Age of Adepts

Whoosh.

Wicked winds blew wildly.

A skinny and withered figure jumped down from the canopy, only to have its head grabbed by Greem’s burning hand.

Greem took a look at the creature by the light from the flickering flames. He instantly understood the nature of the being.

It was a semi-undead!

It was a mummy that had been lying dormant within a cocoon for numerous years. Its body was desiccated and withered, its abdomen caved inwards and what hair it had left was the color of straw. Spiders climbed in and out of its empty eye sockets, nose, and mouth.

Aoooooo.

The undead mummy was more like a monster that had been brought back to life from hell. Blinding red light suddenly shone out of its eye sockets, and its unnaturally twisted and wide open jaw caused its entire face to look wrong.

However, it didn’t matter how much the mummy tried to struggle. It would never be able to escape Greem’s blazing fingers.

”Beep. Lifeform information collected.

”Withered Corpse: Spiderified Undead (Low Grade). Advanced Apprentice Level. Fearless and possesses corpse poison. Strength: 1.4 | Agility 1.1 | Physique 2.1 | Spirit 0.4”

Greem no longer needed to hold back now that he received the chip’s notification. The flames on his hand swelled and instantly reduced this howling corpse to ashes.

The flames didn’t die out immediately. Instead, they spread to the tree behind the corpse.

Layer after layer of spider webs had wrapped around the tree. However, at this moment, all that had turned into the best fuel for the fire. Six seconds after Greem’s blazing hand made contact, and the sixty-meter tall tree transformed into a giant torch.

Flames licked everything around the tree as the fires danced and caused the dry tree to crackle in the blaze. Innumerable spiderites of all sizes fled from the tree. The Spider Forest lived up to its name.

While Greem hadn’t seen a single lifeform when he entered, Spider Forest did have spiders. All those spiders were hiding within the trees and underground. With that bizarre layer of webbing obscuring spiritual senses, it was almost impossible for outsiders to detect their existence.

Soon, almost four hundred frightening corpses howled and hurried towards Greem from every corner of Spider Forest. They were treating Greem as the only enemy here, lunging at him from every angle.

Unguja leaped to pounce on a withered corpse, pinning the body to the ground. He then used his sharp claws to smash the corpse’s chest and head instantly. Unguja’s three heads weren’t idle either; a chain of wind blades, fireballs, and acid balls shot out in succession, blowing corpses to bits.

For a moment, not a single withered corpse could get near Greem!

Unguja’s power was not to be underestimated. He was a magical creature leader as well. Even though he hadn’t displayed excellent performance in the Battle of the Magma Hall, it was because Greem had never given him the chance to do anything.

Now that Unguja faced a bunch of Spiderified Undead that were far inferior to him, he demonstrated the full extent of his agility and the ferocity of his triple-elementium attacks. With Unguja opening a path in the front, Greem could focus all his attention on manipulating fires. He tossed fireballs here and there, lighting up all the ancient trees along his way and turning them into torches that scraped the sky.

As a safety measure, Greem had left the manticore outside the valley to keep watch. He had stormed into Spider Forest with Unguja alone. With nobody to contest him, Greem became increasingly ferocious and reckless with his spells.

The so-called Spider Forest was only a stretch of the Black Forest that had been slightly twisted and modified by spiders. It was only about two to three kilometers deep. An entrance to a cave revealed itself to Greem and Unguja as they fought against the endless horde of withered corpses and spiders.

This place was the entrance to Spider Cave; Spider Forest was no more than a hunting area that Tula had developed.

Greem could see no other color but white in this place.

White webs wrapped the trees, and several layers of webbing covered the ground as well. It was almost as if the two of them were walking in an alabaster sea. The sickly white color was everywhere.

Even the Three-Headed Demon Hound Unguja couldn’t do anything about this home territory of the spiders.

He could refuse to enter, or he could endure these torturous webs.

Even Unguja would accidentally run into a sticky web if he fought in an environment like this. And if that happened, Tula would probably be able to slice him into several pieces before he could even remove himself from the web!

Hmph.

Greem snorted coldly. He snapped his fingers as a fire rune immediately entered Unguja’s body. He then activated his Ring of Fire without any hesitation.

This environment slightly suppressed the hundred-meter-radius Ring of Fire, but it had an excellent ignition effect. All spiderwebs within twenty steps of Greem suddenly burst into flames. The sticky webs on the ground slowly vanished to reveal the black dirt beneath.

”Come on. I can sense Tula inside the cave.”

Greem strode forward without any hesitation and entered the cave ahead of Unguja. A shiver ran down Unguja’s spine, and he quickly shouted, ”Wait for me, master!” He then chased after Greem with all he had.

A blazing sea of fire slowly spread towards the depths of Spider Cave!

…………

Spider Cave.

This pitch-black underground cave didn’t show a single ray of light.

Several strange green lights shone in this deathly silence.

It was only when these strange lights flashed that one would, to their surprise, discover that they were the compound eyes of some massive creature.

Demon-Hunting Spider Tula moved its body anxiously. It silently sensed for the intense vibrations transmitted through the web underneath it.

An enemy had arrived!

Tula didn’t even need to see for itself. Already, the terrifying silhouette of the Flame Fiend appeared in its mind.

These accursed adepts! They wouldn’t even give it a chance to take a breath. How dare they recklessly break into this Spider Cave that it had managed for hundreds of years.

Hmph! The Magma Hall was your home field. You burned all the cannon fodder I threw at you there. However, this Spider Cave is my territory. Since you dared to approach this place, I will let you die here!

Tula’s eight hairy spider legs shook the spiderweb beneath it with a certain rhythm as it cursed internally. Several messages were sent in every direction without any sound. The various strange creatures hiding in obscure corners of the spider den started moving.

A small tear appeared in the giant white cocoon in the corner of this hidden cave. Dana’s pretty face was visible as she let out a sorrowful and angered scream.

However, the tear on the cocoon was quickly sealed by Tula the next second.

Tula dragged its severely wounded body and walked over to the cocoon. It produced fine threads from its abdominal sac, then used its eight legs to slowly turn the cocoon and wrapped another layer of webbing on the outside of the cocoon.

”Stop resisting. The eggs have been implanted in your body. In just another seventeen hours, my newest children will hatch inside you. It is a great honor to become the food and host of my children. Then, they will simultaneously possess the innate talents of magical spiders and medusas. They will become my most reliable subordinates.”

The distinct laughter of spider-like creatures rang throughout the sinister cave. Mixed within the laughter was Dana’s muffled howls of agony.

…………

The dark shadows extended all the way forward. The narrow roads wound about here and there, and not a single trace of light shone in this place.

However, as Greem continued forward, the darkness was dispelled. The blazing fires illuminated everything.

Greem had thrown out two golem summoning cores after he entered the spider den, summoning the Roaring Monster and the Decayer. The Roaring Monster stood at the forefront; its tall stone body made it the perfect meat shield to lead the way. The Decayer followed in the rear. Its silent movement hid its presence from most other creatures.

The golems were protecting Greem and Unguja in the middle. They swiftly and unhesitatingly ventured their way toward the depths of the underground.

There were winding paths and forked roads everywhere. Without an experienced guide, a newcomer would never be able to find the correct way in this labyrinth.

Strangely enough, Greem seemed to know everything about this spider den. He made his way towards Tula’s lair picking the shortest routes without any mistakes.

This ability undoubtedly frightened Tula, who was hiding deep underground. It could only send out the mutated army of spiders it had been hiding in reserve.

”Enemies have arrived.” Greem reminded softly.

The Roaring Monster held its footsteps. It plunged both of its hands into the dirt below and quickly created a colossal stone sword for itself. The sword was large, heavy, and filled with rough and uneven stone spikes! It was the perfect weapon for an overbearing monster like itself.

The chittering sound from the other end of the tunnel hadn’t ceased. Greem threw a fireball in that direction and immediately illuminated the flood of odd spider magical creatures.

The next second, a storm of shadow arrows, acid balls, bone spikes, and spiderwebs shot at the party.

The Roaring Monster used its massive body to block over eighty percent of the attacks. It then swung its large sword and charged forward, roaring as it did so. There was no space for it to rampage in this narrow tunnel. That was why the Roaring Monster injected a significant amount of earth elementium into the stone sword in its hands every so often.

The stone sword would split apart to shoot out hundreds of stone spikes, surrounding everything in front in a barrage of stone spikes.

It didn’t matter whether the stone spikes impaled the enemies’ heads or abdomens; these attacks were lethal to all the creatures within the radius of the stone spikes. Most of the time, these mutated spider creatures weren’t even as big as the stone spikes being fired at them!