Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  A so-called undead was the corpse of an intelligent creature brought to life once more through the use of magic. Most of them had already lost all their former intelligence. The only thing left was their instincts for murder and obedience to the spellcaster that raised them from the dead.

  As such, most undead magic was created with negative energy at its core.

  When the negative energy in the undead corpses was neutralized and purified by the holy energy in the Holy Ward, the evil cores naturally dispersed without any difficulty.

  The low and intermediate-grade undead fell to the ground like rotten wood upon entering the Holy Ward. Their shriveled bodies quickly turned into puddles of black liquid, which was then purified by the Holy Ward as well. Only high-grade undead could endure the purification by the holy energy with their tough flesh and dense death energy.

  Lich Kanganas was one of the seven kings of the Skeletal Plane; his undead army was not so easily beaten.

  A massive skeletal creature stood at the back of the army. It seemed to have been a humanoid in life and stood at over twenty meters tall, its entire body made of dark, black bones.

  A small platform pieced together with white bones could be seen on the giant’s back. A throne of bones sat atop the platform, made of countless skulls.

  Kanganas sat upon this throne, tapping the armrest with one hand while resting his head on the other. He watched the blooding carnage before him with casual disinterest.

  Meanwhile, five lesser liches stood around the skeleton giant. They wore human-skin robes and skeleton crowns while holding bone staffs in their hands. Each of them stood in a core node of the pentagon array beneath them, endlessly summoning even more undead subordinates of greater power from the Skeletal Plane.

  In Kanganas’ eyes, the five templar knights and the two archbishops were not a threat at all. The only one he was wary of was the young man hiding behind all of them. He was the one who held the Libram of Wisdom in his hands and was reading through its contents.

  The young man’s appearance was mundane, and his figure was just as frail as a mortal’s. However, a layer of golden light as thick as armor shimmered around him. All evil and corruption were purified when they came into contact with this golden light. It radiated a powerful, pure, and holy power.

  As he quickly flipped through the pages of the Libram of Wisdom, the golden light around the believers grew thicker and thicker. It was almost as if countless tiny angels with wings on their backs were flying and circling in the air enveloped by the radiating light, singing praises to the gods with their cheerful voices.

  All evil within the radius of the holy light melted like snow under the sun.

  Even from several kilometers away, Greem’s eyes were fixed dead upon the Libram of Wisdom that the young man held in his hands. He could clearly see traces of unusual law powers foreign to Morrian Plane contained within the holy light of the Libram of Wisdom.

  The ability to extend the law powers of a foreign plane despite the suppression of Morrian Plane’s planar consciousness! Nothing other than an artifact could accomplish such a feat!

  [Beep. Detecting unusual power aura. After analysis, said power belongs to the faith system. Judging by the attribute and characteristics of the power, initial estimates suggest the item is a token of a God of Wisdom.

  [Token Form: Libram.

  Token Attribute: Knowledge.

  Token Grade: Fifth Grade (Artifact).

  Token Purpose: Enlightenment.

  Token Description: This item contains a God of Wisdom’s views and opinions on planes, space, knowledge, and power.]

  As the Libram of Wisdom was enveloped by tremendous holy power, the Chip could not obtain too much information from a long-range scan. However, judging from the aura radiating from the Libram, it was most certainly an incredibly powerful artifact of the knowledge attribute.

  That also meant that the young man with golden hair was most likely an important believer of a God of Wisdom from another plane. He might even be a son or avatar of the god himself. Otherwise, that god would never have entrusted him with such a precious and vital artifact, nor allow him to bring it to a foreign plane.

  “A God of Wisdom?” Greem couldn’t help but mumble to himself.

  Gods of Wisdom were often known as Gods of Knowledge as well. These gods did not have many combat skills and were not often favored by combatants and fighters. Consequently, it took an exceptional amount of time and effort for Gods of Wisdom to be born, compared to the average god.

  In fact, many Gods of Wisdom became prey to other evil gods or demi-gods during the process of their growth, due to their lack of fighting skills.

  It was all these factors that caused there to be very few known Gods of Wisdom in the World of Gods. Moreover, those that existed had very weak divinity, only limited to Fifth or Sixth Grade. There were hardly any Gods of Wisdom above Sixth Grade.

  Greem licked his lips.

  If it were any other artifact, he would have given up all thoughts of obtaining it, considering the difficulty of such a task!

  After all, most artifacts had strict conditions for usage. It was difficult to command the artifacts even after getting your hands on them.

  However, this was the artifact of s God of Wisdom. Objects of this sort were incredibly powerful and could be used by anyone who was a spellcaster themselves!

  Lich Kanganas might look ugly, but he was still a true spellcaster.

  No wonder he had given up on all other prey and focused entirely on devouring these bold believers of the God of Wisdom. He had even summoned the undead army of his Skeletal Plane for this very purpose.

  However, Lich Kanganas’ battle against the believers wasn’t going very well either.

  After all, Gods of Wisdom belonged to the pantheon of order. They possessed incredibly pure holy power. The attribute of their abilities was a good counter to undead magic.

  Moreover, since the god was willing to bestow his artifact on his followers, he had most certainly left a divine brand on the artifact. Should its owner die and the object itself change hands, the divine brand would bring it back to the God of Wisdom. It didn’t matter where the artifact was located. The god would be able to open a channel of faith through the divine brand and guide the artifact and the believer’s soul back to him.

  The only one that could break this process was another artifact or another god!

  It was these harsh conditions of obtaining a god’s artifact and the threat of infuriating a god that kept many evildoers at bay.

  However, Greem was not one to be intimidated.

  He came up with a simple and feasible plan of action almost immediately and secretly contacted a few ‘old friends’!

  …………

  “Lord Mietzel, that evil lich is way too difficult to deal with! Don’t you think…we should head in a different direction and avoid him?”

  After an hour of endless slaughter, plenty of undead had been purified, but the numbers of the undead around them did not seem to decrease. In fact, with the constant summoning of the lich’s array, more and more powerful undead were appearing among the ranks of the undead army.

  First Grade black knights were hardly seen now. Even a high number of Second Grade vampires and Third Grade death knights had been purified. Apart from these, there was also an incredible number of ghouls, abominations, and wraiths.

  These creatures were far weaker, but it was very exhausting to purify them in such high numbers.

  As such, Antonio, one of the two archbishops responsible for Mietzel’s safety, couldn’t help but speak up at the sight of the endless undead.

  The young man who was flipping through the Libram of Wisdom finally lifted his head.

  “Everyone’s tired? Let’s turn around then! But be careful. That lich won’t let us leave so easily. Moreover, the Libram has just warned me that a new enemy has set their sights on us. Something unexpected might happen soon!”

  The young man known as Mietzel
had curly golden hair, and the calm light of wisdom glowed in his jade-green eyes. He might be surrounded by countless undead, but there was no fear nor worry on his face.

  “A new enemy? My lord, did the Libram specify the identity of the new enemy?” The other archbishop, Rousseau, couldn’t help but interrupt.

  The young man smiled.

  “You two should know that it’s somewhat difficult for father to channel his divine power into this Morrian Plane. The Libram can only vaguely warn me of a new enemy. It’s hard to obtain any more specific information other than that. Haha! If the Libram could accomplish such a feat, then my father could probably switch to being a God of Divinations!”

  The two archbishops didn’t find the young man’s joke all that funny. They quickly spoke up and warned him, “My lord, it’s best not to make such jokes again. You might think of them as jokes, but comments on the divinity of the gods involve the order amongst the gods. Should such words get to the ears of the corresponding gods, it would be—”

  “Alright, alright. It is a foreign plane, after all. Do you really think those gods have nothing better to do than listen in on us while we are so far away?” Upon seeing the stubborn faces of his two ‘bodyguards,’ the young man could only shake his head and say, “Very well, I’ll listen to you. I won’t make jokes like that again!”

  Chapter 1128 - Detect Evil

  The battle was as intense as ever.

  However, the young man and the two archbishops of the Church of the Omniscient Eye were still relaxed.

  It was simple. They were powerful enough to escape unscathed!

  Their purpose in breaking into Morrian Plane was none other than to collect the high-grade arcane knowledge of the Arcane Empire that even the gods themselves envied.

  Hierro, the God of Wisdom, ruled over the divinity of knowledge and learning. Any knowledge brought back from a foreign plane would increase his divine power, not to mention a civilization as large as the Arcane Empire with as unique of a knowledge system as theirs.

  If Hierro could take all of the Arcane Empire’s experience, he would have the chance to shake off his identity as a vassal god to the God of Order and Justice. He could instantly advance to become the God of Omniscience, an Eighth Grade deity in his own right.

  It was only then that he would have the power and qualifications to start a pantheon of his own!

  However, all this was only a fantasy.

  It didn’t matter how badly beaten the Arcane Empire was; two Eighth Grade Arcane Emperors still supported them. There was no way the entire Empire would fall into the hands of a mere Fifth Grade God of Wisdom.

  As such, Hierro only sent out his most trusted son, Mietzel, to collect as much of the Arcane Empire’s knowledge as possible.

  The believers had waged war against the evil lich out of their distaste for him.

  However, upon realizing that they had no means of quickly exterminating the lich, the two archbishops instead wanted to abandon the battlefield and head elsewhere to search for loot.

  Just as they gathered their divine power and prepared to break through the encirclement of undead, two unusual figures charged onto the battlefield.

  An unexpected change?

  All the members of the Church of the Omniscient Eye stopped and looked at the two individuals that had just appeared.

  They were not allies. Instead, they seemed to opponents.

  One was an evil adept in yellow leather armor with two heads, one male and one female. The other was a muscular holy knight wearing mysterious runic armor and brandishing a holy sword in his hand.

  The two of them appeared to be surprised by the battle occurring here when they arrived. They stopped their fighting and started to evaluate the battlefield carefully.

  “An adept and a holy knight! They have different beliefs, distinct attributes of power, and opposing factions. It’s not a surprise they are fighting against each other.” The eldest Archbishop Antonio identified the two newcomers with a single glance and softly explained them to the young Mietzel.

  As one of the more infamously powerful factions in the multiverse, the Adepts had always been regarded as an evil faction. Meanwhile, holy knights could be considered as part of the faction of order due to the Holy Light they wielded.

  However, holy knights were stubborn zealots that refused to give up their ideals. They regarded all other powers apart from the Holy Light as false gods and devils, often making them oppose believers of the pantheon of order.

  Still, where evil powers existed, the holy knights knew well enough to set aside their differences and unite with the god believers!

  Lich Kanganas looked down at the two-headed adept from above his throne, cackling sinisterly as he spoke, “Isn’t this the tiny adept that slipped away from my fingers last time? What’s happened? Was your luck so terrible that you ran into a turtle shell this time?”

  Holy knights always donned an entire set of holy armor. It bestowed them with a sacred light barrier of shocking defensive power. They were the most resilient profession, even amongst other warriors and knights.

  It was no wonder that the lich would mock them as ‘turtle shells’!

  Greem, who was dressed as a holy knight, stepped forward and shouted loudly, “Blessed be the Holy Light! You evil and foul creatures, kneel before the great Holy Light and repent your sins. Or I, Greem, will exterminate you all in the name of the Holy Light!”

  Everyone on the battlefield felt their brains short-circuit when they saw the prideful Greem with that righteous expression on his face. It all felt so ridiculous.

  Come on! It was obvious that the evil factions were the ones with the upper hand here. The forces of justice were the ones being pushed back! To think one would dare to insult everyone alone, making enemies out of both the lich and the adept. This…how blindingly devout to their beliefs did they have to be to do such a thing?

  The knights and archbishops of the Church of the Omniscient Eye were stunned at the stupidity of the holy knight. Even Mietzel couldn’t help but frown.

  Dammit, even I don’t dare to be so arrogant when my dad’s an actual god. Where did this brainless musclehead find the courage to be so reckless? Are holy knights always so suicidal?

  Four parties had appeared on this battlefield now, each representing a faction of their own.

  They could still vaguely be split into two opposing camps of contrasting attributes. There was the faction of evil– the lich and the adept. Then there was the faction of order– the believers of the God of Wisdom and the holy knight.

  Even though different factions within the same camp still often fought against each other, they had to maintain a united front against the opposing camp in a situation like this. At the very least, internal conflict was undesirable until the enemy was defeated.

  “My lord, can you confirm this holy knight’s identity?” Archbishop Rosseau leaned by Mietzel’s ear and whispered.

  “Let me try.” Mietzel was young, but as someone chosen to be a wielder of the Libram, he had naturally possessed incredible power from birth.

  The Libram of Wisdom in his hands flipped open on its own accord. When it finally stopped on a particular page, a golden circle of light rippled outwards.

  Undead fell where the golden halo traveled. Only intermediate and high-grade undead could survive, screaming as they fled from the region engulfed by the golden light.

  Like a divine spell whose power had overflowed, the golden halo quickly washed over the two-headed adept, the evil lich, and the holy knight.

  The two-headed adept let out a grunt, putting out a thin but firm mental barrier to protect themselves, letting the golden halo naturally part in front of them.

  Meanwhile, Lich Kanganas did not fear power of this level at all. He let the golden light wash over his body. The pure holy power clashed with the evil aura on his jade-white skeleton, neutralizing each other and causing no harm to him at all.

  However, the skeleton giant beneath Kanganas see
med to have been angered by the golden light. He lifted his head and let out a voiceless roar, summoning a tide of death energy to resist the holy power.

  Greem stared at Mietzel angrily. He then let out a grunt, raised his holy sword, and shouted.

  “Light’s Haven!”

  As he shouted, shimmering holy light flowed from the longsword, protecting him firmly in a layer of radiant holy light. It didn’t matter how the golden ripples washed over the barrier; they could not do anything to the holy light.

  The two distinct powers only needed to clash slightly, and the owners of the forces instantly knew the attributes of the opponent’s power.

  “It is indeed the power of Holy Light!”

  The believers of the Omniscient Eye let down their guard after confirming Greem’s identity. They nodded at Greem with an apologetic look in their eyes for that ‘misfire’ from earlier.

  Archbishop Antonio even extended an invitation to Greem to exterminate the evil in front of them. The other believers did not raise any objections.

  That was because the infamous ‘temper’ of the holy knights had misled them.

  A holy knight’s belief in the Holy Light dictated that they strike out against evil wherever it was. However, they also held the knight’s code of not actively attacking any non-evil creatures.

  Many young and immature holy knights had been tricked into fighting evil creatures, only to fall to a hidden dagger to the back.

  Even so, the holy knights still firmly upheld their ideals and beliefs, never regretting it, even if they paid with their lives.

  The believers of the Omniscient Eye couldn’t be more eager to pull Greem over to their side. They wanted to use him as a scapegoat to fend off the attacks from the two evil beings in front of them.

  Greem strode forward without hesitation after obtaining the invitation of the god believers.