Due to some unknown reasons, Katherine still could not hunt down any large carnivorous or herbivorous creatures. As such, her diet consisted solely of rats, snakes, lizards, and other critters that could be found everywhere.
If one were to ignore the metal half of Katherine’s face and body, she was a petite and slender beauty. The shape of her face was beautiful, but her tightly-pressed lips were thin, like two sharp razors, and her eyebrows brimmed with biting, killing intent.
At this moment, she was resentfully glaring at Greem, who was enjoying his dinner in the distance. Meanwhile, she twisted her hands, snapping all the bones of the Black-Scaled Snake in her hands and causing all the fine scales to flake off like snow.
She stuffed the snake into her mouth and swallowed without even needing to chew. This two-meter-long snake was completely devoured in two to three seconds, with only an inch-long snake’s tail still quivering by her mouth at the end of it.
Katherine continued staring daggers at Greem and the wooden doll monster on his shoulder as she sucked furiously. Just like that, the last bit of the snake’s tails disappeared into her little mouth.
There was no one normal amongst those who could become Third Grade adepts!
The famous poison of the Black-Scaled Snake was no more than a joke to Katherine. Her inhuman stomach could even digest energy crystals when necessary. Thus, Katherine’s magical energy was quickly replenished after devouring the elementium crystal cores of two Second Grade magical beasts.
The purpose of eating living creatures was more to absorb their tissue structure to maintain her strange, half-human, half-machine body. Moreover, Katherine had to ingest a reconciling agent on a daily basis.
It was a black and viscous magical potion that was much like a lubricant for machines!
It was only through the biological activity brought about by this reconciling agent that mechanical adepts could prevent their human parts from breaking into conflict with their mechanical components. It was precisely due to their constant consumption of a potion as pungent as this reconciling agent that they had lost all sense of taste.
Mechanical adepts were utterly incapable of distinguishing between tastes!
In their eyes, food was only differentiated by its energy content and blood activity. There was no such thing as bitter, sweet, savory, sour, or spicy. While Greem still needed all sorts of fine cooking steps before he ate, the Blade Princess was different. Most of the time, she omitted these intermediary steps and directly swallowed her food alive.
Man and woman, the two Third Grade adepts silently faced off with two hundred meters between them, all while quietly adjusting their body conditions.
A new battle could erupt at any moment if the conditions allowed for it.
Two hundred meters was nothing to both of them. Katherine could cross that distance at full power in just three seconds, enough time for Greem to release a complete Third Grade spell. Meanwhile, the Third Grade elementium magical machine had been reduced to a ‘useless’ block of iron due to its horrendous speed!
Katherine would turn and run without any hesitation the moment Greem released the elementium magical machine.
At any rate, Greem and the elementium magical machine would have no chance of catching up to her with their speed.
Moreover, Greem had no intention of so easily letting news of the elementium magical machine being powered by a magic generator furnace get out. That was why he put on an appearance and hastily unsummoned the elementium magical machine once Katherine had fled, as if he was concerned that it would run out of energy.
It was only when Greem was feeling lethargic and required deep meditation to recover his Spirit that he would release the elementium magical machine for extended periods. The device could protect him and provide him with the time to rest in peace.
It was evident that this battle with the Third Grade mechanical witch was going to be a long and drawn-out one. Greem needed to ensure his Spirit and power were always at their peak. Blade Princess Katherine would also flee with all she had whenever she felt exhausted, finding a place sufficiently hidden and distant to rest and eat.
Greem had also tried sending low-grade wind spirits and earth elementals to track her, but they were always left in the dust.
When Greem attempted to lose Katherine while she was gone and recuperating, this half-machine witch would always manage to catch up without any effort, even across distances of hundreds of kilometers. It was almost as if she had a perfect grasp of Greem’s movements.
After a few consecutive attempts, Greem was utterly speechless. He gave up on his intention to lose the mechanical witch and started to focus his efforts on fighting.
Thus, this awkward situation where neither side could do anything about the other had emerged!
Peace? It was impossible when they belonged to different factions and bore conflicting missions on their shoulders.
Bathe in blood and battle to their deaths? As ambitious Third Grade adepts with great dreams and wills, neither Greem nor Katherine were willing to die in this dirty and lowly plane.
Both of them would abandon any advantage they had at the very first sight of the threat of mutual destruction when they fought. They would rather wait for the next opportunity.
They still had long lives to live and far too many beautiful things for them to enjoy and experience. There was no need to send themselves to an early grave over some resources and a mission.
Yet, while the two adepts were resting and eating as they stared at each other, an intangible chill ran across both their bodies.
It wasn’t a change in the environment or a disruption in magical energy, but a strange feeling in their souls that could not be described with words. It was almost as if…as if they were suddenly in the sights of some mighty creature. Their entire bodies and souls were subconsciously shrinking and quivering.
Dammit! This feeling again.
Nothing good happened whenever they got this feeling!
As expected, while the two Third Grade adepts cursed internally, a wave of human voices came from the darkness. Torches lit up. The sound of stomping hoofs rolled across like a storm.
The enemy had appeared!
Chapter 947 - Holy Light
Their guests were a squadron of cavalry.
Thunderous galloping washed across the land as a troop of two to three hundred cavalry soldiers barged into the wasteland and stopped their horses three hundred meters away from the bonfires of both adepts.
It was an elite cavalry force from the Zambez Empire. An eye-catching emblem had been carved onto the chestplates, shields, and weapons of every member. Unfortunately, neither Greem nor Katherine were citizens of the Zambez Empire. It hadn’t been long since they had arrived on this plane either. As such, neither of them recognized the emblems or identities of these soldiers.
However, even if they knew of this information, it would still have no bearing on them.
The power levels of this plane were incomparable to the World of Adepts, so much so that the two adepts looked down upon the traditional martial forces of this plane.
Even though Greem and Katherine could not unleash their full power in Henvic Plane, their tremendous fighting ability and myriad of unpredictable spells gave them the confidence to kill any native Third Grade that appeared before them.
Meanwhile, the low-grade plane natives were no more than ants before them. They could kill as many of them as there were, without any concern for their numbers. As long as they retained their immense mobility, no creature on this plane could capture or defeat them!
It was precisely their confidence and power that made Greem and Katherine turn their heads and assess the intimidating Zambezian cavalry with looks of interest instead of showing any signs of fear or intent to retreat.
The cavalry was the Saint Martin Chivalric Order that had been stationed in the nearest large city of Hakans.
The leader was a bald, muscular man with a full beard. His build was large
and muscular, but not excessively so. Determination and will were written all over his sharp and cold face. Old and battered knight’s armor covered his straight, robust body. The knight’s emblem on his chest–a shield laid over a sword–was a big clue to his true identity– Division Head Kent of the Saint Martin Chivalric Order.
It was a vast army of elite knights, but the one that led was no more than a mere Second Grade Silver Knight.
Though the brilliant light of flowing magical powers could be seen all over their bodies, and their magical armor and weapons glowed brightly, they still appeared like a nest of ants beneath the eyes of the two adepts. They lacked a Third Grade leader, after all.
However, these Saint Martin knights did not seem to have figured out the grade levels of these two adepts. They dismounted in unison upon arriving and arranged themselves in formation before marching toward the bonfires.
The knights hesitated for a moment when they were one hundred meters away from the bonfires. It was then that they adjusted their direction and slowly approached and surrounded Greem. The one dozen knights that remained at the rear of the group did not dismount but instead maintained charging formation in Katherin’s position, as if warning her not to move.
Pity for the weak? Or was it picking on the weak?
Greem couldn’t help but feel a trace of awkwardness when he saw these ants choose him as their target. Anger also started rising within him.
Without any hesitation, he summoned the elementium magical machine and unleashed his Burning Domain.
Greem had not released the Burning Domain in all his fights with the Blade Princess. He did not want to exhaust his power.
Attacks lower than a certain intensity were effectively useless against a Third Grade opponent like Katherine. Only highly-concentrated magical powers and physical attacks could break through her defensive forcefields and injure her.
Yet, when Greem was dealing with a swarm of ants that relied on their numbers, the Burning Domain that covered hundreds of meters of area instantly became a zone of death.
The Saint Martin knights let out their battlecries, “The light is with me!”, “For glory!”, and many others. Layers of bright holy light radiated from their bodies as they charged at Greem.
However, the first to greet them was not Greem’s spells, but the elementium magical machine’s indestructible body and its unstoppable fists.
Dong. Dong. Dong.
The elementium magical machine charged into the knights’ ranks with heavy steps and blazing flames, instantly making for a bloody and cruel slaughter.
Dong! Dong! Its left and right fists swung forward, and two Saint Martin knights in heavy armor were blown into the air and crashed twenty to thirty meters away. Their bones snapped beneath the heavy armor, and they stopped moving upon hitting the ground.
The chestplates of the two knights were deeply dented and glowing a bright red, like the red-hot piece of a branding iron. Crimson blood slowly seeped out from beneath their bodies, soaking the earth around them.
The other Saint Martin knights raised their magical longswords and shields as they surrounded the elementium magical machine and started slashing and bashing furiously.
Holy Cross!
Judgement of Light!
Divine Storm!
Hammer of Justice!
……
It was almost as if a blacksmith was in the vicinity. The deafening sounds of clashing metal would not stop. Blinding holy light and overwhelmingly powerful combat techniques followed after the knights’ loud shouting.
Sparks came flying off of the magical machine’s body as they slashed and cut with all they had. However, like a boulder in the face of a violent torrent, the elementium magical machine remained unmoving. Instead, it blew away knight after knight with its punches and knocked them down with its fireballs, exhausting their numbers with violent but straightforward attacks.
As if they had realized the elementium magical machine to be a summon of the terrifying adept, Division Head Kent led a group of his most elite subordinates and charged into Greem’s Burning Domain.
Dry, suffocating, blistering heat and magical flames were everywhere.
These native knights of Henvic Plane immediately understood the might of a Third Grade fire adept upon entering the Burning Domain. The adept had not even lifted a finger, but his barrier was already causing the holy knights to suffer the pain of being roasted alive.
“Convert your holy emblems to fire resistance!” The tough commander shouted.
He then raised his wide longsword as a milky-white halo spread outward, enhancing all the holy knights with a layer of radiance.
Exceptional Fire Resistance?
Blue light flashed in Greem’s black eyes, and he quickly scanned the attributes of the halos enhancing these holy knights.
Fire resistance +50.
With this blessing, the fire damage caused by the Burning Domain was reduced by more than half. Moreover, the remaining half of the damage was slowly being reduced as they cast all sorts of strange blessings and halos on themselves, so much so that the fire resistance was almost reaching the level of elementary fire resistance.
Greem couldn’t help but narrow his eyes.
It seemed he had still underestimated these plane natives.
Their individual power might not be much, but when gathered together, their pure and united faith in the holy light allowed them to enhance themselves immensely!
However, ants were still ants. Even strengthened and blessed, they were merely ants that had been strengthened and blessed!
Greem raised his hand, and a Second Grade Magma Fireball instantly formed in his hand.
He turned his head downward and hurled the Magma Fireball into the ranks of the knights. The flame shockwaves from the explosion shot magma shards in every direction, like hundreds and thousands of bullets.
Seven or eight First Grade holy knights collapsed silently, their armor filled with massive holes created by the magma shards. Their flesh and clothes inside the armor were ignited by the heat. Flames started rising from the gaps in their armor. The smell of burnt meat quickly spread through the air.
The Magma Fireball had smashed the shield of Division Head Kent to pieces.
The enchanted shield with divine protection was worth well over ten thousand gold pieces, but it had shattered in an instant. Second Grade Kent braced his longsword in front of him, creating a Shield of Holy Light and protecting himself from the shockwave and rain of lava that came after.
If Kent still did not know the grade of this adept before, he instantly understood now that he had experienced an attack from the adept. It was a Third Grade adept!
The Saint Martin Chivalric Order was a proper Chivalric Order stationed in Hakans, the largest city in the north of the Zambez Empire. Their power was well-known, even throughout the Empire.
The highest authority the Empire had stationed in Hakans had sent many spies and scouts to investigate the truth behind the destruction of Lakeside Town since the incident. However, before they could procure accurate information, the two otherworldly adepts had fought their way through and out of the Cedrac Mountains, causing indescribable damage to the civilians along the way.
Judging from the direction of the two adepts, they were heading for the Empire city closest to the Cedrac Mountains– the City of Talla.
In order to prevent Talla and its sixty thousand residents from becoming sacrifices at the hands of the adepts, the holy knight order had no choice but to abandon the sturdy city walls and their army of foot soldiers, electing instead to gather their most elite and rush over to the scene.
They ran into Greem and Katherine in the wild, just thirty meters away from Talla; as such, this battle broke out.
When Kent understood the level and might of this adept, he knew that this battle was an unwinnable fight. He shouted, and the badly beaten knights quickly retreated from the Burning Domain, attempting to flee into the distance and regroup.
Kent, the Second Grade Silver Knight, let out a battlecry and charged toward Greem while covered in layers of light.
The Burning Domain started to become wild and vicious as Greem poured more Spirit into the magic. Several blazing jets of flames blasted toward Kent, making it impossible for him to progress. His armor and longsword started to turn red and boiling beneath the violent flames. Parts of his exposed skin also began to become scorched black.
However, Division Head Kent had a stubborn will. He endured the storm of fire and approached Greem, one step at a time. He left behind a black and scorched footprint on the ground with every step.
By the time he was twenty meters away from Greem, his entire body had already ignited with magical fires, and his skin crackled with flames. Still, he persisted like a fish swimming against the river, walking forward one step at a time.
His skin had been reduced to charcoal, and the protection of light around him was riddled with holes. Even his life aura had almost wholly withered. Only the flicker of light in his chest remained as pure and sacred as it had always been.
Finally, Greem could not stand it any longer. He pushed his lips together and blew. A transparent cluster of flames blew against Kent’s body, instantly disintegrating his armor and turning his body into ashes. His entire being had vanished.
Only a small cluster of extremely pure, white light remained the air!
Chapter 948 - Mutual Defeat
The Saint Martin knights finally started retreating!
After several futile and hopeless charges, they finally realized the gulf in power between them and the enemy before them. They gave up on the battle and started retreating into the distance.
There had been approximately two to three hundred of them when they had arrived, but their ranks were less than a hundred when they fled.
From start to finish, Greem had not taken a single step away from the bonfire. Apart from striking once at the Second Grade Division Head, the other Saint Martin knights had all fell casually to the flaming metal fists of the elementium magical machine. Blade Princess Katherine had also remained unusually quiet and had not taken the opportunity to assault Greem.
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