“Follow me. I have already locked on to the smell of one of the adepts!” The werewolf bared his sharp teeth and licked his lips before charging down towards the city.
Meanwhile, the fox girl waved her tail, and her entire body mysteriously turned translucent. She followed after her companion as an odd shadow while they rushed towards a certain building in the floating city.
Their target was Adept Holly.
It couldn’t be helped. Ever since they entered the inner circle of the floating city, both Greem and Cherisha had remained invisible. They had also concealed their auras entirely. It was no wonder that the two powerful beastmen had found Holly almost immediately.
Holly was currently attacking a golem factory. It seemed to be technologically advanced. Over a hundred half-finished arcane golems lay on top of dozens of rows of crystal platforms. Each crystal platform was a small control platform of its own. It allowed for up to three arcane apprentices to work on a golem at any one time.
The apprentices’ mission was to etch the necessary arcane runes onto the metal components of the arcane golems.
Depending on the arcane apprentices’ proficiency, the golem factory could produce ten to fifteen standard Moya-I combat golems, or twenty to twenty-five Sofia-III general-use golems. These golems were all considered the public property of the floating city’s Arcanist Association.
Unfortunately, due to the malfunctioning of the energy core, this golem factory had lost all arcane energy supply and could not continue operating.
When Adept Holly found this place and tried to break in, he was stopped by the arcane guards here. Although there were also five arcanists and over seventy arcane apprentices in the factory, they were no threat to the three-meter-tall astral construct. They attacked with all their strength, but the arcanists could not inflict any damage at all.
Just as Adept Holly took down the few high-grade golems at the factory’s entrance and prepared to enter, he stopped and turned back to see who was coming.
A vicious wolf’s head was quickly growing in his vision, accompanied by ten terrifying claws glowing with a cold and dangerous light.
“An enemy.”
Before Adept Holly could finish the thought, his armor started creaking from the grip of the ten claws. Meanwhile, the werewolf’s large mouth opened wide and bit at Adept Holly’s slender neck.
Saliva dripped from the werewolf’s fanged mouth. It was a pungent, sour smell.
The sudden attack caught Holly by surprise.
He was a golem master with golem creation as his professional skill, after all. Even though he also possessed powerful melee fighting skills and ranged attacks, he was still inferior to someone with an actual fighting profession.
Moreover, this werewolf was a little too ferocious!
It had only been a mere three seconds from when Adept Holly’s security array was triggered to when he turned around, but the werewolf had already crossed five hundred meters of distance and appeared in front of him.
Moreover, he showed no signs of negotiating at all. He was going straight for the kill.
The large amounts of astral substance that formed Holly’s astral armor did not excel at physical defense. Instead, it was best at magic defense and disruption. The thick metal armor quickly started to contort under the ferocious bite of the werewolf. It almost seemed like he would be able to penetrate with a single bite.
His ten claws had also dug deep into the armor. As the claws tore into the metal, ten terrifying scratch marks were left on its surface.
The panic and terror in Holly’s heart reached a peak as he felt the intense pain from his body and the absolute strength of the opponent.
As he let out an ear-piercing scream, an overwhelming beam of starlight fell from the sky, enveloping both him and the werewolf.
The murderous starlight surrounded the werewolf’s lithe and muscular body. It ignored the werewolf’s hair and violent strength, penetrating straight into his body.
As the starlight continued to surge into his body, the werewolf couldn’t help but let out a grunt. Silver starlight flickered between his black hairs as the strength of his attack faltered.
“Die!”
The terrified Adept Holly punched forward with both hands, but the werewolf dodged both of his attacks. The werewolf kicked the astral armor with his thick legs, knocking Holly away from him.
Adept Holly crashed into a stone wall and left a deep crater. He fell to the ground and rolled several times before coming to a stop. The hole in the wall was deep, and all the stone at the site of impact had turned to dust. Cracks ran along the entire length of the wall.
Adept Holly struggled to get up from the ground, breathing heavily as he did so. Blood flowed out from the bite wound and deep claw marks. However, the astral armor’s damage was also quickly healing as starlight shone upon him.
After a quick chant, Adept Holly began to gather a cluster of white starlight between his palms. Moreover, as the amount of starlight increased, the energy aura started to intensify as well. Adept Holly ignored everything else and kept his eyes fixed on that fearsome werewolf.
The werewolf had backed away with an elegant leap, landing a hundred meters away from Holly. He was crouching on the ground, the front of his body bowed low and the back of his body arched high, his two hind legs prepared to jump at any time. Judging from his stance, he could lunge at Adept Holly at any time.
However, when the werewolf’s fierce gaze landed on the starlight between Adept Holly’s hands, his red eyes couldn’t help but shrink. There was a trace of frustration and fear in his eyes.
The starlight in his opponent’s hands was far too strange. It had the scary ability to ignore all physical and magical defenses. Adept Holly appeared to be the one who had lost the exchange from earlier. After all, Holly had suffered tremendous damage, even while hidden in the astral armor, while the werewolf was untouched.
However, the werewolf was the only one that knew the truth.
It had only been three seconds, but that sinister and terrifying starlight had inflicted fairly terrible injuries to his internal organs. He had backed off, seemingly to adjust his stance, but he was also buying time for his body to heal.
After all, the physical regeneration abilities of werewolves were exceedingly fearsome as well!
“A werewolf? A believer of the Beast God.” Adept Holly quickly identified the opponent at a single glance. He took a step back at the same time as he recognized the enemy. The starlight in his hands turned into a beautiful halo and spread outwards.
Just as expected, a petite figure suddenly appeared twenty meters to the right behind him, where the starlight had spread.
“Dammit! The enemy did have a companion!” Adept Holly cursed with his bloodied mouth and waved with his hand. A cluster of brilliant starlight crashed from the sky at the new enemy.
“Hehehe, you adepts sure have a lot of tricks!” Naturally, the fox girl was frustrated, having failed at her ambush. She revealed her pretty figure and threw Adept Holly a sultry glance. She lifted her slender hand and erected a crimson barrier that shielded her from the starlight.
Her tail moved slightly. It looked seductive, but in truth, she had secretly fired a dozen inconspicuous, fine hairs from her tail.
If Holly was seduced by her appearance and let down his guard, he might just be badly injured by the foxtail needles.
Chapter 1116 - A New Battle
Chapter 1116 A New Battle
If it were anyone else, they might have fallen prey to the fox girl’s Natural Charm.
However, since Adept Holly had the courage to participate in this mission, he naturally had the skills to back it up as well.
Moreover, defending one’s mental consciousness was a priority for all adepts!
Adept Holly let out a grunt and endured the fox girl’s Natural Charm with the aid of his Soul Brooch. His mental consciousness swept around him as he picked up the opponent’s subtle movement.
Adept
Holly raised his arm and covered his face.
Pupupu!
A series of strange sounds rang out. The dozen seemingly soft and weightless fox hairs had pierced straight into the astral armor, embedding themselves deep inside.
Adept Holly was horrified.
It was important to note that his astral armor was composed of concentrated, solidified astral substance, gathered by his will. Astral substance excelled at magic disruption, to begin with. It was not exceptional when it came to physical defense. However, as a substance from space, the structural toughness of the material was still far superior to that of most metals that could be found in the material planes.
The fact that the opponent’s fox hairs could penetrate the exceedingly hard astral armor was more than enough proof that the hairs were incredibly powerful. Their penetrative effect was equal to high-grade enchanted weapons.
Adept Holly slowly shifted positions, even as he kept his guard up. He was trying to avoid being caught in a pincer attack between the two beastmen. He raised his right arm and waved it over his left arm that had been hit by the fox hairs.
The fox hairs instantly turned to dust under the corrosion of silver starlight, falling to the ground and drifting to the wind.
At the same moment, the werewolf accelerated his regeneration and was eager to fight again.
“Please…the two of you, slow down.” Adept Holly hurriedly gathered starlight to protect himself when he saw his opponents’ movements. He shouted loudly, “There’s no resentment between us, is there? There’s no need to fight with our lives on the line!”
“Kehkehkeh. There are two of us and one of you. We are all Fourth Grade. You sure you can escape from us?” The werewolf cackled coldly. Judging from his tone, not only was he not ashamed that they were relying on numbers, he was, in fact, proud of it.
“Hmph! Don’t get too arrogant. I did not come here alone, either. I have companions here, as well. Once I call my companions over, the battle will only grow in scale and proportion, to absolutely no one’s benefit!” Adept Holly continued speaking, still cautious of his two opponents, “We are all here to loot resources and treasures. There’s no need to engage in a deathmatch while there’s still so much lying around for us to pick up.”
“There is some truth to what you said.” The foxgirl lifted her head, seemingly moved by the suggestion.
“Indeed, indeed. This is the biggest golem factory on the floating city. I have already dealt with the arcane guards inside, and I can offer it to you two. That should be enough, isn’t it?!” Upon seeing the werewolf continue approaching as viciously as before, Adept Holly gritted his teeth and threatened, “Don’t you forget, I am still a Fourth Grade adept. Force me into a corner, and I will still have the ability to drag one of you along with me. Neither of you would want that, will you?”
“True, true. What you say is very true, indeed. You may leave now!” The foxgirl continued nodding with a smile on her face, but her eyes were filled with disdain and mockery.
“What do you mean? Don’t you force me.” Adept Holly became even more vigilant when he saw the hostility in the foxgirl’s eyes. Endless starlight surged around his armor, causing it to become even thicker than before.
However, while he was controlling the starlight, unexpected dizziness overtook him. His vision faded to black for a moment, and he almost fell to the ground.
“I’m hit? When did they get me? Right, the wolf’s claws from earlier.” Adept Holly instantly understood everything. He looked up at the werewolf’s claws and fangs.
As expected, traces of black mist coiled around his claws and fangs. It was obvious that they were poisoned.
“Hehe. Now you know why we were willing to talk with you all this while! We were waiting for the poison to take effect! Now, collapse.”
As the foxgirl gave the signal, the werewolf lunged ferociously. He turned into a flash of black lightning and instantly appeared beside Adept Holly.
He had learned his lesson this time. He did not try to clash with Adept Holly directly and instead started running circles around him. He avoided the starlight fired from Holly’s palm and those crashing from above, all while leaving deep claw marks on Holly’s armor with his sharp claws.
Meanwhile, the foxgirl flickered in and out of the battlefield around them.
Every time she appeared, she would seductively throw a kiss or a wink at Adept Holly. Then, she would giggle and disappear before Holly could retaliate.
It wasn’t her being flirtatious on the battlefield. Rather, it was merely the innate ability of a foxgirl.
The constant use of Charm Human and her own Natural Charm put Adept Holly at a decent risk of being charmed, even with his Soul Brooch. With Adept Holly’s mental resilience, the foxgirl could only charm him for two to three seconds at any time, even with all her power.
Two to three seconds might seem insignificant, but they could also be lethal to him.
After all, he was fighting against a werewolf right now. Every time he was charmed, the starlight he had gathered would disperse, and the thickness of his astral armor would be affected. It naturally affected his performance in battle.
Disrupted by the foxgirl, Adept Holly’s few attempts at a ferocious retaliation were all interrupted before he could commit to them!
Seeing as death and defeat were right in front of him, Adept Holly did not dare to hang in any longer. He turned and tried to flee.
Unfortunately, before he could even take two steps, the werewolf appeared in front of him in a flash, firmly cutting off his path of escape. Meanwhile, the foxgirl showed up behind him, still giggling to herself. A scarlet mist appeared with a wave of her tail and sealed off that path as well.
“Screw you then!”
Adept Holly did not hesitate now that death was staring him in the face. He roared, raised his arms, and lunged at the werewolf.
Boom!
There was a loud explosion. The astral armor, which contained such intense starlight, shot out in every direction, causing a mushroom cloud to appear.
The violent force of the explosion left a bottomless, hundred-meter-wide pit in the stone ground of the floating city. The endless starlight instantly filled the air, destroying all the dirt, stone, grass, and metal pieces in the surrounding area.
The golem factory, which was closest to the explosion, had almost entirely collapsed. The arcanists and arcane apprentices hiding within were also killed instantly by the falling starlight.
A short moment later, when the starlight’s power had weakened, the werewolf and the foxgirl appeared at the edge of the pit. They started whispering to each other.
“Is he dead?”
“No!”
“Dammit! I knew he wouldn’t be so valiant as to sacrifice himself. Where did he run off to?”
“Don’t worry; my wolf poison is still circulating in his body. I know exactly where he is. Come. Follow me!”
The two figures quickly vanished from the spot.
…………
Adept Holly burst out of thin air at the back of a building a kilometer away, covered in blood.
He rolled across the ground when he appeared, desperately taking out all sorts of potions from his pouch and drinking them as he did so.
He coughed violently as he drank them.
Purple pieces of flesh and broken organs flew out as he coughed.
Two clear black bite marks could be seen on his neck.
The flesh around the wounds had festered and swollen.
If it weren’t for his silver adept’s robe, it would have been easy to mistake him for the two-headed adept.
“Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Those two bastards! They could’ve gone after anyone! Why me? Cough! Cough! Cough! Greem, Cherisha, you all deserve to die! Not a single one of you showed yourself even after I sent out a help signal. Dammit! With even just one of you arriving, those two bastards wouldn’t so arrogantly encircle me. Bastards, you all deserve to die.”
The werewolf’s
poison was unusual. Ordinary antidotes were ineffective against it.
If this was a safe place, Adept Holly could set down a laboratory, and he just might be able to concoct a potion that could temporarily neutralize the poison. Unfortunately, this was an otherworldly battlefield where the killing did not stop. There was not a single quiet place around him, no matter how he looked.
Taking his time to analyze the wolf poison in such an environment and finding a way to neutralize it was impossible!
Moreover, two familiar energy auras were quickly approaching him in his faint spiritual senses. They would catch up in another seven or eight seconds.
Just as Adept Holly’s heart turned cold, and despair overtook his mind, a large shadow engulfed him.
By the time the foxgirl and the werewolf arrived, they saw no signs of the human adept except for all the blood on the ground.
“Dammit! Where’s the adept?” The foxgirl’s eyes were slightly red. She looked around with careful and vicious eyes.
“He was still here earlier. I do not sense the aura of spatial teleportation!” The werewolf landed on the ground and lifted his snout to sniff, “Hang on. I smell the strange stench of shadow power. The adept was taken away by a shadow creature!”
“Dammit! Which bastard dares to snatch the prey from our jaws? Chase them. We will catch them at all costs!”
The next second, the two beastmen vanished from the spot.
Chapter 1117 - The Chaotic Battlefield
By the time peace returned to the place, some mysterious footsteps rang out.
Though there was no man or shadow to be seen, a clear set of footprints appeared in the bloodstains on the floor.
The footsteps continued to appear, only stopping in front of the place where Adept Holly had disappeared.
A short moment later, the golden flames that shrouded his body dispersed, and Greem’s youthful body appeared.
Age of Adepts c1-1513 Page 684