Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  “Hmph.”

  Greem couldn’t be bothered to speak with such a ‘shameless’ servant anymore. He reached out with his finger, concentrating a trace of fire energy, which he slowly extended toward Natagu, who was standing on the stump.

  Natagu held on to the ring around his waist, carefully examining the approaching finger. It was only after he confirmed that it was only a soul brand attached to the finger that he closed his eyes and waited for the intense pain that would come from within his mind.

  Any change to one’s soul would inflict terrifying consequences to the victim. If it wasn’t out of necessity, Natagu would never have accepted such humiliating and harsh conditions. He was a fish on the chopping board now. He no longer had any other choice.

  Yet, just as the finger was about to reach Natagu’s head, a cold gleam flashed in Greem’s eyes. Pure and vicious fire energy surged into Natagu’s body, instantly causing him to swell to five or six times his size.

  “Wh…why?” Natagu could not believe the sudden change in the situation.

  He had already begged and pleaded with all his being, and yet Greem was still killing him. Why? He could not understand at all!

  “Hmph! If I were a Fourth Grade adept, I would most definitely accept your surrender. Unfortunately for you, I am only Third Grade at the moment.”

  Natagu could not hear the rest of Greem’s explanation. With a loud explosion, the miniature Natagu was blown to pieces by the sudden surge of fire energy. He was blasted into mincemeat, the blood reduced to ashes by the Burning Domain before it could even splatter across the ground.

  Greem then took out an empty soul-gathering crystal and collected his tattered soul.

  It was the soul of a Third Grade adept. It might be damaged, but plenty of valuable magical knowledge and secrets could still be extracted from it. Moreover, given that Natagu had intentionally escaped with a split soul, he had probably kept all the valuable knowledge with the divided soul. Greem was lucky to get the lion’s share of his knowledge.

  After destroying the last bit of Natagu’s blood essence and collecting the soul, Greem picked up the storage ring as well. Having done all this, Greem closed his eyes and sensed his surroundings. After using the Chip’s help to confirm that nothing had been left behind, he flew into the air and met with Thunder Dragon Arms. The two of them then turned and headed back for Gangsas Volcano.

  A short moment later, once Greem had returned to the volcano, Arms’ summoned duration came to an end.

  Even with Greem’s increased Spirit allowing for a longer summoned duration, Arms still had to return to Lance by the power of the laws after an entire hour of pursuit and battling.

  Flaming Tiger Cindral was already waiting at the crater. The psionic lay unconscious on the ground.

  However, Greem could still sense a weak life aura within her. She was not truly dead yet.

  “Why didn’t you kill her?” Greem asked out of curiosity, coughing violently as he did so.

  He had been far too badly injured in the battle from earlier. Though he had obtained the final victory, this body of his had also been functionally crippled. He would not be able to recover to his peak without a dozen years of quiet recuperation. It was simple. That battle had severely damaged his soul origin.

  Such wounds concerning the soul were the hardest to heal!

  “This is a Third Grade witch and one that walks the path of the more niche mental and psionic powers. Are you sure you want to kill her just like that?” Cindral replied with a very humanoid expression, clearly not understanding why humans could so easily slaughter high-grade beings of their own kind.

  There was a great deal of slaughter and killing in the Fire Elementium Plane, but most of that happened amidst the unintelligent, low, and intermediate-grade fire creatures. If a fire creature gained intelligence, they would never simply slaughter another of their kind without good reason, regardless of their grade.

  That appeared to be the main reason why the Fire Elementium Plane was so powerful!

  Meanwhile, in the eyes of adepts like Greem, anything that stood before their path would be exterminated without any hesitation, even if it was one of their own kind. There was no such thing as mercy for someone of their own kind!

  “Am I supposed to let her continue to be my enemy if I’m not to kill her? These high-grade adepts have plenty of ways to circumvent soul bondage. Moreover, they are backed by a powerful Great Witch. Even a soul contract might not be able to control them fully. If the Great Witch were allowed to remove the restrictions on her soul, wouldn’t all this have been in vain? Wouldn’t I have just made yet another formidable enemy!?”

  Greem had given considerable thought to this question. That was why he had never thought of enslaving these adepts. If he kept them at his side, the Great Witch could turn them against him once more, exposing everything about him to the witch. He would have no secrets to speak of.

  Thus, Greem shot out a fireball without any hesitation, reducing the unconscious Benija to ashes in a single instant. Of course, he took off all her magical equipment and storage ring to keep for himself.

  The strange purple crystal on Benija’s forehead went into Cindral’s collection.

  The Chip’s scan revealed that the crystal was a piece of powerful Third Grade magical equipment. No wonder Cindral was so interested in it.

  Having obtained loot of his own, Cindral happily returned to the Fire Elementium Plane.

  When he opened a Flamegate and prepared to leave, the flaming tiger turned and shouted something at Greem.

  “This is the second time now. There is only one more left of the three pledges of assistance I promised you. Use it wisely!” Having said that, he vanished into the flames.

  Chapter 988 - Formless Fate

  Cindral had just left when dust rose from the wholly collapsed crater. A towering figure stumbled out of the ruins, dragging something behind it.

  Greem looked over and realized that the elementium magical machine was on the edge of being scrapped. Its body was badly torn up, covered in fearsome scratch and claw marks everywhere. Much of the defensive armor protecting the vital parts were almost entirely destroyed. The machine’s internal core array was exposed for all to see.

  Be dragged along in its right hand was the Blade Princess Katherine, who looked to be in even worse condition.

  She looked like a tattered bag that had been slashed full of holes. The elementium magical machine had dragged her out of the rocks by a few metallic appendages extending from her spine as if she was a limp dog.

  One had to admit that the Third Grade mechanical adept was indeed one resilient person. Even as severely wounded as she was, she still clung on to life. A weak trace of life aura could be sensed within her body.

  As Greem casually gathered a Vicious Fireball within his palm to properly exterminate this mechanical witch that had bothered him for so long, his eyes swept past the strange mechanical skeleton exposed on her abdomen. He hesitated for a moment and tossed the fireball somewhere into the distance.

  A loud explosion rang out. The Vicious Fireball killed the Silver Knight–who had barely escaped from the volcanic mudslide and surging lava–before he could understand what was happening.

  A short moment later, Greem absorbed a white cluster of holy light into his new soul-gathering crystal, along with what remained of the Silver Knight’s soul.

  Just then, the leaves on the trees in the distance rustled as a large pack of oddly-shaped creatures sprinted out of the woods, stopping at the edge of the still-smoldering lava. The animals then split up into two separate groups, revealing a large and hideous beast.

  Remi stood tall upon the back of this massive creature, proudly walking past all his plague beasts.

  Greem had only heard news of Remi’s actions over the past five years through their soul connection. Now that they were meeting face-to-face, he immediately understood everything that Remi had been doing.

  Greem didn’t care about the plagu
e creatures. Instead, his attention was drawn to a strange figure behind Remi.

  It couldn’t be helped. All the other plague beasts were cowering humbly before Remi like sniveling peasants, while this one individual stood silently behind him. It was enjoying the glory and worship of the plague beasts alongside Remi himself.

  It was a humanoid monster standing at about one and a half meters in height. All of its skin had rotted and turned into pus, a slimy and repulsive liquid that covered its entire body. It looked like a human female whose entire body had been skinned. The pair of shriveled breasts on her chest were the only indications of her gender.

  She had rotten skin, slime, raw, exposed flesh, horrifying caved-in nostrils, bloodshot eyes, and limbs that had turned into claws with sharp nails. She might have once been a human female, but she was now a genuine monster.

  Even though this monster had been modified beyond recognition, Greem still managed to identify its former identity through the familiar shape of its face.

  Old Poison Witch Guinevere.

  No, Poison Witch Guinevere had vanished entirely now. The one that had replaced her consciousness and continued to live on was only a Third Grade plague creature subservient to Remi’s will. Moreover, judging from its active mental awareness and elementium flux, it was a high-grade plague creature with its own consciousness.

  What a tragedy. Guinevere had been a poison adept of intermediate Third Grade herself. Yet, one moment of carelessness, and she had fallen in this poor and rural plane. She had not only lost her dignity as an adept but had also been reduced to a living zombie obedient to the will of another.

  Greem couldn’t help but sigh at this massive turnabout of Guinevere’s fate and status!

  That said, he felt no regret or pity for what she had suffered. They were of opposing factions, after all. If he were to fall into their hands, he might well suffer an even more terrifying fate.

  Remi had the plague army stand at the edge of the forest.

  He then led this modified ‘witch’ to Greem’s side upon the giant plague beast. He tossed a storage ring to Greem.

  It was the ring that Guinevere had been wearing. Naturally, it now fell into Remi’s hands.

  Greem scanned it and picked out some of the rarer and more unusual items for himself. He then tossed the ring back to Remi, leaving the rest of the things untouched.

  Remi could now independently lead an army of his own. It was time for him to own a storage device with sufficient capacity. This storage ring fulfilled this exact purpose.

  As Greem’s Soul Equipment, Remi’s existence was incredibly unique.

  Greem could return Remi to his soul origin and use him as a powerful plague weapon. He could also allow Remi to move about freely and develop by his own will. Judging from the strange abilities that Remi had gained through evolution, it was truly suited for independent development.

  After all, Greem knew next to nothing about plague and poison. He couldn’t properly guide Remi. As such, it was better to have him act as a clone of his that obeyed his orders and commands.

  Now that everything was settled, Greem reverted from his transformed state. As his Physique fell, the damage inflicted to his body assaulted him all at once, causing him to howl and moan in agony.

  Greem took off his robe. He could see the cuts and gashes that covered his tall and muscular body. Most of these wounds were also shrouded in strange energy: black, gray, and purple-red.

  Every time the wounds quickly healed under the effect of his excellent Physique, the energy radiance would crackle and tear open the newly-healed wounds. Trying to recover through pure Physique was no more than a delusion before the energy remnants were dispelled.

  Apart from all the surface wounds he had suffered, Greem’s organs were also filled with all sorts of curses and odd poison. If it weren’t for the fact that he kept them at bay away from the crucial organs such as the heart, brain, spine, and the alveolus, Greem would no longer be able to stand under his own strength.

  It was time to find a place to recover!

  Gangsas Volcano was now a ruin. The towering volcano had been blasted into pieces. The shattered volcanic rock tumbled down the crater and sealed the lava pool beneath a thick layer of rock. The energy within the volcano had been utterly spent. It was no longer as savage and wild as before. Only gray plumes of smoke continued to seep through the cracks, staining the sky above a pale gray shade.

  This place was no longer suited as a base after that brutal battle.

  Moreover, he had just killed a Second Grade Silver Knight at the crater. That was more than enough proof that the holy knights had extended their reach all the way here.

  This place was no longer safe!

  Greem unsummoned the elementium magical machine and followed Remi into the forest under the protection of the plague beasts. They then made their way to a base that Remi had secretly constructed in the woods.

  …………

  Everything happening in Henvic Plane was constantly under the scrutiny of the two Fate Witches.

  They had both obtained news of the distant world through their minds, each expressing anger or joy at every turn of events.

  Naturally, Alice didn’t know how furious the mysterious First Witch of Fate might be. All she knew for sure was how incredibly overjoyed she was.

  The mist hovering above the divination crystal had been mostly dispelled now. Fate’s trajectory indicated that Greem would be able to return soon successfully. Alice specially held a prayer ceremony because of this, using the power of the pseudo-artifact Staff of Divination to send Greem the blessings of Fate.

  It couldn’t be helped. Alice knew that such ‘weak’ power could not compare to the likes of Great Witch Maysa, nor could it dispel the curse of misfortune that had been placed upon Greem. However, this prayer could still help Greem resist part of the effects of the misfortune.

  Otherwise, if a Great Witch’s curse were to affect Greem without any hindrance, even the most unlikely misfortune would befall Greem as if it was an everyday occurrence.

  Fate Witches might not be able to curse a person to death directly, but they could definitely plunge them into the deepest of misfortunes.

  Greem might look unstoppable and dominant in Henvic Plane, seemingly invincible and undefeated. However, if he were dragged into a vortex of calamity, unfortunate things would happen to him every other minute. Running into a ghost upon exiting his home was a small matter, but running into a Fourth Grade Holy Knight upon exiting his house would be a disaster!

  Pouring the power of Fate into Henvic Plane from a distant world in the realms beyond to subtly change the proper trajectory of the world and cause certain events to became ‘certainty’ all demanded a ridiculous amount of Fate power. Moreover, the planar consciousness of Henvic Plane itself would not allow an outsider to interfere in the operation of its system. The two forces would clash, causing the initially clear trajectory of Fate to become increasingly chaotic and turbulent.

  There was the planar consciousness of a small plane, a powerful Fate Witch, and an incredibly weak Alice who continued to grit her teeth and persist. The formerly smooth and peaceful Fate trajectory had long since flown off the rails of its original path under the pull and distortion of these three separate forces. It was now rumbling and thundering down a track that no one could control or predict.

  The only thing that Alice could do in this situation was to bolster Greem’s luck by as much as possible.

  It didn’t matter where the freight train of Fate was heading. The more powerful the individual, the better they could take control of the chaotic and disorderly situation!

  This chaos in Henvic Plane manifested itself in this moment. As Greem, Remi, and the army of plague beasts sprinted through the forest, just a small stream across from them were two powerful Fourth Grade Holy Knights rushing to Gangsas Volcano in the opposite direction with a large army of holy knights.

  Under the guidance of the muddied fate, this mighty army
of holy knights had given up on crossing the river, despite the idea having crossed their minds countless times. They were always deterred by one reason or another.

  Chapter 989 - Bountiful Harvest

  The base that Remi had arranged for them to hide in was located deep in the forest.

  Remi had killed the native magical creatures and forest beasts that had lived here and turned them into materials for his plague army. As such, no living thing could be found within ten square kilometers, let alone any large, ferocious carnivores.

  Greem had no choice but to send out two First Grade stone serpents to hunt a buck at the outskirts of the forest for a little appetizer.

  It couldn’t be helped. Greem had been gnawing on fire dragon ribs for five consecutive years under the volcano. Even though the high-energy food was incredibly beneficial to his Physique and his fire affinity, it was now utterly unappetizing to him. He would almost start throwing up at the very smell of fire dragon ribs.

  After hastily filling his stomach, Greem sat down by the campfire in the damp cave and pulled his robe tight around himself. For some unknown reason, he had been feeling abruptly cold and hot for the past day. The turbulent emotions within his heart could not be suppressed either.

  Remi and his plague army were guarding the place on the outside, and there was no issue with safety. Greem lifted his hand and released the elementium magical machine from the golem talisman. He pulled it close to him and started to give it a close inspection.

  After a dozen seconds of the Chip’s scanning, a comprehensive count of damages was listed before Greem.

  Target Creature: Elementium Magical Machine

  Target Grade: Intermediate Third Grade

  Target Species: Combination of Elementium Golem and Magical Machines

  Target Bodily Attributes: Strength 37 (26) | Physique 39 (31) | Agility 11 (8) | Spirit 32 (27)

  ……

  According to the Chip’s statistics, the numbers in brackets were the current strength of the elementium magical machine.

  Due to the multiple battles it had consecutively fought, and the lack of much-needed repairs and maintenance, the combat strength of the elementium magical machine had severely dropped. Apart from its Physique, which had barely remained at the level of a Third Grade due to the high-magic alloy its body was composed of, its Strength and Spirit had all fallen below the level of Third Grade.