Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The fireball instantly arrived in front of the fire dragon and exploded into a massive cluster of flames the moment it left Greem’s hand.

  Both of them played with fire. The damage of fire spells on each other was negligible. That was why Greem had chosen the Magma Fireball–which carried a portion of physical damage with it–as his means of attack.

  The violent flame shockwaves crashed against the fire dragon’s enormous body along with a large number of magma shards. They crackled against her dark red scales and sent sparks flying when they hit her.

  Dammit, it was an annoying fire adept!

  The fire dragon roared in anger. She no longer cared for the bothersome little bat around her. Instead, her massive body, covered in surging flames, lunged at the young male adept.

  She could tell that the female adept’s offensive power was not very high. Her claws had no chance of penetrating her scales and hurting her. Meanwhile, the male adept was a fire adept that excelled at offense. She had to deal with him very carefully.

  The three Third Grades charged about in the air above Doomsday Castle, fighting wildly and furiously. Wave after wave of heat and fire spread outward in every direction like an unstoppable tide, surging at the castle beneath.

  Flames descended from the skies, igniting roaring pillars of fire wherever they landed. Even those tall and sturdy buildings could not tolerate the extreme heat and started to collapse amidst the blaze. If these flames landed on the dragonborn guards, they would instantly ignite all the magical energy within their bodies. They would turn them into human torches and spew flames from every orifice and pore on their bodies. They would be reduced to ashes in the blink of an eye.

  It was almost as if an actual apocalypse had descended upon Doomsday Castle. Rooms fell apart as people darted about in chaos.

  While the dragonborn were panicking, a shrill cry could be heard. A massive cluster of flames fell from the sky, smashing a deep crater into the tough plaza. When the erupting flames slowly faded, a slender form climbed out of the hole, burnt all over.

  Behind her, the lava in the crater had yet to cool down, still bubbling and roiling violently.

  The scorched figure moved her body with much difficulty. The carbonized skin on her body started to flake and fall off, revealing the still steaming flesh beneath.

  The scorched figure stood up straight, and her burnt eyelids opened, revealing a pair of crimson red eyes. She glanced at the sky resentfully before turning her gaze to the dragonborn guards nearby.

  For some reason, the dragonborn guard that she stared at felt an uncontrollable fear in his heart. He had wanted to escape with his heavy body when the figure lunged onto his body.

  The difference in size was massive. One was as large as a truck, while the other was as slender as a willow in the wind. However, if they were to truly fight, even ten dragonborn guards wouldn’t be the match of a severely injured Mary!

  No one knew what Mary did, but the dragonborn guard immediately lost all ability to resist once she leaped onto his back. He simply allowed her to crouch down on his neck and drain him of all his blood.

  After a series of sucking sounds, the body of this advanced First Grade dragonborn was obviously withered and dry. Five seconds later, when Mary wiped her lips and got up, she had already recovered her natural beauty and dashing charm.

  Not a trace of a wound could still be seen on her white and smooth skin!

  Mary felt the plentiful bloody energy in her body as she lifted her head and stared at the fat figure still fighting in the air. She let out a cry and unfurled her wings, charging into the sky once more like a rapid crimson silhouette.

  Chapter 911 - Neat and Clean

  Fire Dragon Philippa had lost!

  A terrible defeat!

  The one who had truly defeated her was none other than a metal golem with an exceptionally unique design.

  Even though it was a metal golem, it could unleash powerful magical energy just like elementium creatures. However, even if she had wanted to say it was an elementium golem, it possessed an impenetrable body of iron and steel on the outside.

  There had been a Third Grade elementium magical machine as the primary offensive power, paired with a Third Grade fire adept assisting as well as a Third Grade vampire adept harassing from the sidelines. Philippa might have had tremendous combat power, but even she couldn’t deal with attacks from so many enemies.

  Even the Mothership had started to use its magic energy cannons to bombard the fire dragon from above. Five goblin ships and a few dozen goblin helicopters had circled the skies, engulfing Philippa in a rain of gunfire.

  These attacks might have had incredible difficulty in piercing her Third Grade dragon scales to injure her, but when the barrage was dense enough, there were always some lucky attacks that managed to slip between the gaps and pierce into her flesh. It had caused Philippa to grunt in agony over and over again.

  A fair battle?

  Such a thing had never and would never exist among the adepts!

  It was such an immensely powerful dragon-slaying party. Just the elementium magical machine alone would have been enough to square off against the Third Grade fire dragon, let alone having the assistance of Greem, Mary, and the whole army of goblins.

  If the elementium magical machine had any flaw, it would be its weight. It was simply too heavy for the powers of elementium to lift it into the air and allow it to fly.

  Fortunately, Greem had put his flame jets constructed with magic arrays to use and applied them on the magical machine. Though it looked a bit clumsy and wobbly while it flew, there was no denying its effectiveness.

  Large alloy webs, metal harpoons with heavy chains, Wands of Binding.

  The goblins on the ship had tried everything that could be used to kill a dragon. In the end, they discovered that the twin-headed chain hammer was the most practical.

  The twin-headed chain hammers fired from the goblin cannons wrapped around the fire dragon’s body, neck, limbs, and even her wings. It was tough to break free from the chains once they were wrapped around her. The strength of the Third Grade fire dragon and her searing dragon’s breath might have been enough to destroy the alloy chains, but Greem and Mary would never have allowed her the time to do so.

  With Greem and Mary’s attacks as cover, the elementium magical machine had clashed with the fire dragon in a spectacular display, like a heavy cavalry in the skies. The dragon and the magical machine had rolled across the air, fighting savagely as they did so. Finally, both of them crashed into Doomsday Castle.

  There was a deafeningly loud rumbling. Stretches of buildings abruptly collapsed. Blazing fireballs could vaguely be seen through the massive dust cloud from the impact, along with a long tail whistling through the air alongside a pair of dark red wings fully unfurling.

  The elementium magical machine’s hard iron fist smashed onto Philippa’s head. If she hadn’t lowered her head and crouched in time, that punch would have been enough to crush her eyeball. Even so, Philippa had managed to save her eye, but not the horns on her head.

  The ferocious punch landed on her dragon horn. It snapped in half, and blood splattered everywhere, drenching Philippa’s face in an instant.

  The elementium magical machine then extended both of its giant iron hands. One grabbed onto the metal chain on Philippa’s neck, while the other made a fist. Again and again, punch after punch, it railed on the fire dragon’s frail neck and head with a rhythmic pace.

  The fire dragon’s fine and tough scales were able to save her from piercing weapons and effectively disperse the impact of heavy weapons, and the berserk Philippa avoided most of the punches with her agile limb movements. She then wrapped forward onto the elementium magical machine, using every part of her body to attack the enemy as they rolled around on the ground and tore at each other.

  With her thick, sharp dragon claws, along with her blade-like fangs, Philippa wildly tore at the elementium magical machine’s body, primitive and savage
. Her almost metallic long tail also sent sparks flying when it whipped against the machine’s metal body.

  If the two of them had been the only combatants tthis time, Philippa might just have been able to rely on her tough body and expert brawling skills to secure the final victory.

  Unfortunately, the elementium magical machine wasn’t her only enemy!

  Greem and Mary quickly hurried over. Together with the goblin helicopters in the sky, they concentrated their firepower into the pillar of dust. The elementium magical machine was protected by its sturdy metal body and received far less damage. Meanwhile, Philippa only had her dragon scales and suffered immensely. She was instantly bloodied and wounded all over.

  In the end, it was a full-power Meteor Burst from Greem that had ended Philippa’s final struggles. It blew away most of the scales on her back and left a half-meter wound on the spot.

  Even a Third Grade fire dragon, as tough as they were, could not endure such a heavy blow.

  The severely injured fire dragon was defeated in the battle against the elementium magical machine. She was pressed down against the ruins of the castle and hammered with wave after wave of punches.

  The dragonborn guards of Doomsday Castle could not sit by and watch as their ruler was being devastated in this manner. One by one, they climbed out of the collapsed ruins and charged at the battlefield, roaring and shouting.

  However, at that exact moment, several combat magical machines descended from the skies on steel wires, standing in the path of the guards. The two forces began an unbridled, deadly battle above the ruins.

  Greem hovered over the ruins and surveyed the entire battlefield, using Vicious Fireballs to blow away the dragonborn that swarmed. It didn’t matter if they were First or Second Grade; they were no different from frail bamboo sticks in front of him.

  Occasionally, a particularly hardy Second Grade dragonborn had reached Greem, but Mary’s phantom-like movements and terrifying claws made swift work of them.

  Mary’s attacks might be weak, but that was only relative to Third Grade powerhouses.

  When her enemies were those clumsy First and Second Grade dragonborn, it was like slicing away at immobile, rotting wooden stakes.

  After an entire hour, Mary and Greem had finally dealt with the majority of surviving dragonborn guards in the castle. At the same time, the elementium magical machine had finally climbed out of the rubble covered in cracks and dents. Its scuffed right hand dragged the fire dragon by its long, metallic tail.

  The fire dragon had lost all ability to retaliate after so many repeated blows. She did not even show any signs of struggling or resisting when the elementium magical machine dragged her out of the ruins.

  Her fat and robust dragon body was now a mess of blood and flesh. The few ferocious spells that had hit her had blown away most of the scales on her back and belly. The exposed flesh was covered in signs of elementium injury. Even her wings had been broken, limping weakly beside her.

  The thick dragon claw on her right hind leg was bent at a terrifying angle.

  The horn on her large, vicious dragon’s head had been snapped in half with blood flowing from the wound. Her right eye was also swollen shut. Her long snout had been punched hard a few times and was a mess of purple blood now. Nearly half of the sharp, dagger-like fangs in her mouth had fallen out as well.

  The fierce and savage fire dragon Philippa was now coughing up blood, filled with a sense of despair. Judging from how erratic her breathing was, she was clearly on death’s door.

  Compared to the past, the fire dragon’s poor condition was genuinely tragic!

  A shadow fell upon everyone in the castle.

  The large silver hull of the Mothership slowly descended, pressing toward Doomsday Island like a giant silver mountain.

  The Mothership eventually stopped when it was a hundred meters above the lava sea.

  A door opened at the bottom of the hull, and a thick cable fell with thirty construction machines clinging onto it. With their help, the gigantic body of the fire dragon was finally dragged onto the Mothership.

  The other magical machines were also busy at work, digging through the ruins of the castle, uncovering the dragon’s hoard, and searching for dragonborn guards that were still alive. Though every one of them was busy, they proceeded with their many tasks in an orderly fashion.

  It wasn’t until the battle had concluded that Gru arrived at Doomsday Island on a goblin ship.

  Though Doomsday Castle itself had been severely damaged, sixty percent of the buildings and living facilities were still intact. If a bit of effort was put in and they were fixed, the island could even be used as a decent outpost.

  The Mothership was the property of the Capital of Eternity. Thus, according to the agreement, the fire dragon belonged to Greem and Mary, while the hoard would be split 8:2 between Greem and the Capital. The den of the dragon would go to the Capital and serve as a new outpost for the brain monster’s expansion.

  Once Doomsday Castle had been cleaned up, Greem and Mary boarded the Mothership and returned to the Capital of Eternity. Gru left behind ten construction machines and forty war machines to continue cleaning and fixing up Doomsday Island.

  The next time he came back, Gru would bring large numbers of construction robots and resources. They would try and turn Doomsday Island into an impenetrable iron fortress in the shortest time possible.

  When the Mothership successfully arrived in the Capital of Eternity, a powerful dragon’s roar suddenly rang out from the distant horizon.

  A short moment later, a mighty thunder dragon covered in bright blue scales appeared in view, along with an elegant emerald dragon. They quickly caught up to the Mothership.

  When Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms and Third Grade Emerald Dragon Iritina took their human forms and boarded the Mothership, they saw the tragic state of Third Grade Philippa and instantly fell silent from shock.

  Philippa might have had a bad mouth and an uncouth temper, but she was undoubtedly an extremely strong dragon.

  If one were to be absolutely honest, Arms was not the opponent of this fire dragon. Even with Iritina’s help, they barely had a sixty percent chance of beating Philippa.

  Yet now, a powerful Third Grade dragon lord like this had become the prey of human adepts. The psychological impact had shocked them to the very core of their souls.

  Were dragons still as powerful and undefeatable as before?

  Chapter 912 - The Fire Dragon and the Sourcestealer

  Chapter 912 The Fire Dragon and the Sourcestealer

  World of Adepts, Ailovis Region.

  Fire Throne Tower.

  The spoils obtained from Doomsday Castle had been transported back. Eva was organizing the adepts and apprentices to appraise and sort the items.

  Such a large sum of wealth couldn’t possibly all be kept in Fire Throne. Be it magical gemstones, materials, equipment, metal ores, art pieces, or some unknown relics, all of them would have to be shared with White Tower.

  Technically, as the leader of the clan, all this wealth belonged to Greem.

  However, for the sake of supporting the clan’s operations, Greem only took out ten percent of the total spoils as his personal collection. The approximate share of spoils was: ten percent to Greem, ten percent to Mary, thirty percent to Fire Throne, and fifty percent to White Tower.

  As the main forces of this hunt, Mary and Greem naturally had the right to choose their spoils first.

  Greem chose Third Grade Fire Dragon Philippa, and Mary reserved half a ton of Third Grade fire dragon blood. Though the remaining treasure was split three and five between Fire Throne and White, Eva still wanted to try to keep the best of the spoils at Fire Throne.

  It would be best to hand over some of the useless art pieces to White Tower and keep as much of the magical materials and equipment in Fire Throne.

  The leader of every region had to fight a little over such clan welfare!

  However, Greem would usually not in
terfere in such insignificant matters.

  It wasn’t a good thing if the clan was too united and peaceful on the inside. Necessary competition and the elimination of the weak was unavoidable.

  To avoid the entire clan being defeated by an enemy in one fell swoop, it was split into two– Fire Throne and White Tower. They could simultaneously develop in both Zhentarim and the Northern Lands. This way, the two regional headquarters would have their own foundations and their own trajectory of development.

  Given the current situation, there were fewer obstructive forces over at White Tower, and the momentum of their development was more ferocious than Fire Throne. Meanwhile, Fire Throne was where Greem resided and received some degree of welfare benefits due to this.

  From an overall standpoint, Gargamel was weaker than Meryl when it came to recruiting and managing high-grade adepts. That was due to his own limited strength and humble background compared to Meryl, who had a proper adept upbringing.

  Meryl had Greem, the legendary adept, as her teacher, along with a host of adept disciples such as Deserra beneath her. The sly old fox Vanlier also assisted her. Meryl could mobilize far more adept resources within the Crimson Clan than Gargamel.

  At the very least, with Vanlier’s connections, Meryl could mobilize the vampire faction to some degree. That alone made her incontestably superior to Gargamel!

  Meanwhile, what did Crimson Majordomo Gargamel have on his side?

  Most of the subordinates he could command were insignificant small adepts or some old veterans that had been recruited when the Crimson Clan had just been established. These were individuals like Medusa Dana and Charon the Manticore.

  These veterans might have some degree of influence in the Crimson Clan, but with the rapid rise of the clan’s authority, they were quickly being pushed out toward the periphery. If they didn’t work harder, their most likely outcome was being sent to some lesser plane or large resource site of the clan where they would be stationed until their death.