At the tip of its long and slender limbs were sharp metal claws, while its dark, sinister head was hidden inside the mist. Only two ghostly lights could be seen shining in its eye sockets.
It did not walk firmly on the ground like ordinary machines. Instead, it hovered in midair, as if weightless, gliding silently above the ground as it moved.
Greem was unusually weak during this period of recovery. He could hardly conduct any form of combat against Fourth Grade enemies. The creation of this intermediate Fourth Grade Shadowsteel magical machine perfectly filled in for Greem’s currently missing combat power.
With the Shadowsteel machine, Greem had confidence in teaching any invaders a painful lesson, even if he was still significantly weakened at the moment!
“Shadow Demon, attack me!” Greem wanted to test the might of the Shadowsteel machine. He summoned a Lava Shield in front of him.
Upon receiving Greem’s order, Shadow Demon slowly floated over. Its sharp metal claw only pierced lightly, yet a massive hole had been carved out in the Lava Shield despite its seven hundred points of power.
The retaliatory fire damage from the Lava Shield only caused the mist around Shadow Demon to tremble slightly before dissipating entirely.
Even though this attack was only a test, Greem had still managed to obtain the data he wanted.
The base attack power of the Shadow Demon’s claws was 400 points. However, as this was a multi-strike attack, a single assault from the Shadow Demon could inflict as much as 400×6 points of physical damage. In addition to the shadow shockwave that came along with the strike, the Shadow Demon’s total damage was between 2900 to 3200 points.
It was almost equal to Greem’s offensive power at his peak!
“Shadow Demon, hide in my shadow!” After testing the machine’s offensive power, Greem wanted to test its stealth.
The Shadow Demon flickered and appeared behind Greem. Its massive body squeezed slightly and disappeared into Greem’s shadow.
Greem looked down at his feet.
With how brightly lit the alchemy lab was, his shadow had been cornered to a small spot under his feet. It was hard to imagine that such a gigantic magical machine could hide inside his shadow.
As Greem moved around, his shadow started to stretch and shift around. Yet, he felt no signs of life or energy aura from it.
Greem casually created a small fireball in his palm and hurled it at the shadow. The ground rumbled, and the shadow was split up by the explosion of light. However, he still couldn’t detect any signs of an energy aura.
Even when the flames had faded and the shadow appeared beneath his feet again, Greem could not sense anything unusual about it.
However, as a blue light gleamed in Greem’s black eyes, he was finally able to see a small cluster of inky darkness roaming in the shadows with his Elementium Sight.
Moreover, as the master of Shadow Demon, Greem had a trace of a soul connection with the machine. Even without Elementium Sight, he could faintly detect its presence and its approximate location.
After examining Shadow Demon’s stealth ability from several angles, Grem finally nodded in satisfaction.
With the protection of the Shadow Demon, his personal safety was once again assured!
…………
Inside Fire Cave.
A small cluster of shadow was slowly moving through the crimson cave.
It was the only path into Fire Throne and the region where the fire creatures and magical machines were most concentrated. Anyone that wished to infiltrate Fire Throne had to make it past this path.
Karin was a young witch with brown skin, blue eyes, and a terrific figure. The tight-fitting black dragon leather armor she wore further emphasized her beauty. Black mist cloaked her body as she slowly moved through the shadows of the magical machines.
The magical machines in Fire Cave were stationed as guards and defended every corridor and cave. Meanwhile, the fire creatures were patrols and wandered in the winding cave.
Whenever they found an invader, all of the guards would be alerted, and they would eliminate the enemy with brutal firepower.
Karin was only a Third Grade Dark Witch, and the tower she was trying to infiltrate was a private tower belonging to the Fourth Grade legendary fire adept.
Such an action would not be wise in any other situation.
However, she could not refuse the stern instructions from the clan headquarters. She could only grit her teeth and commit to this terrifying, impossible mission!
She had already done her research on the legendary fire adept Greem before she came here.
The more she found out, and the more detailed the information she obtained, the more scared she became.
He was not an ordinary newly advanced Fourth Grade adept!
His reputation, his results in combat– all of it had been written down with the blood of his enemies.
The terrifying part was that the clan had sent her here to infiltrate the tower on an unimaginable task. She was to investigate the whereabouts of a certain thing and steal it– the Orb of Shadows. That was what horrified Karin the most and struck her with utter disbelief!
The Orb of Shadows. Wasn’t that the most important origin treasure of the Dark Witches? How did it fall into the hands of a seemingly unrelated legendary fire adept in the center of the continent?
Were the authorities at clan headquarters all useless fools? They lost the Orb of Shadows, and still, they did not launch a war against the aggressor?
Furiously cursing at the authorities that sent her here, Karin carefully avoided the fire creatures and specifically traveled through the shadows of the magical machines.
The previous moment, she was hiding beneath the feet of a magical machine, and the next, she was in the shadows of a corridor.
Perhaps the slight energy flux from Shadowstalking had attracted the fire creature’s attention. A particularly large and ferocious Blazing Guardian stopped in the corridor and glared with its smoldering eyes. It looked around in confusion.
Karin, who was hiding in the shadow of the ceiling, became nervous. Her pretty eyes narrowed and she restrained all killing intent, evaluating the guard with calm, composed eyes.
Blazing Guardians were not particularly powerful fire creatures. They only had the strength of advanced First Grades!
Karin only needed a flick of her finger to kill a Blazing Guard like this. However, in this environment, any action would alert all of the enemies. Should she touch this Blazing Guardian, her infiltration mission would fail.
Karin became frustrated upon thinking about the punishment she would receive in the clan for having failed her mission. Even her aura started to become unstable.
Fortunately, the difference in power between her and the Blazing Guardian was simply too significant. When dedicating all her strength to hiding, the chances of being discovered was impossibly slim.
Thus, after discovering nothing out of the ordinary, the Blazing Guardian casually walked out and continued to stroll in this area where the fire elementium was denser than usual.
Karin couldn’t help but let out a breath of relief. She continued on her journey!
Chapter 1157 - An Association Adept Visits
Fire Throne.
Since returning from Morrian Plane, Greem had spent his time hiding in his tower, other than that one trip to space.
His soul was now damaged and crippled. It was the best time for enemies who wished to take vengeance on him!
Greem would never take a single step out of the tower if he could. He would never give his enemies the chance to lay traps or assassinate him.
Unfortunately, though the tree wishes to rest in silence, the storm never stops!
On the seventh day after Greem obtained Shadow Demon, a faraway guest shattered the quiet of Fire Throne, forcing Greem to emerge from his laboratory and meet them on the second level of the tower.
The first person that Greem saw upon entering the meeting hall was the famili
ar Vice-Chairman Mirva.
It had been a while since they last met. This sly and cunning Vice-Chairman appeared older and frailer than before. It was almost as if Greem could see the signs of aging on his body now.
That was not a common occurrence!
At the level of Fourth Grades, there were all sorts of spells and magic that allowed one to revert to their youthful forms. If the spells didn’t work, one could simply use physical modifications to fix their appearance and figure at their peak condition of beauty and style.
It was only when a Fourth Grade adept reached the ends of their life and when their magic power and Spirit began to shrivel that these uncontrollable signs of aging would emerge.
Greem had a feeling that Vice-Chairman Mirva would not be able to live more than a hundred more years!
Greem’s gaze lingered momentarily on Mirva before shifting to the other Fourth Grade adept.
He could sense that this unfamiliar Fourth Grade adept was the real guest here today. Mirva was only here to accompany him.
“Welcome, welcome. It’s rare that Vice-Chairman Mirva is willing to visit my humble abode. I am incredibly honored by this visit!” Greem greeted Mirva with a big smile on his face and naturally directed the flow of conversation towards the other adept. “I don’t believe I know you. May I know your name?”
This foreign adept clearly didn’t belong to the Zhentarim Association. He wore a purple robe and had a kindly, composed face. He looked like a middle-aged man and wore the unique emblem of the Adept’s Association on his chest.
The Adept’s Association. Greem’s eyes narrowed. He roughly knew what the man was here for today!
“You must be the famous legendary fire adept, Sir Greem! Just as everybody says, you’re young, capable, and talented. I am Beluni from the Adept’s Association. I came here today because I have some questions that I need to ask you!” A gentle smile appeared on Beluni’s face, but the sharp glint that inadvertently shone in his eyes revealed that he was not a pushover at all.
“Since the two of you have something to talk about, I won’t be staying here much longer!” Mirva was an old fox. Even though he was the one who accompanied Beluni over here, he didn’t want to be involved at all. He said his farewells to the two adepts and turned to leave.
When Greem and Beluni were the only ones left in the room, Beluni spoke once again.
“Sir Greem, I’ve heard that Adept Mangus of our Association was a companion of yours in Morrian Plane and that the two of you returned together. Is this true?”
“Indeed!”
“Which is to say, Adept Mangus was alive before teleporting back from space, yet he abruptly died during the teleportation process. Moreover, his death is related to you!” Beluni continued to ask with a smile, but a sharp edge could be seen gleaming between his words now.
“He self-destructed, and his purpose in self-destructing was to kill me. I believe you should have been able to figure this out from your investigations with the other returning adepts.” Greem calmly replied.
“Of course, we have done our investigations, and the results are as you say. Judging by the situation, it is certain that Adept Mangus was the one to initiate the attack. No one can entirely blame you for his actions. However, what we are more interested in…is why he did it? Did he have a grudge against you, or did he do it because someone controlled his mind? This is the focus of our investigations currently!”
“You must have had some results if you’ve already investigated for so long! You can’t possibly suspect that I charmed Mangus into almost killing me, do you?”
“Of course we don’t suspect you, Sir Greem. However, we must find the true killer behind the scenes. Adept Mangus might not be all that impressive when it comes to fighting power or connections, but he was a high-grade adept officially registered with the Adept’s Association. It doesn’t matter who killed him and how. We of the Adept’s Association have the responsibility to investigate the cause and exact punishment!”
“The mastermind in the shadows can freely take control of a Fourth Grade adept. They must certainly be one of those ancient relics enjoying their time in the realms beyond. Are you sure you have the ability to exact punishment against someone like that?” Greem narrowed his eyes, not a smile on his face. His tone was solemn and stern.
“That’s not something for you to worry about!” Adept Beluni had a ‘sincere’ smile on his face. “After all, it’s not like we of the Adept’s Association aren’t backed by Great Adepts of our own. We can manage anything that happens in the World of Adepts and anything that happens outside. We only need to report to our superiors, and people of the corresponding caliber will attend to the task. I only need a name to verify the results of our investigations. I am sure that Sir Greem wouldn’t mind naming the person who wished to kill you, would you?”
Greem gave it a long thought before finally squeezing out that hated name from between his teeth.
“Maysa!”
Greem was naturally more than happy to deal with Great Witch Maysa with the power of the Adept’s Association. However, this would introduce a significant variable in the conflict between Alice and Maysa. Even Greem couldn’t tell if this would negatively impact Alice in the long run.
The battle between the Fate Witches was too strange and unusual!
Great Witch Maysa had an overwhelming advantage over Alice in every aspect.
However, in all of their previous conflicts in the past, Great Witch Maysa had made mistakes. There were all sorts of loopholes and flaws in her death traps, uncharacteristic of her status and power as a Great Witch.
The reason all this happened was due to her brazen interference and intervention in the flow of the river of Fate. The stronger she was, the more she intervened with Fate, and the more severe the Fate backlash she would incite.
Without Alice’s existence, Great Witch Maysa’s control over Fate would not be so severely affected. However, for the sake of keeping Maysa in check, the planar consciousness of the World of Adepts was biased towards Alice in this battle of Fate.
Whenever these two powerful witches versed in the flow of the river of Fate fought, the trajectory of the future would be thrown into utter chaos.
In general, Great Witch Maysa was more powerful and had thousands of years of perspective and planning, giving her the crushing advantage in most situations. However, even though Alice lacked the ability to make broad arrangements in Fate, she could still disrupt Maysa’s plans and cause destruction.
Even a gigantic metal golem could malfunction due to a tiny pebble stuck in its core components. Alice was just like that. She might not have the power to challenge Maysa over the control of the river of Fate, but she could still create tiny destructions here and there. She could cause Maysa’s plans and constructions to collapse completely due to small, insignificant ‘accidents.’
She was more than capable of that!
That was how Alice had managed to survive at the hands of Great Witch Maysa, despite the numerous schemes targeted at her.
However, this was a double-edged sword!
Alice’s own intervention in Fate had caused her assistants and allies to suffer a decent backlash from the plane as well.
The reason Alice spent most of her time in the Tower of Fate and isolating herself from the rest of the world was to avoid the Fate backlash from involving her friends and family.
In all honesty, anyone who had bad luck in life would probably die an ugly death if they became too closely associated with Alice! Greem had made many enemies over the years and had been involved in one massive war after another, often thrown into a trial of life and death every few years.
That was the fundamental reason for all of this!
Fate was unpredictable.
Fate was capricious.
It was precisely because of how unpredictable Fate was that Greem hesitated in revealing Maysa’s name to the Association adept.
“So, it is her.” Adept Beluni wasn’t surpri
sed to hear Maysa’s name. After exchanging a few more words with Greem, he got up and left.
Once Beluni had departed from Fire Throne, Greem remained in the room for a short moment before returning to the upper levels of the tower.
The experiment was very successful!
Neither the sly and cunning Mirva nor Beluni from the Adept’s Association had discovered Shadow Demon’s existence. Of course, this also had to do with the fact that they were in Greem’s private tower and were intentionally avoiding the use of their Spirit to sense their surroundings.
However, the fact that the Shadow Demon possessed such outstanding stealth already made Greem overjoyed!
After returning to his laboratory, Greem communicated with Gargamel mentally and received more good news.
The Crimson Clan had signed a trade agreement with Molten Fire City. From now on, the Crimson Clan would be able to use dragon blood, dragon bones, dragon crystals, and other high-grade resources to trade for the Queyras alloy produced by Molten Fire City.
Given the amount agreed upon in the negotiations, Greem estimated that they could construct one magic generator furnace every two months from now on. That also meant that the Crimson Clan would gain a new mothership every two months.
It was incredibly significant for the expansion of the Crimson Clan’s power and influence!
However, just as Greem concluded his communications with Gargamel, the spirit of the tower sent him a warning about an intruder.
A strange ‘bug’ had entered his tower and was looking for something in the lower levels.
Chapter 1158 - Thief Captured
An adept’s tower.
In particular, the private tower of a Fourth Grade adept. It was a zone of death with innumerable traps and mechanisms!
For most adepts, an uninvited visit to the abode of a high-grade adept was no less difficult and dangerous than a venture into a dragon’s den.
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