“What’s the situation on your end?” Ummah couldn’t help but reply with a question of his own.
The Tower of Ilgalar was an area that Linus was responsible for. That was why Ummah had asked the question.
“A Second Grade blood dragon appeared and exterminated all the people I sent there. I’m thinking of a way to trap and slay it!” Frustration appeared on Adept Linus’ face as he spoke, “What about you?”
Ummah picked up the broken chess pieces from the other three areas, his face as black as ink.
“Dammit! It’s the bug adept, the dragonborn, and that damned goblin. The core Second Grades of the Crimson Clan are all on my side of the battlefield.” It was only natural that he was so resentful. It was such a vast battlefield, yet the core fighting forces of the enemy were all creating trouble in the areas for which he was responsible. It was a tough nut to swallow.
“Bug Adept Billis? Be careful. That guy is bad news. Ordinary Second Grade adepts have no means of fighting against his insect army. It’s easy for Third Grades like you and me to defeat him, but killing him is a lot more difficult.” The still furious Linus couldn’t help but rejoice at his own fortune after hearing Ummah’s reply.
A soul adept was the most suited opponent for a person like the bug adept, who had countless clones. With the mastery of a soul adept searching for souls, they would be able to find Billis’ true soul form in the horde of thousands of insects. Then, they could give him a lethal strike and leave no chance for his clones to escape.
However, Ummah had no Second Grade soul adept subordinate to him. After some hesitation, he had no choice but to lower himself and ask for help from his other ‘companions.’
He borrowed a Second Grade soul adept from another Third Grade adept and sent his own Second Grade elementium adept underling as assistance. Two against one and with a soul adept to counter the bug adept should give them more than an eighty percent chance to win the fight.
Thus, sixty-seven seconds after failing his last mission, Ummah placed a new chess piece at the location of Xavia Castle. A detailed series of orders were then transmitted down the command chain.
…………
Xavia Castle.
The once quiet and beautiful castle had vanished now.
Twisted corpses could still be seen strewn all over the collapsed walls and damaged castle, lying in puddles of blood. Some of these were soldiers of the castle, others were the guards of the attacking adepts, and some were even apprentice adepts in gray robes.
They died from various causes, but they had all now been turned into the incubation chambers of strange beetles.
The abdomens of the corpses were bloated tremendously, their skin stretched to the limit, as thin as paper. The red blood solution inside their bodies was visible. Some hive-like insect eggs could be occasionally be seen as the liquid swirled in their stomachs.
Some strange gnawing sound could also be heard as well!
Beng. Beng. Beng.
As the hatching process concluded, the stomachs of the corpses erupted. Red, viscous fluid flooded the ground as swarms of black larvae climbed out from within.
These black larvae were only the size of a fingernail. They shook their bodies and cast off the blood and flesh before opening their tough shells and extending two pairs of wings, one short and one long. The wings buzzed, and they took off into the air.
For a moment, so many black beetles rose from the ground that it appeared as if a black plume of smoke was rising from the ruins of the castle.
As an unseen spiritual shockwave spread out throughout the castle, the black smoke split into two clouds. A portion of the beetles flew into the castle’s various dark and damp spots, while the rest dove into the ground and vanished in the blink of an eye.
Billis did not linger at the castle after accomplishing all this. He led his personal army of seven Second Grade Void Reavers and thirty First Grade magical mantises and left brazenly.
Billis had no intention of bringing the insects he had hatched at the castle with him. Instead, he had them hide within the castle. The last order Billis gave them before leaving was to exterminate all lifeforms that breached it.
The lackeys of the Fabres Clan would definitely send people to investigate the place. When that happened, his insects would give them a warm welcome.
However, just seven minutes after Billis left the castle, the insects he left behind engaged in combat.
Billis paused when he sensed the rapidly vanishing mental nodes, just one and a half kilometers away. He turned and looked at the distant battlefield.
There were two enemies: one male and one female. Both were powerful Fabres Clan adepts.
The male adept had a cold face. Light touches of frost gathered around the adept’s face and at the tips of his fingers. He was an ice adept. The reason Billis’ insect army had died so quickly was due to this elementium adept. The female adept had a slender figure and a pretty face. Her eyes radiated such powerful spiritual might that one would rather not stare into them.
Billis had originally intended to spy on the two adepts through the eyes of the insects, but when he crossed eyes with the female adept, he felt his eyes burn and his head throb in pain, even from one kilometer away.
Something even more terrifying came next. The female adept seemed to have locked onto the aura of Billis’ soul through his eyes. She coldly shouted at him, “You will not escape!”
Chapter 993 - Clan Crisis
Chapter 993 Clan Crisis
Dammit! Second Grade Fabres adepts!
Billis would have nothing to fear if they were just ordinary Second Grade adepts. However, he had a bad omen during that one instant where they crossed eyes. Billis had a feeling that he would be in big trouble if he tried fighting.
Adepts had always trusted their instincts above all else.
Even with his savage nature, Billis couldn’t help but shiver in fright when he thought of the chilling stare from that female adept. Without any hesitation, Billis climbed on top of a particularly sizeable magical mantis. He led his personal guard into the forest, sprinting toward the core region of the Crimson Clan as quickly as he could.
Meanwhile, all the swarms hiding in the nearby region charged out from underground under his orders and rushed towards Xavia Castle. Though these insects couldn’t possibly threaten the two Third Grade adepts, they could slightly delay their pursuit.
Of course, Billis couldn’t care less about the losses to his insect army.
…………
In the end, those among the Crimson adepts who could strike with such recklessness and wild abandon like Billis were only a minority.
The other Crimson Second Grades had all successfully completed the missions entrusted to them. However, they were all being pursued by powerful Fabres adepts in their process of retreating to headquarters.
Dragonborn Zacha was responsible for clearing up the enemies in Silverspring Mines.
The place was a vital mine for rare metals. It made up for nearly forty percent of the Crimson Clan’s rare metal needs. The reason Zacha had gone to Silverspring was to oversee the stationed adepts temporarily shutdown of the mine, as well as bring back the last three months of resources back to the clan.
The forces sent by the Fabres Clan to raid Silverspring consisted of four First Grade adepts. It would have been an easy task to defeat the only First Grade Crimson adept stationed there. Unfortunately, they ran into the dragonborn. As such, they barely managed to escape with one dead, one severely injured, and two slightly wounded.
Of course, all the apprentice adepts and guards they brought with them had died at Zacha’s hands.
While Zacha was leading the mining party back to the clan’s core region, they were intercepted by a pursuing party of Fabres adepts at Deadwind Pass.
The Fabres Clan had committed plenty of resources to take down dragonborn Zacha. They had sent as many as three Second Grade adepts to intercept him.
The two forces clashed
in a bloody battle at Deadwind Pass, concluding with the defeat of the Crimson adepts!
All of the low-grade Crimson adepts and apprentices died, while Dragonborn Zacha broke through with severe injuries and fled to the Crimson Clan’s core region.
At the same time, all of the clan adepts that the Crimson Clan had sent to the various territories were ambushed and intercepted by Fabres clan adepts. As the enemy had plenty of forces to spare, most of these battles ended with the victory of the Fabres Clan.
The Crimson Clan had paid a heavy price to coordinate the retreat of their clan members and resources!
A Second Grade blood dragon, a Second Grade vampire, and seven First Grade adepts. Even with the explosive growth of the Crimson Clan over the past few decades, such a heavy blow still hurt the clan to its very core.
In particular, the vampire faction had suffered the heaviest losses!
Vampire adepts were strange beings that were nearly unkillable when battling against weaker creatures. However, for the knowledgeable and prepared adept, there were dozens of ways by which to properly kill them.
Due to the difference in strength between the two clans, the Crimson Clan had already lost four Second Grades since the start of the war. All of these losses came from the vampire faction. Though the Fabres Clan had lost a much more concerning number of adepts, all of these casualties were peripheral First Grade adepts. Not a single core Second Grade adept of the clan had fallen in the line of battle yet.
The severe casualties of Mary’s subordinates exceedingly infuriated her. She personally went out and hunted down two Second Grade Fabres clan adepts. However, in doing so, her location was immediately confirmed by the Fabres Clan.
Four Third Grade Fabres adepts combined forces, ambushing Mary on her way back to headquarters and severely wounding her.
As a result, the only Third Grade adept of the Crimson Clan had lost her ability to fight.
The resistance against the Fabres invasion was weakened even further.
If it weren’t out of fear of the Crimson Clan’s terrifying Fourth Grade magical golem dragon and their two Motherships, the Fabres Clan would have launched an invasion of the Crimson Clan’s core region the moment Mary escaped with her cruel injuries.
However, as the stationed forces of the Crimson Clan were recalled back from the various regions, the two hundred and fifty-kilometer wide region with Fire Throne and Pinecone Town at its center had now become an impenetrable stronghold. There were enough magical machines to patrol and defend the entire area.
The Fabres Clan had tried sending adepts to scout the enemy territory several times, but the magical machines always repelled them. Though both parties were suffering casualties, it was obvious that the Fabres Clan was sustaining more considerable damage.
After all, the lives of their precious adepts were being traded for those cheap yet powerful magical machines!
Moreover, there was no doubt that the number of Crimson Clan magical machines had reached a truly shocking level.
It was often said that the Crimson Clan held a Goblin Plane with tremendous amounts of metal ore within their grasp. The Goblin Plane had both resources and low-cost technicians, which allowed for a large number of magical machines to be constantly sent to the clan.
These magical machines were the Crimson Clan’s first line of offense during all these years of outward expansion!
One could frankly claim that the magical machines had won a great half of all the resources and territories that the Crimson Clan had obtained. Otherwise, given the current quality and quantity of the Crimson Clan, surviving through such a brutal and savage adept war would have been no more than a dream.
The Crimson Clan had managed to catch up with the hundreds of years of accumulation of other large clans in a matter of three to four decades. How did they accomplish such a feat? Precisely through these dedicated and loyal magical machines!
The Crimson Clan was now facing an existential crisis. All of the clan adepts and apprentices had retreated to Fire Throne and were arming themselves to the teeth like a hedgehog. With that being the case, the ones who were roaming outside and keeping the enemy at bay out of fear of their might were these fearless and reliable magical machines!
The Crimson Clan was defending as well as waiting. They waited for the return of that legendary person, waiting for the Fabres Clan to retreat after they had exhausted all of their strength.
The Fabres Clan might be powerful and influential, but they weren’t entirely without enemies.
When they assigned most of the clan’s forces to the Ailovis region to wage war against the Crimson Clan, the defenses of the clan headquarters became correspondingly weaker.
No enemy would dare to strike so quickly in the short term, given the might and fear that the name of the Fabres Clan commanded. However, if the main force of the clan were tied up in the war against the Crimson Clan for extended periods, accidents would occur.
Perhaps having learned their lesson from the adept alliance that was defeated by the Crimson Clan during the last war, the Fabres Clan chose a slow and steady approach. They forced the Crimson Clan to retreat to their headquarters with a flashy and thunderous show of force. They then started constructing a sturdy outpost thirty-five kilometers to the south of Pinecone City.
What worried the higher-ups of the Crimson Clan was the fact that the Fabres Clan continued to transport large amounts of resources even after the outpost had been completed. It seemed as if they intended to construct an adept’s tower on the spot.
The Crimson Clan might not be that concerned if the Fabres Clan was only constructing an outpost. However, building an adept’s tower right at their doorstep was pushing it too far!
If they didn’t disrupt the construction, and the Fabres’ tower was allowed to become operational, then the Crimson Clan would have an incredibly hard time fighting their way out of their headquarters. As such, even though they knew they were no match, the Crimson Clan still organized an army of magical machines and struck at the enemy’s outpost during the night.
Even the Fourth Grade magical golem dragon joined the fray.
Unfortunately, the Fabres Clan seemed to be expecting the attack. With the temporary outpost as their stronghold, they fought a brilliant defensive battle and exterminated the near one thousand magical machines that the Crimson Clan had thrown at them. In the end, the Crimson adepts commanding the battle managed to return under cover of the magical golem dragon.
Though the Crimson Clan had suffered heavy losses, they had also successfully destroyed the adept’s tower with the might of the magical golem dragon while only the foundation had been built. The Fabres Clan would have to spend another additional month if they wanted to transport the necessary materials and workforce to reconstruct the adept’s tower.
It created extremely beneficial conditions for Greem’s successful return!
…………
Henvic Plane.
After exterminating the hunter adepts, Greem had finally obtained his long-awaited ‘freedom’!
Greem stayed in Remi’s base for eight days. Apart from treating the severe injuries on himself, Greem also thoroughly dissected Blade Princess Katherine.
The elementium magical machine wasn’t as powerful as he expected it to be. As such, Greem was searching for ways to improve its combat capabilities. The agility of Katherine’s odd semi-mechanical form undoubtedly drew Greem’s envy. Greem couldn’t wait to understand and investigate the root causes of the mechanical adept’s power.
After comparing the internal construction of Katherine and the elementium magical machine, Greem finally obtained a preliminary answer.
Compared to Katherine, the elementium magical machine appeared like an ordinary factory-set machine. Its internal construction and energy system were assembled in a coordinated and well-rounded fashion. There were no apparent weaknesses at all. Meanwhile, Katherine’s mechanical body was a platter of flesh and mechanical parts. It did not pursue balance
or well-roundedness but focused on partial strengthening and enhancement of specific organs.
Most of the time, Katherine’s offensive power was not as tremendous or lasting as the elementium magical machine. However, when select mechanical organs functioned beyond their standard capacity, Katherine could unleash offensive power far beyond what the elementium magical machine was capable of for an incredibly short burst of time.
Of course, this burst of power came at the cost of the lifespan of the mechanical organs!
That was why most mechanical adepts had no choice but to carry plenty of metal with them, such that they could repair the damage to their organs at any time.
One design was powerful and stable, while the other had shocking explosive power. For a moment, even Greem couldn’t decide which model of operation was the superior one.
Chapter 994 - Greem's Ambitions
In all honesty, the core of mechanical adepts–the mechanical heart–was very similar to an animated metal lifeform with its own consciousness.
Not only could it integrate all the surrounding mechanical parts, but it could also wholly assimilate itself into the energy circulation system of the human body, which used flesh and nerves as the foundations of its construction. From this aspect, the mechanical heart appeared to be much more like a parasitic existence, very much the same as the puppet insects that adepts used when creating flesh puppets.
The only difference was that puppet insects parasitized experiment subjects, while mechanical hearts found their homes within the bodies of adepts.
Mechanical hearts were capable of growing, as well.
However, the nutrition they required for growth was entirely different from what the human body needed. It demanded a large number of rare adept resources and magical materials. Moreover, the conflict between the mechanical adept system and the adept’s original body could only be delayed but never eliminated.
A human’s bloodline and nerves were still far too frail compared to machinery. Any impurities introduced into the body could break the delicate balance that had originally existed.
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