It struggled for a dozen seconds before falling from the ceiling with an excruciating howl. A muffled splash rippled on the surface of the lava, sending fire flying in every direction.
The gelada's body quickly sunk into the lava and was never seen again!
While Greem had been dealing with the gelada, Tula and Dana were throwing everything they had at him, as if they had gone mad.
Spiderwebs?
They were all burned to ashes by the Burning Domain before they could reach Greem.
Indeed, with the exponential increase in all of Greem's abilities, his Ring of Fire had been temporarily replaced by the Flame Fiend's unique Burning Domain. All opponents that stood within his Domain would have to endure a maddening eighty points of fire damage per second.
That was the highest amount of damage that a newly advanced adept could hope to muster!
Even Meryl, who was three or four years deep into her advancement, had to go all out if she wanted to deal that much damage. However, at this moment, it was passive damage being dealt to everything within a hundred meters of Greem.
Poison balls?
They were instantly vaporized by the heat the moment they formed.
Snake arrows?
The Medusa's snake arrows were already broiled red when they reached within a hundred meters of Greem. When they came within fifty meters of Greem, they sizzled and turned into black ash before falling into the lava beneath him and vanishing without a trace.
As for the Medusa's unique Petrifying Gaze? Apologies, but an innate ability with only a five-meter attack range was utterly useless when pitted against Greem's Burning Domain. Unless Dana wanted to take the risk of moving in close to Greem's side, she could do nothing but swear.
Chapter 417 Truce
Greem already possessed the home field advantage. The scales of the battle quickly tipped in his favor now that he had completed his second phase transformation. He was ferociously beating up Tula and Dana.
It hurt them all the way to the bone whenever Greem struck them with his violent attacks that typically went up to one hundred and fifty points. When taking into consideration the Ring of Fire that covered a hundred meter radius, it wasn't hard to imagine how painful of a chore it was to fight with Greem in this sea of lava.
Even the Medusa, with her magical resistance, could only skim along the edges of the Ring of Fire. She instantly felt as if her entire body had set aflame if she ventured too far in and entered the Burning Domain. Even a monster like herself couldn't endure more than ten seconds in the Burning Domain. Otherwise, her defensive forcefield would fall apart.
What awaited her then would be indescribably horrifying torture!
On the other hand, Tula was doing pretty well, as one would expect of the true sovereign of these lands. His combat ability was at the absolute peak of elite-level. If the environment here hadn't wholly tipped in Greem's favor, Tula would have been able to put up a vicious fight against the adept.
Thus, Tula was responsible for engaging Greem, while the Medusa was tasked with harassing Greem from a distance. Both parties fought above the tower, battling until the caverns trembled from their might.
Despite all his strength and power, even Tula couldn't take much more after such an extended fight with the Flame Fiend.
The elementium fire burned continuously at his body. The resilient, steel-like hair on his body had withered and fallen off from the heat. his smooth spider legs with high metal composition had roasted a bright red.
Most of a demon-hunting spider's body was as hard as steel. Only the sizeable abdominal sac at the back of its body was particularly soft.
In past battles, any enemy that tried to strike at that weak spot would have had to face the many spider webs that Tula shot out from there. If they were ever bound in place by the sticky white webbing, they would be rendered harmless prey with their lives at Tula's behest.
However, the relentless eighty points of flame damage were truly hurting Tula! Extremely so!
Tula's purple abdominal sac was already covered in black scorch marks. Many places had already been burned through. Every time Tula moved around with his quick speed, he left behind a trail of sour black spots.
That was what the spiderweb liquid looked like after being carbonized!
It didn't matter whether Greem was still able to hang on at this point. Tula was most definitely faltering.
With his power at the height of elite-level, Tula was a terrifying existence wherever he went. He ruled over a stretch of the Black Forest with his strength. He had ordered this war against the tower for the sake of his land and resources.
A powerful being like Tula would be a massive threat to other magical creature lords wherever he went. That was why it would be virtually impossible for him to find a suitable territory to live in if he ever left this place. Lords might be willing to take in magical creatures like Dana the Medusa, but no one would ever take in an 'ex-lord' like Tula.
Thus, be it for his own interests or those of all the magical creatures, Tula had given his all in the siege of this adept's tower.
Unfortunately, he had still underestimated an adept's tower stationed with an adept!
Moreover, he had never expected the terrifying ace that Greem had hidden up his sleeve– the sea of lava!
Most of the tower had already submerged into lava at this point. From a distance, the tower looked like a piece of broken rock floating in the lava. The magma and fire continued to burn the tower's walls. The entirety of the outer walls glowed scarlet as if they were about to melt and collapse at any moment.
If the tower had been built with ordinary steel, it would have melted into the magma even if it had heat resistance. It couldn't compare to the volcanic rock with which the tower was built. The terrifying heat was immediately absorbed by strange runes the moment it made contact with the tower's walls. The heat was then transferred to the elementium in the energy room where it was stored for future use.
The lava wasn't damaging the tower. Instead, the tower was absorbing fire elementium energy at an even faster rate. The lower levels of the elementium pool had been filled even before the pools at the highest level had been filled.
When a layer of bright red elementium forcefield covered the tower, Tula completely broke down! The last bit of his hopes had vanished into ashes.
It was already an uphill battle without the elementium forcefield, and now…
Tula promptly chose to give up without any hesitation!
"I'll hold him back for now. You try and find an escape route!" Tula's mental voice silently rang out in Dana's mind.
Tula moved the moment Dana agreed and turned. His tattered abdominal sac suddenly swelled, and a white sticky liquid sprayed all over the Medusa.
The liquid dried the moment it was exposed to the air. It was both adhesive and elastic now.
"You..." Dana was completely taken by surprise. It took her a while before she remembered to struggle and break free of the web.
However, in a matter of seconds, her body had already been tied up into a cocoon by the multiple layers of webbing. She could hardly move a finger. Tula lunged over and grabbed the cocoon with his mouth, escaping with it towards the distance.
His wounds might have looked deep, but his sharp limbs still rapidly moved when he needed to escape. He clung to the wall and vanished within seconds.
Even Greem was surprised by the scene before him. He had let Tula escape before he knew it.
He wanted to chase after Tula, but he paused and thought for a bit.
Greem then slowly turned around and cast his gaze upon the few surviving magical creatures.
Three-Headed Demon Hound Unguja!
A bird demon!
A snake fiend!
They were an elite-level magical creature and two ordinary magical creatures!
They didn't have the strength to run away, but they didn't dare to attack Greem either. That was why they hid on stone pillars or within cracks in the walls,
anxiously awaiting the outcome of the battle.
The magical creatures lamented their fate when they saw the towering Flame Fiend look over with his blood-red eyes.
"Sir, I surrender!"
No one expected that the first to surrender would be Unguja! He was a magical creature leader after all!
His hair and skin had all burned away. He looked just like a mongrel in the streets that had been skinned by a butcher. His three heads pressed against the stone wall as he desperately wagged his red tail at Greem.
If he weren't clinging to a stone pillar, Unguja would probably prostrate himself before Greem to demonstrate his submission and goodwill.
The other two magical creatures looked at each other and saw profound helplessness in each other's eyes.
They both lowered their heads dejectedly and expressed their desire to surrender.
Greem snorted coldly. He pointed with his finger, and the dense fire elementium around the creatures materialized into red chains that immediately bound them.
Of course, the three monsters could break free of this low-level fire spell. However, none of them could even find the courage to resist when Greem glared at them. They were taken down just like that.
Greem ran into a smiling Gargamel when he dragged the three creatures back into the tower. Gargamel was holding a massive body that had been charred beyond recognition.
"The giant berserk gelada?" Greem was stunned for a moment.
There weren't many creatures of that size, which made it easy for Greem to guess its identity.
Before Gargamel could answer, Greem shook his body and the tall Flame Fiend form quickly disintegrated. Greem's frail body was exposed as the magma and fire peeled away.
He crouched on the ground and spat out several mouthfuls of black blood before he got onto his feet.
"Master… "
"Teacher… "
Gargamel and Meryl hurried forward and helped Greem onto their shoulders from both sides.
Just then, Eva the forest spirit floated down from the top of the tower and slowly approached Greem.
"Are you alright, Master?" Gargamel couldn't help but ask out of concern.
Even though he was a wandering adept, and had a strong distaste for most clan adepts, he felt very different about his master. That was why Gargamel's concern did have a certain sincerity to it.
"Teacher, should I help you to your room to get some rest?" Meryl frowned as she asked, worried.
"There's no need! A couple of shockwaves only hit me in the fight earlier. I'll be fine once I get the blood out of my system," Greem didn't want to reveal too much about his actual situation. He quickly turned his attention towards the four magical creatures they had captured, "Make some arrangements and bring them to the Room of Bindings. I need a conclusion to this as soon as possible!"
"Leave it to me!" Gargamel couldn't hide the excitement on his face when torture and interrogation were mentioned. His eyes glowed with a brilliant light when he looked at the magical creatures, "Hey, you lot, come over here and bring these beasts to the Room of Bindings. This adept wants to tend to them personally."
The apprentices that had just raced over from various spots in the tower respectfully greeted Greem. They then excitedly lifted up the four magical creatures and ran towards the Room of Bindings upstairs.
Three locations in the tower could be used to confine enemies.
One was a prison used to imprison ordinary creatures.
The second was a Sealing Room, typically used to imprison magical beings with powerful abilities. The Sealing Room was essentially a small foreign dimension that could effectively cut off all connection to the outside world.
Many proud creatures would have to be isolated in the Sealing Room for several decades, or even centuries before their edge wore away, and they became more willing to submit to the adepts.
The last one was the Room of Bindings. It resembled the Sealing Room.
A powerful confinement array existed in the Room of Bindings. All magical creatures locked up there needed to be dealt with as soon as possible. Those that were willing to serve were branded with a slave's mark. They would then become part of the tower. If they refused to serve, they would be tossed into the Sealing Room and isolated for a couple of decades before they were reconsidered for service.
Once things had settled for a bit, Greem quickly made his way to the energy room.
Even though the chip's connection with the core array allowed him to know the number of magical crystals exhausted, he still felt like he needed to see for himself.
Chapter 418 Post-Battle Accounts
One hundred and ten thousand magical crystals!
This regional battle for territory had exhausted one hundred and ten thousand magical crystals.
And this was already the optimal outcome that Greem had achieved by taking advantage of the geography and the sea of lava. If he hadn't had this trick in reserve, Greem would have had to lead his men in a desperate fight against tens of thousands of beasts.
Their defeat would have been set in stone!
He did a little calculation himself. One hundred and ten thousand of the one hundred and twenty thousand magical crystals Alice had sent him had been exhausted. The remaining ten thousand were just enough to patch up the tower. That was a clear demonstration of Alice's powers as the Witch of Fate. The extent of her help was just sufficient enough; not too much, not too little.
The situation in the energy room came as a shock to Greem as well. The activation of the defense system and the offensive array had depleted the small reserve of energy in the elementium pool. However, the existence of the sea of lava had filled up the lower levels of the elementium pool. It was now pure fire energy that sustained the functions of the tower.
The enormous fire energies coursed through the tower's structure. The wall's volcanic rocks glowed a faint red from the heat. From a distance, the tower looked like a blazing tree stuck in the sea of lava. It was an odd sight to behold.
The chip had connected with the core array and generated a list of the battle's casualties while Greem was taking a look at the energy room. The record projected into Greem's mind.
"Battle of the Magma Hall, ally casualties: two manticores. Enemy casualties: Approximately one hundred and seventy-three thousand low-level forest beasts, three hundred beginner-level magical creatures (apprentice-level), eighty intermediate-level magical creatures (adept-level), thirty high-level magical creatures, and two magical creature leaders. Magical Creature Lord Tula and Magical Creature Leader Dana remain on the run. The Dark Tentacular and the Wyvern King remain trapped somewhere underground.
"One hundred and twelve thousand magical crystals were consumed during the battle. Thirty-one locations of damage detected in the structure of the walls. One hundred and twenty-seven malfunction areas detected within the internal energy conduction system. Thirty-four arrays have been damaged.
"Spoils of war: two magical creature leaders confined in the Room of Bindings. They are the Three-Headed Demon Hound and the Giant Berserk Gelada. (Gelada has received critical physical damage. It is unlikely for it to regain combat ability. Voodoo beast modification is recommended). Two high-level magical creatures confined. They are the Bird Demon and the Snake Fiend. The bird demon is the unevolved form of the harpy. It is a close-range agility magical creature. The snake fiend is a mutated beast created by magical corruption. It possesses traces of a demonic bloodline and is a close-range offensive magical creature.
"Fire spirits can be sent out to salvage more spoils of war. Magical creature corpses or items that can survive the continuous heat of lava will have immense value."
…………
Greem couldn't help but feel a shiver run down his spine when he saw the numerous rows of statistics listed in his mind!
If he hadn't drawn the sea of lava into the cavern, he would never have been able to resist this stampede of beasts with only the tower. That wasn't even considering the magical creatu
res that had been mixed in!
It wasn't hard to imagine how things were for other adepts. Imagine that a clan built an adept's tower in the Black Forest and stationed one of their adepts within. That tower would have to face the attacks of all magical creatures and beasts within an area of three to four hundred kilometers. The price they would have to pay to succeed was immense.
If the tower fell, the resources and manpower lost would be incalculable. Even if they managed to repel the stampede, it would still be hard to develop the area rapidly. They would still have to fight with the upset beasts again and again before they could turn it into a safe zone.
These border areas were the zones of contention between adepts and magical creatures. They were extraordinarily hazardous and unsafe to live in. No clan attempted to start a mass migration of their population into such a dangerous place. They had to slowly rely on their adepts, apprentices, and mercenaries to repeatedly exterminate the magical creatures and clear out their dens.
This game of tug of war would typically last for ten years before they could develop a village suited for humans to live in!
In this process, any small mistake by the leader could bring about disaster for the entire human settlement. It could easily cause the clan's decades worth of effort to go to waste.
That was why every clan that wanted to develop new land and expand their territory had to be extremely cautious.
They not only had to take into consideration their strength, but also the number and quality of the magical creatures surrounding their new territory. In particular, they needed a powerful team of adepts that could promptly react to any emergency that cropped up around their land.
When considering this standard and cumbersome procedure, it wasn't hard to see how fortunate Greem was!
This risky and dangerous defense of his tower didn't just fend off the magical creatures. More importantly, it killed off most of their numbers. It meant that the amount of wildlife and magical creatures around Plaguewood would plummet tremendously.
Moreover, the tower itself was hidden two hundred meters underground. It possessed a geographical advantage. Anyone that sought to destroy it had to face the wrath of a sea of lava. Greem only needed to remain in the tower, and he could strike when he wanted and defended as required. Even if the surface was once again taken over by magical creatures, he did not need to worry about his safety.
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