Age of Adepts

Today was most likely Alice’s lucky day.

If those four shadesteel statues had picked her as the first target, she would have been a cold and unmoving corpse right now.

No. Alice’s soul and body would likely have been transformed into an undead creature from the intense negative energy shockwaves from the statues’ attacks. For her, this was an outcome even more horrifying than death!

Luckily, they had chosen to attack Sofia first!

Perhaps it was because she was too far ahead, or maybe it was because her large size was too eye-catching. No matter the reason, when the four shadesteel statues emerged from the shadows, all eight of their sharp claws slashed towards Sofia.

The Berserk Witch’s response was immediate.

She had instantly picked up on the irregularity around her, even without the others’ warnings.

The shadesteel statues were able to appear everywhere without any prior indication thanks to this ability of theirs. Their bodies could freely travel between this plane and the shadow plane. As long as there were shadows, their dense bodies would become weightless, and they would be able to swim like a fish within the shadow substance freely.

No noise, no obstructions, and no significant energy fluctuations. The only indication of their approach was the sudden increase in density of shadow particles around their victim. It was hard to even pick up on the slight increase in shadow particles if one wasn’t explicitly sensing for it.

However, Sofia was a candidate with thirteen points of the power of Fate. Her Spiritual senses didn’t rely so much on her Spirit itself but the warnings from Fate.

Thus, Sofia instantly went berserk the moment danger fell upon her.

Sofia’s body was already muscular and healthy before her transformation. She looked more like a warrior than an adept. Right now, her body swelled up in size, and her muscles became even thicker and more robust. Veins popped up across her arms and her body. She looked just like a mighty god standing above mortals in her current state.

Her thick wooden staff also appeared to be a Soul Equipment. The staff also started increasing in size when she did. Sofia waved the weapon as if it weighed nothing and instantly blew away two of the shadesteel statues that had come too close.

However, she was injured at the same time. Blood started to flow from her left shoulder, left ribs, her hip, and her right leg.

The berserk Sofia ignored all the wounds on her body. The staff in her hands fell like a thunderstorm, beating down on every shadesteel statue that tried to escape. She didn’t even allow the shadesteel statue near her the time to meld into the shadows. Sofia violently smashed its head apart and crushed its body to pieces.

The shadesteel statues were a particular kind of statue specializing in assassination. They weren’t known for their toughness, but for their phantom-like ability to vanish and reappear without a sound. This weakness was why a single hit from the ferocious Sofia destroyed the shadesteel statue.

It was only now that Snowlotus’ Frost Shield and Amanda’s Energy Barrier landed on Sofia’s body. Unfortunately, Sofia’s body had powerful magic resistance upon turning into her berserk witch form.

Her magic-resistant body helped her endure the harmful energy shockwave from the shadesteel statues’ attacks, as well as the shadow damage from their claws. However, her resistance also reduced the effects of her teammates’ healing and enhancement abilities.

Sofia had always traveled and fought alone after she had advanced to a berserk witch. She rarely ever formed groups with others. The main reason for that was her inability to benefit from the buffs and enhancements from her teammates!

That said, there was always an upside to everything. Sofia’s berserk form might have caused her to lose the ability to benefit from enhancement spells, but she had unexpectedly also gained powerful regenerative abilities.

The three remaining shadesteel statues had just vanished, and already the gashes on Sofia’s body was healing at a visible rate. The wounds on her body, which would have been considered grievous and critical on any other witch, would heal within three to five minutes at the speed they were closing up.

”Goddamned cowards. Only know how to hide in those shadows. This bad bitch will beat you to scraps if any of you come out again.” Sofia stomped on the broken body of the shadesteel statue and cursed out loud. Her wild and ferocious attitude was on full display.

Everyone present knew that she was the only one that could taunt these phantom assassins. The other witches had to start placing defensive spells on themselves immediately.

”Mass Bull’s Strength!” (Strength +2)

”Mass Cat’s Agility!” (Agility +2)

”Mass Bear’s Endurance!” (Physique +2)

”Mass Fox’s Cunning!” (Intelligence +2)

”Negative Energy Protection!”

”Shadow Protection!”

”Prediction!”

”Haste!”

……

Given their normal relationships, the witches never would have cast beneficial spells on each other. However, a common enemy that wanted to kill all of them had appeared before them.

Thus, the former enemies had no choice but to turn into allies. None of them dared hide any of their abilities. All of them took out the magic scrolls they had been saving to enhance their powers.

All these spells and enhancement halos caused the witches’ attributes to increase exponentially. Everyone wrapped themselves in layers of energy barriers and defensive spells. In doing so, not one of them could be killed in a single hit by the shadesteel creatures, even if they didn’t have Sofia’s monstrous Physique.

Alice’s actions were even more extreme. She immediately summoned a tank-like spider golem and dove into its abdomen without another word. Her body was completely hidden within the golem.

The Berserk Witch grunted, then continued to walk forward with the staff on her shoulder.

An ice barrier also enveloped Snowlotus’ body. She quickly kept up with Sofia.

Amanda threw out two vials of potions and summoned two humanoid storm elementals, and walked in the middle of the group with Doris beside her. Alice controlled the spider golem and moved with the Infernal Tyrant at the rear of the group.

This formation took into consideration the profession traits of Snowlotus, Amanda, and Doris. The path they chose to walk down focused more on support and elementium spells. Their chance of survival was far lower than Sofia and Alice if the shadesteel statues ever attacked them.

However, an ear-grinding metallic noise came from the distance, right when they had just completed their formation.

Twenty stumbling, animated armors, and a hundred modified voodoo beasts formed a massive army that closed in on them.

It was only when the army stepped into range of the Infernal Tyrant’s light that the witches saw their actual faces.

Terrible! Incredibly terrible!

The twenty-seven armored guards were Animated Armors. One could see the shroud of black smoke within their bodies through the gaps in their rusty armor. These armored guards had already eroded over a thousand years. A trail of rusted metal parts followed behind them, falling off every so often as they dragged their stiff metallic bodies toward the enemy.

A lot of the armored guards had severely corroded knee guards and legs. The lower half of their bodies couldn’t even support the weight of armor anymore. Their legs crumbled into pieces and left the upper half of their body crawling on the ground.

Guards like these were so weak that not even a powerful warrior was needed to defeat them. The frail Amanda could probably smash them to pieces with the Bull’s Strength she had applied to herself!

It was the same for the other voodoo beasts.

The voodoo beasts with any sort of life were all dead. The only ones left were the undead beasts.

Bodaks, banshees, wraiths, mummies…

These voodoo beasts were bound to the Tower by their contracts. Yet, none of them had been nourished with soul or flesh in a thousand years. They were all thirsty and hungry for food. They immediately flew into a riot when they sensed the aura of life in this place. They had ignored the order given by the mysterious girl and left the army’s formation. They surged forward and lunged at the witches.

There were five Mummy Elders and three Revenant Banshees in the group. All of them had once been Third Grade undead creatures. However, the extended period of soul deterioration had caused their abilities to fall to the elementary stage of Second Grade. They could scarcely be considered as weakened Second Grade creatures.

Still, their sudden assault put tremendous pressure on the group of witches.

Alice controlled the spider golem and used its four pairs of sharp limbs to leap over the witches. The golem appeared beside Sofia at the front of the formation.

The key to surviving this wave of enemies was whether they could endure their violent blows!

Putting aside the slow and immobile armored guards, mummies, and bodaks, the first to reach them were the spirit undead.

The three revenant banshees led the charge. They let out wailing screams as they lunged towards the center of the group.

The screams of the revenant banshees had the terrifying ability to tear apart the souls of living creatures. Individuals without soul protection weren’t able to do anything against their attacks. Physical defenses and energy barriers counted for nothing. The screams of the banshees were considered soul-attribute magic. They could ignore all defenses that were not of the soul-attribute!

The means by which revenant banshees killed was not through direct attacks, but by uttering their desolate wails right their enemy’s ears! All souls were as fragile as glass before this unbelievably ear-piercing screech. People would shatter into pieces!

If a soul was tough enough, it might be able to endure the damage. However, the constant tearing from the howls and screeches would cause tremendous impact to the soul. A person would lose all ability to resist and could only watch as the banshees turned into shadows and dived into their body.

Indeed. The other innate ability that the banshees held was Possession!

They could temporarily take control of a body and achieve the effect of ’betrayal.’

During that time frame, while the banshee possessed a body, it would become a ’traitor’ in the group.