Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  White holy light flickered in his hands as he walked forth, turning into white beams that landed on the templar knights of the Church.

  Detect Evil!

  This holy spell was usually used to identify the nature of an unknown creature. It did not inflict any damage to an opponent.

  Evil creatures would glow a bright red beneath the holy light. The more evil the creature, the brighter the light. Meanwhile, beings of order would release white light, while neutral creatures would glow green.

  Casting Detect Evil on believers of the God of Wisdom was an act of offense in itself. Anger appeared on the faces of the templar knights.

  Hurling Detect Evils everywhere they went. It was probably one of the most hated habits of the holy knights!

  The believers of the Omniscient Eye gritted their teeth and said nothing.

  This bastard! There’s no respect at all! Our equipment, our spells, the way we are dressed. It’s all so obvious! Still, he has to cast Detect Evil over and over again! What a stubborn fool.

  Shua! Shua! Shua!

  The holy light landed on the templar knights and detected no problem at all.

  Thus, the holy light then bent and shone towards the three spiritualists instead.

  Tolerate, tolerate, tolerate; we will trick this brat into running at the lich and the adept after this!

  The spiritualists cursed angrily in their minds, all while putting on an awkward but not impolite smile.

  However, just as the holy light landed on Mietzel, the milky-white light suddenly turned into a blinding red light.

  Blindingly red, glaringly red, shockingly red.

  “Evil…evil creatures must be cleansed!”

  Greem shouted out loud. Pure and powerful holy light erupted from this sword as he swung at the utterly surprised Mietzel.

  Chapter 1129 - The Battle Erupts

  Mietzel was evil?

  How could that be possible?

  You would know that wasn’t possible even if you were thinking with your feet!

  Even though the two archbishops and the five templar knights were not bothered by the assessment that Mietzel was evil, their hearts still dropped for a moment when they saw the blinding red light. Their minds stalled for an instant.

  However, they immediately realized that something was wrong!

  Detect Evil was a common holy spell. Everyone here was capable of using it proficiently. Naturally, this meant they were well-acquainted with its effect. The core of a divine spell should be pure positive energy. No magic elementium could be mixed in with the spell. Why was it then they could sense traces of fire elementium in that blinding red light?

  No! Something was wrong with the spell!

  Their minds quickly returned, but by the time they realized something was wrong, the towering holy knight was already swinging his glowing sword down on Mietzel.

  The thin layer of holy light around the sword suddenly collapsed as the sword was swinging down. Terrifying golden flames surged forth from within like a ferocious tide, instantly engulfing everyone in a sea of fire.

  Unprepared. Truly unprepared!

  Even though the believers of the God of Wisdom had already been on guard against this unfamiliar holy knight, they had never expected him to strike so viciously upon meeting. Moreover, it was such a ferocious and brutal attack.

  There was an unusual trace of gold in the pillar of fire that caused the flames to inflict unspeakable agony. Both the templar knights in their armor and the archbishops in their soft robes couldn’t help but turn pale at the sight of the wild flames.

  The divine halo around them crackled as the golden flames burned. One by one, the halos broke down.

  The fire burned through one defensive layer after another. In the blink of an eye, it threatened to burn their actual bodies!

  “Dammit! It’s an impostor. Kill him!”

  “Protect the lord!”

  The panicked shouting and scrambling caused this organized party to fall into chaos instantly. Some of them hastily added more divine shields around them. Others lunged recklessly at Greem while some looked around them cautiously.

  The templar knights were no weaker than Fourth Grades under the effects of all these divine halos. Greem had no interest in testing how sharp their blades were with his own body. Thus, after disrupting their ranks with a Scarlet Firestorm, he stomped the ground with both feet. A terrifying Doomsday Volcano erupted beneath them all.

  The earth abruptly shattered from the violent force of the flames bursting from below. A loud rumbling rang out as the shape of the volcano started to form, an endless river of lava and scorching fire spewing forth from the crater.

  The templar knights had just rushed up to Greem when they were blown away instantly by the shockwave and the heat. All the divine shields around them turned red from the flames, almost as if they were on the brink of melting. Even their holy armor became boiling hot despite the divine shields’ protection. All of their exposed hair was burned to a crisp, and even their skin began to dry and crack.

  Naturally, as templar knights selected to protect the son of god, all of them were highly capable!

  Even as they were blown into the air by the pillars of flames, and even as their bodies burned with an unnatural heat as if they would be devoured by fire at the very next moment, they still calmly chanted their prayers.

  “Divine Blessing!”

  “Valor!”

  “Invigorate!”

  “……”

  Several divine halos emerged from their bodies as they shouted, forcing back the fire and protecting themselves.

  However, it didn’t matter how courageous or fearless they were. They had been blown into the sky by the eruption and were landing in separate locations due to the flow of the lava around them.

  Naturally, their formation was shattered!

  The only ones that had a consistent response in all this chaos were the two archbishops and the young man they were protecting.

  They combined their forces and created a nearly solid divine shield in front of them, shielding them from the flood of fire and lava. Even though they were still knocked around by the force of the torrent, they were not separated by the flames as the templar knights had been.

  The young Mietzel glared at the towering, blazing figure of Greem from within his barrier. The pages of the Libram of Wisdom in his hand flipped according to his will, finally stopping on a particular page.

  “Sword of Judgment!”

  As Mietzel’s somewhat frustrated voice rang out, a mysterious sword of light of concentrated divine power quickly appeared in front of him. On the last syllable of the word, the mysterious sword glowed with a powerful light. It instantly cut across a hundred meters, piercing through Greem’s body of fire and sinking deep into the ground behind.

  Greem’s eyes froze for a moment. He lifted his head and looked at the small hole in his fire barrier. He looked down and examined the hole in his body. A sense of horror crept through him.

  A terrifying, peak Fourth Grade single target divine spell.

  The power of the sword was condensed and concentrated, with an intensity of over six thousand points!

  If it weren’t an attack of this intensity, it would never have been able to shatter all seven layers of Greem’s fire defenses in a single strike and proceed to tear a gaping hole in his body. If the Chip had not told him to shift his body slightly to the left, the Sword of Judgment would have shattered his Heart of Principles, causing him to regress to Third Grade.

  If such a thing were to happen on this chaotic and violent otherworldly battlefield, then Greem would meet his tragic end!

  There was no time to think. Greem erupted into flames immediately, avoiding the next two attacks that shot towards him.

  The two archbishops had also started retaliating after stabilizing their defenses.

  However, they were unleashing divine spells with their own power, while Mietzel was summoning divine magic through the use of the Lib
ram. Naturally, the might of their spells and their spellcasting speed was utterly incomparable.

  Holy Judgement!

  Seal of Wisdom!

  They were two single-target Fourth Grade divine spells. One had an offensive power of 2,100 points, while the other had an attack power of 1,700 points. If they had managed to hit their target, the accumulated holy damage would be enough to injure Greem.

  The archbishops did not give up after seeing Greem dodge their first attacks with Fire Teleportation. The prayers and praises they sang to the God of Wisdom continued, and they were soon prepared to fire their next round of divine spells.

  However, at this moment, a terrifying barrage descended from a distance!

  Hymn of Death!

  Wind Vortex!

  Soul Blast!

  The first spell was cast by Lich Kanganas, while the other two were from Mangus and Cherisha!

  The three proper Fourth Grade spells immediately destroyed the divine shields, causing a violent elementium storm to form in between the believers of the Omniscient Eye.

  In particular, Lich Kanganas’ attack contained a wild shockwave of death energy. A sinister, cackling skull formed above anyone touched by the death energy. The skull would then shatter into gray mist and seep into the victim’s body.

  The victims of the spell would feel their life force rapidly drained away from their bodies until only half was left.

  It wasn’t a lethal attack, but it significantly exhausted the stamina of its victims!

  The faces of the two archbishops turned pale as their life force drained away.

  Mietzel, the son of the God of Wisdom, did not escape from the skull either.

  However, when the gray mist entered his body, the Libram of Wisdom in his hands suddenly glowed brilliantly. A golden vortex appeared above the Libram out of nowhere, forcefully dragging the gray mist out of Mietzel’s body and absorbing it into the vortex.

  Mietzel lifted his head when the golden vortex finally vanished. His face was pale, and there was unconcealable terror and rage in his gaze towards Lich Kanganas.

  His face hadn’t turned pale due to any damage he had sustained. Rather, he had simply been shocked by the lich’s attack.

  Almost everyone at their level had their own incomprehensible and unusual attacks that could inflict actual damage on their opponents.

  Any tiny mistake, and you could fall at your opponent’s hands.

  The Sword of Judgment that Mietzel had summoned and Lich Kanganas’ Hymn of Death were both high-grade spells of this nature. However, while Mietzel had only been able to summon the Sword of Judgement through the artifact in his hands, Lich Kanganas had achieved his fearsome attack with his own exceptional spellcasting technique and overwhelming death powers.

  The two of them might seem equal in power, but there was a clear and distinct difference!

  A loud explosion rang out as Greem reappeared a kilometer away from the battlefield.

  The gaping hole was still there, even after he reformed his body. The terrifying divine power that had attached itself to the wound was still corroding his body.

  The Sword of Judgment was not Mietzel’s own power. It was a powerful spell that had been sealed inside the Fifth Grade Libram of Wisdom. It vaguely contained a trace of the God of Wisdom’s terrifying powers.

  [Beep. Detecting a high-energy foreign substance in the host’s body. The substance is currently destroying the host. The substance possesses powerful assimilation and infection powers. Recommend that the host dispel the substance as soon as possible.]

  “How can I dispel it?”

  [Beep. Methods of dispelling are as follows:

  1. Disperse the energy body and abandon infected parts. Note: This option will cause the host to lose 7% of the remaining fire energy. This fire energy cannot be replenished for the remainder of the fight.

  2. Draw upon the Heart of Principles and use the principle flames to neutralize the Divine Power of Wisdom. Estimates suggest that this will cause the Heart of Principles fire output to be reduced by 28% for the next thirteen minutes.

  3. Use the powers of the Orb of Shadows to wash away the Divine Power of Wisdom. Note: This option will require the host to endure the effects of shadow shockwaves.]

  Chapter 1130 - Lies and Deception

  The three different options each had their benefits and problems.

  Greem chose the first option with almost zero hesitation.

  He still had big plans for the Orb of Shadows, and it wasn’t wise to reveal it so early. They were also in the midst of a ferocious battle where thirteen minutes of weakness was not acceptable. Greem could only choose the first option.

  Temporarily losing 7% of his fire powers wasn’t the best outcome, but it was acceptable given the current circumstances!

  Another loud, fiery explosion rang out as Greem’s entire body turned into flames once again.

  Much like before, most of the golden flames scattered everywhere before being gathered together by an unknown force. Unlike before, 7% of the flames did not disperse, but instead silently burned without moving.

  When Greem once again rematerialized, the divine aura had utterly vanished from his body!

  Lich Kanganas and Mietzel, both of whom were still engaged in a deadly duel, couldn’t help but turn their heads and look at Greem. They were all surprised and shocked by Greem’s subtle control over his elementiumized body.

  In particular, Mietzel frowned deeply. He had a feeling that things were turning south.

  He knew his own situation best, after all. The Sword of Judgment he had used earlier was not a spell that could be cast without cost. The entire Libram of Wisdom contained only two high-grade spells, one for offense and one for defense. Both of these spells had been imprinted in the Libram by the God of Wisdom Hierro himself.

  These two high-grade divine spells were also Mietzel’s greatest guarantee of surviving this trip to Morrian Plane!

  Once fired, the spells required a three-hour cooldown to gather divine power once again.

  Mietzel’s only ace for the next three hours was that divine defensive spell. The Sword of Judgment was now stuck in a low cooldown period.

  Even though Mietzel could unleash many other Fourth Grade divine spells with the Libram of Wisdom, he only had two of these peak Fourth Grade spells. Every spell used would be one consumed. If the Sword of Judgment had been able to exterminate the fiery fiend in a single strike, it might have been able to intimidate the rest of the opponents.

  However, the fiend had not only survived, but he had survived his hidden ace with such an ‘insignificant’ cost. How could Mietzel not be furious and terrified?

  Greem’s disruption successfully scattered the members of the Omniscient Eye.

  Under Lich Kanganas’ command, a massive horde of high-grade undead swarmed forward and kept the five templar knights away from the center of the battle. Meanwhile, Kanganas attempted to intercept the three fleeing spiritualists under the escort of his royal guard. A real battle between Fourth Grades had begun.

  Divine magic filled the air, just as death energy rushed forward!

  The battle between the spiritualists and the lich filled the entire battlefield with violent and chaotic energy shockwaves. All creatures with insufficient magical or physical resistance were broken down and disintegrated by the energy vortices, reduced to mere bones before they fell from the skies.

  The two-headed siblings only managed to fire two barrages of spells at Mietzel before they were surrounded by several large and ferocious undead. It was almost as if the undead were trying to warn them away from the battle.

  Greem grunted and appeared beside the siblings with Fire Teleportation. His body swelled rapidly as he once again transformed into the flame giant. As he waved his hand, a five-meter-tall astral construct quickly flew over from a distance. It crashed into the ground loudly, sending all the nearby undead flying a hundred meters away, along with several tons of dirt from the field.

  T
he appearance of the three Fourth Grade adepts immediately stunned the two parties in combat.

  Greem had secretly sent a voice transmission to the lich to discuss the matter of attacking the god believers prior to his attack. However, it was apparent that Lich Kanganas wanted to keep Greem and the two-headed adept away from the battlefield after Greem’s ambush. He wanted the Libram of Wisdom all for himself.

  Indeed, it wasn’t just Greem who had his sights set on the Libram of Wisdom. Lich Kanganas was also greatly moved by that Fifth Grade artifact.

  However, now that Greem had summoned Adept Holly, any thoughts of taking advantage of the adepts faded from his mind instantly.

  As prideful and arrogant as he was, Lich Kanganas did not dare to face three Fourth Grade adepts all at once.

  It was especially so when these three adepts were clearly allied and cooperative with each other. It significantly amplified their combat prowess, so much so that even the evil lich didn’t dare to start a fight so simply.

  The believers of the Omniscient Eye were greater in number, but they were weaklings who were only able to fight through the power of divine halos. Their bodily attributes might be a hundred times better than the average mortal, but they were still nothing more than ants beneath the eyes of a Fourth Grade lich.

  If they were separated from the divine halos around them, Lich Kanganas would be able to slaughter them as easily as if they were chickens under his culling blade!

  It was this confidence that prompted Lich Kanganas to leave his undead army behind to delay the templar knights, while he himself focused on the god’s son. The two archbishops were of no concern either. In all honesty, if it weren’t for the Libram of Wisdom, Kanganas would be able to endure their attacks and charge to their sides before using his death magic to turn them into piles of bones.

  The magic resistance of a Fourth Grade lich was no small matter! How could it possibly be penetrated by ordinary spells or divine magic?

  Now that Greem had revealed his true limits, Lich Kanganas had no choice but to accept the reality– the reality that the three adepts now formed a powerful force that even he could not ignore.