An earthshaking blast rang out south of the city, causing Witherwater City itself to shudder and tremble. A thick and violent lightning chain cut across the sky, illuminating half the horizon and causing the elementium barrier above the city to shake uncontrollably.
The war tower erected at the center of the city released a massive pillar of magical light, sustaining the barrier. Occasionally, the tower would unleash a tidal wave of magic into the distance, out of the city walls.
The towering walls and the layers of elementium barriers obstructed the vision of the people inside, preventing them from seeing the situation of the battle. However, judging from the deafening roars and battlecries from far away, one knew that the intensity of the war had risen to a peak.
The portal had been opened, and thus, the witches started gathering their forces and returning to the World of Adepts in an orderly fashion. Greem stood by the portal while assessing the battlefield in the distance, waiting for the magical machines to enter the door of light slowly.
It was not his battlefield, nor was it a battle in which he could interfere!
Greem’s heart pounded in fright and nervousness when he sensed those waves of destructive auras clashing with each other.
He had underestimated the three major adept organizations all this while!
Unlike the superficial strength in the center of the continent, the Silver Union and the Northern Witches were hiding some truly terrifying power below the surface. Their ordinary and average might on the outside was only a facade.
The Death Witches he had come to understand through various information agencies only revealed two to three Fourth Grade Witches. However, today, he could sense as many as six Fourth Grade witches on this battlefield alone.
If such a hidden force gathered in the World of Adepts, it would have been more than enough to change the political situation of the center of the continent.
Moreover, if the Death Witches were able to hide their high-grade fighting force in their lesser planes in such a manner, was it even possible for the various factions to be as weak as they looked? Apart from the Fate and Coldwinter Witches that had just begun to rise and accumulate power, the other witch factions were probably just monsters pretending to be sheep.
If the Northern Witches had such power, what did the Silver Union and the Adept’s Association look like?
It was highly probable that the reason the three major adept organizations had been able to last through tens of thousands of years in opposition of one another had much to do with their hidden strength!
Without the ability to take down the other organizations in a single strike, with a Ninth Grade Great Adept backing each organization, no single force would ever dare to be the one to start a fight.
While Greem was deep in thought, a loud blast rang out in the skies above.
Greem lifted his head in horror.
Rip!!!
He heard a loud tearing sound as a massive opening was torn in the skies above. A vicious-looking orc head entered the barrier and roared at the city beneath.
“Damned insects, stay here and die.”
Boom!!!
The world shook as even the planar space became unstable.
The fluctuations caught the two magical machines that were crossing the portal through space. As the portal trembled, space was compressed and smashed like a broken mirror. The destroyed spatial flux spread outward, cutting the two magical machines and turning them into loose components.
Even if the materials used to forge them were the toughest magical alloys in the world, they were still as frail as tofu in the face of such spatial ripples.
Greem and all the other adepts did not even look at the terrifying sight of the magical machines’ destructions. Instead, they lifted their heads and looked on in horror at the terrifying orc that was trying to squeeze into the plane.
As he continued to tear and rip, the once hundred-meter-long spatial rift had now turned a kilometer long. One could even see the golden arm and shoulder of the orc now.
“It’s…it’s a vassal god of Beast God Aruger. It’s Garon!”
Chapter 836 - The Meaning of Life
It was Garon Arcadas, the God of Slaughter in the orc pantheon, Seventh Grade, and one of the subordinate gods of Beast God Aruger.
Unlike the gods of other pantheons, the orc pantheon worshipped violence and bloodshed. Consequently, every one of them was extremely skilled in battle. They were like wild beasts born for battle. Their savage and cruel forms could be seen at the frontlines wherever there was war.
It was precisely this nature of theirs that made it easy to persuade the orc pantheon and drag them into all the wars of the gods. Moreover, they were fearless in combat and always showed themselves in their real bodies.
The gods of the orc pantheon were already powerful. When they appeared in their true bodies, they were uncontested when they fought against the weak and powerless clones and incarnations of the other pantheons. Consequently, the orc pantheon was one of the largest and most powerful pantheons in the World of Gods. They were not a group that ordinary pantheons could hope to compare to.
The Death Witches’ mission here to destroy Strongwoods Plane was akin to slapping the orc pantheon across the face. Thus, it was no surprise when the God of Slaughter himself appeared and seemed to be preparing to break into the plane to exterminate all witches.
Seventh Grade!
A Seventh Grade god was simply far, far, far too large for a medium plane.
This God of Slaughter Garon was a muscular orc measuring tens of thousands of meters tall. He wore heavy and crude black armor while wielding a massive double-edged axe.
Just as the God of Slaughter was trying his best to rip apart the planar barrier and forcefully entering the plane, a massive ice arrow cut across the void and hit his body.
The ice arrow shattered and the extreme chill within it cast a coat of crystalline frost over his black armor.
“Garon, our battle is not over yet! Why are you in such a hurry? Are you trying to escape?” Compared to Garon’s massive body, the mysterious witch that had just appeared was so tiny one could easily miss her. However, the powerful spells that she cast with a flick of her hand were enough to chill Garon to the bone, making it difficult for him to move.
The sudden ambush enraged Garon. His body was still stuck in the planar barrier, after all. He roared furiously, “Erdis, you only know how to run. Fight me head-on if you can.”
Garon was roaring, that was for sure. Still, he would never dare to continue forcing his way into Strongwoods Plane slowly while enduring the attacks of a Seventh Grade witch.
Thus, the God of Slaughter could only pull himself out of the barrier resentfully and turn to charge at the terrifying witch.
The Seventh Grade witch known as Erdis behaved just as Garon said. She immediately turned into a statue of ice when she saw Garon lunge at her. The statue shattered, and Erdis vanished from the spot. She was fifty kilometers away by the time she appeared once again.
The space of the outer realm was large enough for these horrifying powerhouse to fight each other to the death.
Garon’s ten-thousand-meter tall body made it such that every stride he took in space was equivalent to four kilometers of distance in an ordinary planar area. He raised his double-edged axe and roared loudly as he chased after the witch.
The profiles of the two powerful beings slowly disappeared into the distance, quickly vanishing without a trace.
The rift that Garon had torn into the barrier of Strongwoods Plane started to heal and shrink under the effects of the plane’s regenerative ability. The space storm of the outer realm entered the plane through the spatial rift, bringing tremendous devastation to the surroundings of Witherwater City.
The void of space wasn’t void of anything!
The outer realms might seem empty and void of any substance, but they contained powerful and intense magical energy. Such powerful energy filled the entirety of space,
freely flowing and vibrating under the guidance of a mysterious power, like a tide of magic.
All substances in space had to endure being bombarded by magical energy constantly. Without the existence of the planar barriers, it was impossible for so much intelligent life to exist inside the material planes. The so-called rivers and mountains and plains and rocks would be minced to pieces before the tide of magic energy before being scattered across every corner of the multiverse.
It was the existence of planar barriers that allowed the material planes to be isolated and protected from the energy corrosion of outer space, turning them into gentle spaces suited for the cultivation of life. Otherwise, no life would be able to flourish or even be born in the constant corrosion of space storms, let alone the diversity that we now see.
Consequently, when Garon tore a rift in the plane barrier, the space energy surging into the plane brought about a horrifying calamity upon the life and nature around Witherwater.
Several frightening space tornadoes quickly formed around Witherwater, dragging everything on the ground into them and tearing them into fine particles before casting them five hundred kilometers away.
The formerly scarce greenery of the earth quickly vanished before the destruction of the space energy. All the frail life in it died under the breath of the chaotic magic energy.
The land was now deathly silent!
Witherwater City, right below the spatial rift, had also been caught in the disaster. It was where the space storm had dealt the most substantial blow. The elementium barrier had shattered in an instant, exposing Witherwater City to the energy storm.
If it wasn’t for the war tower erecting several small barriers to protect the critical facilities within the city, this occurrence alone would have caused shocking damages to the Death Witches.
Even so, countless undead had been worn away by the violent space energy where the magical barriers could not reach, turning into dust and ash. Rows of undead fell over, first turning into bones, then powder, and taken into the skies.
A magical shield had also been erected at the plaza where the portal was, fending off the surging magic energy.
Greem looked around him and looked on with shock as the apocalyptic scene unfolded before his eyes. For a moment, he was speechless.
It was the terrifying damage that beings of Great Adept level could unleash!
Their every action did not just harm the lifeforms of the plane, but the very plane itself.
It wasn’t hard to imagine how tremendous the damage to Strongwoods Plane would have been even if the Seventh Grade God of Slaughter had managed to pass through the planar barrier and wipe out the witches.
In fact, one slight mistake by him could have brought about devastation to the plane worse than the witches ever could!
Now that Garon had been drawn away by that equally terrifying Nothern Witch, the planar battle would have to continue.
Unless the Death Witches’ plan was stopped, or the orc powerhouses were dealt a fatal blow, this planar war would never end!
Planar wars always ended with the defeat of one party. It was the truest face of planar wars!
Greem shook his head and sighed. He turned to look at the restabilizing portal and entered it without any more hesitation.
…………
What waited on the other side of the portal was, naturally, the large plaza of Werning.
The returning witch forces exchanged some greetings before leaving Werning.
A planar war that gathered the elite forces of the Northern Witches in this manner might be a new sight for Greem, but it was ordinary fare for most of the witches.
The Northern Witches had some internal conflicts, but they were unusually united when it came to external expansion. In comparison, the center of the continent where the various adept clans stood appeared to be far too dispersed. They were like a tray of loose sand.
Greem immediately calmed himself down after stepping out of the portal. He quickly regained his normal mental state.
He had just experienced the bloody storm and apocalypse of Strongwoods Plane. Yet, with a single step, he had returned to the peaceful World of Adepts. This great juxtaposition made Greem feel as if he was trapped in a ridiculous dream!
Right now, he was the leader of a rising adept clan in the World of Adepts. He had a bright future ahead of himself. Meanwhile, that other world far, far away had become a slaughterhouse where the orc pantheon and the Death Witches went at each other wildly with all they had. It wasn’t hard to imagine the Death Witches’ Root of Corruption ultimately seeping into the planar chains of Strongwoods, polluting the Plane Consciousness, and consuming the planar origins.
When that happened, it would be the moment Strongwoods Plane fell apart and was destroyed!
This process was irreversible and unstoppable!
Greem might not have any emotional attachment to the hundreds of billions of lifeforms in Srongwoods, but his heart twitched at the very thought that he had witnessed an entire plane of living beings become the sacrifices of a battle between some powerful beings.
Greem would not feel guilt or burden from slaughtering hundreds or thousands of plane natives. However, when the casualties rose to the hundreds of billions, even Greem became lost.
Life should not be so dirt-cheap. It shouldn’t be cast aside in such a meaningless fashion!
Respecting life didn’t mean that Greem wanted to become a pacifist advocating universal love. It was merely an attitude and way of thinking about living for him.
The multiverse had given birth to all sorts of planar worlds. These many different planar worlds had then given birth to billions upon billions of lifeforms. The world would only be filled with life if there were enough living beings.
Perhaps this was the central axis by which the multiverse could continue developing!
Without a doubt, what Greem needed to do was to ensure his path of development matched that of this central axis. Otherwise, he would forever be a member hated by this world.
While Greem was silently considering his options going forward, a message from the distance interrupted his thoughts.
Something had happened at Fire Throne!
Chapter 837 - The City of Rhein
“Arbitration?”
Greem immediately heard this shocking news when he reached Fire Throne.
“Yes!” Gargamel replied respectfully, “The news came from the Zhentarim Association. It’s said that the Third Grade clan leader of the Kamala Clan has put forward a request for arbitration to the Association. He requests a scheduled match to settle the difference between the two clans. The old fogeys of the Association have already agreed to this request.”
“Where were these old fellows when those five clans united to attack Fire Throne. Now they think about arbitration?” Greem’s thick brows scrunched together as a hint of solemnity appeared on his young and handsome face.
Greem had not sworn or cursed in the slightest, but that contained, imposing aura of his was enough to cause Gargamel to shudder. The degree of his bow slanted even further.
“What did they say?” Greem casually said.
“The Kamala Clan seems to have gotten the Association elders to apply pressure on us. Two Association elders have already approached us and request that we stop the attacks on the Kamala. The arbitrating elder has already arrived at Rhein. He has summoned the two clan leaders to receive his arbitration there on the ninth day of the sixth month!”
The ninth day of the sixth month?
It was already the fourth day of the month today. Didn’t this mean that he only had five days left to prepare? Moreover, the public city of Rhein was over a thousand kilometers from Fire Throne. If he hadn’t returned from Strongwoods Plane in time, there might not have been a person of authority within the clan of sufficient bearing to represent himself in this meeting!
Greem smiled coldly.
It seemed like the opponents already knew that he wasn’t in the World of Ade
pts. That was why they had chosen to take this course of action. If Greem was to be absent from this arbitration, they were likely to use more despicable methods to rob the Crimson Clan of their spoils in battle.
“How is the war going on the frontlines?” Greem’s mind turned, and he couldn’t help but ask.
The enemies had a powerful Third Grade adept, after all. How was it that he was willing to set aside his own face and reputation and request for a forced intervention and arbitration when challenged by the Second Grade Billis? Could something have happened on the battlefield?
The sensitive Greem immediately thought of Billis.
Even Gargamel, who managed the clan behind the scenes, immediately gave his praise when the bug adept was mentioned.
“My lord, Lord Billis is amazing! You have no idea. During the days you were gone, Lord Billis wreaked absolute havoc upon the Kamala. It’s said…it’s said that,” Gargamel swallowed his spit, licked his dry lips and continued with a face of surprise and shock, “Lord Billis visited every resource site and worldly territory of the Kamala Clan, and planted a sort of puppet insect inside all of the apprentices and adepts.”
“Puppet insect?”
“I don’t know what it is actually called either. I have only heard of this through the clan’s intelligence network. Either way, the Kamala Clan abruptly lost all connection and contact with all of their resource sites. So, they sent some people to investigate these sites; all the apprentices and adepts had died, turned into insect nests by Lord Billis. It’s said that the state of their death was extremely horrifying. Extremely so.”
“And what about the Kamala’s Third Grade?”
“Third Grade Yurga’s come out of hiding to intercept Lord Billis a few times. Unfortunately for him, Lord Billis can scatter into tens of thousands of tiny insects and easily evade his pursuit. That is why Yurga has no choice other than to grit his teeth and request for Association arbitration. If he were any slower, Lord Billis would probably have ended up knocking on the front doors of their headquarters!” It seemed like Bug Adept Billis’ performance in the clan war this time not only intimidated the enemy clan members but even the Crimson Majordomo Gargamel himself.
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