The self-destruction of a Fourth Grade Fire Lord’s projection had vanquished nearly a thousand members of the adept forces along with five war towers, and had even left a vast sea of fire in the middle of the battlefield. Such terrifying power. All the adepts present couldn’t help but shake their heads and sigh.
The adepts who hid in their towers, believing themselves to be safe, couldn’t help but become anxious now!
These results also caused the Fourth Grade adepts in Stoneshard Valley’s fortress to frown.
The adept forces that had died in the explosion had come from many of the clans present here. Anyone would be upset to see hundreds of years of effort turned to ashes in a single instant in this fashion. They were only upset, but Adept Kerala was practically bleeding tears now.
The adept forces might be external reinforcements, but the adepts in those six war towers belonged to the Dener Clans. Six war towers meant sixty official adepts.
It didn’t matter if the Dener Clan had strong foundations and legions of adepts. Even they couldn’t bear such devastating losses!
Moreover, this was only the prologue to the battle. The battle would only start once the magical machine army charged forward and engaged in a melee. When that happened, the Dener Clan’s adept losses would be an unimaginable sum.
Kerala’s face turned dark and green. She gripped the handles of her stone seat so tightly that dust started to fall off the stone.
Chapter 1295 - The High-Grades
The war raged on!
The fodder were all but obliterated. What remained was a contest between the elites of both clans.
The war towers and goblin chariots were blasting at each other from a kilometer away. A shocking number of combat machines stepped onto this explosive battlefield.
To minimize the number of casualties, the magical machines stood in a loose-yet-orderly formation. They wildly unleashed their firepower at the war towers as they marched forward.
Naturally, the war towers wouldn’t just stand still and leave them be. Blinding bolts of lightning crashed down from above, destroying one machine after another.
Meanwhile, the Dener Clan adept forces that had been hiding around the towers began to strike, knocking down all magical machines that entered their range with powerful elementium combination attacks.
Even though every individual member of these adept forces had the might of a First Grade, they were still vastly inferior to an actual adept. However, when they were combined and equipped with magical equipment and weapons, they could unleash stunning and devastating attacks.
The Magical Archer Corps had three hundred members and was divided into six squads, each containing fifty members.
These members of the Archer Corps were all advanced apprentices of astounding physical size and Strength. In addition to the runic longbows and enchanted explosive arrows they had equipped, each squad could instantly engulf an area of the battlefield in a sea of flames with a single volley.
The might of an individual explosive arrow was mediocre, at a decent 140 points of power. That was approximately equal to an ordinary attack from a First Grade adept! However, when fifty explosive arrows exploded all at once, it could inflict damage of as much as 700 or 800 points of power.
That was already at the level of a Third Grade adept!
Even a peak Second Grade adept could be instantly killed if hit by such a violent attack, let alone opponents of First Grade and below.
Adept forces could unleash power far beyond their actual grade when in large groups, even on a dangerous battlefield like this one. Their existence was also a sort of compensation for the lack of high-grade adepts!
However, even though these adept forces might have offensive power rivaling that of high-grade adepts, they did not have the corresponding defensive power or abilities. The members of these adepts forces were as frail as glass. They were not likely to survive the bloody baptism that was a genuine high-grade war.
As they destroyed one magical machine after another with their destructive attacks, some enemy forces managed to slip past their attacks and reach them.
Violent magic energy fireballs, torrents of energy beams, blooming shrapnel flashing as bright as fireworks- the Magical Archer Corps’ members’ individual defenses were only at First Grade. These defenses were quickly worn out after a round of attacks from the enemy.
Without shields and force fields, the human body was as fragile as glass on this cruel battlefield.
One after another, members of the Magical Archer Corps began to collapse, howling in agony as they did so.
Once their numbers started dwindling, they would slowly become unable to wipe out the enemy from a distance until their doom finally arrived.
Adept forces like the Magical Archer Corps that had long-ranged abilities were sustaining losses at an acceptable rate. However, adept forces that were focused primarily on melee engagements were powerless before the horde of magical machines.
The PG-52’s were superior to them when it came to Strength, defense, and offensive power. Moreover, these were machines that did not fear death. None of the machines would stop firing because of their injuries. As long as their energy core continued to function, the sizzling sound of blasting energy beams would continue to sound, even if only their torso remained.
Magical machines shambling around with severed limbs or crawling around with their upper half could be seen everywhere on the battlefield, still firing their weapons with all their might.
The members of the adept forces were humans, after all. They could not perform the same as machines!
Apart from these adept apprentices who fought on the frontlines in organized armies, there were also foreign legions from other worlds. Frost giants, ice giants, giant earth elementals, beholders, two-headed rhinos, earth maulers, flying swamp dragons, otyughs…
These monstrous beasts would have been a blight upon any ordinary human world they were cast into.
Here, they were no more than cheap meat shields meant to delay the magical machine army’s march by even a minute longer.
The magical machine casualties were severe, but their results were more than evident!
Where the magical machines marched, all the monsters and adept forces in the way were crushed to minced meat. All the magical traps were detonated. Meanwhile, the goblin chariots that pressed forward under cover of the goblin machinist-sorcerers were clearing out the war towers in an organized fashion.
As the chariots bombarded the towers, the machinist-sorcerers would charge to the foot of a tower and hurl packets of explosives at its base. If they didn’t have time to retreat, some of the more berserk machinist-sorcerers would charge straight into the tower and detonate the explosives in their arms.
The war towers had been constructed in a very short time frame, after all. The material used to build their walls couldn’t endure such brutal explosions. After the repeated, suicidal charges of the goblins, the war towers finally collapsed, one by one.
Of course, the adepts inside these towers had no hope of surviving the barrage of bullets that would greet them when they emerged from the rubble.
Goblins. This inferior species that had once been the epitome of baseness had, for the first time, triggered anxiety and fear in the hearts of adepts.
Were these goblins not afraid of death!?
Unfortunately, the cruel reality of war left them no time to philosophize or think. Once the final war tower outside Stoneshard Valley had been razed, the battle escalated.
Now was the time for the core adepts of the clans to step onto the battlefield!
The Dener Clan’s Second and Third Grade adepts floated into the air above Stoneshard Valley. They were shrouded in magical protections of various colors and effects. Each of them appeared like a dazzling jewel from a distance, shining with colorful radiance.
Meanwhile, seven powerful adepts stood in front of these Second and Third Grade adepts. None of the seven had complicated magical shields or barr
iers around them. However, their powerful law powers constantly distorted the planar laws around them.
This effect caused their forms to appear blurry and distorted. Any low-grade adept that attempted to look upon them would feel their eyes sting.
They were seven Fourth Grades…seven Fourth Grades.
What a terrifying force- especially in the Central Lands, where all the clans were not united!
There was no need for fighting at all. Most adept clans would probably be scared out of their wits when they saw those seven intimidating figures.
Seven…those were seven Fourth Grade adepts! They were individuals that stood at the apex of this world!
They might all be rulers of their own lands in their own right in usual times. However, they had now gathered together for the same cause. And that which they opposed was……
Inside a Mothership that hovered above the very center of the Crimson Clan’s formation, Greem stood up with a smile on his face.
“Finally, it is our turn now! All members of the Crimson Clan, come with me and give them a show!”
Flames rose all around the room as Greem teleported himself and the hundred intermediate and high-grade clan members.
Flames flashed on the deck of the Mothership as numerous towering figures appeared.
All the Second Grade clan members remained on the deck, while the Third Grade members flew forth behind Greem and Mary. The Crimson Clan adepts stared down against the Dener Clan adepts from across the battlefield.
Naturally, standing at the forefront was the infamous Legendary Fire Adept Greem. He raised his staff, and a deafening dragon’s roar could be heard in the distance. A muscular dragon clad in bright blue scales cut through the skies and appeared below Greem.
Greem’s toned body sank down, landing on the back of Fourth Grade Thunder Dragon Arms. There, he stood unmoving as a stone pillar.
Bloody Queen Mary followed behind Greem, dressed in red armor. Mary’s crimson hair spread behind her shoulders, her scarlet eyes bright as rubies, her nose sharp and delicate, her lips red as fire, and her wings beating in the sky.
One had to admit that Mary’s beauty was incomparable throughout the Central Lands. At the very least, her looks were uncontested among the Fourth Grade adepts.
Unfortunately, Alice couldn’t show herself in this battle due to her unique status.
After all, her title as the leader of the Witches of Fate meant that she couldn’t do as she liked. Should she appear on the battlefield, the enemies would be able to pull more foreign reinforcements to their side with the excuse that the Northern Witches were launching an invasion.
It was three against seven, yet the Crimson Clan showed no fear. Instead, their auras soared and even seemingly suppressed the enemies’ auras.
In particular, when Mary lifted her hand and released the golem dragon from its talisman, the entire battlefield fell silent.
There was only the earthshaking thud of the golem dragon’s landing.
Bastards! They did bring that war machine with them!
Fabres of the seven Fourth Grade adepts couldn’t help but wince at the sight of it. Resentment and hatred bubbled deep in his eyes.
His reputation had been tarnished by his defeat at the hands of this monstrous war machine. That was why he could not suppress the fury in his heart when he saw this gigantic construct after a hundred years.
Dammit! Dammit! Dammit! Those goddamned mercantile Silver Union adepts! To think they even sold such a high-grade golem talisman; were they taking their own rules for nothing?
Almost all the high-grade adepts present started cursing in their own minds at the same time!
Chapter 1296 - The Might of Fire
“Chairman Freed, I didn’t expect to see you here.”
Greem stood forward and smiled gently at the opponent.
“Sir, what is your purpose here today? Is it to mediate? Or is it to help Adept Kerala in this war against us?”
A stern expression appeared on Freed’s face when he heard Greem’s mocking question.
“Greem, don’t you forget. Your advancement to Fourth Grade was only possible due to the efforts of everyone present here. Since you’ve asked, I will give you a proper answer. As long as you guarantee that the Crimson Clan will not take over any region apart from Ailovis and Arash from now, I will convince Adept Kerala to pull out of your territory. The association will also compensate for any losses the Crimson Clan has suffered thus far!”
“What about it? Those are very generous conditions! All you have to do is agree to these terms, and the war will end. Everything will go back to normal, and you will still rule over the two wealthiest pieces of land in the Central Lands. These are the best terms we can offer you!”
Greem fell silent for a second when he heard Chairman Freed’s conditions for a truce. He then burst out in laughter.
Freed’s expression was first one of confusion when he heard Greem laugh so brazenly. His face then turned dark as he shouted, “Greem, I hope you don’t walk down the wrong path! There are seven Fourth Grades here on our side. You only have three. Even if we count that metal golem, that’s only four Fourth Grades. Are you that confident…that confident in obtaining the final victory?”
Greem finally shed his smile and looked at Freed as he said calmly, “Chairman Freed, if you were firmer in your attitude earlier and refused to offer any compromise to us, I might have retained a shred of respect for you. Things have already reached this stage, yet you are still dreaming of a peaceful reconciliation? No wonder the Zhentarim Association remains a hollow shell even after so many years of management. You…are not fit to lead the Central Lands!”
“You…” It was the first time in his life that Freed had been insulted and humiliated in this fashion to his face. His face turned the color of a pig’s liver as veins appeared on his forehead. His expression twisted into a vicious snarl, “Good, very impressive. Well then! Let me see just how capable you are today!”
Freed was an old man who was well-versed in the ways of the world, after all. Even as furious and upset as he was, he resisted the impulse to storm forward and start the fight immediately. Instead, he returned and stood behind Adept Kerala, seemingly subordinate to the Dener Clan in this war.
“If it’s a war you want, then let there be war! Save the words and our time!” Mary could no longer suppress the boiling passion in her blood. She flared her wings and turned into a crimson blur as she charged at the enemy.
Of the seven Fourth Grades on the Dener side, only Fabres was a body-refining adept. However, Mornashen Gaia possessed a Gold Titan bloodline and had mighty prowess in melee combat as well.
These two adepts looked at each other and stepped forward to intervene with Mary without any hesitation.
“Go, Arms. Let us work together to deal them a vicious blow!” Greem had never fought at full-strength since he obtained the two Fifth Grade artifacts.
Today, his will to fight had been stimulated by the enemy’s overwhelming spiritual pressure. For the first time since he achieved such power, he went berserk without holding back.
Flames flared as golden fires burst out of every pore on Greem’s body. He instantly transformed into a five-meter-tall giant flame humanoid shrouded in law fires.
Meanwhile, Arms’ body was as large as a mountain. Thousands of chains of lightning crackled around him as he rushed at the Dener adepts with Greem on his back.
With Arms as his ride, Greem did not need to dedicate any part of his mind to defense. Shadow Demon was prepared to strike as well, hidden in Greem’s shadow. The Tome of Corruption at his waist flew into his hands automatically as the pages started flipping.
Fourth Grade Spirit of Pestilence Remi cackled wildly as he appeared in the air. In the next instance, he wholly vanished out of sight.
A Burning Domain engulfed the battlefield. Every substance and creature within the domain began to burn from the intense heat and flames.
Greem tapped his staff, and fo
ur fire runes flew into Mary, Arms, Remi, and Shadow Demon’s body. With this fire rune, they could move freely within the Burning Domain without being burned.
Just as Greem finished his combat preparations, four terrifying spells blasted towards him.
Skyripper Twister- it was Chairman Freed’s Fourth Grade wind spell, which possessed the ability to both trap and attack the enemy!
Seal of Darkness- a unique spell unleashed by Adept Kerala. The moment the victim triggered the Seal of Darkness, a portion of their powers would vanish instantly.
Streaming Waterfall. Elder Nicolas was a water adept. His attack was understandably the weakest of them all.
Otherworld Summoning. Elder Matthew was a summoner and could call contracted creatures from other worlds to aid him in battle.
Apart from the long-ranged spells, all the Fourth Grade adepts also had several pieces of magical equipment and scrolls. They began using these tools without holding back, and their numbers started to grow at an increasing rate. In the blink of an eye, their formation almost seemed crowded.
Amongst them, Elder Matthew undoubtedly did the most summoning. As a summoner, he had conjured up three Fourth Grade creatures from alien worlds: a man-faced serpent, a beholder, and a devourer.
The man-faced serpent was a strange monster over twenty-meters-long and with a human face on its serpentine head. It had a resilient life force and an agile body, as well as paralyzing attacks. No creature could escape unscathed if the man-faced serpent managed to wrap around them.
The beholder was an unusual magical creature that typically lived underground. Its body was a massive eyeball, five meters in diameter with a total of seven agile eye-stalks growing out of it. At the end of each eye-stalk was a strange eyeball, each able to fire a magical beam of a different attribute.
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