Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Greem had already obtained all the crucial information from the memory fragments of the holy knight he intercepted and killed; such simple word games would never trick him. He diffused the knight’s suspicions in a few words and made him let down his guard.

  The knight gave Greem a regretful smile after leading him into the inner city, “My sincere apologies brother, but I can only escort you up to here. I still need to welcome our brothers of the Holy Light from all over the land. Totti will bring you to the Chapel! You need to report to Vindicator Athera once you’re there. He will give you your assignment!”

  The two saluted each other once again, and the trainee knight Totti led Greem to the majestic Holy Light Chapel at the center of the city. It was the tallest and most magnificent building in the city.

  Haisas was under martial law now, but there were still over sixty thousand civilians in the city. With them walking the streets, the city was just as lively as ever. All the civilians hurriedly stepped aside and bowed when they saw two holy knights in brilliant armor walking down the streets.

  Greem could tell that they genuinely admired and respected the knights– these believers who carried out the will of the Holy Light. Their respect was not forced in any manner. It was authentic and came from the depths of their souls.

  It was proof that the strange power of the Holy Light had been ingrained in the hearts of all who lived in Henvic Plane. The Holy Light was the personification of light and justice!

  The genuine admiration of the people aroused the trainee knight’s sense of honor. His young face was filled with unconcealable excitement as he walked by Greem’s side. The subtle looks that he snuck at Greem’s magnificent armor became filled with even more passion and envy.

  As a trainee knight, Totti was only wearing ordinary steel armor. The armor had not yet been carved with intricate and beautiful light runes. On the other hand, all holy knights of First Grade and above wore sacred armor enhanced with the power of the Holy Light. The holy light’s power that they called upon would merge with the power of the armor, creating a sort of divine protection for them.

  Greem had examined this protective force before. The holy light protection of a First Grade Iron Knight could deflect one hundred and forty points of elementium magical damage. When Greem was still a First Grade adept, his strongest single-target Explosive Fireball only dealt one hundred and fifteen points of damage.

  A First Grade Iron Knight could have endured Greem’s fireball attack and charged up to him. Of course, Greem would have taken no more than three seconds to release a First Grade Explosive Fireball. Thus, in a battle between a First Grade adept and a First Grade Iron Knight, the knight would be at an advantage in a small, narrow room.

  However, if there were sufficient space, and the First Grade adept had powerful mobility spells, the Iron Knight would be kited to death. After all, no one would be able to be as fast as a rogue while they were wearing dozens of kilograms of armor!

  Chapter 969 - Hiding and Plague

  Vindicator Athera’s room was to the left of the training grounds in the Holy Light Chapel. It was a simple wooden house.

  As Greem stepped into the wooden house under Totti’s lead, Vindicator Athera was battling vigorously against the massive pile of documents on his table. Athera lifted his head at the sound and looked at the two with his crusty and dark-circled eyes. He stared at them in confusion for quite a while until his eyes finally regained focus.

  Athera was a Second Grade Silver Knight!

  Even though working a desk for so many years had caused his Physique to drop and a belly to appear, the holy light power he radiated was undoubtedly that of a Second Grade.

  “Report! O’ respected Sir Vindicator Athera, trainee knight Totti…” the young trainee knight stood straight, saluted, and started reporting in a loud voice.

  Unfortunately, he was stopped by the impatient officer before he could finish.

  “Alright, alright. Totti, you come here at least three times a day. I’m already done listening to all your boring greetings, even if you aren’t. Also, remember to praise the Holy Light first the next time you open your mouth!”

  “Yes, Lord Vindicator!”

  “Very well, you can return to your post. I will welcome this brother myself.”

  “Yes, Lord Vindicator!”

  Totti saluted once again before turning and leaving the wooden house.

  Vindicator Athera shifted his gaze to Greem.

  “The Light be with us! My greetings, respected Lord Vindicator. I am…”

  Greem did not dare to dally at all. He immediately started reporting to Athera according to the customs of the knights. Of course, he made sure to keep what he said consistent with before. Greem wasn’t worried that the enemies in this otherworld would expose his ‘lies’ without a comprehensive intelligence system.

  Moreover, with Sodden’s Holy Ring, Greem could easily convert his elementium powers into pure light elementium. He would have no problem tricking these holy knights as long as he didn’t need to fight.

  In all honesty, there was probably no one among the holy knights who could even imagine an otherworldly adept infiltrating their ranks. After all, the Holy Light was a product of the power of faith– one of the forces that the adepts hated above all else!

  Naturally, the Vindicator was happy to see this young holy knight that had traveled from afar and was willing to sacrifice everything for the Holy Light. Though the legendary Lord Ad Carrhae would be arriving in a few more days, Haisas City was still in great danger before that happened.

  The major city of Hakans in the Empire’s northern region was said to have already been destroyed in an adept invasion.

  Two Third Grade adepts had broken into Hakans and started fighting. They even summoned a horde of terrifying fire creatures in the city. Even with a mighty Third Grade Gold Knight defending Hakans, it had fallen without question.

  The Third Grade knight had died in the battle, and Hakans was reduced to rubble.

  Over two hundred holy knights had burned to their deaths in that conflict, and their souls returned to the embrace of the Holy Light.

  This loss had badly crippled the northern headquarters of the Holy Knights. They would not be able to regain their scale and quality of forces without a few hundred years of recuperation and development. The impact of this event on the Zambez Empire was not inferior to the first invasion of the evil witches a hundred years ago.

  With Hakans City as an example, there were no longer any holy knights that dared to say that the Holy Light Chapel was an absolutely safe place. In particular, with the transportation of the witch and the magical array materials to Haisas, the atmosphere had turned unbearably tense.

  Worried that Haisas would follow in the footsteps of Hakans, the Holy Light Commander and Vindicators of the city hurriedly sent a summons to all nearby Holy Light Chapels, calling for their knights to defend the glory of the Holy Knights.

  Countless knights answered their call, and the Holy Knight Chapel of Haisas became overcrowded and overpopulated!

  After giving Greem a brief explanation of the situation, Haisas apologetically requested that he stay in an inn near the Holy Light Chapel. Of course, all his living costs would be paid for by the Chapel.

  Naturally, Greem expressed understanding over such a rude ‘request’ and pleasantly agreed to the proposition.

  Thus, with two soldiers that Athera had sent to guide him, Greem successfully found himself in a large inn two streets away from the Holy Light Chapel. Greem met many holy knights from various large cities around Haisas here at the inn.

  Of course, they were all First Grade Iron Knights.

  Regardless of how lacking the facilities of the Holy Light Chapel were, they would always be able to make some space for Second Grade Silver Knights. Those who were arranged to live outside the Chapel were almost all Iron Knights.

  Such treatment would have dissatisfied the knights of any other nation or kingdom. However, these h
oly knights were true believers of the Holy Light. Nobody was bothered by the difference in treatment. Instead, they gathered together to passionately discuss the news of the evil adepts that could appear at any time.

  With Iron Knights of all walks of life settled together in one space, there were bound to be people who were better informed.

  An audience quickly appeared around these knights to listen to them describe the ‘story’ that had occurred in the north of the Empire in vivid detail.

  A Flame Fiend, a blazing giant, a mechanical witch, creatures of fire, and a dragon.

  Any one of these many ‘story’ elements would have been enough to make these Iron Knights feel the danger of the situation, let alone so many of them put together.

  Even the greatest of cities defended by all the holy knights in the world would have become a sacrifice to war against such powerful and evil adepts. Unless there were a guardian like a Fourth Grade Holy Knight, the knights would have to pay an unbelievable price to defeat adepts like these.

  Greem also unexpectedly obtained extremely valuable information through the conversation.

  A Fourth Grade Holy Knight was hurrying toward the city from the north. He was expected to arrive in Haisas within seven or eight days.

  This news was spread by the high-grade holy knights of the Chapel to boost the morale of the Iron Knights and calm their spirits. However, they never expected that that terrifying fire adept would have infiltrated their ranks and obtained such valuable and strategic information.

  Would Greem be able to fight against a Fourth Grade Holy Knight with his power?

  Of course not! What a joke that was!

  If the news were that the Fourth Grade knight would arrive at Haisas tomorrow, Greem would most definitely have left tonight without hesitation. This trip to Henvic was only a commissioned task after all. Greem did not need to put his life on the line for it.

  The reason Greem had fought with such wanton abandon and recklessness in Hakans was that no one there could pose a threat to his life. Greem was more than confident in escaping even if multiple Third Grades had surrounded him.

  It was this confidence that made him decide to take the risk and maximize his profits in the shortest amount of time possible!

  Upon hearing all the scattered pieces of news today, Greem managed to piece them together to obtain a conclusion that sent chills down his spine.

  The reason the Fourth Grade Holy Knight had so suddenly appeared in the north was likely to hunt him down.

  Greem had only managed to avoid the blade of the Fourth Grade Holy Knight by sheer coincidence. The pursuit of the adept hunters after his departure of Hakans was what made Greem flee for over five hundred kilometers in a completely different direction.

  Who knew if his pursuers had stayed in the north? If they had hesitated even slightly and remained in that region, they might just have run into that Fourth Grade Holy Knight.

  The adepts might have always looked down upon warriors and knights, but they still had to pay their due respects to high-grade powerhouses. Otherwise, they would not even know how they died!

  He had gotten a firm grasp of the situation in Haisas. The one who had fallen into the hands of the Holy Knights was none other than the Witch Rena, who had hired him for protection. The most crucial things on this trip–the materials for repairing the magical array–had also fallen into the hands of the holy knights.

  Even Greem had to scratch his head in this situation.

  He had to conduct a rescue operation! The question was how to save, and what to save!

  If Greem could only choose one of the two, he would undoubtedly retrieve the magical array materials.

  It was pretty simple. Greem could only return to the World of Adepts if he sent the materials and resources back to the witch’s tower and helped them fix the teleportation array. As for Rena? He would give it a try if the conditions allowed for it. If it were too much of a risk, then he would treat her as dead!

  The current priority was figuring out the situation inside the Holy Light Chapel, the location of Rena’s imprisonment, and where the materials had been stored. Greem could only remain in hiding until he obtained more specific information.

  However, passively lying in wait forever was not his personality!

  He had to attempt his rescue before the Holy Knight arrived at Haisas. Otherwise, once the Holy Knight arrived in Haisas, the higher-ups would most assuredly hand the materials over to him. When that happened, Greem would never dare to rob a Fourth Grade Holy Knight, even if he had the courage of ten thousand bears!

  Time was of the essence. He had no time to slowly infiltrate and make his way into the inner circles of the knights. As such, Greem immediately started his operation the night he arrived at Haisas.

  Spirit of Pestilence Remi had already been released before they entered the city!

  The Spirit of Pestilence was completely different from before. Its Third Grade powers gave it the ability to defend itself. The resonance between their souls allowed it to maintain a subtle and mysterious connection even with hundreds of kilometers between them.

  Greem only needed to have a thought in his mind, and an order would be transmitted to Remi, who was hiding outside the city.

  Thus, a sudden and abrupt plague immediately ravaged the outskirts of Haisas City!

  In a single night, thousands of infected patients appeared in the dozen towns and villages around Haisas. Their symptoms were all the same, and their sickness was so incredibly infectious that the holy knights of Haisas were quickly alerted.

  Chapter 970 - Eve of Action

  The sudden plague on the outskirts of the city further emphasized the critical nature of the situation.

  The higher-ups of Haisas had only theorized that the companions of the witch might attempt to save her, but that theory had now turned into bloody reality.

  In a single night, over a dozen towns had been infected with a deadly plague.

  The disease came with such ferocious momentum and intense infectiousness that even the rulers of the nation were shocked to hear of its symptoms.

  Ordinary medical officers could not do anything about the plague. They couldn’t even protect themselves from being infected by it. The only means of curing and removing the plague spores were the holy knights’ Light’s Healing.

  However, a divine spell such as Light’s Healing was demanding. Even the First Grade Iron Knights could only cast the spell five times a day if they pushed themselves to their limits. Meanwhile, the many trainee knights in the city would exhaust all of their divine power after a single use of the spell.

  Faced with such a situation, the leaders of Haisas could only selectively send the holy knights to the towns and villages whose residents were suffering the most from the plague. Still, could droplets of water ever hope to extinguish a blazing inferno?

  In just a single day, the number of infected quickly rose from a thousand individuals to ten thousand. The epidemic was showing signs of spreading to Haisas City.

  That horrified the commanders of Haisas!

  At the moment, Haisas housed many true nobility of various ranks within the city, apart from the powerful and influential holy knights. These nobles might have always relied on the power of the holy knights to maintain their rule, but when they were faced with the threat of the plague, their voice couldn’t help but go against the holy knights.

  The many nobles that lived in Haisas requested that the city gates be sealed and for the infected to be kept out of the city. Meanwhile, the low and intermediate-grade holy knights hoped for Haisas to accept more refugees to shelter them beneath the glory of the great Holy Light.

  The nobles and the knights, who had always worked together seamlessly, finally had their first severe ideological conflict. A small misunderstanding even broke out near the city gates!

  For a moment, chaos broke out in Haisas City, and even the Holy Light Chapel itself was surrounded by the lower nobility.

  After a ser
ies of negotiations and discussions behind the scenes, the nobles of Haisas reluctantly agreed to open up the eastern areas of the city to the refugees. The Holy Light Chapel would also station a certain number of holy knights in the noble’s area to ensure that the plague would not spread to them.

  Thus, Greem had the fortune of becoming a personal bodyguard that the nobles were fighting over!

  As the disturbance grew, the Holy Light Chapel hastened their interrogation of the captured witch.

  They quickly obtained detailed information on the two other adepts from her. A large group of Iron Knights was then sent to nearby villages to search and hunt for the adepts.

  Of course, given how terrifying the Third Grade fire adept had been, the Holy Light Chapel sent two Third Grade Gold Knights to the surrounding areas as well, accompanied by a significant number of Second Grade Silver Knights. It would allow them to exterminate the adepts if and when they found them.

  The tremendous force that the Holy Light Chapel had put together was unknowingly divided and weakened!

  However, the scheme that Greem had arranged had affected someone else’s plans. It had forced the other Deceit Witch out of hiding, despite her seamless disguise.

  The Third Grade Deceit Witch Italil had also gone into hiding in the outskirts of Haisas, with similar intentions as Greem. Unfortunately, due to their mutual distrust, she had no means of communicating with Greem in time.

  When Greem’s plague was put into action, the massive army of Iron Knights unexpectedly found Italil in cooperation with the local garrison.

  Both forces broke out into a terrible fight in a place known as Redwood Village. Third Grade Italil demonstrated her might and decimated the holy knights that had attacked her, along with the one hundred villagers that lived there.