Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  For a moment, the entirety of the forest ringed with deafening elementium explosions. The bright flashes of fire, frost, and poison could be seen everywhere. Mixed in with the explosions were bone-chilling chattering noises, as well as the magical knights’ battlecries.

  The only thing left apart from those sounds were the tragic death cries of unfortunate knights!

  The magical knights were not inexperienced or rookies in the least. All of them had endured the painful trials of combat and faced death in person. However, when tens of thousands of fearless bugs swarmed toward you and drowned you beneath their creeping legs with sheer numbers, it was unimaginable despair that washed over you. The feeling of ten thousand bugs sinking their teeth into your body and slowly gnawing your flesh to bone was not something that any sane mortal could endure.

  It had only been fifteen minutes since the start of the battle, and already seven magical knights had been lost to the endless swarm of insects. They became struggling humanoid figures beneath the thousands of insects.

  The bug adept, Billis, didn’t seem to have any intention of showing himself either. He remained in the shadows, continually sending insects to attack the knights. Meanwhile, the captains of the Bloody Spears were occupied by several dozen unusual insects with various abilities.

  Among these insects were the magical mantises (First Grade) who were fast, stealthy, and possessed lethal scythe-like limbs. There were also the Voidreavers (Second Grade) who could travel freely through space and whose attacks could rend space itself. And then there were the Slayers (Third Grade), with razor-sharp limbs and incredibly hard carapaces.

  Several of these Third Grade Slayers were fighting Gallow and keeping him busy.

  These Slayers didn’t appear too different from the black beetles running rampant in the woods. However, they had sleeker bodies, tougher carapaces, and sharper limbs. What was even more terrifying was their extreme flying speeds with their four pairs of wings.

  Their sharp claws and lightning speed made their attacks extremely dangerous.

  Scarface Gallow might be able to execute the Voidreavers as if they were no more than chickens, but even he had to be careful against the Slayers. These insects could cleave a giant pillar of metal in half with their limbs; they were not to be underestimated.

  After all, as many as five Slayers were currently fighting against him!

  An individual Slayer was only at beginner Third Grade. Supposedly, they shouldn’t be able to threaten Gallow, who was already at peak Third Grade. Unfortunately, the way the insects fought was starkly distinct from the way adepts fought. It made them much more dangerous than an ordinary adept.

  At the very least, no adept would ever have the ridiculous idea in their minds to kill themselves just to inflict damage on an opponent. Neither would they ever trust their companions completely.

  That resulted in Gallow being unable to kill even a single one of the Third Grade Slayers, despite being powerful enough to crush any of them in single combat. Still, the main reason for him being reluctant to endure some damage to kill these insects…was because that damned bug adept was still hiding nearby. He was simply waiting for him to become injured!

  From the very start of the battle, Gallow could sense a spiritual flux around the insects. It was very subtle and faded in and out of reach. A closer examination would yield the conclusion that this spiritual flux was not a complete, independent spiritual consciousness, but an amalgamation of the countless tiny insect consciousness.

  It was precisely this unusual characteristic of the Spirit that made Gallow unable to pinpoint Billis’ actual location. Put simply, Billis had very likely used a magical technique to scatter his consciousness across every single one of those insects.

  In doing so, there was no ‘true body.’ Anyone who wished to kill Billis would first have to exterminate all of his insects!

  The battle between the two forces started to escalate in intensity and ferocity.

  Perhaps sensing that neither the Voidreavers nor Slayers could do anything to Gallow, Billis immediately changed his attack plan.

  Hundreds of First Grade magical mantises gathered from all over the woods. They charged towards Gallow, high upon his horse. Meanwhile, the five Slayers and thirteen Voidreavers fled away from Gallow, turning their sights onto the Bloody Spear’s ordinary members.

  The effect of this simple change in strategy was shocking!

  The offensive power of the five Slayers couldn’t be more obvious against the ordinary magical knights. Their figures flickered like the wind where they passed by, leaving the knights with their armor shattered and knocked off their mounts.

  Without the mobility of their horses, the knights immediately became targets for the swarm. It didn’t matter how they swung their swords or what spells they cast; they could not stop the advancing horde.

  In the blink of an eye, black beetles were already crawling all over their body.

  From a distance, much of where the knights had been standing had already been swarmed by the insects. It was hard to see the knights themselves now.

  Crack, crack, crack!

  An unbearable gnawing sound continued to echo through the battlefield.

  The knight adepts that were caught by the insects had no chance of escaping. They could only struggle with all their strength and endure the waves of agony from all over their bodies. Their elementium shields were crushed to pieces, their black armor torn apart, and countless smaller insects dug into their armor and their flesh, tearing their way between bone and flesh as they devoured all they could.

  The adepts could feel their flesh, bones, organs, and veins being chewed away amid the nightmarish gnawing sound around them. Not everyone could experience such despair.

  Most of the knight adepts that were caught by the insects would go mad from this sensation. They simply self-destructed when they realized they were doomed.

  When the battle reached its peak, explosions could be heard all over the forest, quickly followed by a rain of pungent insect pieces and blood. Of course, not a trace of the knight adepts’ bodies could be found.

  Knight adepts were not truly official adepts, after all!

  From a certain perspective, they were only adept apprentices that had grasped a certain degree of elementium power. They were then able to unleash power equal to an actual adept with their magical armor, magic weapons, and special training.

  However, the consequence of such training was a lack of depth in magical knowledge compared to proper adepts. That made them lack flexibility and, thus, means of survival.

  An adept army like this was unstoppable when slaughtering ordinary planar natives; it significantly compensated for the adepts’ lacking numbers. In the face of terrifying enemies such as these, their chances of escaping alive were infinitely close to zero.

  Fortunately, as they were trained en masse, their deaths weren’t too devastating a loss to endure!

  After all, there were too many weaklings in the World of Adepts who did not have sufficient talent to advance to become official adepts. If these pseudo-adepts were willing to walk down this path of modification and enhancement to become special adepts, they could, to some extent, enjoy similar treatment to their genuine adept counterparts.

  It was the fundamental reason why there could be so many adept armies!

  This place was a remote forest only fifteen kilometers away from the Swamp of Tragedies. It was also the hiding spot that Gallow had chosen in preparation for the ambush ahead.

  Unfortunately, the Crimson Clan had somehow managed to discover their tracks, which led to their current predicament– encircled by Bug Adept Billis.

  Surrounding a powerful army of the Dener Clan with the might of one person alone.

  Only a few adepts could possibly achieve such a feat!

  After resisting for an entire hour and understanding that they could not win, Gallow finally gave the order to retreat. Only seventy of the once three-hundred-strong army of knight adepts
managed to withdraw from the forest. Among them were Gallow and Rezai, the commanders, as well as the one dozen Second Grade captains.

  Such grievous losses were worthy of being called a thorough defeat!

  However, now that the Crimson Clan was aware of their presence, they would not be able to leave so easily.

  They had barely stepped out of the forest when a dark shadow covered the skies above.

  The Mothership Versailles was already standing in their way.

  Dong. Dong. Dong.

  The ground rumbled as gigantic three-meter-tall magical machines crashed into the earth. They ignited their buffer rockets only ten meters away from the ground, causing them to deposit small craters into the ground when they landed. They emerged from the holes, their metal gears creaking and grinding, and their black cannons pointed at these defeated rats.

  “Put your hands on your head, knees on the ground. Surrendered enemies will be spared!”

  “Put your hands on your head, knees on the ground. Surrendered enemies will be spared! Resist, and you will be terminated with extreme prejudice!”

  A mechanical voice blared on the battlefield. The magic energy cannons on the magical machines started to charge up. Bright blue light gathered within the weapons, the roaring sound faintly resembling thunder and just as terrifying.

  A gigantic magic energy cannon also reached out from under the mothership, silently charging up as well. The giant cannon’s energy compressed into a massive ball of blue light, the intensity of which was absolutely horrifying.

  Naturally, this giant cannon’s target was Scarface Gallow, who was still practically unharmed at this point!

  Chapter 1282 - Battle Against the Bug Adept

  Chapter 1282 Battle Against the Bug Adept

  Scarface Gallow’s expression changed, and he prepared to turn around and return to the forest.

  Unfortunately, a black tide of insects crashed down from behind him, instantly merging into the appearance of a strange adept standing at several dozen meters tall.

  Five Slayers, a dozen Voidreavers, and a hundred magical mantises merged with the gigantic figure, like birds returning to their nest.

  Bug Adept Billis.

  This man, who was feared throughout the Central Lands, had finally shown himself in front of Scarface Gallow with his swarm’s power.

  Tens of thousands of beetles, scorpions, and other insects squeezed together, forming into Billis’s ugly form. When his gigantic body strode forward, countless beetles were shaken off and dropped to the ground. However, these insects quickly caught up with the rest of the swarm and merged with Billis’ body again.

  Billis was able to completely cut off Gallow’s path of retreat with the sheer numbers of his swarm.

  Ambushed…and caught in a pincer attack!

  There was no need for any more discussion. Rezai, the vice-commander, pointed with his sword and shouted, “With me!”

  He led all the magical knights and charged towards the army of machines without hesitation.

  The countless stitches on Gallow’s face began to twist and squirm like an ugly centipede.

  He could clearly see that a death trap had been laid ahead of them. Even if he was the one leading the charge against the enemy, they would not have emerged unscathed, let alone when it was Rezai who was leading the army.

  The only reason Rezai was doing so was to stall the magical machine army and give him an opportunity to slip away from the bug adept.

  After all, if they remained here, they would be caught in a pincer by the enemy. Moreover, it was apparent the army of magical machines and the mothership were the more significant threat.

  At this point, escape demanded sacrifice.

  Gallow whipped his horse as they charged at the vicious ‘Bug Adept Billis.’

  The next second, the blinding light of energy filled the battlefield.

  Countless energy beams and magic energy fireballs shot towards the charging knights like a merciless rain. The knights were not willing to back down either. They put up elementium defenses around themselves while taking out metal spears from their satchels on their saddles. They used magic to ignite the arrays on the spears and hurled them towards the machines.

  The attacks of both armies shot past each other. The next second, their attacks bloomed upon the battlefield.

  Terrifying and deafening explosions. Destructive elementium tides and blood and flesh splattered everywhere. The battlefield was instantly engulfed in a rain of blood!

  In truth, Gallow had already foreseen what would happen the moment he turned away from his army.

  That was why he did not turn back and look, regardless of how loud a commotion was occurring behind him. Instead, he focused entirely on that massive ‘bug adept.’

  His vicious magical sword ringed in his hands. His powerful aura solidified and pressed towards the opponent like an invisible wall.

  His overwhelming Strength spread into the surroundings through an invisible forcefield. His unbelievable force even overwrote the simpler planar laws within thirty meters.

  Rocks and dirt particles of various sizes started to float in the air as if gravity had disappeared. Gallow also started levitating as he moved towards the ‘bug adept.’

  The magical horse suffered the opposite fate. Its spine collapsed, and its flesh splattered the ground as if a mountain had crushed it. The beast couldn’t even let out a cry before it was crushed to paste by Gallow’s simple step.

  Gallow’s physical Strength had reached a limit. Even without the use of any magic, he was able to fly in the air. At this point, gravity was no longer an invisible and ethereal rule. Instead, it was a strange power in Gallow’s hands that he could freely twist and morph to his will.

  The gravity laws were no longer effective in the areas Gallow’s force could reach. That was why this unusual phenomenon that disobeyed the laws of gravity had occurred!

  Scarface Gallow concentrated all his power into this sword. He then exhaled and shouted as a thick black sword aura shot toward the towering man of insects.

  Rustle!

  A rain of insect corpses fell to the ground as a gaping hole appeared in the insect person’s body. You could even see the vast forest behind him through that hole.

  The bug person looked down at this open chest and lifted his head to howl. No one could imagine that the insect person would be able to open his mouth so wide. A torrent of countless black beetles flew out from within.

  Like a dark, black tide, they swept forward and crashed against the forcefield around Gallow.

  The invisible yet material force of strength around Gallow was evenly distributed all over the defensive forcefield. All creatures that came into contact with the forcefield were instantly squashed to dirt by the overwhelming force. The tide continued to swarm and continued to die. However, even as they died, they imposed incredible pressure on Gallow.

  Gallow’s levitating body had stopped moving forward.

  No matter how much force of strength he tried to muster, he could not take a single step forward.

  “Bastard, you can’t stop me!”

  Gallow howled and swung his magical sword. With every slash, a large and terrifying gash appeared on the insect person’s body. In the blink of an eye, the bug person’s body had shrunk by one-fourth.

  However, Billis was not a harmless little creature that would not retaliate!

  The giant insect body squirmed, trying its best to mend the ‘wounds’ on its body. Billis then waved his bloated right hand, and a long spear formed purely of beetles appeared out of his hand.

  Zip!

  The insect person assumed a throwing stance, and the spear of insects turned into a black flicker, appearing instantly in front of Gallow.

  The spear was half a meter thick. Most of the beetles on the spear’s surface had been killed by Gallow’s terrifying force radiation. More and more insects peeled off as the spear pressed forward, quickly causing the spear to become thinner and thinner.
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  By the time it reached Gallow, the spear was already the thickness of a mere stone, but the beetles that formed the rest of the spear radiated an overwhelming aura. It was obvious that these were no ordinary insects.

  The ugly stitch on Gallow’s face twisted, and a silver star that had been embedded on his face abruptly flew out. The star crashed into the spear.

  The silver star was fairly small, but it contained incredible, raging force. The black spear disintegrated instantly. However, just as Gallow relaxed briefly, the spear’s shards suddenly turned into two Third Grade Slayers that glided towards him from both sides.

  Their scythe-like limbs sliced across Gallow’s towering body when they passed by, causing sparks to fly. Several deep marks appeared on Gallow’s armor, revealing his tan, golden skin beneath.

  Gallow’s zombified body made him impervious to poison and incredibly resistant to elementium magic. However, he still bled against the terrifying physical damage of the Slayers. A visible wound had appeared.

  This process of transformation between insects had been too unexpected, and Gallow had not able to execute these Slayers in his surprise. The insects beat their wings and fled with all they had the moment they managed to escape Gallow’s radius of force radiation.

  “How dare you.”

  Thoroughly enraged by the enemy’s attack, Gallow roared and kicked his leg forward. An invisible ripple of force appeared in the air. With the aid of this bit of power, Gallow’s body shot backward rapidly, allowing him to engulf the two insects within his range of attack once more.

  Black light flickered in the air as a force thread as thin as silk flew out and sliced past a Slayer. The next second, the force erupted as the beginner Third Grade Slayer exploded into a rain of blood.