Greem’s words had just left his mouth when the sound of ten thousand sprinting beasts came from behind the hill. A plague army swarmed forward like a black flood, charging straight at the lonesome Scarface Adept.
Chapter 1042 - Death’s Encirclement
The plague army was endless and charged ahead, one after another!
It was almost as if a portal to another dimension had opened up behind the hill. Countless plague creatures swarmed around the tiny camp and rushed at Scarface Gallow.
Their average power was only around that of an apprentice; Gallow could never be fazed by such puny might.
However, what made Gallow’s expression sour wasn’t their might, but their numbers!
Even ants could bring down an elephant.
Such inferior and laughable ideas could only exist among lower lifeforms. It was a little impractical when it came to the adepts, who prided themselves on being a superior species.
Ants were ants, after all. Wasn’t a collective of ten thousand ants still only ants?
Scarface Gallow had held such thoughts in his mind at the start of the battle. In fact, his countless experiences in past wars had deeply verified the truth of this belief. In his mind, his only enemy on this battlefield was the legendary fire adept, Greem.
These slimy, mutated creatures with sharp claws and fangs that stood between him and his opponent could only indirectly exhaust his strength and stamina. He didn’t believe for a single second that the plague army alone would be able to wear him out and kill him, and there was no way that Greem believed this either.
Many strange and twisted growls rang out as the hunched, ghoul-like plague beasts jumped out. They flashed their fangs as they opened their jaws, their bodies shrouded in green-yellow smoke.
Slash!
An invisible sword aura swept out in front of Gallow, a meter above the ground. It extended thirty or forty meters into the distance, taking up eighty percent of Gallow’s vision as it cut forward.
Every plague beast struck by the sword slash silently split into two halves. While their upper bodies continued to growl, their lower halves had already collapsed limply to the ground, their filthy organs pouring onto the earth.
One slash. With one casual slash, Scarface Gallow had exterminated over a hundred of these fearsome plague beasts, dicing the poor creatures right in front of him into mincemeat.
However, this display of power was not enough to stop the assault of plague beasts.
In just five seconds, the horde had already replaced their companions, the creatures stepping over the vile mush of blood and slime as they continued to lunge at Gallow.
Slash!
Yet another slash of his sword. With the aid of his ferocious Strength, an overwhelming amount of magical energy radiated outwards through the longsword in the form of a rippling slash. Nothing could stand in the way of the attack!
The plague creatures that had reached Gallow were sliced to pieces once again, reduced to lifeless piles of flesh and meat.
Gallow only managed to take two steps forward before being cut off by the plague creatures once more. This time, the large plague army had scattered around him as if they intended to encircle him.
Gallow showed no fear or unease when faced with tens of thousands of howling creatures. He swung his longsword with every two steps he took, and an invisible, yet tangible, wave slashed forward. Its wild power would instantly destroy any plague creature that came into contact with the sword wave before they could attempt to dodge or resist, becoming part of the growing mountain of corpses beneath them.
Gallow was like a sovereign of the undead at the moment, wielding absolute power over life and death as he spread eternal sleep across the entire battlefield, all while leisurely stepping over the corpses as if walking towards his throne.
The plague creatures that continued to surge forward one after another swarmed from every direction. As long as they stepped within thirty meters of Gallow, their bodies would split apart and become part of the corpse mountain.
Plague creatures swarmed without end and ceaselessly died, causing this mountain of corpses to grow in size and scale swiftly.
Gallow’s advance started to slow down as well. He was no longer as calm and composed as he had been at the start of the battle!
There were many times where he had no choice but to pause on the pungent and slimy remains of the plague beasts as he walked forward.
Finally, when the plague beasts’ numbers reached a certain scale, Scarface Gallow had no choice but to stop. He had to slash several times just to clear out a path forward.
Countless plague beasts leaped and sprinted forward. Their twitching forms filled the air and the ground. Through the numerous overlapping bodies, Gallow could faintly see the towering figure at the top of the hill and the sinister smile on that person’s face.
Aooooo!
Scarface Gallow let out a furious roar, a low growl entirely unlike the sound of a human. He then used all his Strength to agitate the sword in his hands. A terrifyingly powerful and unprecedented sword wave spread outwards, cutting down all the hideous figures along the way as it slashed at the adept standing in the distance.
It was only five hundred meters, but Gallow’s tremendous Strength allowed his attack to reach from this distance.
However, the enemy seemed prepared!
Even more plague creatures lunged from around them, using their weak and frail bodies to stand in the way of the destructive sword wave. Where the sword wave passed, flesh crumbled and was sliced to pieces. However, the wild force contained within the wave was also being rapidly exhausted.
Finally, when the radiant sword wave cut through the last wall of plague beasts and reached the tiny camp, an iron fist radiating dense red light crushed it before its force could erupt.
The elementium magical machine.
The elementium magical machine summoned by Greem stood before the camp, using its impenetrable alloy body and equally destructive strength to crush the sword wave into pieces.
Gallow’s expression turned once again!
If he were fighting against the legendary fire adept alone, he would have no fear. In fact, he was confident in being able to instantly crush his opponent’s defenses and body if he got a single chance to get close. However, with the aid of this elementium magical machine, the fire adept’s threat would skyrocket to a level where even he had to be cautious.
A tank and an elementium artillery. Even as prideful as Gallow was, his head hurt to ponder the might of this combination should they be allowed to unleash their firepower without inhibition.
Still, since he had decided to go all out in his fight against Greem, Gallow had naturally come prepared!
He had all sorts of solutions to Greem’s abilities, be it in the form of magical equipment that reduced fire damage, or artifacts to deal with summoned beings like the metal golem or the otherworldly dragon. Gallow had even prepared quite a few methods to deal with the light elementium damage that he had yet to test.
However, in his current environment, encircled by tens of thousands of plague beasts, he had other concerns. He could not take his time to wear away at his opponent’s army slowly.
At this point in the battle, it was difficult for him to keep the plague beasts dozens of meters away from him, even if he swung his sword ceaselessly and cast sword waves everywhere through the air. The encirclement of the plague beasts became smaller and smaller, closer and closer. Sometimes, Gallow even had to use his equally formidable fists to blast the plague beasts in front of him into bits right after a sword swing.
The plague beasts hit by Scarface Gallow’s fists would instantly disintegrate. The force crushed their entire bodies into incredibly tiny bits of meat and bone that splattered outwards along with their blood. The tremendous power behind each bit of flesh and bone caused them to become hazardous projectiles.
They scattered in every direction like bullets, puncturing all the plague beasts around them in a sin
gle instant.
That said, even an attack like this couldn’t kill enough of the plague beasts. Their bodies that sheltered countless plague viruses continued to charge forward, even with their broken shells. They were completely unfazed by the slaughter occurring all around them.
They were not even fighting at this point. The creatures were just…walking to their deaths!
They were using their ‘lives’ and bodies to surround and trap the opponent.
Their only achievement so far in battle was covering Gallow in blood and pieces from head to toe.
As for the damage inflicted? Plague beasts of this level and ability could not even inflict a small cut on Gallow.
However, this endless horde of plague beasts had still managed to halt Gallow’s advance.
Once Gallow was utterly trapped in the encirclement, the actual attack descended on him!
The elementium magical machine that had been serving as Greem’s shields turned into metal artillery. It held a magic energy cannon half a meter in diameter in its hands, wildly charging it with energy from the magic generator furnace within its body.
It was a magic energy weapon that had been improved and adjusted by the Goblin Research Academy hundreds of times. Its offensive power was between that of an ordinary magic energy cannon and that of the giant magic energy cannons, but was considerably more portable.
Its offensive power was over 350 points.
An attack of this intensity might sound mediocre, but the frequency of this attack was incredibly high. It could fire one shot every seven seconds!
It was important to note that the magic energy cannons, whose average offensive power was only 120 points, could only fire one shot every three seconds. In contrast, the incredibly powerful giant magic energy cannons could fire a shot every sixty-seven seconds.
This magic energy-ray cannon could be charged by the elementium magical machine and fire magic energy rays capable of threatening a Third Grade adept. It was already a milestone in the development and improvement!
Moreover, the elementium magical machine wasn’t the only one who could threaten Gallow on this battlefield. The real protagonist of this incomparable encirclement was still the legendary fire adept, Greem.
When Greem stepped onto the battle and used his unparalleled fire magic to damage Gallow, this tireless adept with an undead body finally retreated.
He swung his sword desperately as he fell back.
While he was slicing up the lunging plague beasts, he also had to slash apart the Vicious Fireballs and concentrated magic energy rays shooting at him. He barely had enough hands to do all this.
There were countless times where he just wanted to turn and run out of this awkward situation where there was no retaliation, but each and every time, he was stopped by the endless swarm of plague beasts.
For the first time, Scarface Gallow started to worry for himself!
Chapter 1043 - Conscription
Bluesea Plane. Nero City.
It was a mid-sized city with a population of merely fifty or sixty thousand.
As a city populated primarily by humans, the buildings in Nero were mostly built of wood. Though the designs were slightly different than those of the World of Adepts, there was still a sense of familiarity to them.
It was currently at the time of the day when the sun was at its brightest.
Countless people walked in and out of this human city beneath the warm light of the sun. Merchants moved ever forward, along with carriages carrying all sorts of cargo.
Inside a magnificent palace at the center of the city, a beautiful girl in a purple lace dress was anxiously speaking with a white-robed female adept.
“Are you abandoning us, teacher? Why, Teacher Jenna?”
The white-robed adept was a woman who looked reasonably old. Her face was compassionate and kind, but it was now filled with a helpless expression. She wore a strange magical emblem on her chest; the insignia appeared to be that of the Zhentarim Association.
Moreover, judging by her energy aura, she was only a First Grade adept.
“Princess Aisa, these few years have been very pleasant for both of us. I also like a disciple as diligent and brilliant as you very much. However, the Association has suddenly sent us the message to make an emergency retreat without any explanation. I have to to go. It cannot be helped!” The female adept frowned and explained casually.
“Could this…could this have something to do with the terrifying plague that broke out in the north?” Princess Aisa finally asked in a hoarse voice.
The female adept fell silent for a moment before finally speaking, “You are not a member of the Association. Supposedly, I shouldn’t reveal any information about this to you.”
“Teacher…Teacher, you are the one who doted on me the most over the past few years and the one who cared the most for me. I…I have always loved you like a mother!” Princess Asia became even more agitated.
“Very well, I will make an exception this time!” The white-robed adept gritted her teeth, “According to the message I received from the Association before this, an adept’s duel has recently been arranged for Gordon Highlands, at the northern border of the dukedom.”
“Gordon Highlands? That’s over five hundred kilometers away from Nero City!”
“Indeed. I also never expected the adept’s duel to spread to Nero City. Unfortunately, judging from the plague that broke out in the north, one of the adepts must have used some taboo magic. To my knowledge, over a dozen cities in the north have gone silent. They must have been……”
The female adept’s voice turned soft and downcast.
“Teacher, Teacher, are we…supposed to just let those adepts do whatever they want while you are still overseeing this city? Teacher Jenna, Nero City is my only fiefdom! If this city is destroyed, I…I will have nothing!” Princess Aisa shook the adept’s shoulder with all her strength as large beads of tears rolled down her cheek.
The white-robed adept shook her head helplessly.
“If I were you, Aisa, I would immediately bring my family and subordinates and escape to the south. Even a minute’s delay will be extremely dangerous. Don’t count on the Association. Even if those reverent adepts were to use some taboo magic, their punishment would only come later. A stationed adept like myself has no means to change the decision made by the Association’s leaders.”
The adept’s face suddenly turned pale. She jumped over to the tall, large paneless window and stared at the northern skies.
An insignificant black dot was bobbing up and down in the air.
…………
Remi stood a thousand meters above the ground. A massive mountain eagle whose feathers had all fallen off and whose skin was covered in mucus and sores was his mount.
Remi bent down slightly and looked at the pretty little city below, as neat as a chessboard. A vicious smile appeared on his face as he saw the dense crowd traveling through the city to and fro. As he lightly waved his hand, vast clouds of black smoke emerged from within his body and charged downwards like a pack of living creatures.
As the black clouds descended, they started to rapidly split up and multiply, turning from tiny spores into plague viruses invisible to the naked eye.
The black smoke continued to thin and disperse until, gradually, it vanished without a trace. However, countless viruses now floated in the air, spreading to every corner of the small city on gentle breezes.
The sound of retching and vomiting began to ring out across the city, along with the sound of furniture being knocked over. Soon, the first group of ‘monsters’ that had fallen victim to the virus and mutated appeared.
They might have been the hunchbacked elderly or frail teenagers in their past lives, but upon turning into poison zombies, their Strength was greatly amplified, and their movements also became significantly more quick and agile than before. However, the terrifying aspect of these poison zombies were their numbers.
The zombies crouching on the groun
d relied on their rapidly growing claws and fangs and their extraordinary agility to charge along roofs and walls. They were hardly bothered when their heads smashed through three-finger-thick wooden planks. They simply shook their heads slightly and continued forward.
The people’s screams of terror could be heard in every street and building in the city. The sight of poison zombies scaling buildings could be seen everywhere.
One after another, the unprepared and panicking forms were pinned to the ground by the zombies. Terrifying screams would then ring out, swiftly followed by the sounds of wild beasts chewing on the flesh and bones of their prey.
The healthier humans survived the first round of plague modification. That was no fortune, but the start to even greater torture. They coughed violently as they stumbled as far as their legs could take them, fearfully avoiding and hiding from the poison zombies.
The poison zombies’ leaping shapes could be seen everywhere in the large city. The people could only wander aimlessly, as none of them had any idea where would be a safe place to be.
Attacked by both the viruses and the poison zombies, the second wave of plague modifications began!
Remi stood tall in the skies above, looking down at everything happening below with an indifferent expression.
Suddenly, he turned his head, and his gaze fell upon a delicate and attractive building at the center of the city.
He could faintly sense elementium flux from that building.
A white-robed female adept, who was shrouded in black smoke from head to toe, shouted and charged into the sky.
Association adept?
Remi hesitated for a moment when he saw the white-robed adept’s emblem. He then waved his hand and drove out the plague viruses that lingered on her person.
“Are you the stationed adept here?” Remi asked.
Adept Jenna stared at the black smoke as it slowly faded away from her. It was only now that she could let go of some of her concerns. When she heard the words of greeting from the ‘monster’ above her, she carefully manipulated the elementium particles to push her to the opponent’s side.
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