Age of Adepts

Damn!

If Alice had the time, she would have started insulting her enemies’ moms; she would have gone all the way up to their ancestors right now. The mastermind behind all the pain they had suffered was right behind them, yet they shifted their attention towards Alice.

If it were merely a group of apprentice witches in front of her, Alice would not have worried about them dealing any damage to the golem. However, the group in front of her had nine witches and seventeen apprentices.

Any single one of them alone would be utterly useless. Alice would laugh before ordering the spider golem to roll over them. However, even Alice started sweating when she saw the torrent of spells raining down on her. Despite hiding inside the spider golem, her hands went cold.

The colorful elementium spells merged to form a raging flood of elementium. They clashed together and surged towards the spider golem.

Alice screamed as she ordered the spider golem to dodge to the side. At the same time, the golem’s compound eyes flashed as layers of force barriers were erected around the massive machine.

Force barriers like these were the most effective of all the defensive spells.

Most other shielding spells had some sort of elementium inclination. It was a bonus when defending against magical spells of the same attribute, but this also meant that specific other attributes could counter the spell. On the other hand, force barriers were made with pure magical energy and were not of any elementium type. That was why they were the most suited for large-scale brawls.

Despite this, the force barrier the spider golem had summoned didn’t even manage to last for three seconds. The elementium spells had stacked together and produced almost three hundred points of power. They smashed through the transparent force barrier and engulfed the spider golem in a tide of elementium.

Snowlotus and Sofia, who had been following closely behind the spider golem, quickly dodged. The Berserk Witch might have magic resistance, but there was still a limit to it. If anything rose above that limit, then even she couldn’t deal with the consequences.

An attack of over two hundred or three hundred points. This number was already at the level of Second Grade adepts. Even Sofia didn’t risk taking an attack like that head-on.

While Alice and her allies were busy dealing with the other witches’ ’betrayal,’ the mysterious girl slowly released the corpse of a witch in her arms. She closed her eyes and lifted her head to savor the pleasant feeling of fate gathering in her body.

The mysterious girl’s aura seemed to be vaguely different now, as if she had passed an invisible threshold. It was like the quality of her soul had been elevated to an unimaginable level.

Twenty points.

Killing the witch had allowed the girl’s fate to reach a total of twenty points. This number was a threshold with great significance.

All sorts of subtle yet mysterious changes had started occurring in the arcane hall.

The floor and walls started to grow brighter and brighter. Countless cerulean, lavender, and crimson-colored magical lines appeared on the walls. They extended all over the area and the various lines of different colors even stacked and crossed over each other. One after another, radiant magical nodes formed.

The many magical lines that appeared like veins of a human body extended and reached in every direction without order. Despite their chaotic pattern, there was a sense of profundity and mysteriousness to them. They started to connect with each other or wrapped around to form three-dimensional runic structures of all shapes and sizes. Specks of small runes continuously appeared and slowly combined to form incomprehensible runic chains.

The entire arcane hall had vanished from everyone’s eyes. The floor, ceiling, and the walls had all faded into the darkness. Only a mysterious arcane array woven from innumerable magical lines remained in place.

Powerful magical energies surged through the runic chains.

They intertwined with each other, layer after layer, and accumulated perfectly upon each other. The lines connected and supported each other. All the mystic lines connected to form one single entity. A massive and mysterious magical array.

At the center of the array was the mysterious girl that no one could name.

The girl’s body slowly floated into the air.

It was like a small sun had infused her body. A stunning and blinding light burst forth from within, illuminating all of her body.

A circle of fate formed by two snakes biting each other’s tail appeared at the center of the blazing sun.

”This…this is the totem of the Witch of Fate… ” A witch that was well-versed in magical patterns and totems cried out loud.

Her words were like an explosion that instantly tore everyone out of their confused states.

For what reason were they here?

Of course, it was to fight for that one ten-thousandth of a chance to become the Witch of Fate!

The witch in front of them had already obtained the Witch of Fate ahead of everyone else. Didn’t this mean she had earned the acknowledgment of the laws of fate? And didn’t her victory mean that everyone had lost the fight? Didn’t it indicate that they had been reduced to someone else’s stepping stone?

Everyone’s hearts plunged into a cold and chilling pond in an instant. So cold that their teeth started chattering in fear.

However, just when everyone had lost their will to fight, Snowlotus gritted her teeth and stood forward.

”What are you lot panicking for? She will only be considered the true Witch of Fate once the ceremony is complete. We all still have a chance as long as we kill her before the ceremony ends.”

Snowlotus waved her hands, and a barrage of ice shards shot towards the girl suspended in the air.

The ice spell crashed against the barrier of the mysterious array and instantly provoked a powerful backlash.

Several dozen ice spears, more powerful than the ice shards Snowlotus had fired, materialized in the air and raced towards her.

Snowlotus’ face turned pale as fear surfaced in her eyes.

These ice spears were far more potent than her ice shards. Could her armor of ice deflect this attack?

A large silhouette appeared in front of her as she debated whether to run or to stand and deflect the spears. The massive body helped her block most of the ice lances.

Clang. Clang. Clang.

The gigantic shape moved its metallic body after blocking the ice lances. Alice’s angry voice came from within, ”Sisters, what are you hesitating for? For our lives, for one shot at survival, kill her!”

She roared as the tattered and beat down spider golem lunged forward. The Fel Cannon on top of its metallic torso fired continuously with everything it had.

A rain of purple plasma bubbles floated towards the girl in the array.

”I hate sneaky people like you the most! Die you stinking backstabbing rat.” Sofia instantly went berserk and brandished her thick wooden staff as she marched towards the array.

”Indeed, my sisters! Our efforts cannot be ruined and wasted by this person that came out of nowhere! It doesn’t matter who it is that tries to affect our fate! All of them will have to die!” The first witch to wake up from her hesitation yelled, and the light of a magical spell appeared in her hand.

With these people taking the lead, all the hesitating witches and apprentices found the courage to act. There was no need to organize anything. The girl closest to the Witch of Fate’s throne became everyone’s target. Magic spells of every color and varying strength crashed down upon the array like an incessant storm.

The mysterious girl gently opened her eyes and looked at the attacking candidates. The intimidating aura and disdain unique to a person of authority colored her pitch-black eyes. She opened her mouth and spoke without emotion, ”Hmph! You rude witches that step beyond your own boundaries. You are only pathetic worms struggling within the vast river of fate. Accept your lot obediently! Otherwise, all of you will have to endure the backlash from fate. Sever Fate!”

The girl chanted softly. Everyone’s body trembled, and expressions of pain and agony appeared on their faces. A mysterious light started to become brighter and brighter within the depths of their spiritual consciousness. In fact, the light was slowly being separated from their souls.

Everyone let out pitiful cries of agony!

Ever since the talent of fate had awakened in them, it had become the most important thing in their lives. Their abilities, their glory, their everything revolved around their talents for fate.

At this moment, with two words by the mysterious girl, this talent that was so deeply related to who they were and what they had achieved was being ripped from them.

The more effort and resources they had invested in their talent for fate, the more intense the pain they had to endure.

It was a more painful way to die than having them skinned and their muscles stripped from their bodies! Tens and even hundreds of times more!

The apprentice-level candidates could not endure such agony. They rolled on the ground as every inch of their skin started to break. Their red flesh and muscles were exposed for all to see. An endless stream of blood trickled and flowed out of their bodies, instantly turning them into bloody humans that no one could bear to look at.

The mysterious lights slowly separated from their bodies. Every inch that the light separated from them would cause several strands of their soul to snap apart mysteriously.

After so many years of hard work, their talent for fate had already turned into part of their lives. It had an unseen but deep connection with every inch of their skin and each piece of their flesh. Now that the talent was being forcefully severed from their bodies, the pain involved was not something that outsiders could comprehend!

All of the apprentice witches died from pure pain!

Once they had died, all of their body, flesh, and soul was burned by an unknown flame and turned into the purest of energy essence. The mysterious light then dragged that substance along with it as it dove and disappeared into the array.

The mysterious girl in the core of the array couldn’t help but raise her head and let out moans of pleasure!