Age of Adepts c1-1513

by Zhen De Lao Lang, 真的老狼

  The corpses they left behind were instantly split between all the abyssal demons!

  Chapter 1371 - Clash of Iron and Blood

  As pure abyssal creatures, demons were almost always rejected by material planes.

  The powers of evil, chaos, and corruption they represented were no different from a lethal poison for most planar creatures. In fact, their powers could directly corrupt the souls of planar creatures.

  Souls killed and devoured by demons, even those belonging to believers of the gods, would not be able to remain in the higher planes. Those souls would fall to the Abyssal World, along with all the other tainted souls, to suffer all sorts of torture from the harsh environment there.

  The reason the demons swarmed into the World of Adepts fearlessly was to obtain a chance to reap the souls of planar creatures. The more they killed, the more souls they corrupted, the more potent the feedback they would receive from the Abyssal consciousness after returning.

  It was incredibly difficult to advance in grade in most worlds. It required constant training and the accumulation of energy. Meanwhile, the advancement of abyssal demons was fast and straightforward. All they had to do was kill without stop and steal souls without pause, and they would be able to grow stronger and stronger without limit.

  Consequently, if they were fortunate enough, mere abyssal larvae could evolve into a Fourth Grade higher demon in just two or three years.

  Such rapid evolution and a simple path of advancement spared the abyssal demons from thinking too much. There was no need for thought or research. All they had to do was focus on killing and devouring.

  One had to admit that abyssal demons were terrifying murderers compared to most other planar creatures!

  As legion upon legion of demons died on the frontline, their corpses and flesh turned into puddles of black liquid that continued to corrupt the land. The initial demonification of the area around the mega-rift had been completed.

  The abyssal aura seeping from the mega-rift was able to repel the World of Adepts’ planar laws even further, converting part of the battlefield into a place like the Abyssal World, harsh and barren.

  The human adepts weakened when fighting on such land. Meanwhile, the planar suppression that the invading demons experienced rapidly lessened.

  This weakening of the adepts and strengthening of demons widened the gap in their power even further!

  After a long recharge time, the giant magic energy cannon on the Versailles was finally ready. A thick beam of red light cut across the sky and blasted toward the demon lord once again.

  Unfortunately, Fernus easily teleported and dodged this powerful attack.

  The energy beam grazed past his shoulder, burning a bottomless hole into the black earth.

  Meanwhile, Demon Lord Fernus had managed to patch up the massive hole in his chest with his potent regenerative power. His injuries had gone from ‘severe’ to ‘light.’

  If he had a little more time, he might even be able to wipe away all signs of that wound. When that happened, Fernus would have entirely recovered to a fearsome demon of frightening power.

  The overwhelming regenerative power of demonic creatures was incomparable!

  The mega-rift was still spitting out all sorts of demons endlessly. There were chittering imps, horned demons, and firelobbers, as well as more powerful demons like vrocks, hezrous, succubi, and redflame demons.

  These demons—which would usually fight and kill each other—had become allies on the battlefield under the command of Demon Lord Fernus. They might not see eye-to-eye, but large scale conflict within their ranks had not broken out.

  They gathered with their own race of demons, and the legion of demons began to grow larger and larger.

  Most of the abyssal demons rushed at the war towers in the distance without hesitation, provoked by Fernus’ lashes and cries. The rest of the demons were unable to suppress their raging excitement. They had smelled the unique scent of planar creatures and had slipped away to where the feast was waiting.

  They couldn’t wait to explore this beautiful world filled with the fragrance of good!

  If these abyssal demons were allowed to run rampant in human society, even a single First or Second Grade demon would be enough to cause a massacre.

  After all, ordinary humans were far too weak compared to these abyssal demons.

  Moreover, the demons were vicious creatures that had emerged alive from endless battles, while the humans were mere farmers equipped with only their tools. It didn’t matter if there were a thousand farmers for every demon; there was no changing a human’s tragic fate of being hunted down and devoured.

  Even a fully equipped army of rabbits stood no chance against a lion!

  Upon seeing the situation reversed, Commander Locke of the Versailles waved his hand. A seven hundred strong army of magical machines descended to the ground on steel wires. They marched toward the battlefield in tight formation.

  Of the seven hundred troops in the magical machine army, five hundred were PG-52 combat magical machines, while the other two hundred were goblin machinist-sorcerers.

  Unlike the voodoo beasts, they didn’t have to engage the abyssal demons at melee distance; they all possessed long-range fire. The moment they stepped onto the battlefield, their Mark-II magic energy cannons, rapid-fire guns, ray guns, and goblin rockets commenced firing.

  That ferocious and overwhelming firepower riddled every abyssal demon in range with holes and shredded them into pieces. For a moment, the entire battlefield echoed with the sound of roaring cannons and a rain of energy beams. The demons were beaten back right after they had started gaining the upper hand.

  Upon seeing this, a four-meter-tall Third Grade hezrou rushed at the magical machine army with bloodshot eyes. It raised its arm and pointed at the skies above the magical machines as it charged.

  The next second, black and red clouds appeared as meteors crashed from the skies.

  Meteor Shower!

  A simple Third Grade fire spell.

  Though the might of the spell was inferior to that cast by a Third Grade fire adept, it was enough to disrupt the enemy formation and stall their advance. Against enemies with weaker magic resistance, this Third Grade spell alone would be enough to wipe out half of their numbers.

  The magical machine army displayed incredible discipline in the face of the demon’s retaliation.

  The magical machines at the front of the formation put away their guns and cannons. They took out metal axes and longswords from their backs and rushed at the hezrou. Meanwhile, the magical machines behind them lifted their cannons and shot down the meteors with a barrage of attacks.

  Even the cloud of fire in the sky was torn apart by goblin rockets, preventing any more meteors from forming.

  The vast majority of the magical machines remaining were hardly fazed. They ignored the drizzle of flames drifting down from above and continued marching forward as they rained fire on the demons.

  The Third Grade hezrou was injured all over before it could even reach the machines. Blood covered its entire body. The moment it came into contact with the machines, it smashed a magical machine to pieces with its overwhelming strength. However, it was then pushed to the ground by the rest of the magical machines and beheaded, all its limbs chopped off swiftly at the same time.

  The Ahlden clan adepts were stunned when they saw this. They couldn’t help but start wondering about the true might of the machines.

  It was important to note that a Third Grade hezrou was a powerful creature that excelled physically and magically. It possessed tremendous physical strength and the ability to instant-cast numerous spells. A creature like that could even survive several rounds in a battle against a Fourth Grade adept.

  Supposedly, a powerful demon like that was not something that lesser creatures should be able to overwhelm with sheer numbers. However, this Third Grade hezrou had been forcefully taken apart by a group of magical machines of an average of intermediate Second Gr
ade right before their eyes.

  These magical machines relied on their ferocious firepower!

  What if their opponent was not a demon but a Third Grade adept instead? How long would this Third Grade adept be able to last? And how many machines would they be able to take out before they died?

  The Ahlden Clan adepts couldn’t help but sweat at the mere conjecture and estimation. Their hearts beat wildly.

  None!

  If both sides refused to back down and continued fighting to their deaths, then the Third Grade adept’s magical shields would be shattered and riddled with holes before they could even eliminate a single magical machine.

  Of course, if they were a little more cunning, the Third Grade adept could retreat as they fought. They could flee after casting a single high-grade spell and return later to ambush again.

  Through such a strategy, a Third Grade adept could slowly wear down this magical machine army due to their lack of a high-grade adept’s escort.

  However, that was built on the assumption that the adept would be able to recover magic power rapidly, while the enemy had no means of reinforcing the magical machines. If the Mothership in the sky were to join the battle, such guerilla tactics would be no more than a joke.

  Everyone had already witnessed the power of the giant magic energy cannon!

  Just because a demon lord had managed to easily dodge its attack didn’t mean that human adepts would be able to do the same.

  If the Crimson Clan were to wage war with the Ahlden Clan, the Crimson Clan wouldn’t even need to dispatch a single high-grade adept. The combination of the fleet and the magical machines alone would be enough to wipe out the Ahlden Clan.

  Victory would most certainly belong to the Crimson Clan. The only question would be how many magical machines they would lose!

  The death of the hezrou seemed to be the prelude of something. In the next fifteen seconds, another four Third Grade demons died under the magical machines’ barrage.

  It wasn’t just the human adepts who had their attention drawn over now. Even Demon Lord Fernus couldn’t help but look over.

  Fernus had raided over a dozen planes with his subordinates. Yet, even he couldn’t help but be surprised. It was the demon lord’s first time seeing a world use magical machines as the main force on a battlefield.

  Did he mess up and enter the wrong plane? Was this…not the World of Adepts?

  Fernus shook his spiky demon head and mumbled deeply in the demon’s tongue. Soon, another powerful army of demons traveled through the mega-rift and descended upon the World of Adepts, revealing their vicious and ugly forms in front of everyone on the battlefield.

  Chapter 1372 - Mariliths

  A group of high-grade mariliths emerged from the mega-rift.

  These demons had long, thick serpentine tails for a lower half, with four muscular arms- two extending from each side of their upper body. They were covered in fine, dark green scales, flickering their crimson tongues from between their mouths full of fangs. Their red eyes glowed with a sinister light as they assessed their surroundings.

  These high-grade mariliths intimidated all the demons around them the moment they appeared. The weaker, lower-grade demons moved aside, clearing out the battlefield’s flattest and widest area for them.

  However, it wasn’t over yet.

  As the mariliths parted, an exceptionally enchanting six-armed marilith appeared before everyone.

  It was a female Fourth Grade marilith!

  Her upper half alone was over four meters tall, making her a gigantic beauty.

  Her perfectly shaped face, that smooth white skin, those moving almond eyes, and that strange braid of brown hair that moved about despite the lack of wind. Unfortunately, her naked upper half was covered in a layer of violent scales, preventing anyone from witnessing the tremendous beauty that lay beneath.

  Whenever this female marilith slithered forward with her dozen-meter-long tail, her breasts shook along with her movements, drawing everyone’s gazing toward her chest. The numerous intricate metal bracelets she wore on her arm clattered as she moved, making a crisp ringing sound.

  Inexperienced apprentice adepts would often have trouble differentiating mariliths from medusas. That was only natural. After all, medusas had an inseparable bloodline tie to the mariliths.

  Mariliths would invade and raid material planes every chance they had. Consequently, they left behind many descendants with the bloodline of demons. For instance, there was the Demonspawn, a demon-human descendant.

  These demonspawn looked like humans, though they were often incredibly tough and strong upon reaching adolescence. Moreover, individuals with a concentrated bloodline would often manifest magical patterns on their bodies and could even draw upon the racial traits of their parents.

  There was a subset of these demonspawn whose fathers were high-grade adepts. The mothers were lowly succubi or some other female demons.

  Most of these mixed-blood descendants did not have very good fates.

  The limit of a demonspawn that manifested magical patterns as a child was Third Grade. In the World of Adepts’ history, there had never been a demonspawn adept that had managed to advance to Fourth Grade.

  The reason for it was simple. The planar consciousness was hostile toward these demonspawn and actively suppressed them!

  This group of high-grade mariliths surrounded the Fourth Grade six-armed marilith as they marched onto the battlefield.

  It was important to note that mariliths often took up the role of strategic planning among the abyssal demons. They were among the rare few demon species capable of rational thought and planning.

  Of course, due to abyssal demons’ chaotic nature, there wasn’t much point in handing out excellent strategies for them to execute. Any subtle schemes would eventually end up in a chaotic brawl.

  Of course, the demons were experts when it came down to an all-out fight!

  Most of the time, Fourth Grade six-armed mariliths had no choice but to step on the battlefield themselves to ensure their plans were carried out successfully. They would dice their enemies with their numerous sharp swords.

  Moreover, this Fourth Grade marilith was clearly of equal standing with Demon Lord Fernus. She was able to pick up on the decisive factor influencing the trend of the battle the moment she set foot on the battlefield.

  She led her two dozen marilith subordinates, herding the hordes of low-grade demons toward the magical machine army. Once the magical machines and war towers’ fire was drawn toward them, the mariliths instantly activated Bladestorm and Pinpoint Teleportation to arrive right in the middle of the magical machines. A storm of carnage was instantly unleashed.

  Bladestorm was the terrifying ultimate skill of mariliths.

  They could use magic energy to form multiple magical weapons around them and make them spin wildly. Every time a marilith activated Bladestorm, it meant that they were ready to charge into enemy ranks.

  The long and thin blades they held with their slender-yet-strong arms, and the storm of weapons spiraling around them turned every one of them into walking incarnations of destruction.

  Even if the enemy had surrounded them, the mariliths would be able to gracefully and elegantly walk through them as if taking a stroll through a garden. Where their blades were pointed, they were uncontested. The only things they left behind were the shredded remains of their opponents.

  If a marilith were to rush into a horde of voodoo beasts with Bladestorm activated, it would make for an impressive sight!

  Blades flying everywhere, blood splattering across the air, limbs falling here and there as beast after beast was beheaded and diced into a thousand tiny pieces. To step onto a battlefield where a marilith was present was the same as stepping into a slaughterhouse. Torn pieces of flesh and bone would be everywhere around you.

  However, when these mariliths rushed into the ranks of the magical machine, they became stuck like a dull knife in a log. They were not unstoppable as they sh
ould be.

  Neither their Bladestorms nor their swords worked. They only created sparks of fire when they slashed the machines, leaving behind deep cuts but inflicting no further damage.

  The tremendous shock of the blows also caused the mariliths’ wrists to hurt. The swords in their grip rang loudly as they struck metal.

  They couldn’t…couldn’t slash through!

  While the mariliths were momentarily surprised, the magical machines’ retaliation gave them a good taste of pain.

  There was no fear of friendly fire at all. The rain of energy beams and goblin rockets instantly enveloped the mariliths. The horrifying elementium might of the energy beams and the endless barrage of metal bullets riddled them with holes.

  Mariliths might be high-grade demons with exceptional combat technique and offensive power. However, their slender bodies meant that they were best suited as agile warriors. Even the scales on their bodies were mostly light and thin.

  These scales were effective defenses against light slashing weapons like swords and daggers. In addition to their agile figures, they could avoid and neutralize most melee attacks. Their only weakness was a lack of defensive power!

  A lack of defensive power!

  If their enemies were weaklings like the voodoo beasts, rushing in with Bladestorm was the best course of action. However, the moment their offense stalled, then their act of charging the enemy would be nothing short of suicidal.

  After the first wave of bullets, seven of the Second Grade mariliths shrieked and collapsed to the ground, dead and riddled with holes.

  However, the five Third Grade mariliths and the Fourth Grade marilith were still as vicious as before. As high-grade demons, their offensive attacks were beyond the limits of what the magical machines could survive.