Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  Mangus and Cherisha were undoubtedly the weakest among all these bloodthirsty predators. It made them most likely to become prey for all the others.

  As such, the lich had launched a ferocious attack at the siblings upon sensing their aura. There was no hesitation at all.

  Liches were terrifying magical creatures!

  They were not products of nature. Rather, they were once powerful spellcasters that had turned themselves into liches using special rituals in an attempt to continue living despite their lifespan coming to an end.

  At their core, liches were undead creatures. They had near undying bodies and immortal souls.

  However, this was only a rumor spread by mortals with no actual knowledge of the occult!

  Liches could not achieve true immortality. Even as undead, there was a limit to their lifespans. However, ordinary liches could still live for thousands of years, while demi-god liches (Fifth Grade) could easily live up to tens of thousands of years. Such an incredible lifespan could indeed be considered immortality to mortals, who barely had a hundred years to live.

  However, compared to other supernatural creatures, liches only had slightly longer lifespans. At the end of their lives, their souls would slowly rot with the passage of time until they turned into dust.

  It was precisely because the liches were an unusual existence between life and death that most of their attacks were death magic.

  Finger of Death!

  Proclamation of Death!

  Heartstopper!

  Array of Death!

  Power Word: Death!

  Dust to Dust!

  Disintegrate!

  Soulbind!

  Horrid Wilting!

  ……

  It was the overwhelming options of death magic that reduced most lifeforms to shivering rabbits in front of the liches. There was no fighting against a lich without a sufficiently powerful soul or equipment that defended against death magic.

  The two-headed adept was in a terrible condition!

  Mangus and Cherisha naturally had no thoughts of holding back against a powerful lich. They had transformed into their strongest state almost immediately. Mangus’ elementium magic and Cherisha’s mental powers amplified each other’s abilities, while also allowing them to cast multiple spells at the same time. As such, an ordinary Fourth Grade adept might just be beaten back while they were in this peak condition.

  Unfortunately, they were fighting against an incredibly powerful veteran lich.

  All the spells they fired were ignored or resisted by the lich when they crashed against his jade-white skeleton. Meanwhile, the lich’s storm of death magic had them coughing up blood as their life force quickly drained away.

  If it weren’t for their magic resistance increasing significantly after their souls had merged, the lich would have destroyed their souls with the first round of attacks!

  Chapter 1119 - Lich Kanganas

  “Vortex of Fangs!”

  “Soulstorm!”

  The two-headed adept formed by the assimilation of the siblings was capable of firing two spells of entirely different natures every time they cast. An ordinary opponent would probably have a hard time defending against the sheer number of spells.

  Unfortunately, they were fighting against a fearsome lich, whose kind was known for their immense magic resistance.

  The lich simply ignored ordinary Second Grade spells. Only spells of Third Grade and above could threaten and inflict some damage on him. Having only recently advanced, Mangus and Cherisha had trouble casting Fourth Grade spells without some time to prepare and chant the spells. As such, they relied entirely on powerful Third Grade spells in combat.

  These Third Grade spells were barely effective against the lich. The lich ignored half of the elementium powers of the spells, and the remaining half still had to be reduced by his magic resistance. What remained of the spells’ power could only inflict slight damage to the lich.

  Moreover, the siblings had to avoid using all sorts of spells related to poison, hypnosis, paralysis, petrification, disease, death, and undead. That was because the lich was simply immune to all such spells!

  There were barely any spells that could affect the lich, especially with all the damage immunity that he also possessed.

  On the other hand, any simple death magic fired from the lich’s hands was more than enough to wound the siblings!

  Death magic ignored physical and magical resistance and affected the soul directly. The only resistance against death magic was having a resilient soul.

  Moreover, enduring even a single death spell meant a significant loss of lifeforce and incredible agony upon the soul!

  It might look like Mangus and Cherisha had the advantage in numbers, but they were the ones who were being beaten down.

  In the end, the siblings discovered some method of defending against the lich’s death magic. That was to simply grab someone else as a shield.

  All death magic was either in the form of beams or halos. As long as the siblings could find an arcane apprentice and throw him in the trajectory of the spell, they could trigger its effect before it hit them.

  Trading the life of an arcane apprentice for a death spell fired by the lich was the most cost-effective course of action for the two-headed adept.

  However, the lich was a cunning and intelligent being as well. Such a simple trick would never thwart him. After a Banshee’s Wail, there was no longer an arcane apprentice alive within a kilometer for the siblings to use as a shield.

  They could only retreat as they fought, hoping that the lich would leave to find an easier target with time.

  Unfortunately, ferocious beasts and powerful individuals were everywhere in the floating city right now. No matter how you counted it, the two-headed siblings were undoubtedly the weakest of them all. Thus, the lich pursued stubbornly no matter how they dodged and ran. It seemed he would never stop until they were dead.

  Mangus and Cherisha were finally scared now!

  “Lord Greem, we know you are nearby. Come out and save us!” Cherisha screamed for help, “As long as you can keep us alive, we…we will be willing to listen to your every instruction! All the loot we found on this mission will be yours!”

  Terror and fear were written all over the siblings’ faces.

  Mangus was somewhat upset about her sister’s promise. He believed there was still room for negotiation. However, faced with a vicious, unbending lich, he had no choice but to shut his mouth and let his sister do the talking.

  “You mean it?” Greem’s familiar, crisp voice suddenly rang out in the battlefield.

  “We mean it, we do. We are all party members that came here together. How could these siblings ever lie to you?” Upon hearing Greem’s voice, hope once again burst forth from Cherisha’s eyes.

  This trip to another world was still too dangerous. They simply didn’t have the ability to survive until the very end. Cherisha put away all thoughts of making a profit as early as she could. She started to recognize the reality of their situation and began to think rationally once more.

  “Hehehe.”

  A muffled laugh sounded as a large cluster of fire suddenly ignited in midair, surging towards the Fourth Grade lich like a wandering cloud.

  Greem and Cherisha had been talking in the common tongue of the World of Adepts. Naturally, the lich could not understand their conversation. However, as an evil creature, he had already prepared himself for a battle when he sensed Greem’s unusual aura approach.

  When the cloud of flames appeared, the lich simply laughed sinisterly. He lifted a finger, and the second joint on the small finger of his left hand glowed brightly. A fearsome Iceghost carved out of Eternal Ice was summoned out of nowhere.

  Iceghost. A Fourth Grade golem creature.

  It was an unusually powerful ice-attribute undead creature. It could not form naturally in a material plane and was an artificial creation of liches in their laboratories. They were the most loyal servants of the liches, c
harging at enemies and fighting on the frontlines without any hesitation.

  That was why the lich had summoned the Iceghost to engage with Mangus and Cherisha when Greem appeared. He, on the other hand, turned around and clashed with the cloud of fire.

  His jade-white skeleton was immune to almost all elementium attacks below Third Grade. As such, the lich did not have the same consciousness as other spellcasters. He charged into the cloud of fire with his body as a shield and immediately let out a fearsome Banshee’s Wail.

  The high-pitched scream quickly enveloped the cloud of fire. Soundwaves powerful enough to tear the soul apart quickly spread through the air, causing ripples to appear.

  A Fourth Grade Banshee’s Wail like this was enough to kill any opponent whose soul was too weak. Even Fourth Grade opponents would be injured if they weren’t careful.

  The cloud of fire trembled as the skies shook.

  Greem was instantly forced to reveal himself within the flames by this attack.

  He held his fire coral staff in his hand, the Burning Suncrown on his head, the Fire Dragon’s Breath on his neck, the Emblem of Fire on his arm, the Fearless on his waist, Ash on his feet, and all sorts of strange magical rings on all of his fingers.

  However, none of these items could conceal Greem’s unique aura.

  Greem was not a pure body-refining adept and did not possess muscles that were as hard as iron. However, his two-meter height and his perfectly proportioned body gave him a perfect appearance.

  He had firm muscles, crimson and radiant skin, and long black hair flowing down his back, waving slightly in the breeze. In addition to the crimson light glowing in the depths of his black eyes, Greem’s entire person radiated with the wickedness, mystery, and wisdom that was the very definition of an adept.

  “Beginner Fourth Grade. Unbelievable!” The lich couldn’t help but be impressed, “You must be a prodigy of a major adept organization. How else could you have mastered some of the fire laws while you are still beginner Fourth Grade!”

  The lich had assumed Greem to be a veteran Fourth Grade adept when he first sensed Greem’s fire aura. Now, upon seeing Greem’s youthful face and sensing his unstabilized mental flux, the lich could not help but open his mouth wide in surprise.

  “O’ respected lich, how may I refer to you?” Greem was not in a hurry to fight. Instead, he tapped his fire coral staff and put up a dome-shaped Inferno Shield around himself. He then casually greeted the opponent.

  “Kanganas. And you?” The lich replied coldly.

  “Sir Kanganas, Greem greets you!” Greem smiled and said, “There is so much prey here in this city. Why do you have to be so fixated on us adepts? Why don’t—”

  “Kehkehkehe, you want to snatch the prey away from my jaws just by working your mouth? Let’s see if you have the ability to back it up!” As expected of someone from an evil faction, the lich did even not bother to listen to Greem speak. He lifted his hand and fired a green beam at the Inferno Shield.

  Disintegrate!

  The Inferno Shield, which had five hundred points of physical defense and seven hundred points of elementium defense, disintegrated in an instant.

  The next second, four to five evil curses of various colors shot towards Greem, entering into his body one after another.

  Liches were indeed the strongest users of evil magic. Every single one of Kanganas’ curses possessed fearsome magic penetration. Otherwise, they would never be able to penetrate the Burning Domain and Greem’s forcefield to affect him directly.

  Hysteresis!

  Unnerve!

  Decrepify!

  Agonize!

  Forgetfulness!

  A total of five curses, each of which managed to activate.

  The Curse of Hysteresis could significantly reduce Greem’s movement speed.

  The Unnerving Curse could greatly weaken Greem’s fighting will.

  The Curse of Decrepification could slightly reduce Greem’s bodily attributes.

  The Curse of Agony would cause Greem to endure twice as much damage.

  The Curse of Forgetfulness would cause Greem to forget some of his spells randomly.

  After all the curses had taken effect, the fearsome Lich Kanganas waved his bone hand. A barrage of bone spears immediately fired at Greem from every direction. A pale-white undead flame burned at the tip of all these spears.

  Any being that came into contact with these flames would have their souls frozen, causing their minds to turn much slower than usual!

  After completing all these attacks, Lich Kanganas silently crushed his right little finger, sacrificing his body to fire a terrifying Finger of Death at the immobile Greem.

  The Finger of Death was terrifying death magic, to begin with. Now that Kanganas had enhanced its magic penetration with a sacrifice, it became shockingly lethal.

  The lich had struck out so ferociously and viciously without any hesitation. Even Greem couldn’t help but be horrified and surprised.

  At the sight of the rain of bone spears and the Finger of Death hidden amongst the barrage of spears, Greem let out a wild roar. His counter-attack had begun.

  Chapter 1120 - A Wild Battle

  “Crimson Lotus’ Rain of Fire…Scorching Flames!”

  Greem shouted out several short incantations, summoning surging flames around him that surged at the lich.

  The flames were golden yellow, with a trace of unusual power within them.

  The golden fires and the death energy around Lich Kanganas’ body clashed together and neutralized each other ferociously upon contact.

  The golden flames and the pale white energy were entangled with each other, devouring and destroying the opposing power as they clashed.

  When the golden fire appeared, all the curses that Kanganas had applied to Greem evaporated like snow under a blazing sun. What traces remained of the curses could no longer affect or disrupt Greem as they had before.

  The sources and owners of these two contrasting powers were casting their own terrifying spells as quickly as they could. They were both trying to pave the way to victory with all their might.

  Individuals as powerful as Greem and the lich could unleash all sorts of powerful spells without incantations. However, when their opponent was an enemy of the same grade, it was best to fire a spell after a series of incantations. That was the only way to pose a threat to the opponent.

  Instant-cast spells were mostly used to interrupt or disrupt the opponent’s chanting or spellcasting.

  Liches would often turn every part of their body into fearsome spell sequencing devices through a series of mad and cruel modifications. Their method of casting was entirely different from an ordinary spellcaster.

  As such, when Kanganas sensed the terror of the golden flames, he immediately hastened his spellcasting without hesitation.

  His fearsome skull stared straight at Greem as the adept walked across the sky with flames beneath his feet. The soulfire burning behind the rubies in the lich’s eye sockets pulsated rapidly. Meanwhile, his jaw also started trembling, letting out an unusual crackling sound.

  It wasn’t Kanganas trembling in fright. Rather, it was the unique spellcasting method of the liches.

  Magical gemstones of various colors and functions had been embedded into his jaw. By clicking together his ‘teeth,’ he could activate these magical gemstones in a specific sequence.

  As there was no need to chant any incantations, the terrifying spells stored within these gemstones could be simply molded into a powerful spell sequence based on the lich’s will.

  Why were liches considered one of the most powerful and savage magical creatures in nearly every single material plane? It was precisely because of this unique spellcasting method of theirs!

  A spell sequence like this was usually a combination of anti-magic magic, offensive elementium magic, compound curses, and death magic.

  In particular, the anti-magic was used to break an opponent’s magical defense. The offensive elementium mag
ic was to inflict elementium damage and trigger the opponent’s last line of defense. The compound curses would then weaken the opponent’s elementium resistance. All of these factors worked in service of the death magic, which was the real, lethal core of the entire sequence.

  Fearsome and targeted spell sequences like this had helped Kanganas defeat and kill countless enemies that had challenged him in the past. However, this same trick was far from enough to defeat Greem, who possessed a mastery over some of the fire laws.

  The surging flames abruptly shrank together, forming a golden shield between Greem and Kanganas.

  The shield was not very large nor heavy. However, it appeared to be unusually dense and sturdy due to the existence of the golden flames.

  The sequence of spells crashed onto the golden shield. The anti-magic caused the elementium particles to lose their established order and destroyed the spell model. Unfortunately, the fire laws contained within the flames was power of a higher order; the destruction caused by the anti-magic was not thorough.

  Though the golden shield had been disrupted and damaged by the anti-magic, the fire elementium particles remained in a relatively stable position. This layer of defense greatly affected the rest of the spell sequence. The fearsome Bone Lance, the crimson Berserking Curse, and the frightening Energy Drain were all prematurely triggered. A purple halo of death bloomed in front of the tattered golden shield.

  While defending against the lich’s attack, Greem waved his staff as a large Magma Fireball, half the size of a human’s head, fired at the lich.

  In truth, a Fourth Grade Blazing Fireball had more elementium offensive power compared to the Second Grade Magma Fireball. Unfortunately, the lich’s elementium was simply too high. Physical damage was far more effective against him compared to elementium damage.

  That was why Greem had no choice but to use a Second Grade Magma Fireball instead!

  Even the Second Grade Magma Fireball was incredibly powerful when fired from Greem’s hands.

  The massive fireball formed of magma and fire was filled with liquid lava at a shocking temperature. Endless heat and light spilled forth from the cracks in the magma, causing the air to become unbearably hot.