The three dragonborn spellcasters might have surrendered their weapons, but they weren't weaklings that had lost all combat ability. They might be called spellcasters, but their physical strength wasn't too far behind an ordinary dragonborn warrior. They could easily kill jaguars and boars with a single punch when they waved their scaled fists.
Unfortunately, the one they had provoked was the newly advanced Second Grade Vampire Adept Mary.
After the strengthening from the Blood Moon Prayer ceremony, the racial trait that Mary had obtained upon advancement into a pure-blood vampire was Blood Resonance!
Mary could perfectly sense all flowing blood within a hundred meters and could achieve a certain level of resonance with that blood. If the target creature was not protected by magic, then Mary could even cause their blood to boil.
It couldn't actually be considered magic anymore. It was simply and purely a racial power.
All weak lifeforms would lose all ability to resist before Mary. She didn't even need to lift a single finger. All she had to do was activate her racial power, and the opponent would die to their own boiling blood.
These three dragonborn spellcasters were taken down before they even had a chance to strike back!
Everything started to clear up as the dense blood mist slowly returned into Mary's body.
The three dragonborn spellcasters had turned into three withered corpses. They lay upon the ground with not a trace of observable life within them. Mary lightly licked her bright red and seductive lips as she walked out of the mist with a look of satisfaction.
She was even softly wiping away the blood stains on her face with a pure white handkerchief as she walked.
The handkerchief had turned crimson red by the time she arrived before Zacha.
She turned around with the speed and force of a whirlwind and coldly asked with a harsh expression on her face,
"Does anyone else have an opinion?"
Her voice wasn't very loud, but all the dragonborn prisoners shrunk backward out of fear.
Who would've thought, and who would've known that this seductive and beautiful human female adept was also a terrifying Second Grade. Moreover, the power she possessed was more than enough to obtain the respect of the dragonborn!
No wonder even a great dragonborn like Zacha would bow before her.
The dragonborn prisoners all lowered their heads. No one dared to look directly at this female adept.
"Bring them back!"
"The rest of you, clean up the battlefield."
The remaining adepts and magical machines started to carefully and completely clean up the battlefield, while Zacha propped himself up and led the dragonborn back to the metal fortress.
The Crimson Clan had paid quite a considerable price for the victory in this battle. They would have to regain their losses through the spoils of war.
All destroyed magical machines had to be retrieved, regardless of the extent of the damage. Those that had sunken into the swamp had to be fished out as well. They might have lost their combat ability and were mostly left with only their empty shells, but they could be melted down and reforged if they were sent back to the metal fortress.
The fully functioning smelting factories, alloy workshops, and assembly lines of the metal fortress were also in great need of raw materials. Returning the damaged magical machines to the forges would undoubtedly help save plenty of metal ores.
The dragonborn corpses were also biological resources of great value.
The flesh of the wind dragonborn last time had produced decent wind indurium upon being combined with magical alloys. The indurium had provided the Crimson Clan with fairly large returns upon being transported back to the World of Adepts. There were even more fire dragonborn corpses this time. The Crimson Clan would be able to reap even more returns as long as they were able to create a suitable magical metal material with the corpses.
The Crimson Clan might appear to have suffered high losses in this battle, but these wastes could all be recuperated in a short amount of time. The metal fortress only needed around ten days at full operational capacity to replace the lost magical machines. All they had to do was clear up the battlefield and take all the spoils with them.
The only thing that the Crimson Clan had lost was some metal ores they had dug up from the depths of Azurelode.
Would they ever lack magical machines with such a rich mine right behind their backs?
The Crimson Clan had solidly established themselves upon Lance with this minor victory.
Chapter 594 Sanazar's Attitude
World of Adepts, Fire Throne.
With the opening up of Fire Cave, Fire Throne was once again presented before the public after a being shut away for over a month.
The teleportation device inside the metal fortress had also been connected to the teleportation arrays in the Goblin Plane and Fire Throne, with Gazlowe's magic energy furnace as the energy source. This way, the Crimson Clan had managed to break through two plane barriers in a matter of six months.
In particular, the Goblin Plane had become a lesser plane of the Crimson Clan, and the numerous goblins within had become a satellite force of the clan. Lance, on the other hand, only had a nail hammered into it. Further attempts at the excavation of its resources required a constant investment of power.
That was why Greem could only list Lance as a contested territory.
A plane like this was not within the ability of the Crimson Clan to devour. The only choice left was to spend over a hundred years to chip away at its power slowly!
Now that the Goblin Plane had become the property of the Crimson Clan and the forward base in Lance was secure, Greem could finally take the time out to deal with the hidden concerns of the clan.
The Crimson Clan's roots were still in the World of Adepts, after all. It would be exceedingly difficult for the clan to grow in size and power if they didn't properly deal with the interpersonal relations in the World of Adepts. The first problem that required attention concerning the establishment of the Crimson Clan was, naturally, the Sarubo Clan.
On the third day after Fire Cave was fully excavated, Greem's messenger arrived in Feidnan City. The messenger delivered a delicate handmade invitation to the hands of Third Grade female adept Lady Sanazar. Along with the invitation came a whole batch of valuable magical gemstones, magical materials, and rare treasures of other worlds. An initial estimate of the gift put it at three hundred thousand magical crystals worth.
Adept Keoghan hurriedly arrived at Lady Sanazar's quarters after settling the messenger within the adept's tower. To his surprise, he found Adept Fügen there. The Second Grade adept had been gone for quite a while.
Fügen had hidden within his room after the battle of Fire Throne and refused to see anyone. It seemed he had been affected by the whole event. The fact that he had appeared here meant that he had heard news of the arrival of the messenger.
"Have you helped the messenger settle down?" Lady Sanazar was still cloaked in a strange cloud of purple mist.
"He has been settled!" Keoghan bowed and paid his respects.
In the time that Adept Fügen had been in hiding, Keoghan had been responsible for the various matters of the clan.
"That fellow has been hiding for an entire month. Now he's come up with some damned banquet the moment he shows himself. He even sent someone here with such valuable gifts. What is he planning?" Lady Sanazar's voice floated out from within the purple mist, seemingly lazy and disdainful.
Adept Fügen remained silent but cast his gaze upon Adept Keoghan.
Keoghan wasn't young anymore. All these years of experience had turned him into a calm and collected man who knew how to compose himself and hide his thoughts. Thus, he hesitated for a moment before finally speaking, "My lady, if I am not mistaken… Greem probably intends to establish his own clan!"
The room suddenly fell silent.
A short moment later, Sanazar finally asked with a chilling tone, "You mean to say that
Greem will directly announce the establishment of his clan at this banquet? What incredible guts he has."
Adept Keoghan had a solemn expression on his face. He smiled bitterly and said, "This is only my guess! However, judging from how valuable the gifts he has sent us are, there is a very real possibility that my guess is correct."
"Kehkehkeh," Sanazar suddenly let out a piercing and cold laugh, "Gifts worth three hundred thousand magical crystals; how generous of Greem. He intends to use these as his ransom?"
The nearly middle-aged Keoghan could only lower his head when he sensed that overwhelming killing intent. He didn't dare to meet the chilling gaze within the purple mist.
The adepts might be wise and knowledgeable individuals, but the strengths and weaknesses of one's personality would also be magnified tens of thousands of times as their power reached a certain height.
As the leader stationed within the World of Adepts by Lord Sarubo himself, Lady Sanazar could have avoided the intensification of conflict between the Sarubo Clan and Greem if she had been gentler in her approach and softer in her method of dealing with things.
Perhaps a First Grade adept was no different from a Second Grade adept in Lady Sanazar's eyes. These adepts were always insignificant ants before a Third Grade adept. A simple slap would crush and kill them. It didn't matter how much stronger Greem was. There was no chance of him threatening her, a superior Third Grade adept.
However, her arrogance and pride might have caused her to forget an important fact. Greem had taken no more than a hundred years to climb from his lowly position as an apprentice adept to his current Second Grade. That was indirect proof of his astounding potential and talent!
In all seriousness, the Sarubo had already lost their best chance and timing to suppress Greem's growth.
Now, if they failed to acknowledge Greem's growth and give him the recognition he deserved, then the conflict and tension between them could never be resolved again!
The fact that he had sent an invitation and such valuable gifts to his old clan when he intended to establish his own clan was already extremely benevolent and kind of him. If Sanazar didn't take back the initiative with this kind act of Greem's, their relationship would only get worse.
It meant that Greem's new adept clan was very likely to become a rival clan to the Sarubo. That was not a wise decision for the Sarubo Clan!
If Greem was someone that was easily dealt with, then the pressure from the clan and the mass invasion of the vampire clan should have been enough to topple him.
Sadly, the development of events was completely different from everyone's expectations!
Not only did Greem not collapse under such pressure, but he had also successfully crushed the Vik family led by a Third Grade vampire. In doing so, he had left a heavy slap upon Adept Fügen's face.
Second Grade Adept Fügen had slowly phased himself out of the management matters of the clan ever since the battle at Fire Throne. One had to acknowledge that this was the effect of that battle.
Greem was now impatiently stirring up trouble immediately after his wounds from the previous battle had healed. After all, Greem was an adept raised in the Sarubo Clan. His standing forward in public to establish his own clan would mean a separation of the Sarubo Clan.
It would have an entirely negative impact upon the reputation of the Sarubo Clan!
Adept Keoghan could understand Lady Sanazar's anger, but he had always been a practical man and believed that worsening tensions was not a solution to the problem.
Firstly, the Sarubo Clan had to acknowledge a single truth– they had let the time and ability to suppress Greem's continual growth slip away.
If Lady Sanazar had the ability to rewind time and could return to before Greem had advanced to Second Grade, simply killing him would be the cleanest and most direct solution. It might have some adverse effects within the clan, but the clan could still endure such insignificant shockwaves.
However, with the point things had now developed to, Greem had successfully advanced to Second Grade. Even a veteran Third Grade adept like Sanazar couldn't do anything to him as long as he was cautious and hid within his adept's tower.
Perhaps this was the main reason why Greem dared to provoke Lady Sanazar's fury and chose to clash with a Third Grade vampire!
Secondly, Keoghan himself had to acknowledge that Greem had made it to where he was all through his personal efforts and hard work. The help of the Sarubo Clan was much more minimal than what outsiders thought.
For a new adept that had barely advanced for six months, Greem's debut performance in the planar war of the Knight's Plane had been nothing short of stellar. It could have been described as stunning.
Heartless slaughtering, ferocious and efficient battles, appropriate strategic moves, bold yet careful.
Even a veteran adept like Keoghan, who had advanced over a hundred years ago, couldn't help but be impressed by Greem. His decisions were always correct and efficient. He seemed to have overcome the various flaws of human nature and allowed himself to always remain in his calmest and wisest state of mind.
Fear, doubt, confusion– these emotions seemed to have never appeared in Greem.
He was like a cold golem, unaffected by these human emotions, always placing himself in the most advantageous position.
However, if you thought of Greem as a cold and purely rational adept that placed his own benefit before everything else, you would also be mistaken. He'd possessed reasonably good relationships with the various adepts around him during the battles in the Knight's Plane, especially with Adept Mary. In fact, there were many times where he displayed a sort of courage and generosity in action.
That was what truly confused Adept Keoghan!
Greem was simply too excellent. He displayed all the necessary traits of a an adept leader. Yet, he had only been a newly advanced First Grade adept back then!
Could Greem already have thought of developing independently and establishing his own adept clan even back in the Knight's Plane?
The thought was almost absurd, but for some reason, Keoghan felt like his conjecture had stumbled upon a terrifying reality.
If one were to be brutally honest, Greem had pretty much advanced from an apprentice to a First Grade before pulling ahead of Keoghan and advancing to Second Grade, all under Keoghan's eyes.
That might not be much to Greem, but it was a heavy psychological burden for the proud Keoghan. Every night before he slept, Adept Keoghan always doubted whether the path he chose was the right one.
That was why Adept Keoghan felt a certain sense of pleasure at Lady Sanazar's hostility toward Greem, even as he worried deeply for the clan.
Perhaps taking this opportunity and reconciling with Greem was the best choice?
Adept Keoghan silently thought to himself.
Chapter 595 Dragon Auction
Greem, who had sent the entire Ailovis region into turmoil, had appeared once again.
This short message spread throughout the Zhentarim in a single day, as if it was an infectious plague.
The name of a Second Grade adept shouldn't be able to create such massive waves in the center of the continent. After all, there were over five hundred clans of various sizes scattered across Zhentarim. It wasn't as if Second Grade adepts were everywhere, but there were at least a thousand of them.
However, he was the first and only Second Grade adept to crush a decent ranked vampire family with the power of his own clan.
The defeated Vik Family had lost over half of their family members. Even family head Haines had suffered fairly severe wounds. That wasn't the worst of it all. The weakening of the family had also provoked several neighboring vampire families into action.
The newest information revealed that the Aimer, Snowden, and Moen Families had already started conspiring together. They were preparing to split up the Vik Family between them during this period of weakness that the Vik was experiencing.
These vampires had already shut the doors
on the southwest of Zhentarim and started their own bloody battle. Plenty of rumors about the deaths of human nobles and changes in territory ownership could be heard from the southwest.
However, the Viks still had a single Third Grade and two Second Grades. As long as they gave up their outer territories, they should have no problem defending Bloodcastle. However, the Vik would probably need several decades of rest and recuperation to rise back up from such a disaster and return to their original ranking.
There was no doubt about it. The Vik Family had most definitely placed Greem and Mary upon their list for revenge. The Third Grade Vampire Haines Vik would undoubtedly use his most cruel methods to flay the two of them alive and mince them to pieces as long as he had the chance to.
When Haines heard of Greem showing himself once more and inviting the nearby adept clans to participate in a banquet hosted at Fire Throne–while he himself was struggling to survive his crisis–he flew into a rage. Haines snuck out of Bloodcastle in the night after some careful arrangements and preparations.
The two Second Grade vampires of the family remained in Bloodcastle.
They had no choice. The Vik Family had now become the most substantial cut of brisket in the eyes of their rivals. If the strength of the clan were completely put to use, Bloodcastle would only have traps and magical defenses to rely on. That was not nearly enough to defend against the combined forces of the other families.
…………
It was only three days until the day of the banquet, yet the surroundings of Fire Throne had already turned lively.
A large group of human adventurers, mercenaries, and wandering adepts and apprentices had gathered around the place, with Fire Throne and Fire Cave at the center. They had their backs against Fire Throne and did not need to worry about their safety. They could boldly enter the Black Forest to explore its lands and harvest its near endless flora and fauna resources.
Fire Throne had discarded its previous isolationist stance ever since Fire Cave was made open to the public. They had also started requiring strict identity checks of all people wishing to stay in Fire Throne. The adepts and apprentices that had left in the previous battle had all been placed on a blacklist. These people were no longer allowed to appear anywhere near Fire Throne.
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