Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The part hit by the dragon's claw was severely depressed, and the three claw marks had left behind grievous wounds. If it weren't for a tornado erupting from the wind indurium armor negating a portion of the damage, a good half of Zacha's body would have been torn off, leaving him severely wounded.

  Zacha only stopped rolling after slamming into a stone wall.

  Without another word, he took out the various life potions from his pouch and drank them as fast as he could. After following Greem, he had also learned how to regenerate quickly with the use of medicines like the adepts did. If he were to rely on his robust body to heal itself regardless of the damage, as he had always done in the past, then he would have no chance to rejoin the battle today!

  Smacking away the dragonborn had also caused Bamler to fall under the wild revenge of the dragonslaying squad.

  Greem's Fire Core Explosion quickly exploded on the fire dragon's chest, leaving a massive wound there. Dragon's blood poured out of the injury, falling on the ground and igniting it and turning into yet another sea of fire. Meanwhile, the Flame Fiend of Terror charged forward without any regard for its safety and severed the fire dragon's left wing with a single slash of its magma flame sword.

  The fire dragon roared in pain and crouched down, using the tough horn on its head to gore the Flame Fiend's chest and stir it around.

  The Flame Fiend of Terror tossed its massive sword aside and gripped the dragon's horn with its thick magma hands, starting a contest of strength against the creature with its very own body.

  The water-tank sized hole became even more extensive and broader as they fought.

  Boiling lava spilled forth from the opening, pouring all over the fire dragon's face and scalding it, causing it to roar without end.

  Chapter 734 Dragonslaying Adepts

  "Oliven, if you don't act now, then you will have no share in this dragon!"

  Even during this intense time-sensitive battle, Greem still didn't forget to roar furiously at Oliven, who was moving around the outside of the battlefield.

  Of course, he made sure to use mental messages when doing so.

  The whole point of paying such a high price to hire her was to capture this Second Grade fire dragon in a single move. Yet, despite how fierce the fight had become, she still had not moved. It was no wonder that Greem was absolutely furious.

  "What are you in a rush for," Oliven was still walking in circles around the main battlefield, cloaked in her black cape, "If this stupid dragon senses my aura, there's no doubt it will try to escape with all it has. Who amongst us can stop it, with its powerful strength and physique?"

  "Then what's your plan?" Greem was practically screaming now.

  "Inflict some more wounds on it. It's best if the wounds can limit his movements."

  "I'll trust you one more time. Thirty seconds… if you don't act within thirty seconds, this deal of ours is off."

  Greem might be leaving mean words, but he wasn't idling about.

  He appeared behind the fire dragon's giant body with a Fire Teleportation and bent down to avoid the slender tail whipping at him. Elaborate magical chants came out of his mouth like a machine gun, and a barrage of magma fireballs whistled toward the dragon like meteors, blasting the dragon's side.

  The fire dragon's magic resistance allowed it to be utterly immune to the fire damage of the magma fireballs, but he couldn't avoid the magma shards that shot out after the explosions.

  Greem's violent attack blew away a large patch of dragon scales on the right side of the dragon's body, leaving wounds of various sizes and turning his torso into a bloody mess. Of course, these were only flesh wounds. Though it covered a large area and looked reasonably serious, he had done no damage to the vital organs.

  Even so, this attack was still a severe blow to the fire dragon!

  Bamler howled in agony and pulled out his horn from the Flame Fiend's chest, bright red from being burned by the lava, and turned to bite at Greem.

  Greem relied on the Fire Teleportation to flee, consecutively dodging four charges and bite attempts from the fire dragon. In the end, he didn't manage to avoid everything. A brief dragon's breath hit him and blew him against a stone wall.

  The fire dragon wanted to rush ahead and follow up with more attacks, but he was stopped by an equally berserk Goblin Shredder. After exchanging a few violent blows, the massive Shredder was once again blown away by the fire dragon, who was the larger of the two.

  Mary, who had been moving around the fire dragon all along, immediately struck the moment the Shredder vanished.

  In a frontal confrontation, Mary's 'weak' offensive power would probably be insufficient to displace a single scale. However, with the numerous injuries that Greem and the others had created, the terror of Mary's attacks started to show, bit by bit.

  Mary's crimson silhouette moved about the perimeter like a phantom. She would charge onto the fire dragon while he was dealing with other attacks and could not defend himself and inject clouds of blood mist into his exposed flesh. Regardless of how high the dragon's magic resistance was, he could not possibly have forged his body to be utterly impervious to all poison and acid.

  The moment the blood energy entered Bamler's body, it started to recklessly attack all blood vessels and organs under Mary's vague manipulation. Though the pulsating fire elementium would neutralize most of the blood energy in the fire dragon's blood and muscles, the damage it dealt before vanishing was enough to make the fire dragon suffer immensely.

  At this point in the battle, it seemed like both parties were ending up injured and losing!

  A group of adepts had surrounded the fire dragon in his lava hall, and his wounds were fairly grievous as well. Still, while Greem's Crimson adepts had suffered no casualties yet, their injuries were no better than the dragon's.

  If this situation kept up, victory could go to either side!

  At this moment, Oliven, the trump card, finally struck. And her very strike instantly caused Second Grade Fire Dragon Bamler's attitude to turn completely.

  Oliven cast away the obstructive black robe and revealed her agile assassin's garb underneath it. Her body then flashed as she charged right at the fire dragon.

  Even during the most intense moments of the battle, Fire Dragon Bamler had still been paying full attention to every change on the battlefield.

  The black-robed individual who had been staying out of the battle had attracted his attention a long time ago, but he had only not attacked them because he didn't want to make another enemy.

  Seeing that the enemy was charging right at him, Bamler immediately forced the annoying Mary away with his long tail and raised his body, opened his mouth, and unleashed a sudden flame breath to devour Oliven's slender frame.

  To be brutally honest, the only one in this lava hall who dared to deal with the fire dragon's breath head on would be Greem, the fire adept. Everyone else had no choice but to flee and hide in the face of this terrifying dragon's breath. Even a metal lump like the Goblin Shredder would face the risk of having its metallic joints melted and stalling if it were bathed in the breath for more than a dozen seconds.

  A slender assassin like Oliven who was not protected by any magical defenses would probably have her physical defenses consumed in less than three seconds.

  That was why everyone's heart skipped a beat when they saw Oliven being drowned in that ferocious breath. She had been everyone's hope. Even a leader as calm and composed as Greem felt a skip in his heart.

  Yet, the next second, the miraculous scene that unfolded made everyone gasp in wonder!

  The mysterious Oliven had curled into a ball and pulled the cape on her back over herself. She had used that thin fabric to resist this fire dragon's breath, worth four hundred and sixty points of magical damage. Once her body had passed through the attack, Oliven let go of the cape and unfolded her stance. Her hands reached to her waist and grabbed the two dragontooth daggers.

  LIke Mary, Oliven walked on the path of high A
gility. That made it such that their Strength and Physique could not be too high. Trying to pierce a fire dragon's scales with such 'weak' Strength was impractical thinking!

  Surprisingly, this time was different. Mary's close-range strikes had only left her scrambling and escaping in a hurry. Yet, Oliven betrayed everyone's expectations. The daggers in her hands seemed like they were cutting through butter. They instantly pierced through the fine scales on the fire dragon's neck and left a half-meter-long cut on it.

  Bamler winced in pain and roared. He extended his neck and tried to chase and bite at the swift silhouette. However, Oliven was like a dancing fairy, dodging left and right away from the fire dragon's fangs with ease. The daggers in her hands were like legendary weapons that could cut through anything. A simple stab would leave a bloody hole, and a simple slash would leave behind a bleeding trail.

  These once impenetrable dragon scales were as frail as tofu before Oliven's hands. They could not even resist a single 'touch' from her.

  Bamler's multiple attempts to retaliate were ineffective, and even the dragon's aura of might that had always worked was useless against this female assassin. As he roared in anger, his snout sniffed a few times, and his face turned dramatically.

  "Dragon devourer…you are a dragon devourer!"

  Fire Dragon Bamler didn't take too long to match this assassin to the terrifying enemy in the legends of dragons.

  Dragon devourers. They were a strange race and profession that all dragons hated to no end.

  Be they male, female, young, or old. Once they became a dragon devourer, they were the enemies of all dragons across the multiverse.

  As dragon devourers, they typically appeared no different from ordinary individuals. Only when they fought with dragons would they reveal all sorts of remarkable abilities. If a dragon devourer's magic resistance were typically one point, then their magic resistance would be ten points when they fought a dragon.

  The tough dragon scales on the surface of a dragon's bodies were as thin as paper and as soft as tofu in the eyes of dragon devourers.

  Dragon devourers that had not grown into power might not be scary!

  After all, even the strongest of ants couldn't possibly bite a buffalo to death.

  However, once a dragon devourer had gathered power through devouring dragons, they were the most terrifying existence to the dragons!

  Every dragon they consumed would allow them to obtain that dragon's magic resistance and growth potential perfectly. By the time they ran into the next dragon, their magic resistance wouldn't just be ten times their previous resistance, but twenty or thirty times that.

  An individual who was not afraid of a dragon's aura of might or a dragon's breath and who could ignore the defenses of a dragon; how could the dragons not be terrified!?

  Even more astounding was the fact that a dragon's everything, be it their wealth, treasures, or even their flesh, blood, bones, and tendons, would all become the nutrition of the enemy if they were defeated. And they wouldn't even get the chance for their souls to return to the Dragon God's embrace.

  Upon discovering Oliven's identity as a dragon devourer, Bamler immediately switched to escaping.

  Sadly, Greem had already predicted this outcome.

  While Bamler was enduring Oliven's unrestrained attacks as he fled, Greem brought the badly injured Zacha and the dented Shredder to block his path. Behind Greem, Mary and the two grievously wounded blood knights formed the second defensive line.

  Meanwhile, the fire dragon had already destroyed the Flame Fiend of Terror. It had reverted to its core form and rolled into a corner of the hall. It seemed it could not be used again unless it was brought back and fixed.

  "Move." The flustered and exasperated fire dragon could only use his ferocious dragon's breath once again to open up a path.

  Unfortunately, this time, no matter how hard he tried and even if he coughed up his lungs, he could not make Greem take one step backward. The fire adept had gritted his teeth and was standing his ground. Greem's palms had also been carbonized after forcefully fending off the violent breath of a Second Grade fire dragon.

  Bamler flew into a rage and tried to charge his way through.

  At this moment, the Shredder had run to his back and grabbed his slender tail, pulling and anchoring him to the spot. Zacha raised his Frozen Mallet and his lightning spear, smashing the two injured hindlegs of the fire dragon.

  Mary and the two blood knights took to the air and threw all of their attacks at the dragon's large eyes.

  For a moment, the fire dragon could not escape the fetters of the adepts, no matter how he roared and struggled.

  Oliven once again dove down from behind the fire dragon.

  This time, her target was Bamler's highly raised head.

  Chapter 735 Battle of the Stone Stairs.

  Billis stood alone in silence at the entrance of the fire dragon's labyrinth.

  It was several thousands of meters underground after all. There was even a rolling river of lava right beside him. It was only natural that the cave was unbearably warm.

  However, the waves of dragon roars and terrifying aura of might that emanated from the labyrinth caused Billis' body to tremble uncontrollably. The bug adept once again realized the massive difference in power between himself and the people on the other end.

  Second and First Grade. A terrifying gulf existed between even beginner Second Grade and peak First Grade.

  Consequently, he could only guard the exit path alone while the Second Grades were fighting the fire dragon with all their strength.

  Just as his thoughts started to wander, a series of odd wing beating sounds came from the valley above. Old Fox Vanlier plunged down from above, his body completely covered in fire.

  The temperature here was far too high. Even intermediate First Grade Vanlier could not survive here for long.

  "Careful…careful. Those dragonborn have charged all the way back."

  Small fires were all over his furry bat body. Vanlier had practically slammed onto the teleportation platform like a crashing plane. When he finally transformed into his human form again, his body was covered in black scorch marks and boils of various sizes.

  Apart from the so-called teleportation array, the only way to travel from the top of the valley to this teleportation platform was a single narrow, winding path. Right now, a horde of Firethroat Dragonborn were roaring and walking down the stairs, swarming toward the platform.

  At this moment, the roar of the dragon could still be clearly heard from the labyrinth. Even the valley was quaking intensely.

  It was apparent how intense the battle between the two parties was!

  "Dammit, dammit! The battle hasn't ended yet! How are we supposed to stop those dragonborn when they get here? With just the two of us?" Vanlier couldn't help but start grumbling.

  "Four!" Billis' ghostly green eyes remained unblinking under his robe.

  "Four?"

  Vanlier had just asked the question when the Voodoo Doll and the Stitch Ghost Golem hovered out from the shadows. The two dolls started to let out an odd and sinister laugh.

  The two little guys might only be the size of a palm, but they were actually First Grade magical creations. Each of them had strange abilities that were completely different from the norm. Still, even with the two of them, there were only four First Grades present. It didn't seem to be enough to deal with the berserk dragonborn that were swarming towards them!

  While Vanlier's gaze flickered about, Billis' body started squirming as some large insect projections rolled out from within. A short moment later, these insect projections solidified into actual ferocious mantises before Vanlier's eyes. These mantises were surrounded by flashing jade green runes.

  One, two, three, four.

  In the blink of an eye, the empty platform filled up with twenty-two magical mantises with slender bodies, flat wings, and wicked scythe-shaped limbs.

  "Go my precious; let there be a bloody banquet here!
"

  As Bug Adept Billis hissed, the magical mantises stood up on their hind legs and made sparks with their scythe limbs. It was now that they extended their wings and lunged at the berserk dragonborn walking down the steps.

  A battle of blood and flesh unfolded now!

  The two instinctively murderous dolls immediately followed after the mantises at the sight of this.

  Meanwhile, Vanlier, who had always acted as an advisor, felt his heart tremble when he saw the mantises. He had long heard of Bug Adept Billis' improvement and his renown for being the rising star of the Crimson's second generation adepts that was most likely to advance to Second Grade in the short term.

  However, this was his first time witnessing Billis' power for himself!

  With that swarm of his and these fierce insect generals, he could probably stand his ground against certain Second Grades. As for the First Grade adepts back at the clan? He could probably crush them with such power.

  It seemed he would have to try and get closer with this bug adept and establish a bit of a relationship.

  Old Fox Vanlier thought to himself as he took out some potions and started to treat his wounds.

  Some time ago, the roars from the labyrinth had gone silent.

  "Lord Billis, in there…" Vanlier asked with a bit of hesitation.

  He might be a First Grade Crimson adept like Billis, but the vast difference in power made him unconsciously treat Billis like a Second Grade adept.

  Perhaps satisfied by Vanlier's respect, the cold and silent Billis finally spoke.

  "They've won over on master's side! They are sweeping the battlefield right now. It didn't end too well for the fire dragon!"

  Billis might have suffered tremendous losses from scouting earlier, but some bugs had still survived after all. With these insects as miniature scouts, Billis was able to witness the entirety of the Second Grade adept's glorious dragonslaying feat from a third person perspective, even while absent.