Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  “I understand! I will hang in there!” Upon hearing that the clan leader had not abandoned her, Mona was so happy she almost shouted out loud.

  The light from the snake-eye ring slowly faded. It was evident that Adept Kerala had cut off their communications now.

  Mona hesitated for a moment. She couldn’t help but write the runes for Visual Avoidance and Suggestion in her palm before sending them to surround the tree hollow.

  This way, even if any vampires discovered this tree hollow, they would subconsciously turn away under the Rune of Suggestion’s effects. As long as it wasn’t a Third Grade vampire that found the tree hollow, the vampires would not even realize what had happened to them.

  The City of Musta.

  Dener Clan Territory, Berkley Province.

  The tower at the center of the city glowed brightly, the entire structure engulfed in brilliant elementium light. It looked like blooming fireworks in the night, making for an impressive sight from a distance.

  A short moment later, the light faded away from the tower.

  The doors opened abruptly as a group of adepts flew out from within.

  They had just stepped out of the doors when a particularly old female adept instructed the rest of them, “Hurry over as soon as possible. I will go ahead of you all!”

  Having said that, this terrifying adept who had no nose or ears and only several holes in their place, immediately took to the air, flying rapidly towards the forest.

  Kerala was a Fourth Grade bloodline adept and one of the more famous powerhouses of the Central Lands.

  At the moment, she had no choice but to emerge from clan headquarters to save that subordinates of hers that had poked the hornet’s nest. She had teleported to the adept tower closest to Mona’s location and was preparing to rescue here.

  However, before she had even flown a kilometer across the land, Kerala stopped in her tracks and looked at the sky’s big, bright moon.

  She didn’t know when it had happened, but the silver moon had been stained with a trace of red.

  A thin layer of red mist obscured the moon’s light, tinging the whole world scarlet as if it had been covered in blood.

  Kerala smelled the familiar scent of blood. Her expression instantly turned into a ferocious scowl.

  “Mary, to think it’s you! Show yourself, since you’re here already!”

  Giggles that sounded like silver bells could be heard. Mary descended from high above the sky with her crimson wings and crimson armor. The blood moon behind her hung high in the sky, completely engulfing her profile in the night.

  Chapter 1290 - Enemies Everywhere

  Envy and resentment flickered in Adept Kerala’s eyes when she saw Mary in the night sky, as bright and eye-catching as a blooming rose.

  She tapped her staff, and a strange, tiny monkey climbed out of her sleeve. The monkey sat on her shoulder and glared at Mary with its red eyes. Kerala’s body began glowing as she applied a series of halos to herself.

  Bloody Mary was a terrifying killer known for her Agility. Even Kerala had to be on her guard with so little distance between them.

  “Mary, is your presence here meant to be a challenge to me?” Kerala glared at Mary furiously as she said.

  “How, how could I dare to do so?” In her deathly sweet voice, Mary spoke, “You’re a real old veteran, even among the Fourth Grades! You will have to look for Greem if it’s a fight you want. I could hardly be bothered by such crude matters.”

  “Then why are you standing in my way?”

  “One of my subordinates just died. Of course, I had to look to clear the ledger with you. I will be very upset if that Mona girl of yours doesn’t die tonight!”

  “Step aside…this is my territory. You have no right to stand in my way!”

  “Hehehe, Lady Kerala, you really intended to go save that Mona! Very well then, go ahead,” Having said that, Mary stepped aside, as if she wouldn’t intervene if Kerala were to just fly away.

  However, her aura was still firmly locked onto Adept Kerala. She was not loosening up at all.

  “You……” Kerala was flustered. She hesitated for a moment, but she did not walk down the road past Mary in the end.

  They were both Fourth Grade adepts. Kerala was a few hundred years older than Mary and far more experienced and sinister when it came to fighting. However, they were both of the same grade, and even Kerala wasn’t absolutely confident in coming out ahead.

  Kerala gritted her teeth and hesitated for a long while. Finally, she sighed and flew back to the tower in the distance.

  A short moment later, lights flashed in the tower. Adept Kerala had teleported elsewhere.

  …………

  Rhine City.

  Dener Clan Territory, Berkley Province.

  Compared to Musta, this city was a hundred kilometers away from where Marilyn Mona was trapped.

  It was the middle of the night, and bright light suddenly flashed from the city center’s tall tower. A violent energy tide shrouded the structure, creating a flashy show of light.

  It was so bright that one could see the colorful lights from dozens of kilometers away.

  A short moment later, a black silhouette flew out of the tower, heading somewhere into the distance.

  However, before Kerala could even make it out of the city, a deafening dragon’s roar could be heard from afar. A fearsome figure cloaked in lightning appeared before her.

  That aerodynamic form, blue body clad in crackling lightning, those firm, gleaming scales, and those seemingly scrawny yet powerful claws.

  In all honesty, no one wouldn’t be nervous when a terrifying dragon stood in front of them and stared at them with their amber eyes.

  “Fourth Grade…Thunder Dragon…Arms,” Adept Kerala spat out the name from between her teeth.

  Of course, she added a bunch of curses after that name in her mind.

  “Human adept, this road is closed for the moment. I suggest you find another path!” This was the first time Arms had shown himself in the World of Adepts since his advancement to Fourth Grade. He appeared calm and collected in front of this Fourth Grade adept. His overwhelming aura of might weighed down upon the city, terrorizing its entire population of humans.

  There were no questions or pointless banter from Kerala. She immediately turned and left for the tower.

  A short moment later, lights flickered all over the tower. Kerala had teleported away again.

  Her destination this time was a clan tower on Kerry Island.

  It was one of the Dener Clan’s First Class resource sites. Due to the magical array laid down around the island, not many people knew of this place.

  Of course, the reason Kerala hadn’t chosen to teleport here was that this island was quite far from where Mona was. It was over two hundred kilometers away. However, it seemed like the Crimson Clan’s Fourth Grades had intercepted all the towers close to Mona. Kerala had no choice but to teleport here and fly the rest of the way.

  Fortunately, two hundred kilometers wasn’t all that far for a Fourth Grade adept like herself.

  What she never expected was for a dense cloud of black smoke to erupt right in front of her the moment she emerged from the barrier surrounding the island.

  The edges of the black smoke blocked Kerala’s Spirit. It was more than enough to alert Kerala to the oddity and power of this smoke. If she had to fight in such an environment, her vision, sight, smell, and spiritual senses would all be suppressed to their lowest sensitivity.

  It was undoubtedly a terrible scenario for an adept!

  “Shadow Demon……” Kerala glared at the black smoke in front of her with endless hatred. She chose not to charge forward after a moment’s hesitation.

  If this had been the past, she would have had no idea what she had run into. Now, with all the information provided to her, she finally had a better understanding of the Crimson Clan and that mysterious legendary fire adept.

  That…must be that personal bodyguard that th
e fire adept had made for himself– Shadow Demon!

  Shadow golems were strange creations that combined the strengths of metal golems and shadow creatures. They might not have the most potent offense or defense, but they were uniquely difficult to deal with.

  Moreover, the fire adept was a very generous man. He had equipped this golem of his with multiple pieces of Fourth Grade shadow equipment. It was an unbelievable squandering of resources and a heartbreaking display of lavish wealth!

  After all, most Fourth Grade adepts in the Central Lands didn’t have more than a single piece of Fourth Grade equipment! Meanwhile, the fire adept was equipping his goddamned golem with Fourth Grade weapons.

  Just the thought of this filled Kerala’s heart with fury!

  Of course, Kerala had confidence in defeating an unintelligent golem that was only capable of fixed offensive and defensive routines.

  However, she was in a hurry to save someone. To start fighting against a difficult opponent like this shadow golem here was not exactly the best idea!

  Kerala didn’t want to give up yet. She turned and headed towards the tower once again.

  However, just as she turned around, a crisp frog’s croak could be heard from her waist.

  Kerala paused for a moment. She took out a mysterious wooden badge from her belt. Magic surged into the belt as a tiny humanoid projection appeared above the badge. It resembled Psionic Marilyn Mona.

  Mona’s projection had glazed eyes with blood streaking down from the corners. The projection slowly turned into loose sparks of light before completely crumbling in front of Kerala’s eyes.

  Marilyn Mona was dead!

  As a core member of the Dener Clan, Kerala naturally had Mona’s soul brand in her possession. Now that even her soul brand had scattered, it wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened to her!

  Scarface Gallow had lost all hope of advancement, while Marilyn Mona had died to the Crimson Clan’s encirclement. Even if the Crimson Clan had also lost a Third Grade adept, this war was already a loss in Kerala’s mind.

  Moreover, as the war raged on, the Dener Clan would continue to bleed.

  It was unbearable torture for her, the leader of this clan!

  The Dener Clan might be supported by several other Fourth Grade organizations in public and the shadows. However, what kind of support and aid could compensate for the loss of two Third Grade elites?

  It was at this point that Kerala truly regretted her actions.

  She should not have listened to the promises of those gutless fools. She should never have been the one to step forward, using the Dener Clan as the blade.

  Kerala, who was about to leave, instead turned around and shouted at the black smoke, “Greem, I know you can hear me. Three days from now! I will be waiting for you at Stoneshard Valley to resolve this conflict!”

  Having said that, she turned and returned to the resource site without looking back.

  A long while later, a towering metal figure slowly appeared from the smoke. It stared in the direction Kerala had vanished into and brooded for a moment. Finally, it shook its head silently and disappeared.

  At the same time, a Mothership was hovering somewhere a few thousand kilometers away.

  After giving Shadow Demon the order to retreat, Greem cut off his spiritual connection with the golem. He turned back and asked, “What’s the current situation of the war? What other organizations and clans have gotten involved? You all should have been able to investigate that much by now, am I right?”

  Gargamel, Meryl, Emelia, Snowlotus, Vanlier, and the other subordinates were sitting below him.

  They looked at each other. In the end, it was Meryl who stood up and replied, “Teacher, we conducted our investigations. Although no official adepts from any other clans have appeared in the war so far, quite a few of their armies and forces have been seen.”

  “Ah, what are there?”

  “The White Spirits of the Entom Clan appeared during the Battle of Stoneshard, and the Swamp Flying Dragon Army of the Banda Clan was seen during the attack on Fallmountain City. Apart from these, we also saw the Cloud Giant force of the Gaia Clan, the Ghost Army of Annemdor Academy, and the Stonedragons of the Fabres Clan.”

  The person who stood behind the Entom Clan was naturally Elder Nicolas, Elder Matthew led the Banda Clan, and the Gaia Clan was founded by that man with the Gold Titan’s bloodline. Meanwhile, Annemdor Academy was a private asset belonging to Vice-Chairman Mirva.

  Who would’ve thought an ‘ordinary’ adept war would have involved so many Fourth Grades?

  Greem chuckled coldly, an expression of thought taking over his face.

  Chapter 1291 - Battle for the Central Lands

  There was an adept war between the Dener Clan and the Crimson Clan, yet the shadows of so many other clans lurked behind it. Naturally, only Greem could fully understand all the implications behind this.

  In the eyes of Gargamel, Meryl, and the others, it was only a natural expression of hostility that the incumbent forces of the Central Lands held toward newly rising clans. However, Greem could see that this trouble was initiated by the existing forces across the entirety of the World of Adepts.

  The things that you could see differed based on the height upon which you stood!

  The Central Lands had been quiet for far too long.

  They had such vast lands, plentiful resources, population, and complete legacies of knowledge. Yet, they were still suppressed and reduced to a second-rate organization by the three major adept organizations. The importance of Zhentarim was utterly incongruous with the sheer scale and size of the Central Lands.

  There were external reasons for this–the three major organizations unwilling to see the rise of another rival–and internal reasons: the incumbent forces of the Central Lands were largely composed of independent clans who did not want to see a centralized force cutting into their benefits.

  This combination of external and internal factors was what gave rise to the strange existence that was Zhentarim!

  The appearance of Greem and his Crimson Clan had undoubtedly begun to shake the ruling foundations of the Zhentarim Association. The clans and their leaders were starting to become anxious. Of course, to say that the Crimson Clan had utterly shattered the framework of Zhentarim was a bit premature.

  However, the Crimson Clan’s appearance did indeed mean that the first brick had been taken out of Zhentarim’s foundations. As long as it continued down its current path, it would only be a matter of time until the Zhentarim Association collapsed!

  Greem could see this clearly, and so could those old Fourth Grade fools!

  Greem had originally prepared himself mentally to wage war against all the clans of Zhentarim. Judging by the current situation, those old fogeys were still a little too conservative. They had only pushed out Kerala for a spearhead.

  They remained behind the scenes, eager to get rid of the variable that was Greem while not wanting to have their clans bear any damage that could come from war. It was hardly a surprise that the Central Lands had ended up in this state of disharmony for several thousand years now, considering the hesitation and indecisiveness of these clans.

  In fact, Greem had already prepared himself for the eventuality that the Crimson Clan would be demolished even before he established Horton Magic Academy. He was still young; he had the capital to afford defeat.

  Moreover, the most important thing to the Crimson Clan wasn’t its worldly territory, resource sites, or even its hundreds of clan adepts. It was their powerful high-grade adepts.

  Even if the enemy completely wiped out the Crimson Clan’s current foundations, and even if none of the Crimson Clan’s adepts or apprentices survived, all Greem had to do was hide in and defend Fire Throne. He could remain shut-in for a hundred years, and there would be nothing his enemies could do.

  Greem, Mary, Alice, Arms; these four Fourth Grades were the greatest assurance for the Crimson Clan’s continued existence!

  As long as
they were still around, no one could truly exterminate the Crimson Clan.

  Even if the clan was defeated, all they had to do was wait for another hundred years. When those old fools had all passed away, who among their descendants and their successors could stop the still youthful Greem?

  Greem had countless opportunities to try and fail. However, if the clans of Zhentarim chose to walk down the path of violent opposition, it would mean eternal doom for them. Given the resentment accumulated between them, their clans would not escape the terrible fate of extermination and a severed legacy.

  It was the most bloody and most cruel truth of adept wars!

  The Crimson Clan, which Gargamel, Meryl, Emelia, and the others saw as the bedrock they had to defend with their very lives, was no more than a simple bargaining chip in Greem’s eyes, to be used against his many enemies.

  A few hundred years of trials, difficulties, and calamities befalling the clan? Greem could tolerate all those things happening. As long as he could achieve his final goal, all the bumps he met along the way would be no more than the desperate struggles of his enemies.

  It was the different perspective that arose from standing at different heights and having completely different views on life!

  However, that was only assuming the worst-case scenario. Judging by the current situation, the old fools were still reluctant to commit to an all-out war against the Crimson Clan. Otherwise, should seven or eight of those Fourth Grade adepts unite their forces, Greem would be prepared to retreat to Fire Throne.

  However, those old men didn’t dare!

  If the Crimson Clan fought with suicidal zeal, it could quickly exterminate or cripple three or four Fourth Grade clans in the process. If that was the case, who among this alliance of Fourth Grades would be willing to become sacrificial victims to the Crimson Clan? Who would be willing to fight on the very front lines?