Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  All of these demanded a remarkably powerful calculation ability!

  Clearly, in its current form, the Chip was not capable of such a colossal task.

  Even so, the few simple support systems it provided helped Greem’s battle tremendously!

  From Kennet’s perspective, it almost seemed as if his opponent was a devil who could read his mind. It didn’t matter what feints he used or what misleading footwork he made; the opponent would always throw his fire spears at the most awkward spots.

  Many fire javelins that he assumed were inaccurate shots would prove to be frightening and calculated attacks after one or two seconds. That was because Kennet would often be forced into the radius of the explosion of these javelins by the enemy’s powerful attacks.

  Though the protective holy light deflected most of the flames, Kennet was quickly exhausting the holy light power within himself as well. Once the holy light power vanished, Kennet would start to sustain damage while remaining within the opponent’s Burning Domain.

  When that happened, it would probably be his turn to be the prey!

  Chapter 974 - Unexpected Enemy

  Chapter 974 Unexpected Enemy

  The battle was short but unusually brutal.

  Naturally, the conclusion of the battle had been decided from the very start!

  The first to fall was the holy knight commander.

  Regardless of how honed his technique was, and how pure his holy light, Lambert had to fall beneath the combined forces of two powerful foes with such incredible physical strength. His longsword had been broken by the elementium magical machine, while his body had been charred by ferocious lightning.

  After settling the battle, the Third Grade thunder dragon took to the skies and lunged at the most prosperous area of the city after hastily glancing around. Of course, he didn’t forget to throw in one last vicious dragon’s breath for the other holy knight before he left.

  Kennet, who had initially been barely able to hold his ground against Greem, instantly found himself in a tragic spot. The dragon’s breath staggered him and caused his holy protection to falter. Greem’s chain of Vicious Fireballs then immediately devoured the area he was standing in.

  By the time he charged out of the flames shouting at the top of his lungs, his clothes had already been turned to cinders. Even his sturdy holy armor had been blown to pieces with only parts of the metal armor still barely hanging onto his body. The skin beneath the armor was full of scorch and scratch marks. In particular, there was a terrifying gash several dozen centimeters long on his right ribs. The flesh on the gash had already been burnt and carbonized.

  Third Grade. It was the Third Grade of Henvic Plane!

  A subtle, cold smile appeared on Greem’s blazing face.

  These Third Grades might be considered some of the most powerful people in Henvic Plane, but they were still no more than bothersome prey in the eyes of the mighty adepts.

  With Greem’s current ability, a single Gold Knight was nothing to him. Even if the two Gold Knights were to fight together, Greem still had a high chance of winning with the assistance of the elementium magical machine. If all five Gold Knights of Haisas were here, Greem would not fear them a single bit. If he went all out and relied on the elementium magical machine, Arms, and the newly advanced Spirit of Pestilence Remi, they would be just as powerful as the five knights combined.

  If Greem were willing to grit his teeth and burn another ace of his by summoning Cindral from the Fire Elementium Plane, he would have a sixty or seventy percent chance of defeating all five Gold Knights at once!

  However, Cindral was not Greem’s subordinate. He had only promised to help three times. As such, Greem would not want to waste the promise of a Third Grade flaming tiger in such a place unless it was absolutely necessary.

  Both Gold Knights had been defeated, and the survivors were only Silver and Iron Knights. The un-graded trainee knights did not even have the ability to step onto the battlefield.

  Just Greem’s Burning Domain or Arms’ aura of might would have been enough to put them down.

  When the gulf in power was so incredibly vast, they didn’t even have the chance to sacrifice their own lives, let alone gather together to threaten the enemy.

  The battle was over!

  Greem chuckled and bent down. He prepared to capture these two defeated Gold Knights and find the magical array materials.

  However, when his body started to bend, a sharp whistling sound cut across the air. Greem turned slightly, and the periphery of his vision caught sight of an overwhelming crescent sword radiance.

  Holy Light Strike!

  It was a Holy Light Strike!

  [Beep. Beep. Beep. Warning. Warning. Detecting exceptionally strong energy signatures. Initial estimates suggest energy levels to be that of Fourth Grade.]

  Deafening alarms rang in Greem’s mind, but his ‘clumsy’ body clearly could not dodge this sudden and ferocious sword radiance in time.

  Fortunately, the elementium magical machine was standing right by him. It opened its hands and moved forward just in time to block the sword radiance.

  The violent Holy Light Strike clashed with the magical machine’s forcefield and cut it apart without any resistance, like a hot knife through butter. The one-meter-long crescent slash struck the elementium magical machine upon its impenetrable metal body and left a terrifying gash upon the metal.

  With just five more centimeters, the slash would have cleaved through the elementium magical machine’s thirty-centimeter thick body and killed it!

  After enduring such a fearsome blow, the elementium magical machine was blown into the air and crashed into the ruins of the buildings behind it, as if a berserk elephant had hit it.

  The elementium magical machine had been severely damaged, despite its superior defense. If that Holy Light Strike had hit him instead…Greem gulped nervously. A trace of fear rose from the depths of his heart for the very first time.

  He stood up straight, quickly replenishing his magical defenses while looking at the towering figure striding through the gates of the Holy Light Chapel.

  Short but firm, prickly hair, an ordinary and honest face, as well as a majestic and intimidating expression of wrath. Greem’s heart started to sink further and further.

  Fourth Grade. It was a genuine Fourth Grade Holy Knight!

  The energy radiating from his body was as brilliant as a rising sun at midnight. It was so bright that Greem couldn’t help but order the Chip to lower the intensity of his Elementium Sight.

  “How is this possible? You should have needed another three days to arrive here.” Greem couldn’t help but start panicking at this moment, even with all his composure.

  He had properly investigated and confirmed the position of the Fourth Grade Holy Knight before he proceeded with his plan.

  He had left the imperial capital on the twelfth day of the sixth month, leading a group of soldiers up north towards Hakans. By the time Greem slaughtered Hakans on the seventeenth day of the sixth month, this Holy Knight had only been halfway on his journey. He had only arrived at Hakans after Greem had fled all the way to Zola City.

  Greem had entirely avoided the Holy Knight’s route in this manner!

  Even if the Holy Knight had received news of Haisas and started traveling towards this city, he should not have arrived so quickly! Could…could something out of the ordinary have happened?

  As Greem’s eyes flickered with complex emotions, he noticed three seemingly familiar silhouettes behind the Fourth Grade Holy Knight.

  Even though they were all covered in thick black cloaks, with their faces hidden beneath the hoods, Greem still recognized them through their ‘familiar’ energy aura and unique elementium flux.

  It was them!

  The three strange adepts that had traveled here to hunt him down!

  Could these bastards have chosen to work with the Holy Knights?

  Greem felt his whole world spin. He was terrified by the horrifying
reality he was witnessing.

  However, all of his questions and suspicions were immediately answered.

  The holy knights might have terrible mobility, but with the aid of three adepts from a different world, traveling five hundred kilometers in the span of four days no longer seemed all that impossible.

  However, this meant that the two waves of enemies that had been chasing him were now colluding with each other! Meanwhile, his situation…

  Greem didn’t dare hesitate against the Fourth Grade Holy Knight striding toward him. He immediately waved his hands and summoned a storm of fire that rained down upon the knight. He was very sinister in his attack, as well. This rain of fire very clearly included the two defeated Gold Knights within its radius.

  “Hmph! You dare!”

  The Fourth Grade Holy Knight shouted and quickly fired out two Holy Flares at the Gold Knights. The withered silhouettes of the Gold Knights trembled as they spat out a stream of magical fire before opening their eyes.

  Their injuries might still be severe, but the Holy Flare had activated the holy light within their bodies. A layer of milky-white light emanated from within them and started to heal their wounds.

  Meanwhile, the rain of fire turned into scattered heatwaves and chaotic flame currents when they reached within three meters of the Gold Knights, guided by a strange power. The flames could not hurt them at all.

  Greem had no intention of continuing the fight now that a Fourth Grade Holy Knight had appeared.

  The rain of fire was to obstruct the movements of his enemies while restraining the Holy Knight and forcing him to focus on protecting the two Gold Knights.

  Greem took this opportunity to charge into the ruins. He unsummoned the elementium magical machine and fled to the west of the city without turning back.

  The three adepts following behind the Holy Knight laughed coldly, intending to intercept Greem’s escape. However, a violent gust rushed above them, and a terrifyingly powerful web of lightning enveloped them.

  “Damn you, Greem. I knew you wouldn’t give me an easy job. Dammit dammit dammit, this is a Fourth Grade big guy.” The Third Grade thunder dragon’s majestic body glided past the Holy Light Chapel. He desperately escaped into the distance after unleashing one last lightning breath upon the adepts below.

  The three adepts and the Holy Knight lifted their heads at the same time. They couldn’t help but be temporarily stunned when they saw the majestic body of the dragon.

  That legendary fire adept could summon a dragon?

  It seemed like such an individual could not be allowed the time and space to grow any further!

  Holy Knight Ad Carrhae grunted furiously and pointed his longsword at the dragon in the sky. A beam of white holy light immediately descended upon Arms’ body. Arms only managed to struggle for a few seconds before being enveloped by the holy power and banished back to Lance by the effect of the spell.

  At this moment, Greem had already escaped over five hundred meters into the distance. Fire flickered around him as he continued to flee to the west of the city with all he had.

  “According to our agreement, this guy is ours! You don’t have any objections, do you?” The adept in the lead asked with a cold voice, a strange hissing sound mixed in as he spoke.

  “Leave, you evil adepts! Remember, if you harm any of the citizens of the Zambez Empire, our agreement will end. I will personally capture each and every one of you and purify you with the Holy Light!” The Fourth Grade Holy Knight warned sternly.

  The muscles on Serpentine Adept Natagu’s face twitched, but he reluctantly suppressed his anger. He led his two companions away, chasing after Greem by the aura of fire he had left behind.

  Chapter 975 - Poison Against Poison

  Chapter 975 Poison Against Poison

  The old witch, Guinevere, suddenly paused when she stepped out of the Holy Light Chapel. She turned to look in a particular direction of the city.

  “Old hag, what are you dragging your feet for? If we wait any longer, that fire adept will be long gone.” Natagu spoke coldly.

  “You two, go ahead! I want to go take a look over there.” The old witch cackled wildly, “I can sense a sweet aura of plague spreading in that direction. The fire adept’s plague pet is over there!”

  The serpentine adept hesitated for a moment, but nodded his head in the end, “Splitting up is a good idea as well! You chase after that Spirit of Pestilence, and we will chase after the fire adept. They will be meeting up eventually anyway. It gives us more insurance. Alright, let’s go!”

  Natagu casually summoned a twenty-meter long Black Mamba and chased after the dense fire aura in the air with the psionic Benija.

  The old witch laughed sinisterly and slowly walked into the darkness of an alleyway, her tall black staff tapping against the ground with every step.

  The zombie horde in the city’s northern area was retreating.

  After receiving Greem’s orders, Spirit of Pestilence Remi commanded the zombies to move out of the city immediately. The weaker zombies were abandoned, left to scurry within the city and occupy the holy knights.

  Most of the zombies who were at the apprentice level or above rushed past the city walls towards the plains in the distance. There were a dozen among them who had successfully advanced to become First Grade Wights.

  Compared to poison zombies, wights had more withered bodies, but their skeletons were larger. Their Strength, Physique, and Agility were also all greatly improved. Their muscles were tougher and denser. Even without protective armor, their bodies had as much defensive power as ordinary enchanted leather armor.

  Their movements were more agile and flexible, while their limbs had evolved to include sharp claws, allowing them to climb along walls or ceilings easily. Their strange flexibility also allowed them to perform all sorts of unusual movements that humans could not.

  As such, their means of slaughter were far more numerous and far more terrifying than the poison zombies!

  Remi was one-meter tall and looked just like a boy of four to five years of age. He was sitting on the back of the strongest wight, leading all the feral undead as their swarmed past the city gates and the moat to make their way into the wild.

  Remi looked around at the darkness surrounding him as he charged ahead on top of his servant. He felt as if a pair of sinister eyes were always watching him.

  He was a unique lifeform evolved from a contracted spirit, after all. He did not have the systemic knowledge of the adepts and did not learn spells in the same manner. All of his current abilities were formed naturally and by instinct. It was almost as if he would unlock innate abilities whenever he grew stronger. Strange and unusual abilities would simply appear in his mind, carved deep within his soul.

  Even without study or practice, he would be able to use them proficiently. Much like breathing and sleeping, it was merely an instinctual part of his being!

  The innate ability Remi that obtained upon advancing to First Grade was Plague Spores!

  Second Grade, Plague Halo!

  Third Grade, Plague Modification!

  Plague Spores allowed Remi to turn himself into an incubator, using his plague talent to produce and release terrifying plague spores continuously. Remi could further control these plague spores to allow them to either be more lethal, more infectious, or more painful.

  Plague Halo allowed Remi to turn into a complete Spirit of Pestilence. Not only could his body rapidly spread plague spores, but all plague creatures fighting beside him would also spread plague viruses with their teeth and claws.

  In all seriousness, Remi’s power only came to be after he advanced to Third Grade and gained the ability of Plague Modification.

  In the past, creatures that died by his plague would not provide Remi with anything else apart from a bit of their life energy. However, with Plague Modification, all beings that died to the disease had a chance of rising under the control of the spores, becoming plague creatures under Remi’s command.

&
nbsp; Moreover, these plague creatures could also evolve through bloody and cruel slaughter!

  Their path of evolution was different from the worldly means of increasing in grade. They utilized a system of evolution by slaughter. Ordinary creatures would never be able to advance to First Grade in the course of a single night. However, seventeen of Remi’s plague zombies had advanced to First Grade wights after a single night of slaughter in Haisas City.

  Of course, a big reason for their rapid evolution was because of their identities before their deaths. Most of these First Grade wights had been trainee knights or Iron Knights to begin with. Their talented bodies and the quality and quantity of the ‘food’ in Haisas made it more likely for the zombies to evolve shortly upon their conversion.

  However, these plague creatures would never be able to escape their binding to Remi’s soul, regardless of how much they evolved and advanced!

  They were dead creatures, after all– only resurrected by Remi’s strange powers. As such, Remi was the undisputed king to these seven hundred plague creatures. He was the ruler they would defend with their very lives!

  From a certain perspective, plague creatures were almost the same as undead creatures.

  However, the difference was in their source of power. Plague creatures were resurrected and sustained by the plague spores, while undead had their souls supported by negative energy.

  The uncomfortable feeling in Remi’s heart grew as he continued escaping with his zombies.

  He turned back abruptly, and his ghostly green eyes caught sight of a strange silhouette in the crimson night sky.

  It was an odd witch riding upon a flying broom. She had a tall witch’s hat, a head full of white hair, sagging cheeks, wrinkles and spots all over her face, and a waist that almost bent at a right angle.

  The old witch was flying in the sky right now. A large crimson moon hung behind her, making her figure seem all the more ominous and fearsome.