Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Most of them were large hawks with golden talons and silver wings. These birds could reach up to two meters tall when standing upright, while their wingspan easily measured four meters long. The rest of the flying creatures were odd flying serpents with wings upon their backs. Blinding electricity rumbled across their bodies as they flew.

  As large flying beasts, their bodies weren't suited for such high-speed flights in the woods. However, they were oddly able to traverse the harsh terrain, occasionally flaring their wings and riding upon the winds while sometimes folding them to maneuver between the branches and leaves.

  A terrifying wind blade or lightning blast would shoot forth whenever their green eyes locked onto a flying bat. It was just too hard for a vampire spawn to dodge instant-cast magic like this with their power!

  That was why several crimson bats had been exterminated in the skies along the way.

  On the other hand, the hastily organized retaliation of the bat had absolutely no effect upon the pursuers. The rumbling lightning would exterminate a vast majority of the bats before they could even get close.

  As vampire spawn with only the strength of an advanced apprentice, their bodies lacked magic resistance and were as thin as paper beneath the eyes of elite druids. As for their ability to regenerate by consuming blood? That was utterly useless before a tidal storm of lightning.

  The only ones who could hold their own against these pursuers were the blood knights and the blood elves. Even the First Grade vampires had trouble guaranteeing their own safety.

  However, due to the threat of the giant thunder roc above, Mary didn't dare to send her elite squad to execute the pursuers, even after a great deal of hesitation.

  Both parties quickly traveled the forest during this pursuit, traversing a distance of a hundred kilometers within a single day. At this point, the power of the vampires' unique Physique was slowly starting to show.

  The vampires still had energy to spare, but the druid squad was at their limits!

  Finally, the pursuers were gradually left behind, and the vampires screeched as they continued into the depths of the forest.

  They flew on for another two hours in the forest and eventually stopped near a short cliff when there was no longer any trace of the druids.

  Though the vampires had unique Physiques, an entire day of continuous exhaustion had still caused the blood energy stored within their bodies to fall to extremely low levels.

  Night had already fallen by now. The entire forest was engulfed in heavy darkness.

  After they had set camp, large swarms of vampires scattered into the surrounding woods to find blood treats. Meanwhile, Mary gathered a group of her subordinates and silently started to discuss their plans for the upcoming days.

  It was undeniable that they would never dare to set foot anywhere near Skywater City anymore!

  Their reckless actions before this had infuriated the upper echelons of the elves. The fact that this elite elven army had managed to intercept them near the west coast was no coincidence. Rather, it was a planned operation of extermination on the elves' part.

  Mary summoned a few of the blood elves and quickly gained an understanding of the situation after some questions.

  Within the ranks of the elven army, the elven commanders were often accompanied by elven diviners. Apart from their immense knowledge that allowed them to understand the geography of the entire continent and recognize all sorts of flora and fauna, these individuals were also prophets.

  Prophets. They were undoubtedly the most difficult opponents amongst casters, as well as the type that Mary was most reluctant to deal with!

  As a Second Grade vampire adept, her confidence in slaughtering elves inside the elven kingdom's sphere of influence with a ragged crew all came from the agility and stealthiness of the group. She wouldn't even consider touching excessively strong elven cities and groups.

  The ones she chose to deal with had always been delicious food that had been specially selected and that she could easily swallow.

  However, if an elven diviner came looking for them and provided guidance, the advantage of the vampires would no longer exist. This group that Mary had spent so much effort into raising would instantly be cast to the winds if elves surrounded them on all sides.

  In fact, if one were to be brutally honest, even a Second Grade vampire adept like Mary would have plenty of trouble escaping unscathed!

  While Mary and the rest were softly discussing the problems with frustrations in their hearts, the angered and anxious roar of vampires came from the woods in the distance.

  "What's the matter? What's happened there?"

  Mary suddenly stood up. Her crimson eyes glimmered in the darkness.

  At that moment, her spiritual senses picked up on four spiritual nodes that had their connections severed with her origin power. It seemed the enemy had exterminated them.

  The forest in the distance suddenly buzzed as several dozens of crimson bats swarmed out from within. They cried and circled around as if avoiding something.

  While Mary was still lost in confusion, the sound of snapping bowstrings rang out without stop. Several odd arrows shot out from the forest and pinned a dozen of those bats to an ancient tree.

  "It's the elves!"

  Mary and the rest realized the enemy's identity almost immediately.

  Even though Mary was very confused as to how the elves had been able to catch up so quickly, she still led her Second Grade subordinates into the forest.

  The Fantasy Forest at night was just as mysterious and unpredictable as it was during the day.

  The Fantasy Forest in daytime was dark and dim. Ironically, the Fantasy Forest of nighttime glowed with a faint light due to a large amount of microscopic moss and magical plants.

  This bit of faint light wasn't enough to illuminate anything for an ordinary person, but it was more than enough for Mary and her vampires to see as perfectly as if it were daytime!

  Everything inside the vast and deep Fantasy Forest seemed so serene and obscure, so peaceful yet quiet.

  Mary looked around her and couldn't help but frown.

  The enemy? Where was the enemy?

  She couldn't see any living beings in her crimson field of vision, much less elven archers.

  Those arrows had been shot out from right here. How could they have escaped so quickly?

  While Mary was thinking to herself, the sound of ferocious winds broke out from the shadows of Fantasy Forest. Massive barrages of wicked and accurate arrows came out of nowhere, forcefully engulfing the vampires in their range.

  Several of the vampires and Old Fox Vanlier were hit due to their lack of experience. The sound of arrows piercing flesh rang out in succession, and the vampires let out muffled grunts. Three of the blood knights drew their swords and swung them around, deflecting most of the arrows. They then endured the few unfortunate arrows that pierced their bodies without even flinching.

  As this was happening, Mary extended a slender, white hand, the fingernails painted with daffodil juice. She flicked her fingers several times and managed to flick away the arrows directed at her. The casualness of her actions terrified the fellows that were hiding in the darkness.

  Lights flash, and her silhouette trembled.

  The area where the arrows had come from flickered and the horrifying silhouettes vanished once again.

  Three blood knights had charged to the spot and hacked the rose bushes to pieces. Strangely enough, they found no enemies.

  Hidden enemies?

  As they were still caught up in shock, a few dozen more arrows shot out toward them at extremely close distances.

  This time, they did not have the fortune of shielding themselves with their swords; they were instantly pincushioned with a rain of arrows.

  Mary's eyes froze.

  She saw it clearly this time. These arrows had practically shot out right by the side of these three blood knights. It was almost as if they were standing in an encirclement of hidden
elves while being utterly oblivious of that fact!

  The crossbow arrows were forged of refined steel. Delicate magical patterns had even been carved on them, seemingly imbuing them with the effects of Pierce and Windwing. The former was to increase effectiveness against individuals with heavy armor or tough skin, while the latter was to eliminate the sound of the shattered wind as the arrow shot across the sky.

  That was why the arrows that had pierced the bodies of the three blood knights were all enchanted arrows.

  Moreover, those who could afford to use such expensive enchanted arrows couldn't possibly be ordinary people either!

  Even with seven or eight arrows through their bodies, the three blood knights were still vigorously waving their longswords. Large crimson sword blasts were being fired from their blades, slicing the surrounding trees and bushes to pieces.

  An ancient tree where an enemy was hiding seemed to have been cut down during this chaos because a slender shadow jumped down from a falling tree. The silhouette rolled on the ground and quickly vanished as they leaped into the shadow of another tree.

  The next second, Mary had already appeared at the position where the enemy had vanished. She looked around her with crimson eyes as they flickered with a strange light.

  In the shadows behind her back, where her eyes could not reach, a dark and lightless dagger extended from the shadows, silently stabbing toward the back of Mary's head.

  A spotty shadow was cast down through the leaves and branches due to the moonlight, entirely concealing the magical aura gathering upon the blade of the dagger.

  Ci!

  The energy at the tip of the blade only erupted at the moment the dagger was about to make contact with the skin.

  A tremendous and overwhelming aura of energy spilled forth.

  Chapter 681 Complete Crushing

  It was like a performance with perfect teamwork.

  Mary, who had been looking coldly elsewhere, suddenly twisted her body. She perfectly dodged the sudden strike from the mysterious dagger and appeared within that stretch of shadow.

  Her fingers moved like blades as she flicked them, gently piercing into a living body.

  A pained grunt rang out as warm, red blood started bleeding out of the cracked bark. At the same time, there was a light peeling sound as a slender figure peeled off of the bark. As the elven cape split apart, the trademark and delicate face of a female elf was revealed.

  Even though this face was extremely contorted due to agony, it was still as pretty as ever. In fact, the elf's current expression could invoke sympathy in most people.

  Mary's right hand, still infused with incredible amounts of blood energy, had penetrated the elf's chest. She had a gentle grasp over the still-beating heart of the pretty elf.

  "Ignore me; kill…kill this…demon!" Blood streaked down the corner of the injured elf's mouth as she screamed with all her might.

  The hidden snap of bowstrings rained down in the shadows of the surrounding woods.

  Several enchanted arrows shot toward Mary from every direction.

  However, regardless of how fast the arrows were, they could not catch up with Mary's extreme agility.

  After advancing to Second Grade, Mary's Agility had already reached a shocking twenty-six points. That was an entire two times more than the Agility of these strange elves. The high Agility not only gave Mary surprising jumping ability and lightning speed, but also a stunning reflex.

  One could genuinely say that everything within Mary's vision was moving at a slower pace, so much so that they were even at a standstill! As long as she wanted to, she could stab a dagger into an elf's heart while they were still drawing their bow at her, then casually returned to her original spot and wait for the arrow to fly over.

  Mary had seldom used her crimson longbow since advancing to Second Grade. It wasn't because the might of the bow was too insignificant. It was because the speed of her arrow was simply far too slow. Rather than wait for the bolt to reach the enemy, why not just stab into the opponent's heart or throat with her hands? That was far more exhilarating and simple.

  That was why Mary could spare the effort to crush the elf's heart and walk through the rain of arrows in the face of the barrage. Mary reached out with her hand and plucked away some of the more annoying arrows before flashing ten meters away to a patch of dense brambles, gently slashing the throat of an invisible person, and then blinking away once again.

  Mary's movements looked as strange as those of a phantom's in the eyes of those elves.

  One moment Mary had been twenty meters away, the next she was wiping at the throat of a companion beside her, then the next she appeared in a different area, flicking a crimson arrow at another elf's eye.

  Flashing, disappearing, flickering, disappearing, and flickering again.

  The process and actions in-between could not be captured at all. The only thing that the slow dynamic vision of the elves could catch was the 0.01 seconds where Mary paused before killing.

  As the dense barrage of arrows smacked against the ancient trees and embedded themselves into their trunks, six fountains of blood simultaneously burst forth into the empty air graced by the moonlight. Six elves whose wide-open eyes, filled with utter disbelief and horror, collapsed without a sound. Their soft bodies rolled on the emerald-green grass of the forest.

  With the death of the elves, the elven capes they draped around them lost their Moonstalking Stealth ability as well; their true faces were finally exposed to the vampires.

  Uniform leather armor and dark-green capes. Pretty faces and slender ears. The short green hair and delicate crossbows, along with daggers, flying claws, and throwing knives at the waist was the appearance of an assassin.

  The elves also had assassins?

  A loud gale sped through the forest in Mary's moment of thought.

  A fast and cold wind struck toward Mary's back.

  The cold wind was sharp and chilling; it appeared to be a small, sharp weapon.

  The forest was once again filled with flickering silhouettes as multiple afterimages rapidly flashed all over the place. The sounds of clashing metal rang out continuously and in succession.

  The new opponent was a Second Grade fighter among these odd elves. She also specialized as a high-agility assassin. The phantasmal silhouette the Moonlight Goddess bestowed upon her ensured that the only thing that ordinary people saw would be her afterimages.

  Outsiders would die to her incomparably sharp daggers without ever touching her sleeves when she used such a practical and straightforward ability, particularly with her exceptional Agility.

  It was a shame; truly a shame!

  The twenty-one agility points of this odd elf were utterly put to shame by Mary's twenty-six points. Her footsteps could not even keep up with Mary's shadows. Mary also seemed to possess the ability to distinguish between the elf's real form and afterimages. That caused all of the elf's prided abilities to be no more than bubbles before her.

  The two assassins quickly jumped through the forest, switching between twenty to thirty battlefields in a mere matter of ten seconds.

  The conclusion of the battle was seven claw marks on the elf's body and not a scratch on Mary. One of the claw marks even viciously tore apart the right side of her delicate, beautiful face.

  As the two separated from each other after their ferocious bout, three more stealthed elves collapsed in the forest without a sound. A bloody hole existed where their throats and hearts were, without any exception. Crimson blood stained the grass beneath them.

  The odd elf flickered and moved into a shade in the forest, her eyes burning with the fires of fury. She glared murderously at the female vampire casually standing upon a soft branch.

  Resentment and anger filled her heart, but she knew very well that the difference between them was far too large. It was so massive that it was impossible to compensate for it with numbers!

  The enemy was Second Grade. She was Second Grade as well.

 
However, there was a tremendous difference, even between Second Grades!

  After all, the opponent was a Second Grade witch from the World of Adepts, while she was only a Second Grade experimental task force created through the combined efforts of the elven kingdom and the Moonlight Temple. Both parties were not even on the same technical level when it came to bodily attributes or the skill of utilizing those individual abilities.

  If the enemy was said to be a ferocious lone wolf filled with scars and memories of countless bloody battles, then she was a little bunny armed to the teeth.

  Even armed with a full set of armor and sharp weapons, the victor of a clash between them had to be the wolf.

  There was no complicated reason for it. One was a natural predator, while the other was only a herbivore that wanted to scare away the enemy. Their status was determined the moment they were born. No outside factors could change that fact.

  The fires of anger in the elven leader's eyes slowly faded after a momentary stand-off. She reluctantly accepted her defeat and silently gave the order to retreat.

  As a whistle rang out in the woods, the odd elves hiding in various corners of the forest promptly escaped in every direction. The enemy, whose leader also had frightening movement speed, had already seen through their invisibility. Fighting any longer would only cause them to be wiped out.

  The previously serene forest immediately became populated by moving shadows as countless phantasmal silhouettes floated through the woods, confusing the eyes of any witnesses.

  The three blood knights gripped their runic longswords and prepared to give chase. However, they were momentarily stunned by the scene before them and had no idea in which direction they should pursue. They could only remain on the spot and listen carefully to the pitiful cries that rang out one after another in the forest until, finally, there was only deathly silence.

  As they froze on the spot in confusion, Mary casually stepped out of the shadows of the trees, her lax hands still dripping with sweet and viscous blood.

  Mary had trouble stopping the leader of those elves from escaping when she was only focused on that, even when she went all out. As such, Mary wasted no time on the leader and chose to slaughter the other elves rapidly.