Age of Adepts

Inside the tower.

All the apprentices watched the battle outside the tower with a mix of feverish passion and fear.

Most of the time they wished they could be like Sir Greem, proudly standing in the middle of several magical creatures and fighting off every single one. On the other hand, they couldn’t help but be worried about the outcome of the battle itself. They were frightened about the possibility of the tower’s defenses failing and one of those hideous creatures making their way inside.

For the sake of the tower and their own lives, all the apprentices were controlling the offensive arrays to the best of their abilities. Every time a magma fireball formed, they would hurl it towards the ugly tentacled creature climbing on the walls as well as at the wyvern king that fought with the manticore leader.

Fireballs exploded in the skies and flames spread in every direction!

The two monsters fought in the harsh environment just like this, circling above the tower, occasionally clashing while tearing and biting at each other.

Of course, Greem wasn’t in a good position! Even his manticore subordinate was fighting with all his might!

The Flame Fiend retreated again and again under the combined attacks of Tula, the Demon-Hunting Spider, Dana the Medusa, and the Giant Berserk Gelada. He had no choice but to keep his back against the tower and remain on the defensive.

Fortunately, the sea of lava was still rising. It had already sealed off all exits in the cavern and had submerged the first level of the tower.

Greem stood tall above the sea of lava. His legs had already turned into half-molten flowing magma. Viscous lava was continuously being drawn from the sea of lava to his body to repair the damage he sustained.

The time for his transformation was up. Greem had to withdraw from his second phase transformation. He sealed the Flame Fiend’s Heart once again and relied on his first phase transformation to hold the magical creature lords at bay. Greem silently waited for the moment the sea of lava completely flooded the cavern.

The magical creatures that were counting on the lava to subside quickly realized that the situation would only get worse. Defending themselves in this harsh environment was already a problem, and only a few of them could have any chance of helping in the attack against Greem.

Seeing that the magical creatures were starting to stir, Eva had no choice but to expose herself.

She left the stone pillar she was standing on and floated to the middle of the magical creatures. An odd but intense mental flux immediately engulfed the entire place.

Eternal Sleep!

It was an ordinary and straightforward Spiritual spell that was able to guide living beings into sweet slumber!

An ordinary magical creature might have fallen asleep within seconds. However, all the beings that had managed to survive until this moment were strong magical creatures with exceptional strength. If it weren’t for the fact that the sea of lava limited their freedom of movement, Greem would be in an even more challenging situation.

All the creatures affected by Eva’s Eternal Sleep felt their minds waver for a second. If this had been any ordinary circumstances, it would be no more than a quick nap for them. However, right now, they were all clinging to stone pillars and stone walls due to the lava.

They had nowhere to stand. Instead, the creatures barely hung onto the walls in all sorts of weird and twisted positions. This slight flicker in their consciousness caused two of the four remaining magical creatures to slip up and fall into the sea of lava.

And among them was Unguja the Three-Headed Demon Hound!

The boiling lava scorched their skin and there was no place for the monsters’ feet to settle on in the flowing magma. They roared wildly but were still powerless to resist the terrifying heat and flames that penetrated through their bodies and roasted their flesh a bright red.

The sizzling sound when flesh met magma was torturous.

A thick burning smell filled the entire place!

Only one of the two magical creatures that fell into the sea managed to escape. It was Unguja!

He was, after all, a magical creature lord and had a far more resilient body compared to the other ordinary magical creature. Even so, Unguja was not in good condition at all.

A muffled boom.

A massive fire bubble popped in the middle of the lava and Unguja scrambled out from within, howling in pain as he did so. His charred limbs hugged a stone pillar tightly as he once again climbed up.

The other magical creatures couldn’t help but look at him.

Tssss.

The magical creatures drew in a cold breath of air.

The previously mighty Unguja had become a hideous and mangy mongrel.

His hair and skin had all burned away; only black and purple burns remained on the surface. A mere seven or eight seconds in the lava and already his thick hide had blackened into charcoal.

As he moved around, his carbonized skin peeled off and revealed the vivid red flesh and muscles beneath. Blisters of all sizes covered his body, while blood and pus continued to flow out from his exposed muscle structure. Purple and black blood would splash every time one of his blisters popped.

It was almost as if Unguja had been skinned and roasted over a campfire. Not a single piece of untouched flesh was visible across his body. He was bright red and bleeding.

The magical creatures sympathized with Unguja’s fate. They all cast hateful gazes at the cause of this incident– Eva. Almost instantly, a chain of purple-black lightning and a cloud of acid immediately ravaged the spot where Eva was standing on.

Eva screamed in pain and immediately fled. She desperately flew towards the tower which, at this point, had been half-submerged in lava.

Greem and the others had discovered the disturbance in the distance as well. Tula’s spider webs, Medusa’s snake arrows, and the giant berserk gelada’s stone projectiles formed an impenetrable line of defense. It seemed like they wanted to exterminate the traitor in one fell swoop.

Gargamel was frightened out of his wits. He quickly flew out of the tower and shouted at Greem, ”Saver her!”

At the same time that Gargamel shouted, Greem’s gigantic body of flames disappeared. He emerged from the sea of lava beneath Eva.

”Get down!” Greem waved the staff in his hand as a terrifying suction pulled Eva down from the air. A raging wave of fire rose to the sky and formed a wall that protected against all incoming attacks.

By the time the gelada’s projectiles were able to force apart the wave of fire, both individuals had vanished once again.

Greem’s towering silhouette emerged from the sea of lava again, and he quickly sent the unharmed Eva back into the tower. It was only now that Greem had the time to raise his hand and remove the snake arrow biting into his shoulder.

With its head in Greem’s grasp, the snake could not bite his hand no matter how much it struggled. A flame ignited in his hands and instantly reduced the poison snake to ashes. Greem rubbed his fingers together, and all the dust slowly fell.

”What is it? Do you still not admit your loss today?” Greem’s black eyes stared at Dana the Medusa without any emotion. He spoke coldly, ”Run now, and you still have a chance to escape. Continue fighting, and all you can do is wait for your death by lava!”

Meryl and Gargamel flew out of the tower as Greem threatened them. They levitated in the air and stared coldly at the magical creature lords.

By this point, all of their subordinates and servants had died to the sea of lava beneath them. If they continued to fight instead of retreating, they would be forcing Greem to pull out all the stops.

”Human, are you not at your limits as well!” Demon-Hunting Spider Tula hung from the ceiling as its wicked mouth clattered. A furious mental voice boomed out in the air, ”You still intend to scare us away after slaughtering so many of our tribe members? Tsk, tsk, tsk. I can’t wait to conquer your tower and taste the fresh meat inside!”

The eyes of the magical creature lords turned blood red when they heard Tula’s words.

This trick of theirs was too cruel and wicked. To have flooded this place with subterranean lava! All of their tribe members and servants had been exterminated. Even if they managed to escape this place today, they would be reduced to nothing but lone lords with no vassals to serve them. They couldn’t suppress their rage when they thought of this. They once again prepared themselves for a fight as they surrounded the adepts.

Seeing that the negotiations had fallen apart, Greem immediately projected his Spirit into the tower’s control center. He chose a red command from the list of items without hesitation.

In next second the tower trembled as hundreds and thousands of streams of lava blasted out from within the structure. It was a beautiful sight. From afar, it looked just like a flowering tree of fire.

The face of the magical creatures flushed white the moment this happened.

This attack enveloped the entire caverns. It was a terrifying rain of fire that fell from above. This…how were they supposed to dodge an attack like this, or even escape?

The magical creatures quickly split into two parties.

One party followed behind Tula and recklessly charged at the adept’s tower. They wanted to smash open a path to survival by doing so. The Dark Tentacular led the other party. They turned tail without any doubt and rushed towards the other end of the caverns.

As long as it was able to find a crack that allowed passage, the Dark Tentacular had absolute confidence in escaping.

Dana the Medusa, as well as the Giant Berserk Gelada, chose to charge with Tula. However, the Wyvern King was not as courageous as his previous performance suggested. He decided to leave with the Dark Tentacular.

He had no choice. The fight with the manticores had inflicted severe injuries on him. He no longer had the confidence to attempt a breach on that unpredictable tower.

The fight of life and death erupted in front of the adept’s tower, just like that!