To think that the opponent could beat her so severely that she had to call for help. No, so badly that she would be quickly defeated after she called for help. The three adepts couldn’t help but think of the two famous Fourth Grade holy knights of Henvic Plane.
There were only two Fourth Grade Holy Knights on this plane. One was attacking the witch’s tower in the south, and the other was recuperating from his massive wounds in the Empire. Could…could this Holy Knight that was recovering from his injuries be moving now?
They had no idea that a brutal battle had just ended in a forest sixty kilometers to the north.
Over half of the holy knights that had hurried over from the Empire had turned into casualties. The forest they were in had been ravaged, filled with felled trees and ditches created by a powerful force.
The terrifying Blade Princess Katherine’s two hands and a leg had been cut off and pinned to the cliff with a massive longsword.
Even in such a desperate situation, the ferocious Katherine had still managed to unleash fearsome energy beams from her mechanical eye, slicing the trees and bushes to pieces and defacing the entire geography.
The Fourth Grade Holy Knight in the party had a stern and determined expression on his face. His short white hair stood straight on his head, making him look as majestic as a raging lion.
Upon seeing how savage this disabled evil witch remained after having three of her limbs cut off, the Fourth Grade Holy Knight charged to Katherine’s side and reached with his right hand. He did not fear the energy beam shooting out of her eyes at all. Two fingers stabbed and scooped, plucking the half-flesh and half-mechanical eyeball out of Katherine’s eye socket.
Aaaaaah!
Katherine opened her mouth and let out a pitiful cry. Five or six gaps opened up on her spine. Metallic appendages reached out from within and struck at the Holy Knight.
“Hmph! Outrageous.” The knight snorted and stretched with his hand, quickly grabbing the metallic appendages with his right palm.
He then applied force, and Katherine reared her neck and screamed even more desperately. The appendages connected to her spine broke at the base, leaving a few bloody holes on her spine. The purple and black blood seeped out of her wounds, along with the foul-smelling reconciling agent. The stench was so overpowering that a few of the holy knights started choking and couldn’t help but step back.
Katherine was still moving her body in an attempt to fight back despite the horrifying wounds she had received.
The Holy Knight finally lost his patience. He reached out and gouged a few of the joints on Katherine’s body.
The neck, the shoulder, the chest, the waist, and the tailbone.
This series of critical strikes immediately severely dislocated or destroyed the modified metal joints in Katherine’s body, shutting down her control over her mechanical or organic parts.
Katherine’s body finally went limp, incapable of any resistance!
The Holy Knight looked at the battlefield around him after finally taking down this barbaric mechanical witch. His heart filled with shock and anger when he looked at the ruined forest around him and the holy knights that were scattered across the ground.
He was shocked at the savagery and ferocity of these foreign invaders.
He was angered at their disregard for the lives of Henvic Plane.
Fourth Grade Holy Knight Ad Carrhae was finally enraged!
All the adepts deserved to die. They couldn’t be allowed to continue existing in Henvic.
His emotion of extreme anger triggered the wounds on his body, making him cough intensely and spit out a mouthful of black blood. Shards of organ and muscle fibers could be faintly seen in the black blood.
It was more than enough evidence that the terrible wounds he had received in the witch’s tower had not stabilized at all. In fact, they were showing signs of aggravation.
To reduce the casualties among the ordinary holy knights when attacking the witch’s tower, Ad Carrhae had personally breached the tower with his tremendous might and destroyed the interplanar teleportation array there. He had received a destructive blow by the combined attack of the stationed witches.
If the holy light he possessed hadn’t been the most specialized at healing and neutralizing foreign energy, Ad Carrhae would never have escaped that tower alive.
He might have survived, but the terrifying wounds on his body tortured him gravely.
Ad Carrhae had no choice but to leave the battlefield and return to the Empire to recuperate, using the Sanctuary Space of the Great Holy Light Cathedral to heal his wounds.
Unfortunately, just as his wounds were showing signs of healing, the omnipotent Holy Light sent a grave warning to him. According to the Holy Light, new enemies would invade from the north of the Empire. Moreover, their arrival would bring about a fearsome disaster for the holy knights!
It was this terrifying omen that caused Ad Carrhae to drag his broken body all the way to the north of the Empire, rushing day and night with a troop of holy knights to arrive as quickly as he could. They even cut through the Avelli Mountains, Starfall Valley, and the primal woods to save time.
Who knew if it was the guidance of the Holy Light or the tremendous misfortune of the enemy, but their party had run into this lone otherworldly witch while they were traveling through Fellhammer Mountain.
After a bloody battle, this barbaric half-human, half-machine witch was taken down by the injured Fourth Grade Holy Knight Ad Carrhae after she had wiped out half of the other holy knights.
Chapter 964 - Trading Information
Greem easily made his way into Zola after paying the toll.
He spent half the day strolling through the city and quickly grew disappointed.
There was indeed a Holy Light Chapel in the city, but its scale was much smaller than the one in Hakans. Greem only felt a single Second Grade energy aura in the city, while the rest were all First Grade or lower.
After some hesitation, he gave up on the idea of attacking the chapel. Instead, he headed to a tavern at the eastern edge of the city.
Rose and Wine.
That was the name of the tavern. It sounded classy, but when Greem pushed open the two grimy doors and set foot within, he was immediately assaulted by the stench of cheap perfume, sweat, and the unique fragrance of oatmeal stouts. He frowned.
The sun had not even set, but the place was already filled with customers.
Greem was still dressed like a mercenary with a sword. His two-meter stature made him appear particularly intimidating, and he radiated a threatening aura just by standing in the dim entrance of the tavern.
Several muscular men who were hollering and swaying their way out of the doors ran into him. Their drunk eyes crossed the two cold eyes of the towering figure, and they immediately became half-sober.
These men were all members of the Willie Brotherhood in the downtown area of Zola City. They were typically rough and barbaric men and were known for being mean brawlers on the streets. Yet, for some reason, their hearts were beating wildly today just by running into this tall figure whose face they could not even see clearly. They stepped aside obediently and left the way to the counter open.
Everyone that Greem passed, be they passionate drunkards, waitresses with food on their trays, or even hooded figures whispering in the shadows, turned pale when he walked by them. They hastily got out of his way.
Many people who thought of themselves as courageous also instinctively stepped back only to realize their cowardice after the affair. However, while anger rose in their hearts and they prepared to rely on the alcohol in their system to start some trouble, their rising emotions were immediately quenched when they saw the towering back of that person once more.
The fat tavern owner wiped off the beads of sweat from his face with his oily rag and pushed a smile onto his face.
“This…sir, what are you looking for?”
It was obvious that Greem was a wandering mercenary from the way he dress
ed. However, when you stood in front of him and looked into his eyes, an indescribable spiritual pressure would fall upon you that was so dense that you felt like you were suffocating.
The difference in the lifeform level between them was too significant. Even when Greem tried his best to restrain his spiritual pressure and energy, ordinary people still could not remain calm when they stood in front of him.
“I need information.”
Greem was not trying to hide his intentions, either. He calmly stated his goal as he tossed a small bag onto the counter.
The crisp sound of coins rang as the bag fell on the grimy counter. The expression of the tavern owner immediately turned into a passionate one.
His right hand swiped across the counter with agility utterly disproportionate to his size, and the heavy bag vanished in an instant. He moved so quickly that even Greem somewhat suspected that he had ‘Thief’ as a secondary profession.
The fat meat on the owner’s face jiggled as he put on a fawning smile.
“Sir, do you see that skinny man in the corner. His name is Locke. He’s the leading source of information here in Zola. You can ask him anything you want. Don’t tell him I told you this, but he’s a senior member of the Little Knife Association!” Greem tilted his head and looked at the man in the corner of the tavern, even as he listened to the tavern owner’s rambling introduction.
It was a skinny man dressed in black clothes. He looked very ordinary, without any distinguishing characteristics on his entire person. Only his spirited and wandering eyes betrayed his sharp and agile mind.
Locke had already noticed Greem the moment he entered the tavern. He was now whispering with the companions beside him while glancing at Greem from the corner of his eyes. When Greem looked toward him at the tavern owner’s words, Locke couldn’t help but wince slightly.
Greem’s towering figure was already looming over Locke’s table before he could think of a way to slip out of the tavern. The massive shadow he cast caused the faces of everyone on the table to turn. Sweat started to appear on their foreheads.
“You are Locke? I need to buy some information from you!” Greem got straight to the issue, speaking with a tone as cold as ice.
Upon hearing that he was here for Locke, the other people who were dressed like him immediately vacated the table and left the space to the two of them.
“So you are here to buy information? That’s good, that’s good.” Locke relaxed as a fawning smile appeared on his sharp and skinny face, “How may I call you, sir? And what kind of information do you intend to purchase?”
“I want to know what happened in Hakans.”
The smile on Locke’s face instantly vanished when he heard Greem’s words, replaced by an unconcealable shock and terror. His gaze then wandered over Greem’s person with suspicion and shock before he softly whispered, “Sir, what you want to know is all classified information. The imperial intelligence officers have already warned us not to go snooping about the matter.”
“You mean…you have no idea at all?” Greem’s voice turned cold.
“Hehehehe. Sir, don’t look down on our Little Knife Association. We do have the information you want. The problem is that it’s limited to the Empire only. We can’t sell it any outsiders!”
Before Locke could finish speaking, a white crystal the size of a fist rolled across the table before him.
Even in this darkest corner of the tavern, where the pillars had obscured most of the light from the oil lamps, there was no hiding the unique magical light of the white crystal. The dim light immediately triggered magical energy resonance in the white crystal when it shone upon the gem, causing it to glow brilliantly and illuminate a good half of the tavern as if it was high noon.
The white crystal was a magical gemstone that was best used to absorb, gather, and magnify light. It was one of the best treasures that holy knights used to forge their high-grade holy weapons. As such, it was definitely worth a fortune in Henvic Plane.
Locke immediately dropped his calm facade and slipped the crystal under his shirt. The blinding white light finally faded once the crystal had been hidden from the light. The corner of the tavern turned dark once more.
The entire tavern had fallen silent. Several people who had been blinded by the light were rubbing their eyes while secretly glancing at them.
“That’s enough, more than enough. Sir, that is definitely more than worth the cost! But,” Locke explained with clenched teeth, “The Empire has reminded us to keep an eye for anyone who is looking for information on Hakans. As such, if I don’t know your identity, I…”
Locke’s words hung in midair.
The towering figure kept his back against the people in the tavern and held his right hand over his chest. A small, milky-white light slowly appeared on his palm. The white light was so pure and so holy that even Locke couldn’t help but let out a few prayers for the Holy Light in repentance of his past wrongdoings.
“So that’s who you are indeed! It’s much easier then. I won’t conceal anything. Just tell me what you want to know.”
Holy knights held tremendous influence in Henvic Plane that exceeded the worldly realm. The many virtuous, holy knights that willingly traveled the land to exterminate beasts, punish evil, and save the injured caused this group of righteous fighters to be accepted as the holiest profession by people from all walks of life.
Even someone like Locke, who walked in the shadows and darkness, showed due respect and admiration when he met a holy knight.
“Sir, I can’t take this. Just tell me what you want to know. I will help you to the best of my abilities.”
Greem shook his head and did not take the white crystal back. Instead, he started to ask some questions in a soft voice.
Several minutes later, Greem nodded in satisfaction and turned to leave the tavern.
Greem had already obtained the answers he wanted from Locke. As such, he no longer had a reason to stay in Zola. He bought two muscular horses, some food and water, and headed south out of the southern city gates.
The Little Knife Association was indeed a famous intelligence organization of the Zambez Empire. They might not have a perfect grasp of everything that happened in Hakans, but they had gotten the basics right.
The Zola City that Locke lived in was a good eight hundred kilometers away from Hakans. It had only been four days since the battle of Hakans, yet he already had such detailed information.
That was already unexpected for an underground organization that worked in the darkness!
Greem had managed to verify the trustworthiness of Locke’s information through this test. What he really wanted to know was not the Empire’s information on Hakans, but the location of the two Deceit Witches.
They had entered Henvic with him two months ago and were only scattered due to some unexpected factors. Greem heard from Locke that commotion seemed to have risen to the west of the Empire one month ago. Someone had reported the appearance of a witch there.
The Holy Light Chapel had sent a large group of holy knights to hunt down the witch and seemed to have trapped the enemy in a place known as the Forest of Darkness.
Greem felt like he needed to go there and investigate, regardless of whether the witch was actually Rena.
Chapter 965 - Forest of Darkness
The Forest of Darkness.
Compared to the World of Adepts, the Zambez Empire’s excavation of the plane’s resources was still at a primitive stage. Most of the plane’s remaineed unexcavated as forests and lands. The range of human activity was still significantly limited by the many dangerous creatures in the wild.
The Forest of Darkness on the western border of the Empire was one such area.
There were many primal creatures and terrifying magical beasts inside the forest. They gathered there, breeding and living, forming a unique outland world that rejected the very existence of humans. It was a harsh problem that most plane worlds had to deal with.
Natural selection
, where only the strong may live!
The powerful magical creatures had become the actual rulers of most regions in the plane with their powerful physiques and ferocious fighting styles. They fought for themselves, their families, or their tribes, ruling over the most resource-rich regions of the continent.
Compared to them, an intelligent species like humans had almost no means of competing.
Humans had no powerful physical prowess, natural magical talent, or sharp claws and fangs at birth. It forced humans to gather in groups, trying their best to survive in the gaps between the primal beasts and barbaric magical creatures.
If it weren’t for humanity’s excellent ability to learn, create, and study from the magical creatures to obtain strange and powerful skills to pass onto the next generation, humans would have absolutely no chance of being the rulers of their planes!
The first adepts of the World of Adepts had obtained their mysterious powers through the imitation of the natural magical patterns on the bodies of powerful magical creatures. Then, after tens of thousands of years of constant accumulation, perfection, and enhancement, they had finally created an effective system of cultivating adepts.
It was through the adepts that stood out within humanity that people managed to stand victorious above the magical creatures in the World of Adepts, becoming the ruling species of the plane. However, as the adept grew stronger with each passing day, they gradually became a new ‘race’ that was entirely distinct from ordinary humans!
The path of development for most planes followed a similar trajectory!
Henvic Plane was clearly on a similar path as well, but the power system its people had discovered was one similar to that of deity worship– a belief in the Holy Light.
Most humans of Henvic believed in the Holy Light, pushing a non-living, unconscious, natural phenomenon onto the pedestal of divinity. Belief was a form of power as well!
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