“Nashi, you and Thurman stall the stone golems. Aina and I will deal with Sofia and the rest first,” the leader of the Coldwinter Witches shouted. However, her words stopped before she could finish the sentence. She opened her eyes wide and watched as the three Fate Witches on the other side of the street took out some strange metal talismans. The Fate Witches then shook their hands and released three towering and ferocious metallic machines from within.
“Careful. Hurry up and cast shields on yourselves.”
Unfortunately, a storm of metal bullets shot toward the Coldwinter Witches before her words could reach their ears. Several Scalding Rays were also mixed into the metal barrage.
The guards surrounding the stone golems were the first to fall victim. One by one, they fell to the ground, shot by the terrifying metal bullets. They might have been wearing leather armor, but even a slight graze from a metal bullet caused a cloud of blood to burst into the sky.
If a bullet hit them square on the body, then the massive gaping wound would be more than enough to knock them to the ground.
As the three Archers fired without stopping, a good half of the armored guards were instantly put to the ground, inflicted with penetrating and crippling wounds.
The metal bullets did not stop after clearing the battlefield. They continued whizzing toward the wide-eyed Coldwinter Witches.
A crackling sound, much like that of popcorn, rang out in the air.
The ice shields around the Coldwinter Witches trembled furiously. Even the street walls behind them were riddled with bullet holes.
“Dammit! They actually brought metal golems out with them! Hurry! Hurry up and summon some snow beasts.”
Naturally, as the branch that was most proficient in combat, the Coldwinter Witches were not so easily beaten.
The four Coldwinter Witches immediately started using their signature abilities after defending against the first wave of attacks.
A Coldwinter Witch remained behind the ranks and started to summon monsters of ice and snow wildly.
A broad zone of snow and frost quickly formed as she chanted, and many strange ice and snow creatures lunged out from within, howling and yelping. There were Frost Beasts made entirely of transparent ice crystals, snow wolves covered in ice shards, frost giants with two heads and four arms, as well as Frost Critters composed out of only cold air.
These monsters roared as they charged out of the snow, rushing bravely at the stone golems in front.
Another two Coldwinter Witches worked together and erected an Ice Shield, protecting them and their companions from the storm of bullets and energy beams. The leader of the witches now had the space to go on the offense. She put on a wicked smile and levitated into the air, where she started to cast a massive snowstorm above the heads of the Fate Witches.
The apprentices of both parties also started shouting and joining the battlefield.
However, their abilities weren’t enough for them to truly participate in a battle between official adepts. They could only cast their spells to protect themselves and barely survive in the corners of the battlefield.
A sight that caused everyone’s jaw to drop immediately unfolded. The Fate Witches were not favored in this battle. However, even their apprentices started throwing out elementium cores and summoning a horde of strange elementium golems.
Among them were giant stone serpents that could break through defenses, towering fire elementals that functioned as sheer firepower, as well as wind elementals with shocking speed.
These elementium golems were at the pseudo-adept level at best. They should not have been able to affect the battle, but they were far too numerous. Twelve pseudo-adept level elementium golems charged forward and put up a messy fight. They broke through the perimeter of snow beasts and allowed the three advanced First Grade stone golems to arrive in front of the Coldwinter Witches.
The Ice Shield erected by the Coldwinter Witches shattered under the giant stone fists of the stone golem. The two witches that were maintaining the barrier quickly fell to the ground, robbed of all combat ability and coughing up blood.
The witch that was attacking the Fate Witches from midair flew into a rage when she saw this happen. Her snowstorm changed directions and blew toward the apprentices.
The wild chill blew across the apprentices, instantly turning them into ice sculptures on the spot before they could even run.
Arya and the other two witches who were watching from above couldn’t help but frown at the same time. They were slightly infuriated by the mad actions of the Coldwinter Witch.
To think that she would publicly attack a group of apprentices as an official witch herself. Such an action would draw ire from onlookers, regardless of how justified her response was. If it weren’t for the decision of the Witch Council, Arya and the witches would not have been able to hold back from interfering.
However, the madness of the Coldwinter Witch leader only served as a prologue to their defeat.
As the Ice Shield shattered, they lost all their ability to defend against the stone golems and the Archers.
The Coldwinter Witch in charge of summoning snow beasts also had her shield shattered by a stone golem. She collapsed to the ground and started spitting up blood from the impact. Only the witch in the lead was still using her rapid ice spells to circle around and fight back.
Unfortunately, even she quickly fell to Berserk Witch Sofia’s thick wooden staff.
Once Sofia transformed into the Berserk Witch, she could shrug off the freezing and slowing effects of her opponent’s ice spells. It was why she could catch up to the Coldwinter Witch while the stone golems were incapable of doing so.
After knocking the enemy leader unconscious, Sofia led the two Fate Witches back and started to rescue the frozen apprentices.
The apprentices hadn’t been sealed in ice for too long. Except for two relatively weaker apprentices, they successfully saved everyone else.
A glint of savagery shone in Sofia’s only eye when she saw casualties among the witch apprentices that she had brought along with her.
When she walked to the Coldwinter Witch leader with her wooden staff in hand, the opponent was still glaring furiously as her, even as she crouched upon the ground and coughed up blood.
“Sofia, you got us! To think you even brought golem talismans and elementium summoning cores with you. Hmph! Without them, you…”
While the Coldwinter Witch was still baring her teeth and spitting out insults, Sofia lifted her wooden staff and let it fall. The staff smashed down upon the witch’s frail skull, causing it to explode into blood and bits of bone instantly.
The entire street immediately fell silent.
The three neutral witches floating in the air were also shocked into silence. For a moment, no one knew how to react.
“You think you can still live after killing our people? Hmph!” Sofia snorted coldly and lifted her wooden staff once again. She shook off the dripping crimson liquid at the end of the staff and turned to look at the three remaining Coldwinter Witches.
“No. Don’t…don’t kill us. We…didn’t kill any of your people.” The Coldwinter Witch that Sofia was glaring at instantly turned pale. Her entire body trembled in fright.
“We lost two people, and you guys only seemed to have lost one. This isn’t fair, is it?!” Sofia had a wicked smile on her face.
Everyone was at a loss of words.
You lost two apprentices there, but the Coldwinter Witches lost an advanced First Grade witch!
Could that even be compared?
However, no Coldwinter Witch dared to argue with Sofia as she glared so fiercely at them.
“Compensation…we are willing to offer compensation!” The three Coldwinter Witches hurriedly explained.
“Hmph! Save your magical crystals for yourself! Right now, we have one more death on our side. That isn’t fair, so your side needs to have one more person die. Speak; who will you choose to die?”
Sofia’s sinister v
oice had just reached their ears, and all the Coldwinter witches and apprentices couldn’t help but shiver in fright at the same time. Their faces turned completely white.
They looked at each other–the three witches and twenty-one apprentices–all at a loss of words.
“Hmph! Since you guys don’t want to choose, then I’ll choose for you!” Sofia unhesitantly lifted her thick wooden staff once again.
“I’ll choose. I’ll choose…her!” The highest-ranking witch of the three remaining Coldwinter Witches saw that Sofia’s one-eyed glared was fixated upon her and hurriedly pointed at one of the apprentices.
The chosen apprentice was instantly terrified beyond her wits. She screamed and immediately leapt to her feet in an attempt to run.
Dong, dong, dong!
A wave of bullets shot toward her, tearing the apprentice to shreds. Her broken body and bits of her flesh stained the surrounding apprentices a crimson red.
The witch apprentices shouted out in horror. Some of them even fainted on the spot.
“Capture all of them and bring them back to the tower. Execute anyone who resists!”
Sofia smashed the staff into the ground as the Fate Witch apprentices quickly hurried forward to bind their enemies. Even the three witches were not spared.
Meanwhile, the white-armored guards were left to their own devices. No one dared to lift a finger to save them regardless of how much they screamed and begged for help.
The three neutral witches finally descended from the sky after some hesitation, seeing that the Fate Witches had taken control of the scene.
The battle today had crossed some lines!
However, Arya and the two other witches could only look at each other. Not a single one of them dared to step forward and correct Sofia’s ‘mistake.’
Weren’t the Fate Witches usually weak and incompetent individuals? Since when were they so savage and violent?
The city guards in the distance were shivering in fright as well.
They might be used to bloodshed and violence, but when the target of the killing and violence was a group of witches, they couldn’t help but be terrified.
What were witches? They were the noblest class of individuals in the Northern Lands who held the most privilege in their hands!
Since when could they be hunted like wild beasts? It was unthinkable!
Sofia casually tossed Arya a sack of magical crystals as compensation for the destroyed walls and floorboards. She then led her subordinates and departed into the distance with the prisoners in tow.
Not a single person on the entire street dared to stand in their way!
Chapter 860 - The Winds of Freedom
The battle that broke out between the Fate and Coldwinter Witches was a surprising trend from the very start.
During the next month, hundreds of conflicts erupted all over the Northern Lands. The Fate Witches that had seemed so weak reversed all expectations and demonstrated fearsome courage and savagery.
The Fate Witches might be at a numerical disadvantage in a witch-level war, but they did not back down at all.
They seemed to have managed to place a summoning core and a golem talisman in the hands of every single Fate Witch. If the Coldwinter Witches were to start a fight against them, they had an elementium golem to defend them and a magical machine to assault the enemy lines. Paired with multiple instant-cast magic wands and scrolls, the Fate Witches turned from sheep to big bad wolves, devouring a dozen Coldwinter Witches in a single go.
Of course, there weren’t many Coldwinter Witches who died. Most of them were simply defeated, captured, and imprisoned in the Tower of Fate in Dragonblight. It seemed they would not be able to regain their freedom until the war ended.
The sudden explosion of strength from the Fate Witches didn’t just stun the Coldwinter Witches alone. Even the witches of the other branches, who were watching from the sidelines, were utterly bewildered.
After all, these elementium and metal golems were artifacts of significant cost. Most adept towers only had enough money to use them as stationary guards.
To bring them out along with you?
A small golem talisman could easily cost over twenty thousand magical crystals on the market. Moreover, they were rare items that could not be bought so easily, even if one could afford them. It was hard to obtain these strategic items from the Silver Union without some special connections.
Summoning a First Grade elementium golem and a First Grade magical machine during a battle between First Grade witches might not tilt the scales of war too severely. However, when it was a battle between two witch apprentices, a single and sudden pseudo-adept level elementium golem would significantly impact the outcome of the fight.
Most of the participants in the battles that had erupted across the Northern Lands were witch apprentices. How massive of a deal was a pseudo-adept level elementium golem? The Coldwinter apprentices could slowly tell you all about it with their own tragic stories.
The addition of these elementium golems caused the Fate branch to go uncontested in battles between apprentices!
The opponent’s witch apprentices were either defeated and captured or sent packing back to their territories.
For a long time, Coldwinter apprentices would turn tail and run at the very sight of Fate apprentices. None of them dared even initiate a direct battle.
One could reasonably claim that the Coldwinter Witches were at a complete loss against the Fate Witches in this contest. They were not far from completely losing the war.
However, the Coldwinter Witches’ slump was instantly overturned with the participation of the Second Grade witches.
After all, Second Grade witches were Second Grade witches. They were not so easily pushed back by the likes of First Grade witches aided with some elementium and metal golems.
Disregarding everything else, just the sheer number of Second Grade witches exposed the weakness of the Fate branch.
The Coldwinter Witches had eleven Second Grade witches, while the Fate branch only had a single one. Moreover, that person was Alice, their leader, who could not so quickly appear on the battlefield.
The Fate Witches were at a complete disadvantage when comparing the strength of their Second Grades.
The Fate branch didn’t stand by idly while this group of Second Grade Coldwinter Witches stepped on the battlefield and started sweeping up the Fate Witches. Instead, they sent out a large group of Second Grade fighters from other races belonging to their subordinates forces.
Second Grade vampire adepts, Second Grade dragonborn, Second Grade magical machine warriors, Second Grade Dragon Devourer Oliven, Second Grade Spirit of Pestilence.
These sinister and vicious non-human Second Grades were utterly devoid of the pride and nobility of the adepts. They frequently resorted to ambushes and sneak attacks, as well as using superior numbers to overwhelm their enemies. They launched multiple assaults in cooperation with the Fate Witches while the Coldwinter Witches were still wholly ignorant of their existence.
In a short amount of time, three of the Second Grade Coldwinter Witches were beaten within an inch of their lives, and two were captured alive.
When news of such results circulated, it instantly caused a commotion in the Northern Lands. Even Third Grade Morgana, who stood guard in Icesnow Valley, could no longer sit still.
How did things develop to this point?
The power of the Coldwinter Witches was ten times that of the newly re-established Fate Witches.
This battle should have ended with the tragic defeat of the Fate Witches, and Morgana would have quickly taken the male adept under her wing. However, the reality was far from the ideal. Now, it was the Fate Witches who had the Coldwinter Witches on the ground, rubbing their faces furiously into the dirt.
It was undoubtedly an unprecedented psychological blow to Morgana!
Morgana had no choice but to walk out of Icesnow Valley and personally join the battlefield.
The enemy seeme
d to have predicted this would happen. The moment Morgana emerged from Icesnow Valley, the Fate Witches began a complete strategic retreat. They abandoned all of their outer territories and resource sites, recalling all their witches and apprentices to the Tower of Fate in Dragonblight, where they turtled up inside.
That left Morgana completely hanging in the air!
She couldn’t possibly run over to the Fate Witches’ base and bully the mortal armies and nobles who were left, could she? Especially with her status and identity! However, attacking the Tower of Fate; that was the origin tower of the Fate Witches. Even a Fourth Grade witch didn’t dare break into the tower, let alone a Third Grade like herself.
However, leaving the Fate Witches as they were…
Dammit! There were at least thirty Coldwinter Witches and over a hundred apprentices still imprisoned in their tower. If she ignored their livelihoods, then the reputation and honor that the Coldwinter Witches had built over the course of five hundred years would vanish without a trace.
Not to mention there were two Second Grade Coldwinter Witches still locked up in the Tower of Fate. She couldn’t abandon them, even if she were to abandon all the other witches!
For a moment, this somewhat comical conflict fell into an awkward lull.
…………
Ever since he reached Third Grade, Greem was surprised to find that the World of Adepts that he was so acquainted with had become so unfamiliar.
It was like accidentally opening a door and realizing that the world behind that door was a completely different one.
Third Grade could be considered having crossed over the threshold of being a high-grade adept. It was an entirely different world from being a Second Grade.
As Greem silently thought alone in his room about the new magic that had just been analyzed, a strange blue light crashed against the tower’s defense system. The incident startled him. As a small opening tore in the tower’s defense system, the blue light flew before Greem and turned into an odd invitation letter.
The invitation letter was formed from blue elementium particles. Rows of letters mysteriously appeared on the note as it floated before Greem.
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