…………
Five kilometers from the eastern outskirts of Gilneas City.
Mary had already been waiting for a while by the time Greem arrived.
Mary beat her wings and floated fifty centimeters above a small mound of earth that resembled a grave. Her crimson eyes were fixated upon Greem.
Her skintight armor covered the upper half of her body. Crimson patterns flashed on the armor, occasionally forming blood-red roses. Her exposed arms and feet were white and smooth, and her skin glistened with a certain radiance.
Mary's small face was still as delicate and perfect as before. Her seductive red lips paired with her blood-red eyes to create an unforgettable sight.
She carried a longbow on her back that glowed with the same crimson light.
Greem couldn't be more familiar with this armor and longbow. In fact, Greem could even describe every marking, pattern, and rune on them. That was because he was the one who had personally modified the equipment for Mary.
"What is it, Mary?" Upon arriving, Greem stopped in front of Mary and asked in confusion, "We haven't seen each other in so many years. Shouldn't we be catching up? What's with all this?"
"What's our relationship?" Mary suddenly asked.
"Relationship?" Greem tilted his head and thought for a while before answering with complete seriousness, "Friends!"
"Adepts have no friends! There is only knowledge, benefit, and one's self in the eyes of adepts!"
"Calling you a friend might be unacceptable for you, so why don't we define our relationship as a companionship!"
"There is still the dominant and the submissive in a relationship! What do you think about us? Who's the dominant one, and who's the submissive one?" Mary continued to stare at Greem, completely emotionless. Her words surprised Greem.
A battle for power?
In the past, both Greem and Mary had always treated each other with sincerity when they had worked together. The enemies they had faced were almost always too powerful. The two of them had to treat each other as sincerely as possible to work together and deal with every difficulty that came their way. That was why they had never honestly figured out the pecking order between them.
"I just returned from the Knight's Plane five days ago. I heard some problems have happened between you and the clan. Adept Meryl has also told me about everything that has happened in the clan during this period. I can tell. You are not a person that would only live in the present. It doesn't matter whether it's your adept's tower or the investment you made in Alice. All of this is a clear display of your ambition."
Greem didn't speak. He silently listened.
"You wish to go independent! You want to build a force and organization of your own!" Mary continued to press the issue and finally arrived at the most important question, "What position would I take up in the organization that you envision?
"Your concubine? Or your subordinate?"
The pitch of Mary's voice suddenly rose at the end.
"If you want me to serve you, you will have to beat me first! Otherwise, you should be the one to kneel before me and call me Queen!"
Mary let out an ear-piercing scream, and her bat wings unfurled to their fullest. Four bloodsucking bats suddenly flew out as crimson mist enveloped her body. The bats landed on the ground and transformed into three muscular knights wearing crimson armor, and one noble youth.
Three radiant knights?
Greem immediately recognized the identities of the three Blood Knights. He couldn't help but be surprised by the extent of Mary's power.
If this conflict hadn't come up, Greem would have been happier the stronger Mary was. However, Greem felt his head start to ache from how powerful Mary had become.
Damn! Trying to subdue a proud female adept would have been a freaking daydream if he didn't have a little power! It was even more so when it came to someone as competitive and headstrong as Mary. It would be impossible for her to willingly become his woman if he didn't convincingly overpower her.
Greem knew it was no time to shrink back when he saw Mary reveal the full extent of her powers. Even though this fight came upon him in an extremely confusing manner, it would all be worth it as long as he could make Mary submit.
Having understood all this, Greem cast away his hesitations. He too brought out everything he had.
He casually took out a brilliant golem crystal core from his belt and tossed it into the air. Meanwhile, Greem himself started to swell in size as he let out a cold laugh.
The surging fire elementium poured out from within his body, instantly turning him into a blazing flame being. The earth beneath his feet scorched and melted under the extreme heat. The ground soon came together and formed a roiling pool of magma.
The red lava crawled up Greem's legs and extended towards his body. The substance covered the terrifying flame humanoid with a thick layer of magma armor wherever it flowed.
Crimson magma, red lava, and frightening flames. The three manifestations of heat mixed and formed Greem's four-meter tall Flame Fiend body.
Deng! Deng! Deng!
Seven Fire Shields formed in midair. They started to spin around the Flame Fiend's body, each of them one meter wide and two meters tall. These shields were composed of red and yellow flames.
Clang!
A dull ringing sound.
Two massive Lava Shields formed from magma and fire quickly sprang up and appeared in front of and behind the Flame Fiend.
Finally, a light, red egg-shaped barrier shot out of Greem's body. It instantly engulfed an area of over a hundred meters around him.
All the grass within the radius of the Ring of Fire burst into flame.
The whole place became a sea of fire!
Chapter 454 Battle of Two Monsters
Shocking!
Extremely shocking!
Watching Greem transform from a flesh and blood human to a monster of magma and fire from a close distance sent shocks right to the depths of the soul; it was a surprising sensation of awe that was hard to quell. However, the genuinely eye-catching bit wasn't the Flame Fiend itself, but the ferocious wind dragon that Greem had summoned from the golem core.
It was a strange dragon that was nineteen meters long from head to tail! Its wingspan was ten meters wide!
Its body was neither intangible nor tangible, but somewhere in between. A layer of light green, semi-translucent scales covered the surface of its body. The somewhat empty-looking body appeared to be unexpectedly tough. Through the thick scales, one could see that the wind dragon's flesh and bones weren't actually physical constructs. Instead, they were masses of rapidly flowing wind vortices.
It possessed protruding and well-defined bones across its body, where wicked bone spikes stuck out from head to tail. They gleamed with a chilling light. The green dragon lifted its sinister head pridefully. A light shone in its eyes as it moved around. When it opened its mouth, one could see a small thunderstorm forming in its throat.
The wind dragon had a massive pair of wings on its back. It had slender front limbs and thick, muscular hind legs. Its claws were powerful with sharp, threatening nails.
Unlike the Flame Fiend Greem had turned into, the wind dragon had formed entirely out of nowhere. The sudden imbalance of elementium when a massive amount of wind elementium surged and gathered into a small area was a horrifying feeling.
Greem rose into the skies like a miniature sun on the back of the wind dragon. The endless flames caressed the ground as the temperature continued to rise without stopping, causing one to feel as if they had been plunged into a volcano.
The three blood knights were fine. The blood energies within their bodies emerged and formed blood-red barriers on the surface of their bodies. This protection allowed them to resist the damage from the intense heat and flames. However, the weak and frail Vanlier couldn't do this. He screeched in pain as he transformed into his bat form and desperately escaped the reach of the Ring of Fire.
His flight speed aft
er transformation allowed him to move a hundred meters away in less than five seconds. Even such a short period was like torture for him. The hairs on the surface of his body had started to wither, and small clusters of flames had also ignited on his body.
A blood-red mist exploded around him.
Vanlier immediately returned to his human form once he was out of the Ring of Fire. He frantically beat his body and rolled about on the ground in an attempt to extinguish the fires.
Sadly, all of this was in vain!
These fires seemed to be burning wildly with his flesh and blood as the fuel. The pain went straight to his heart, causing him to yell and cry out.
Szz!
Vanlier endured the intense agony from his burning flesh and forced out the small amounts of blood energy within his body. He directed the power and covered the areas of his body that were on fire. Finally, after much difficulty, Vanlier was able to put out the flames.
Once the final spark of flame was gone, Vanlier let out a sigh of relief and crumbled to the ground, singed and burnt. A deep sense of respect rose in Vanlier's heart as he looked at the mighty flame humanoid standing on the wind dragon. He once again felt the terror of a powerful adept!
Greem didn't care about a small-fry like Vanlier.
That said, since he was so weak, there had to be some exceptionally redeeming point to him.
This fight wasn't a true deathmatch; there was no need to exterminate or kill anyone. Thus, Greem didn't deal the finishing blow to the now crippled Vanlier.
At this moment, most of his attention was focused on Mary, who was licking her red lips.
Mary didn't seem even a little shocked or fearful, despite seeing Greem's dramatic entrance. Instead, she appeared to be unusually excited and eager to fight.
"Go!"
Under her command, the three blood knights maintained their strange half-human, half-bat forms and lunged at Greem with Soros in the lead.
The fire damage they received increased at an exponential rate as they closed in on Greem. Szz! The crimson energies clashed with the elementium flames and continuously destroyed each other. The dense cloud of blood mist that engulfed the knights quickly wore thin.
Crescent Moon Slash!
Leaping Execution!
Cross Impact!
Three destructive knight battle-techniques cut through the air before they even got to Greem's side. They crashed against his Lava Shield with three dull thuds. Shattered rocks flew everywhere. Sparks scattered. Three deep slash marks appeared on the fifty-centimeter thick Lava Shield.
Even Greem's brow twitched when facing the attacks of three blood knights.
As expected of radiants knights that had once been known all across the Knight's Plane. Their mid-range battle techniques were truly ferocious. The most profound slash mark had almost cut the Lava Shield clean in half. If that had happened, Greem's most potent defense would have been destroyed in the first round of attacks.
Greem instantly retaliated with three Magma Fireballs.
The sudden flame shockwave and rain of lava threw the blood knights into chaos. It was only thanks to their high mobility that they were able to avoid the core of the explosion. Even so, the splashing lava still burned their bodies and wings; holes appeared everywhere. They had no choice but to quickly retreat from Greem's range and draw upon their blood energies to regenerate their wounds.
This ability was what troubled all of Greem's enemies!
The existence of the Ring of Fire made a drawn-out fight with Greem a harrowing experience. The elementium flames that perpetually burned their bodies made it a futile effort to fight Greem at melee range.
The enemies would always have to retreat after a single round of attacks to prevent the damage accumulation from the high temperatures and fires. In doing so, their rhythm was interrupted. All their attacks would fail to exert their full effect due to the frantic retreat and lack of follow-up.
When faced with an elementium adept like Greem, the blood knights first had to crack the layers of energy defenses shielding him. Then, they would have to work through the thick magma armor before finally being able to harm the adept himself.
It was the only way to harm Greem's well-protected body of elementium!
Meanwhile, they would have to endure Greem's relentless barrage of fire spells. If they gave up half-way and backed off to heal their wounds, Greem would be able to replenish his damaged and destroyed defenses quickly.
It was virtually impossible to harm Greem if they didn't crush all his defenses with a powerful single round of attacks!
Moreover, Greem wasn't the only one fighting against them.
The wind dragon he rode was practically a counter to all flying beings.
Apart from some of the magical creatures who excelled at flight, any other being would pale in comparison to the wind dragon; they seemed so much more clumsy and sluggish when compared to it. They could only watch with dazed eyes as the enemy maneuvered around them with the agility of a fish in water.
Compared to the blood knights, the wind dragon was like part of the air itself. They couldn't track its next movement when it flew in the air. It could perform all sorts of unthinkable actions in flight, despite its gigantic body. One couldn't even believe their own eyes.
It was this agile and swift trait of the dragon that left Greem free to turn into the most overbearing cannon in the world. Magma Fireballs crashed towards the blood knights from several different directions, trailing black smoke as they flew across the sky. The fireballs threw the knights into disarray, sending them flying everywhere in a desperate attempt to dodge the attacks. The blood knights were no longer able to repeat the savage attacks they had accomplished during their initial charge.
It couldn't be helped. The wind dragon's speed advantage was far too pronounced in the air. The wind dragon was utterly rolling over the three blood knights.
It didn't matter how strong the attacks of the blood knights were, or how ferocious their advances were. It was all for nothing if they couldn't keep up with the wind dragon!
Back in the Knight's Plane, Greem had to be careful whenever he dealt with a radiant knight, fearful that a slight slip up would spell his death. However, now, Greem appeared to be calm and collected, even when facing three blood knights.
Of course, there was the factor of the plane suppression's effect on the blood knights. But most of it was a demonstration of Greem's personal growth.
Mary let out a crisp battle cry when she saw her subordinates being beaten around by Greem. Her wings shook, and an afterimage drew across the sky. She turned into a red silhouette and dashed onto the battlefield.
Greem, who was casually chasing the blood knights on his wind dragon, was immediately alerted when he heard Mary's outcry. He hastily commanded the wind dragon to dodge. However, the wind dragon didn't have time to do so. It moved three meters away when Greem's Lava Shield shattered in a flurry of crimson strikes.
Mary, having obtained her planar feedback, had improved by leaps and bounds. Her bodily attributes had far exceeded the range of a veteran adept and had entered the level of an elite adept.
Her sixteen points of Agility made it almost impossible for an ordinary adept to catch sight of her. Her Strength, which had once been a weak point of hers, had now become enhanced by her high Agility. Her attacks were both fast and powerful. Mary successfully destroyed Greem's Lava Shield by striking seven times as she passed by the wind dragon.
Greem still had several layers of Fire Shields around him, but those shields were meant for defense against elementium attacks. They possessed inferior physical defense when compared to the Lava Shield. Greem was terrified. He immediately moved the Lava Shield at the back of his body forward to temporarily protect his critical spots.
The Flame Fiend's elementium body didn't possess a vital spot that would cause death when hit. However, there were key nodes in his body that, when damaged, would significantly affect the efficiency of his elementium circulation
.
That would indirectly decrease Greem's combat ability!
Mary opened her wings and flew away after her successful attack, flicking away the lava on her hand as she did so. Her smooth, white right hand had now turned black as charcoal. The surface layer of the skin had completely carbonized.
Mary let out a cold snort as blood energy gathered in her right hand. Her severely burnt skin that had lost all signs of life rapidly peeled off, revealing the quickly regenerating bright red flesh beneath.
The two opponents passed by each other in the air. The gazes they cast at each other betrayed shock and cautiousness.
Clearly, their combat prowess had exceeded each other's expectations.
The scales of the battle once again returned to equilibrium!
Chapter 455 Melee
The battle in the sky continued to intensify.
The Explosive Fireballs, Magma Fireballs, and Meteor Showers fell like rain pouring down from above. Craters blasted into the earth, and molten lava flowed everywhere.
Soros carefully dodged through the Meteor Showers, occasionally performing a frantic dodge to avoid an Explosive Fireball coming from above. A single moment's carelessness could send him flying to the ground in such a harsh battle environment. An attack could quickly turn him into part of that scorched landscape.
Soros beat his wings and made a broad circling motion across the sky. Inside the area he circled was a blinding sea of fire.
However, while most of the fields of fire were usually on the ground, this particular sea of fire was thirty meters in midair.
The fire elementium within was far too dense and active. It severely affected Soros' field of vision and spiritual senses. Consequently, Soros had no idea what was happening inside the sea of fire.
He would only grit his teeth and dive in once his wings had healed under the influence of blood energy. He would try to launch another wave of attacks at that monstrous Flame Fiend standing atop the wind dragon.
He only had a short window of two to three seconds to attack. If Soros lingered too long within the fire, his bat wings would burn and become riddled with holes. If that happened, he would fall from the air and turn into a grounded blood knight.
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