Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  That undoubtedly hurt the hearts of many goblin engineers, inventors, and alchemists who were hiding in a safe place and secretly watching the battle through long-distance lenses. This brutal one-on-one allowed the goblins to once again recognize the difference in power between them and the invaders with perfect clarity.

  Otherworldly invaders of a higher plane weren't just stronger than them in a single aspect. They were superior in every single aspect. While they secretly mocked the Dragonborn as foolish and brainless idiots, they failed to understand a fundamental truth. When a species was sufficiently powerful, they no longer needed to resort to those so-called schemes and strategies.

  It didn't matter who the enemies were and what they tried to do. The Dragonborn only needed to endure the enemies' bombardment and charge forward to smash them to pieces. Schemes had no place at moments like these. Even combat strategies were no longer as important!

  It wasn't as if the Dragonborn were absolute idiots. They simply did not need to employ such tricks against the frail goblins.

  The goblin leaders finally gave another order after the verification of the Dragonborn's combat abilities. The remaining three Second Grade magical machines swarmed forward and finally took down the dragonborn at a price. One machine was severely damaged, and the other two also suffered minor damage of varying degrees.

  Then, this specially modified goblin chariot hauled this dragonborn prisoner away at its highest speed.

  By the time the other two dragonborn arrived here by tracking the scent in the air, there was nothing left but scattered magical machine pieces and a large pool of blue blood.

  The dragonborn were no idiots. They quickly discovered oddities at the scene of the battle.

  The dragonborn scouts quickly reported the situation to all their companions through strange roars. Some long, some short, while others were high-pitched or low.

  That also caused the ambushes that Gazlowe had prepared in a few other areas to fail due to the caution of the dragonborn!

  Chapter 526 Mary and the Dragonborn

  The pitch-black tunnel continued to extend before the eyes.

  The destruction in this place had caused leakage in many of the energy pipes. That also forced most of the lights in the tunnel to shut off. Only individual areas were barely able to maintain their lights.

  The leaked chaotic magic energies ran loose in the tunnels, indirectly weakening and disrupting spiritual senses. The disruption made it hard for outsiders like the adepts and the dragonborn to get a proper grasp on the situation with their powerful Spirits.

  The tunnels of the Steel Capital were like a muddy pool of water that had been disturbed. All the powerful, weak, and mediocre actors scrambled inside the place, taking advantage of the chaos to try and obtain the most substantial benefit. Since there were predators, there was naturally prey. Of course, most of the players involved were only idiots that imagined themselves as predators despite being prey!

  …………

  Mary was shrouded in a crimson mist as she traveled in the darkness. Her bat wings shook lightly as she silently gilded with the tips brushing against the ceiling of the tunnel.

  Along the way, she put out everything that gave off light, causing eternal darkness to take over the entire tunnel. Below her, several panicking goblin soldiers were crying as they scurried in every direction. Without proper illumination, they bashed their heads into walls and metal pillars like blind men.

  Any wise predator would hide their position in such a dangerous environment. They would hide in the darkness, beside the panicking goblins, quietly waiting for their true prey to take the bait.

  The routed goblin army was undoubtedly a sacrificial pawn that Gazlowe had thrown to the wolves. Their haphazard escape into all the various tunnels was a ploy to split up the predators during this crisis. This way, the elite goblin squads he had prepared would have better ability to counterattack. They would be able to rely on their powerful and concentrated strength to put down these strong outsiders.

  The dragonborn scouts were beginning to expand outwards with the hall as the center, and they were looking to exterminate all goblin forces that could threaten their plans. The adepts, on the other hand, also advanced towards the core area without knowledge of the dragonborn.

  Both parties were like octopi, spreading all of their forces towards each corner of the battlefield. As they started to close in upon each other, and as their forces began to cross paths with other, conflict became inevitable!

  If one were described as an assassin in the dark, then Mary would be a monarch of the dark.

  Most of the frail goblins couldn't even sense her existence when she unfurled her wings and flew right past their heads. These lowly creatures didn't interest her either. Consequently, Mary continued to advance towards the core area of the underground labyrinth, never stopping even slightly for the 'trash' beneath her.

  When she flew down a narrow corridor and arrived at a critical crossroad, a thick smell of blood pressed against her face. She felt her Spirit refreshed at the very scent of it. Mary silently stopped below the tall ceiling of the crossroads and took a look at the floor.

  An army of goblin soldiers that numbered around fifty individuals had once been stationed here. They had everything– magical machines, chariots, magic energy weapons, and they possessed decent combat strength. Yet, by now, all of these had been turned into relics; everything had been shattered and torn to pieces.

  The magical machines and chariots had been destroyed through violent means!

  The expensive magical machines had all been turned into metal components scattered across the ground. A deep indentation had even been left in the ground. It looked as if it was the result of a forceful blow by a giant monster. Caught between the shards of metal were the twisted and sliced corpses of the goblins, along with large pools of black blood.

  Mary went in the direction of the blood trail and soon found herself looking down a dark tunnel.

  It seemed someone or something had already hunted here. The direction they were hiding in led right into that pitch-black tunnel.

  Mary unfurled her bat wings and dove into the tunnel without any hesitation. She turned into a beam of red light as she rapidly glided down the shaft.

  The path was one of slaughter!

  Destroyed magical machines and pieces of the goblin chariots were lying everywhere. None of the goblin mechanics' corpses were complete either. They were like toys that had been spoiled by excessive play and were completely torn apart.

  Mary finally managed to catch up with that group of enemies after flying for seven kilometers.

  Two remaining magical machines were fighting with three muscular monsters under cover of five goblin soldiers. In truth, this couldn't be called a fight. It was a game of death!

  Without a solid defensive line or focus fire of heavy weaponry, the magic energy weapons of the magical machines and the goblin soldiers dealt negligible damage to the enemy. Three creatures that were half-human and half-dragon used electric shields to defend against the goblin attacks before violently charging at them like berserk warriors.

  Blue electric shields, tough indigo scales, and muscular and mighty bodies.

  Their immense physical advantage allowed them to crush the barely established perimeter of the goblins instantly. The poor creatures were reduced to meat paste as the giant monsters stormed their way past them.

  A magical machine that had lost most of its limbs collapsed to the ground, but it was still trying to barrage the dragonborn with bullets to stall their movements. The other goblins quickly scattered. They could no longer act in a group and decided to escape into the nearby tunnels on their own.

  "Sambella… ihamdar… guriat." The dragonborn scout in the lead shouted several sentences in Dragontongue and his two companions quickly pursued the goblins into the tunnels with wicked smiles on their faces. The scout himself slowly walked up to the damaged magical machine.

  The ferocious bullets
immediately stopped when they hit the blue electric shield. All of their kinetic energy was absorbed by the shield, causing them to be trapped in front of the net of electricity. The dragonborn's indigo scales would deflect the occasional bullet that made it through the net. The round bullets would even flatten from the impact.

  Bullet barrage, flamethrowers, iron fists.

  The magical machine had done everything it could, but it still couldn't leave any visible damage on the dragonborn. As as the goblin mechanic was coming to terms with his death and preparing to trigger a rocket to self-destruct, the dragonborn struck with his electric spear. The spear pierced through the thirty-centimeter thick metal plate and ran all the way through the goblin.

  Electricity flashed across the spear and sparks flew everywhere inside the machine. The entire machine then blew up into a rain of metal components with a loud explosion.

  The dragonborn scout retracted his electric spear with a wicked smile hanging on his face. He was just about to leave when he paused. The dragonborn turned around, his four reptilian, amber eyes quickly latching onto a slender figure standing in the air. He quickly noticed the large wings behind her as well.

  "Vernarsuta (Who are you)?" The dragonborn scout roared in Dragontongue. For the first time, a profound sense of danger rose in his heart. However, the opponent seemed to be apathetic to his Dragontongue. She didn't respond. Instead, she just levitated in the air, staring at him with cold crimson eyes.

  The dragonborn scout ran through three or four languages in a row. It was apparent that he didn't want to start a fight against the person before him recklessly. Sadly, the one he ran into was Mary– the woman of action who had a history of acting faster than she could think.

  Mary raised her pretty face and let out a battle cry as blood mist surged around her. She folded her wings and dove downward.

  The dragonborn scout didn't dare be as careless and casual with Mary as he had been with the goblins. He raised the electric spear in his hand as a forked lightning shot towards the enemy. The electric shield in front of him crackled and its powers of electricity tripled.

  However, Mary's speed was still clearly beyond his expectations. Her crimson silhouette made multiple sharp, quick turns in the air, leaving only afterimages. She had already flown past the edges of the electric shield before the dragonborn scout could even react.

  Beng! The loud snap of bowstring.

  A crimson arrow pierced through the thick neck of the dragonborn, leaving a bloody hole in its wake.

  A wound as terrifying as this would have been lethal to any ordinary person.

  However, the Dragonborn were terrifying creatures with tenacious vitality. He still didn't die, despite a hole being blown into his neck. Instead, the dragonborn cupped the wound on his neck and used his powers of electricity to cauterize the wound. He then raised his electric spear and chased after Mary, continuously using blue thunderstrikes to strike at her shadow.

  A trace of electricity had found its way onto Mary's body the moment she had passed by the dragonborn scout earlier.

  Even with the protection of the blood mist, the savage powers of electricity had still managed to shatter three crimson roses on the surface of her crimson armor. That meant that the opponent's electric attacks were powerful enough to hurt Mary if they struck true.

  However, Mary was still a fearsome First Grade elite adept that originated from the World of Adepts. The opponent was no more than an ordinary First Grade dragonborn from a small planar world. Both parties might seem to be at the same level, but their actual might in combat was the difference between heaven and hell.

  Mary didn't even need to use her real power. She was merely relying on her vastly superior agility to circle the opponent, waiting for a slip in the enemy's defenses to close-in shoot an arrow at a point-blank distance.

  The dragonborn scout could only roar in grief and indignation when faced with a vampire adept that remained so cautious against him, despite how much more powerful she was. Of course, he was also frantically hurling electricity at Mary's afterimages. Unfortunately, all of his attacks struck only air, while Mary's attacks all landed on his body.

  The neck, the heart, the stomach, the right eye, the tail.

  As long as it was the vital point of a living creature, her crimson arrows would pierce it. The existence of magic powers caused the dragonborn's scales and electric shields to become ineffective at protecting their owner.

  It didn't matter whether it was the physical damage from the arrow, or the blood mist corrosion and shadow damage attached to the arrow; none of these were attacks that the dragonborn scout could endure. As his internal organs were destroyed and his life force drained, the dragonborn scout finally collapsed to the ground with a painful howl. He was no longer able to stand up with his own strength.

  Mary lunged onto the dragonborn's massive body. Her cute canine teeth suddenly increased in size and stabbed into the dragonborn scout's neck like twin daggers. She then crouched upon the dragonborn and started sucking blood.

  The dragonborn's formerly healthy body quickly dried up. Even his scales turned dull and lightless.

  The slight bit of energy consumption from the battle earlier was immediately recovered. However, much of the dragonborn's life energy couldn't be directly digested, and Mary stored it as blood crystals in her stomach.

  "Vernasuta (Who are you)? Yabrihangustaso (You are the one that killed him)?" A strange exclamation in Dragontongue rang out in the room. The other two dragonborn scouts sensed something was wrong and saw the scene before them when they returned.

  Mary lifted her head from the dragonborn's shriveled corpse. Her pretty face was smeared with blood, and her crimson eyes glowed with a dangerous and greedy light. Blood dripped from her sharp, protruding fangs.

  Powerful, pure, delicious.

  That was Mary's assessment of Dragonborn blood!

  However, what attracted Mary the most was the bloating sense of strength she received from the dragonborn's blood.

  It'd been a long time since she'd savored this feeling.

  Mary lifted her head and presented the two dragonborn scouts with a 'sweet' smile!

  Chapter 527 Greem's Resolve

  Mary wasn't the only one who had gotten into a fight at this particular moment.

  The goals of both parties were the same. As such, the chances of them running into each other was immense.

  As the invaders, sweeping aside all obstacles was a task they had to complete. Thus, almost four or five of such battles had coincided in the black underground tunnels.

  Of course, without exceptions, the adepts were the ones who emerged victoriously.

  The power difference between both parties was obvious!

  The dragonborn might all have possessed First Grade powers at the very minimum, but that was only their innate power manifested by their muscular bodies and powerful bloodline. As a result, the way they fought leaned more towards the basic instincts of a wild beast.

  The adepts were vastly superior to them in this particular aspect.

  Almost eighty percent of all adepts came from frail and lowly humans. They underwent untold suffering and wandered near the gates of death again and again. It was only after enduring a terrifying journey as an apprentice that they ascended to become a terrifying adept that stood above everyone else. Compared to the natural abilities of the Dragonborn, all of the adept's powers were won with their own two hands. Or rather, seized with their own two hands.

  Only a minority of people could successfully go from apprentice to adept. Most of these successful individuals had to step upon the bones and corpses of their companions to reach the peak of their life. Of course, there were a generous sprinkling of schemes and conspiracies mixed up in this journey of theirs.

  That was why every single adept would possess trump cards and an ace in the hole that outsiders were not privy to. These were secrets they would never easily expose unless it was a moment of life and death. Adepts nurtured in su
ch a harsh and unforgiving environment naturally possessed a greater chance of winning against a bunch of dragonborn who relied on their innate talents and physical might.

  Not to mention the factor of equipment.

  If Mary's crimson longbow didn't have a piercing effect, it would have been hard for her to so easily murder a dragonborn scout, regardless of how fast she might be. Apart from Mary, Poison Witch Endor, Mechanical Adept Sabrina, and Berserk Witch Sofia also obtained victories of their own.

  Bug Adept Billis, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate. His scorpions couldn't do much against a thirty-ton hulking monster wrapped in hard scales. That was why he had no choice but to give up on these mouth-watering blood treats after a couple of unsuccessful attempts. Instead, he turned to the goblins for his needs.

  Greem and Alice didn't encounter any enemies. They easily reached the core area as if they were merely strolling through a market.

  Things became a lot more difficult when they reached there.

  Both the goblins' important facilities and the hall guarded by the dragonborn were very well-defended. Trying to find another path without an enemy using Alice's abilities was impossible.

  Alice looked at the three paths that silently extended before them. She appeared just as unfazed and calm as she always was, even if she was deep in enemy territory.

  "Three roads going in three directions. Which one do you choose?" Alice fell silent for a short moment before turning to ask Greem.

  "You've got to give me at least a hint!" Greem spread his palms open, "I don't have that divination ability of yours."

  "The path to the left is where Princess Vanessa has been hidden. Fate feedback suggests only moderate danger.

  "The path down the middle leads to the space furnace. There is where Gazlowe is conducting his immortality ritual. Fate feedback suggests extreme danger.