That was the main reason why Medium Dante had become famous!
Dante freely traversed the boundless plains, constantly releasing evil beings to harass Gallow, while spreading out low-grade ghosts in every direction. On the one hand, these ghosts could search for living beings and consume their flesh to make up for Dante’s Spirit consumption. On the other hand, Dante could also switch positions with any of these ghosts when he was in danger, thereby avoiding any mortal strikes from Gallow.
Meanwhile, Gallow was suffering. Even though his strength was far superior to Dante, he had no choice but to grit his teeth and bear Dante’s ceaseless attacks, simply because he was too immobile to catch his opponent.
The two adepts stormed through the plains recklessly. All living creatures died where they passed through, becoming the food by which Dante sustained his energy. It included an incredibly unfortunate, large nomad tribe that happened to be situated in the path of the two adepts’ battle.
The scale of this nomad tribe was sizeable. It had a population of over a thousand people, along with over a hundred thousand cows, goats, and horses. Sadly, as Dante and Gallow passed through the tribe, this famous nomad tribe was instantly exterminated.
Though the Association had intentionally placed the battlefield of the Third Grade adepts in remote locations, this incident was unavoidable. Gallow and Dante had also inflicted irreparable damage upon the environment here.
It was important to note the impact of their actions. Every swing of Gallow’s blade was the combination of violent force and tremendous magical energy. Vicious sword marks stretching for hundreds of meters scarred the ground every time he struck. Meanwhile, Medium Dante’s army of ghosts reaped the region of all life wherever they went.
Dense energy particles that would not dissipate for a long time to come were left wherever the two peak Third Grade adepts clashed with all their power. These particles would slowly seep into the local geography, changing the environment and the elementium energy balance.
Two areas where the two Third Grade adepts had fought turned into zones of death. Not only were all traces of life exterminated from these locations, but they would also remain death zones where no life could flourish for the foreseeable future.
After all, very few creatures could endure the radiation of such powerful energy particles!
…………
Greem lay on the stone bed, comfortably and leisurely enjoying the treatment of the three beautiful adepts while he silently collected data on Scarface Gallow.
Eighty percent of the hundred screens in front of him were locked onto Gallow, observing his every action from various angles and directions. Meanwhile, Dante’s figure only took up twenty percent of the screens. Moreover, the screens where he appeared were pushed into the corners of the array, utterly ignored.
That undoubtedly drew Mary’s curiosity.
“I see you seem to place more emphasis on Scarface Gallow. Are you sure your next opponent will be him?”
“Of course!” Greem turned his face and let Meryl put a peeled Piro fruit in his mouth. He smiled and answered whimsically as he enjoyed the sensation of the refreshing fruit bursting in his mouth.
“Why? Why do I feel like Dante has a better chance of winning? That Scarface guy can’t catch up to him, while he has an entire army of ghosts to absorb life force and Spirit for him. He is practically in a situation where he cannot lose. Once Scarface’s strength is exhausted, it will be the ghost guy’s turn to retaliate!”
“The situation you are describing is valid, but that is under the presupposition that Scarface has no means of forcing Dante into a direct confrontation.”
“Does he have something like that up his sleeve?”
“Not only does he have such a thing, he certainly has such a situation; most definitely so!” Greem raised an eyebrow. “You don’t think that this is the extent of first-ranked Gallow’s abilities, do you? It’s not possible that all his fame came from bullying people with shorter legs than him, could it?”
Emelia, who was concentrating on treating Greem’s injuries, couldn’t help but burst out laughing when he heard Greem’s joke. She then yelped in pain. Clearly, Mary had ‘punished’ her again.
Emelia was now very different from before.
After advancing to Second Grade, her appearance had changed massively.
She still retained a humanoid appearance from the waist up, with a slender body and generous curves– a beauty by all standards. However, below her waist had split into countless strange vine-like appendages of various thicknesses. These vines could move and grab onto things according to her will.
She crouched at Greem’s side, slicing and splitting open his flesh with her sharp and painted nails before using precise and agile moves to force out the poison remnants and foreign energy hiding in his flesh, tendons, and bones. She then used gentle plant energy to further neutralize anything she could not expel.
All kinds of strange and unusual metallic equipment were in the small wooden box beside her. It was obvious that these were used for dissection and surgeries.
Emelie held two incredibly sharp surgical knives in her hands, while the vines beneath her held onto a dozen other surgical tools of various functions. She was able to switch between the various tools and techniques without even lifting her head from her work.
If she discovered any piece of flesh that was completely dead, she would cut it off precisely, inflicting only the smallest of wounds on Greem’s body. She would then casually heal the wound with Rejuvenation or Lifebloom. The plant energy stimulated Greem’s own recovery, allowing the injuries to heal and close up rapidly.
Broken ribs needed to be fixed, and dead flesh needed to be cut off. Hidden foreign energy needed to be neutralized, concealed poison needed to be expelled, and damaged organs needed to be healed. All of these complex and trivial tasks would have taken Greem a dozen days to properly deal with, even with his Physique and the healing potions he possessed.
However, with a plant-attribute master like Emelia working with all her skill, Greem would be able to recover from all the previous fight’s side-effects in a short amount of time without even lifting a single finger.
It wasn’t until she had finished all her tasks that Emelia let out a long breath of air. She put all her tools back into her box using the vines and straightened her back, before asking out of curiosity, “Clan Leader, you still haven’t answered Lady Mary’s question. Why do you favor Scarface Gallow so much?”
“That’s because Scarface Gallow’s energy reserves are still above 89%, while Dante’s energy reserves have fallen to 73%.” Greem wasn’t bothered by all the flesh that had been cut off his body. He smiled as he explained, “I believe that Scarface Gallow is waiting for Dante’s energy reserves to fall below a certain threshold before finally dealing with him in one swift blow.”
Emelia was shocked.
Gallow had been chasing Dante for four entire days and nights. He had left his harrowing sword marks across the entire plains. How did he still have 89% of his energy reserves left? That…that was unbelievable!
Moreover, why did the clan leader know these numbers so clearly?
However, she quickly understood that the clan leader wouldn’t provide her with an explanation. After all, it involved the deeper secrets of a high-grade adept. He wouldn’t reveal the truth, even to his most intimate partners.
As expected, those who could participate in this tournament of powerhouses were all monsters.
Emelia shook her head and sighed in exasperation.
Chapter 1041 - Pursuit
The battle between Scarface Gallow and Medium Dante ended after thirteen whole days.
Naturally, the victor of the battle was the more dominant Scarface Gallow.
He instantly learned the results of the other battle from his companions upon teleporting back from Bluesea, still covered in smoke and grime. In all honesty, Gallow wasn’t at all surprised that Greem was the victor. However, the fact
that Greem had taken only three days to take down Sanazar, who was second only to himself, was beyond his expectations.
Gallow hurried back to his room and quickly browsed through Greem’s battle while letting the clan’s healers treat his wounds. After watching the entire fight, he fell silent for a long, long time.
His power might be superior to Greem, but this much advantage still wasn’t enough to guarantee his victory. Thus, if he wanted to win the upcoming battle, his only choice was to……
According to the Association’s rules, the time allotted for the first battle was fifteen days.
As such, Gallow only had two days to rest, recuperate, and adjust his equipment. It was barely enough time for him to provide his battered body with a simple treatment.
Two days quickly passed.
It was finally the day where the two winners of the first round would fight for the title of strongest.
Bluesea Plane.
Greem regained his senses as soon as the familiar light of teleportation faded. He quickly summoned Remi.
His location wasn’t in a forest, like last time, nor a vast plain. Instead, he was on a stretch of hills and highlands. Standing atop the hill, Greem could see green fields mixed with yellow wheat in the distance.
A light yellow windmill slowly turned on the horizon, and a few scarecrows leaned here and there in the wheat fields.
“Go, Remi. You have ten days. Ten days from now, I hope to see you bring back a sufficiently strong army to help me defeat this powerful enemy. Go,” Greem ordered solemnly.
Remi, who was only slightly taller than one meter, acknowledged the order with the same seriousness. He then immediately turned and flew into the distance.
Chimney smoke was rising from that place. There should be a human village there.
After sending Remi away, Greem took out his teleportation crystal. His opponent, Scarface Gallow, should be in the northwest, deeper into the highlands.
Unlike the first round, he did not approach the enemy as soon as possible. Instead, he took out sn elementium golem core and threw it to the ground, summoning a Second Grade wind dragon.
This wind dragon was one of his earlier works. Unfortunately, at this point, with the gradual increase in his power, the Second Grade golem had lost all chance of shining in battle. However, the reason Greem had summoned the wind dragon today wasn’t to do battle, but to run.
He jumped onto the wind dragon and found a comfortable spot on its broad and even back. He whistled, and the wind dragon beat its light green wings, turning into a flicker of green and gray as it shot into the sky and flew southeast.
Two hours later, Scarface Gallow arrived at the same spot on an exceedingly handsome Nightmare.
He reined his horse on top of the hill and looked around him. He even sniffed the air several times before finally frowning.
Two strange energy auras had split up here. One trail was filled with the revolting smell of voodoo poison, while the other, containing dense wind elementium, led upwards into the sky. Of course, the teleportation crystal pointed in the direction of the wind elementium.
Judging from this, Greem had summoned a wind elementium mount and left this location. The direction he left…was the exact opposite of where Gallow had come from.
He was fleeing from the battlefield.
That seemed to be the exact opposite of his strategy from the first round!
Somewhat confused by Greem’s actions, Scarface Gallow had no other option but to whip his Nightmare and pursue in the direction Greem had fled.
Nightmares were strange creatures that came from the Abyssal Plane.
Technically, they were categorized as demonic beings. Of all the various voodoo beast mounts, Gallow had chosen a Nightmare as his steed simply because it looked the coolest of them all. It had a large and mighty body of black and red, a tough spiral horn on its head, four hooves burning with cold flames, spirited eyes, a vigorous tail, and a snout spewing sparks of fire with every breath. Nightmares looked similar to unicorns on the outside, but the nature of their power was the exact opposite.
Unicorns were of the holy attribute, while Nightmares were of the demonic attribute.
When a Nightmare stepped upon the ground, their hooves burned with abyssal flames and left a blazing trail behind them. From a distance, the red and black Nightmares were like terrifying monsters that had emerged from your worst dreams. Riding on them was simply too cool.
Scarface Gallow rapidly traveled through the hills on the back of the Nightmare, leaving behind a broken path burning with ghostly flames. After chasing for an entire day and night, he finally found Greem above a tall cliff.
Greem stood silently at the top of the cliff, where a strange dragon made entirely out of violent wind vortices crouched by his side.
He cast a faint smile at Gallow when he saw him appear out of the distance.
“This is the battlefield you chose for yourself?” Gallow looked around him and spoke harshly. “With how powerful you and I are, no battlefield can allow either of us to gain too much of an advantage. Victory will still come down to a matter of our own abilities. You—”
Greem waved at Gallow before he could finish speaking.
“Bye!”
Having said that, Greem jumped onto his wind dragon and took to the skies, fleeing into the distance without any hesitation.
“You will stay.” Scarface Gallow never expected Greem to turn and run. He hastily slashed with his sword and a violent force mixed with overwhelming magical energies combined into a fearsome sword aura that instantly devoured the entire cliff.
A massive pillar of dust rose into the skies, followed by the rumbling sound of falling rocks and a tremendous shockwave. The fifty-meter tall cliff collapsed from a single strike by Gallow, standing in the way of his pursuit.
Greem weaved a strange shield out of static fire as he ascended higher into the clouds, blocking the shards of stone and dust as he flew towards the horizon.
One person ran on the ground, while the other flew in the skies. Naturally, it was tough to make up for the difference in their speed.
By the time Gallow charged out of the dust pillar on the Nightmare, Greem and the wind dragon had already turned into an insignificant speck on the horizon.
All the muscles on Gallow’s face were already dead. Otherwise, one could probably see the veins pop beneath his skin as he gritted his teeth in anger.
Run? Where to?
A victor had to be decided between the two of them in this battle.
Did that guy think that he could obtain victory just by running away?
His heart filled with anger, Scarface Gallow had no option but to urge his Nightmare to pursue the enemy’s trail.
This pursuit took ten entire days!
During these ten days, Gallow practically chased after Greem without stop. The two of them met every five hundred kilometers during this time. Initially, Greem would always let Gallow get closer and wave at him. By the time Gallow’s full fury had been provoked, Greem decided to just flee on sight.
He would mount his dragon and run without any hesitation the moment Gallow’s aura appeared within sight. He wouldn’t even give him the chance to say anything.
The ten days of chasing had only stoked the flames of anger within Gallow’s heart. He stubbornly continued the pursuit for ten days and nights without letting the horse stop for a single moment. Only a Nightmare could withstand such torture and torment with its demonic Physique. Any other voodoo beast would have already collapsed.
Ten days later, Gallow finally caught up with Greem once again.
This time, Greem did not flee anymore. Instead, he had started a bonfire on a hill, the wind dragon crouched by his side. He was roasting a wild boar, smiling at Gallow as he approached.
Even though Gallow had fantasized about tearing Greem apart countless times over the past ten days, when Greem finally stopped running, he instead became suspicious and extremely cautious of everything.
/> An ordinary person would already be lying on the ground in exhaustion after ten ceaseless days of pursuit. However, this was barely a warm-up for Gallow, who had 34 points of Physique.
If Greem was doing this to wear down his stamina, then the plan was as good as worthless.
As someone with an undead’s body, Gallow had already forgotten the very idea of exhaustion!
That said, with how smart and cunning the legendary fire adept was, how could he possibly not know the nature of his body? If he did know, then what was the purpose of leading the both of them on this wild goose chase for ten days and nights?
Scarface Gallow slowly approached the bonfire with countless questions in mind.
Two and a half kilometers…two kilometers…one and a half kilometers.
Even when Gallow came within a kilometer of the camp, Greem still showed no signs of escaping on the wind dragon. Gallow couldn’t help but become even more confused and anxious.
A thousand meters was not a short distance, but it wasn’t large either. For a Third Grade adept like Gallow, crossing such a distance would take no more than ten seconds. Ten seconds wasn’t enough time for Greem to jump onto the wind dragon and escape Gallow’s attack range.
The Nightmare slowly closed in on Greem, the distance growing shorter and shorter.
When Gallow reached within five hundred meters of Greem, he was finally certain that Greem no longer intended to run!
Gallow slowly dismounted from the Nightmare, leaving it behind as he walked towards the camp.
The two adepts locked eyes. Blinding sparks flew into the air.
“Why aren’t you running now? Aren’t you really good at doing that? Run again, why don’t you?” The dead muscles on Gallow’s face squirmed in a strange fashion as he put on a vicious expression.
Greem, who was calmly sitting next to the fire, showed a smile of pity. In an indifferent tone, he said to Scarface Gallow, “The one who should be running today isn’t me, but you.”
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