly increased! Elementary immunity to electricity, acid, fire, and poison obtained. Magical resistance increased! Physical damage taken reduced by 15%. Obtained part of a Flame Fiend's innate abilities.

  "Abnormal changes to host's attributes observed. Strength +3 | Agility +1 | Physique +3 | Spirit +2.

  "Host's current attributes are as follows: Strength 11 | Agility 7 | Physique 12 | Spirit 16.

  "Chaotic flux patterns have emerged in host's Spirit. Effects manifest as bloodthirst and battle hunger. Initial estimates suggest abyssal corruption as the cause. Requestion instructions from the host. Expel abnormal spirit aura?

  "Host's Spirit is being suppressed by the world consciousness. If the host is unable to expel abyssal aura within fifteen minutes, host will be judged to be an otherworld creature by the world consciousness. Planar backlash will be incurred by the host. Requesting instructions from host."

  A series of warnings and alarms filled Greem's mind. At the same time, a surge of power ran through his body. He had never felt so much power as he did now.

  This strength was extremely overwhelming!

  Greem's rationality had been affected by the immense power coursing through his body. The desires he had buried deep in his heart were being uncovered by the mysterious power, like rotten mud that had settled at the bottom of a pond for a thousand years. Even Greem couldn't tell if those were his own delusions and fantasies, or strange thoughts that the mysterious power was feeding into his mind. His spirit consciousness wavered.

  However, when three magical creature leaders finally shattered the Magma Shield, Greem's survival instinct quickly brought him to his senses.

  He opened his eyes and realized that he had charged all the way into the middle of the three magical creature leaders; they had surrounded him. Greem had been using his robust body and savage battle fever to exchange blows with the enemy, trading wound for wound.

  Dammit! As expected, the abyssal aura was not a good thing at all. To have driven him to fight in such a reckless manner without any reason!

  Greem immediately contacted the chip in his brief moment of clarity and once again regained control of his body.

  Without any hesitation, Greem activated the purple Ioun Stone circling his head. He erected a tough defensive barrier around his soul and kept that primal blood-red constriction in his mind at bay. Even though Greem had the presence of mind to exterminate this abyssal aura right now, it would severely affect the bonuses brought on by the Flame Fiend Transformation.

  Why were abyssal demons so powerful? It was because of this trace of violence, cruelty, and chaos.

  If he cut away these traits, his physical attributes would suffer. Thus, Greem had no choice but to allow the abyssal aura to continue ravaging his mental world. He needed this additional piece of strength. With the mental barrier's protection, he was not going to lose his mind in the short term.

  Time was limited!

  Greem took advantage of his considerably boosted attributes and changed his combat style without pause.

  His innate talent was for fire spells, yet in that moment of chaos, Greem had been foolish enough to start a melee with the enemy. He had to correct this idiotic behavior of waving a staff like it was a wooden bat!

  The very next moment, Greem cast Fire Teleportation and flashed away from the enemies' surrounding him. He appeared behind the agile figure of the giant berserk gelada.

  Bind!
/>   Ignite!

  Greem pointed with his staff the moment he appeared, and two demonic fire spells immediately took effect upon the gelada.

  Greem's flame whip split into eight chains of fire the moment he used Bind. They lashed towards the gelada and wrapped themselves around the gelada's legs. The chains quickly extended up the gelada's hairy body, winding around various parts of its body. Soon, the chains had utterly constricted the monster.

  The red and burning fire chains sizzled and burned away the hair wherever they touched. They scalded the skin and pressed into the gelada's flesh.

  A pungent odor of burning flesh filled the air!

  The berserk gelada howled in pain. It grabbed the chains of fire with its hands that were as black as steel. It used every single fiber of strength in its body in an attempt to tear them apart.

  However, Greem's second fire spell, Ignite, had arrived.

  The giant gelada's body spontaneously combusted.

  It wasn't just its hair and its skin. Even its organs and flesh had ignited under the effect of this strange spell.

  The berserk gelada immediately turned into a flaming primate!

  Greem wouldn't have been able to do this so smoothly if they hadn't been fighting in this environment. However, while they were here, Greem could instantly turn an elite-level monster into a sacrifice to the sea of lava.

  The caverns had halfway submerged into the slowly rising sea of lava. The concentration of fire elementium in the remaining space had reached shocking degrees. Every one of Greem's spells was twice as effective. The strength of the spells and the damage they inflicted had reached a horrifying peak of one hundred and seventy points.

  It was said that only Second Grade adepts could cast spells with two hundred points of power. Greem's attack was undoubtedly remarkably close to that of a Second Grade adept.

  The berserk gelada was an earth-attribute magical creature. If there had been sufficient earth elementium here, it might have been able to draw upon the earth elementium to suppress the raging fire elementium within its body. However, that was an impossible feat in this environment!

 

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