Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Red-eyed crows were originally low-grade magical creatures. Even beginner apprentices could quickly deal with one to two of them.

  However, this murder of red-eyed crows that Third Grade Yurga had created were all variants that had undergone multiple mutations. A third eye had opened at their brow, apart from their two existing crimson eyes. However, this third eye was typically shut, making it hard to tell that it even existed.

  The murder of crows instantly descended upon the battlefield. They spread out and started letting out hoarse ear-piercing shrieks. Strange soundwaves rippled through the air, immediately forcing out the five Voidreavers who were traveling in the interspatial layers.

  The crows swarmed the Voidreavers the moment they showed themselves, and the two parties engaged in a wild battle. The five Voidreavers showed no signs of weakness. They too summoned a dozen magical mantises, causing the battlefield to become even more chaotic and bloody.

  A murder of crows gathered in the air and formed into the appearance of Third Grade Yurga.

  He was cloaked in black robes and a chilling smile appeared on his face as he coldly said, “You dare confront my Death Heralding Crows head on? Kehkehkeh. Now, I’ll let you know where I got my name!”

  As he sent an intangible mental fluctuation outward, the murder of red-eyed crows who were fighting with the Voidreavers and mantises started shrieking in unison. At the same time, a strange gray eye slowly opened between their brows. A death ray shot out from that eye.

  If one red-eyed crow could shoot a single death ray, then hundreds and thousands of red-eyed crows could shoot out hundreds and thousands of death rays. These death rays shot into the midst of the magical insects, mostly focusing on the Second Grade Voidreavers.

  Individual death rays might not have been frightening. After all, innate abilities with the trait to cause instant-death were affected by multiple factors, including the difference between Spirit and the magic resistance of the target. However, if multiple Death Heralding Crows assaulted any unfortunate individual, the chance of instant-death by these rays would stack together.

  Beng! Beng! Beng!

  The ranks of the magical insects immediately deflated like exploded balloons. Over half of the magical mantises were instantly exterminated, while two of the five Second Grade Voidreavers were killed in a flash.

  Death Heralding Crows. Death Heralding Crows.

  When the Death Heralding Crows shrieks, death descends!

  Billis, who had silently been watching from the hall, spat out black blood and started stumbling.

  In all honesty, with his current Spirit, even having half of the swarm being exterminated in an instant would hardly shake his mind or cause his origin to quake. However, Billis was extremely wounded by the ‘Declaration of Death’ being sent over through the soul brands when the Death Heralding Crows exterminated the insects.

  It was as if he had been affected by the innate talents of the Death Heralding Crows while behind the lines.

  Dammit! Dammit! Dammit!

  Billis cursed repeatedly and let out a scream of his own to recall his insect army. Those damned crows were the perfect counter to his swarm. Not only could they exterminate his insect generals, but they could also even affect the person behind them.

  That…that was unbelievable!

  The black swarm immediately started retreating. Even the Voidreavers and magical mantises did not care to fight the Death Heralding Crows any longer. They desperately started escaping back to the tower.

  The situation that had started looking better for the Crimson Clan was immediately overturned beneath the terrifying might of a Third Grade adept!

  Chapter 783 - The Tower's Predicament

  It was the power of laws.

  All the Second Grade adepts who had just witnessed the might of Third Grade Adept Yurga couldn’t help but let out a sigh in their minds.

  In all seriousness, it couldn’t be considered an actual use of the power of laws. At the very best, it was only scratching the surface of that power. Otherwise, Bug Adept Billis would already have died to this terrifying Law of Instant-Death. There was no way he would still be standing after that attack.

  One could tell that Yurga had only just made contact with part of the Laws of Instant-Death and had only just assimilated them into his magical attacks. One couldn’t look down upon his power, even if it were only a fraction of the planar laws’ full potential. It was already a terrifying finisher that most Second Grade adepts would have no way of surviving.

  If it weren’t for the large swarm sharing the damage with Billis, and if Billis himself was the one who had to endure the death rays, then even this newly risen bug adept would have died before achieving his full potential. He would have snapped his wings on this first flight of his.

  It was also an unfortunate day for Billis!

  It had been such a perfect debut, yet he had been slapped in the face by a Third Grade adept after only a minute’s worth of arrogance. Moreover, he had no choice but to escape and hide in the tower without taking a step outside again.

  That short clash was already evidence of the massive gulf in power between Second and Third Grade adepts, despite only a single level standing between them. It was an overwhelming beatdown. The unstoppable Second Grade bug adept had been a nightmarish existence to the First Grade adepts. Yet, he became the one who was crushed underfoot when matched against a Third Grade adept.

  The grade difference of the World of Adepts was difficult to overturn through experience and technique!

  The bug adept might have been beaten back, but the arrogant morale of the Alliance adepts had also been suppressed. The First Grade Alliance adepts looked at the damaged, yet firm, tower and looked at each other. Hesitation grew in their hearts uncontrollably.

  The mission rewards that the high-grade adepts had promised might be compelling, but nothing was more valuable than their own lives.

  Who knew what else would come crawling out of the Crimson Clan’s adept’s tower? If they led the charge and drew out another ‘bug adept,’ they would be trapped in a true abyss, and no one would risk death to save them.

  That was why the battle in front of the tower was showing signs of slowing down.

  “Hmph, a bunch of cowards.” Adept Yurga coldly snorted when he saw this. He immediately starting naming names, “Mucha, you lead the attack on the adept’s gates. I can sense it; the tower doesn’t have much energy left.”

  Mucha was a Second Grade adept of the Kamala Clan and an able subordinate that Yurga had personally trained. It was a crucial moment in the war. Yurga couldn’t possibly override the authority of the other clan leaders and order the adepts to charge. As such, his only option was to have adepts of his own clan take the lead.

  Mucha was a middle-aged man with a golden circlet on his head and a rough appearance. He acknowledged the orders and immediately rushed toward the frontlines with his First Grade adept subordinates.

  With the Kamala Clan adepts in the lead, the adepts of the other clans no longer behaved as fearful as before. They too followed along and lunged at the gates. They knew very well that Yurga would take action if anything else came from the Crimson Clan. After all, his own clan adepts were on the line.

  As the Alliance soldiers retreated and the Alliance adepts advanced, the battle at the gates became even more intense and bloody. The Alliance adepts herded powerful voodoo beasts toward the adept’s tower to assault the force wall with all their might. Meanwhile, the Crimson adepts behind the gates had to continuously exterminate the hordes of enemies to reduce the strain on the tower’s energy reserves.

  Voodoo beasts, magical machines, summoned creatures, corruptors, war statues, and otherworldly magical creatures.

  These dispensible servants replaced the adepts as the main fighters at the frontlines. Meanwhile, the cautious adepts hid behind them and used all sorts of colorful spells to bombard the tower. On a battlefield like this, any outstanding performance by an adept’s servant would b
e like an application for a ticket straight to hell.

  For example, you had the war statue, entirely forged out of special alloy and standing eleven meters tall. It was a tool that the Magic Forest Hut alchemists had specifically summoned to accumulate more contributions in this war.

  These statues were slaughter machines specially designed for large-scale wars. They kept a humanoid appearance and had not undergone any kind of ornamental carvings or decorations on the surface, revealing the wild color of the special alloy they were made of. The most eye-catching features of its giant body were the magical lines that flowed throughout it. These lines appeared and faded from sight, occasionally appearing due to powerful magical energy flow.

  The war statue held a comically large metal axe in its hand. The massive blade was larger than the gate of a human city and sent winds rippling through the air whenever it moved, reminding all living beings to run away from its might.

  This war statue gave an outstanding performance the very moment it appeared!

  A single strike for a single enemy; the war statue smashed down with its axe, and a three-meter-tall magical machine was crushed flat, almost as if the statue was playing a game of whack-a-mole. It had only been three minutes since it had appeared, and the statue had executed five Crimson Clan machines.

  If this giant were allowed to rampage on the battlefield, the tower would have a hard time resisting its ferocious attacks. As such, a strike team led by Zacha and Tigule rushed out of the tower without hesitation and intercepted the statue thirty meters away from the tower.

  The strike team was formed from First Grade Crimson adepts and the last twenty Archers. They quickly spread out to make space for the two Second Grades. Meanwhile, Zacha and Tigule’s Goblin Shredder started an intense fight against the war statue, whose power was equal to that of a Second Grade adept.

  The battle was fierce but short. The war statue had been utterly destroyed after only a minute and a half.

  The war statue’s broken body had collapsed in front of the tower, trembling as rumbling noises came from within its body. All of its magical arrays started exploding in succession. Finally, the statue stopped all movement and turned into a burning heap of junk.

  The victorious Dragonborn Zacha and Goblin Shredder had also paid an enormous price for this.

  Zacha’s body was covered with terrifying wounds left behind by ravaging elementium spells. Most of the scales on his body had fallen off, and two of his four muscular legs had been broken. He held them in the air and off the ground, immense pain shooting through his body with every movement he made.

  Purple blood seeped out of his many wounds, forming into a small river behind him. What was even more terrifying was the fact that his wind indurium armor had been shattered and twisted beyond recognition. There was even a frightening fist indentation on the chestplate.

  If it weren’t for the combined protection of the wind indurium armor and the Fire Shields, Zacha would already have died to the heavy metal fists of the war statue.

  Meanwhile, the other combatant, the Goblin Shredder, also had one foot in the grave!

  If it weren’t for the interference of the Alliance adepts, the combination of Zacha and Tigule would have easily taken down this war machine meant only for sieges. However, in today’s environment, they had no choice but to confront the war statue, even as countless magical attacks threatened their safety.

  This three-meter-tall Goblin Shredder was undoubtedly inferior to the war statue in terms of power and Physique. As such, it had to compensate for it with its fearless attacks and rapid movements.

  The Goblin Shredder had only managed to create a small crack in the statue’s chest after depleting all of its goblin rockets. Tigule then covered Dragonborn Zacha as he rushed to the statue’s chest and engulfed the area with ferocious lightning arcs.

  The armor of the war statue was beyond human imagination. Trying to take it down with ordinary physical attacks was a colossal task. However, once they created a crack that led to its internal components, it was a much easier job to defeat it!

  The thin lightning blasts crept into the crack and detonated the magical energy within. That was how they had successfully defeated this giant.

  Zacha, who had taken on the role of the primary offense, was undoubtedly the most severely wounded. Eva and Emelia, who had rushed up to administer first-aid once the Goblin Shredder dragged him back to the tower, couldn’t even be sure if he was still alive.

  Only six of the last twenty Archers returned. The rest had been left on the battlefield by the enemies’ attacks. Dana the Medusa and Manticore Charon had also made it back, but their wounds were no better than Zacha’s. They collapsed the moment they entered the tower.

  The situation near the tower was extremely tenses now. If it weren’t for the four vampires rushing out to slaughter the enemies, intimidating them for a moment, the situation would be much, much worse.

  Even so, the hall was now engulfed in a sorrowful and tragic atmosphere. Many were wounded and hurt. Even Berserk Witch Sofia, who had come over from the North to assist them, had suffered heavy wounds. She was barely keeping the enemies at bay with one arm in a sling.

  The situation that had been turned around with the bug adept’s appearance once again become grave!

  At this moment, the entire burden was weighing upon Mary’s shoulders.

  Fight? Or retreat?

  All the clan adepts were waiting for her decision!

  If she didn’t make the choice soon, the tower’s energy would be depleted. Would they, the adepts who had fought for the clan until the very last moment, still have a chance to escape then? If the clan’s elites were all buried here, was there still a reason for the Crimson Clan to exist?

  The silence of the adepts and the bloody battle on the frontlines tested Mary’s heart with each passing moment.

  Fighting a downhill battle as a leader was undoubtedly an enjoyable experience. However, at such a moment of crisis, when everyone’s lives hung upon one decision of hers– that intangible pressure was not something that an ordinary person could bear!

  If Alice had lied to her. If Alice’s reinforcements were just a step too late. If the clan adepts couldn’t handle the pressure and cracked ahead of time…

  Countless possibilities ran through her mind and plagued her, but she had to present a calm and composed demeanor.

  There were countless moments where Mary had the impulse to charge out of the tower and fight without restraint. Fighting to her death would have been better than standing still and silently enduring this torture of the heart.

  Alice, where are you exactly?

  Will you…will you come…

  Chapter 784 - Otherworldly Guest

  The once solemn Fire Throne now shook uncontrollably!

  Large areas of damage had appeared on the surface of the tower. Some more impatient Alliance adepts were already commanding their voodoo beasts to charge into the tower and initiate ‘urban warfare’ against the Crimson adepts in the narrow corridors. Casualties on both sides were increasing exponentially.

  The energy supply of the tower might not be sufficient, but the magical doors and traps that filled the interior of the tower were still active. The Crimson adepts undoubtedly had an immense advantage when fighting in an area like this.

  They could quickly retreat or move away if the situation turned against them. The Alliance adepts would be at considerable risk of triggering traps if they pursued them while they escaped. That would cause the Alliance adepts to be surrounded and ambushed by enemies many times their number.

  Every single place could become a battlefield between adepts as both parties moved throughout the tower.

  There were many structures within the tower. Yet, how could they possibly endure being ravaged by a war between adepts? One by one, they burned in the fires of war before collapsing into ruin. As the Alliance adepts continued to surge into the tower, the ruined areas increased in number and the area where the Cr
imson adepts could move freely started to decrease.

  The low-grade adepts of the Alliance didn’t dare push too hard with Billis’ swarm and Mary’s vampires holding them back. As such, they barely managed to gain control over two levels of the tower after half a day.

  As the teleportation array was located on the fourth floor, the Crimson adepts would lose their last chance to escape if they retreated another time. The Crimson adepts held fast at the entrance to the third level, beating back wave after wave of advances from the enemies. Casualties were severe on both sides.

  Even the old vampire Haines Vik had tried to break through this passage with his overwhelming Third Grade power, but he was forcefully beaten into a retreat by the Crimson Clan’s eight Second Grades. The Crimson adepts knew very well what the situation was now that the battle had commenced to this stage. Hope lied ahead, while death waited behind them; there was no retreat now. Everyone abandoned all pointless thoughts that had been plaguing their minds and used every ounce of their power to stall the progress of the enemy.

  In the end, the two Third Grades of the Alliance led a group of Second Grades in a charge against the entrance. Seeing that it was impossible to stop this attack, Mary had no choice but to detonate the magical traps to delay them. She then led the Crimson adepts one level up and chose to fortify themselves at the entrance to the fourth level.

  However, the Alliance adepts were unconcerned with a brute force attack at this point.

  They sent large groups of adepts to attack the entrance of the fourth floor and tie down the forces of the Crimson adepts to that location. They then secretly sent some elite adepts to dig down from the first level to find the path to the energy room on the second underground level.

  Once they cut off the connection between the energy room and the tower, the teleportation array would naturally lose its ability to function. When that happened, the Alliance adepts could take their time to whittle down the remaining Crimson adepts. It was the best plan of action to reduce allied losses.