Age of Adepts

It was a completely one-sided slaughter.

In terms of pure numbers, the Aba Beemen and the ogres were two of the largest tribes in this area. Their power also allowed them to crush the other magical creature tribes. Even great beings like wyverns couldn’t easily break into their territories.

Unfortunately for them, these two unchallenged magical creature tribes had now run into the overwhelming, crushing might of the Bloody Queen.

Yes, it was indeed a crushing!

The three blood knights that stood in a triangle formation were undefeated on the battlefield of carnage. The runic longswords in their hands could strike near and far. Every time their powerful blood-attribute sword techniques erupted, a corresponding number of ogres would suddenly collapse to the ground.

One could see that the main enemies of the blood knights were these muscular and towering ogres. That was why they threw most of their powerful sword techniques into the areas where the ogres were most concentrated. However, their attacks were remarkably measured; all the ogres were injured, but not dead. Even though the ogres’ wounds were grievous and severe, they wouldn’t threaten their lives yet.

The Aba Beemen, on the other hand, didn’t have such luck.

Faced with the annoying poison arrows from the canopy and the waves of beemen that dove down at them with spears, the blood knights struck with merciless and savage blows.

The beeman soldiers struck by the sword blasts would instantly be corroded beyond recognition by the blood energies. They turned into shriveled corpses and fell from the skies. Most of the blood within their bodies was forced out and concentrated into a crimson ball of blood the size of a fist. These spheres of blood would orbit around the blood knights.

Every time they were wounded, a portion of a blood sphere would split off and enter their body, replenishing their blood energy. When dealing with long-ranged attacks, the blood spheres could even transform into crimson shields of various shapes. These shields could help them deflect part of the attacks.

The number of blood spheres gathered around them signified their strength as well. The two blood knights only had two blood spheres orbiting them, while the most powerful, Soros, had four around him.

Ever since they had been modified into blood knights by Mary, Soros and the others were no longer afraid of ordinary poison. Apart from the rare one or two vital spots on their bodies, they were no longer as fearful of wounds like humans were. They took the fresh blood of the enemy to heal their own body. This strange talent provided the blood knights with unimaginable sustainability in fights.

Faced with these wild magical creatures with weak attacks and power far inferior to theirs, the three blood knights were like iron chariots plowing through the battlefield. They madly slaughtered the Aba Beemen with overwhelming prowess.

In the meantime, they had also been the recipients of sneak attacks from the two bloodlocust bees.

Sadly, the damage that the bloodlocust bees dealt the knights’ bodies wasn’t even enough to reduce their combat ability. The counter-attacks of violent blood-attribute sword techniques forced the two bloodlocust bees to retreat while howling in pain.

Compared to the blood knights, the two bloodlocust bees were like unarmed farmers. Their arrogant attacks couldn’t particularly affect the enemy, while the enemy’s attacks could wound them badly.

There was already a decent disparity between the power of the bloodlocust bees and the blood knights. However, the blood knights also had a full set of runic equipment and a system of blood-attribute battle techniques. In comparison, the bloodlocust bees had nothing. They could only rely on their bodies and natural talents to fight.

These push and pull factors caused a difference in combat prowess that prevented the adept-level bloodlocust bees from reproducing their previous victory against the ogres. Before the blood knights had arrived, the bloodlocust bees had been easily able to slaughter the ogres. Yet, they were completely beaten and driven away the moment they clashed with the blood knights.

By the time the three blood knights had successfully taken down all the ogre warriors, the battle between Mary and Two-Headed Ogre Mage Zac had also reached its conclusion.

Two-Headed Ogre Zac was now bathed in blood!

The terrifying wounds all over his body were shrouded in sinister blood energies. They had reduced the powerful regenerative ability that he took pride in to nothing. If he even so much as moved a single muscle in his massive body, blood would flow and spray everywhere.

His incomparably savage strength had no use in front of a stealthy and agile assassin.

It didn’t matter how much he smashed and lunged. The red mist that Mary had turned into constantly lingered at his side. Mary had never even engaged in a direct confrontation with the ogre from the start of the battle to the very end.

It wasn’t until the end, when his throat had gone dry from roaring, and his blood had practically all flowed out, that Mage Zac was no longer able to keep up his effort.

He put his hands on his head as he squatted on the ground. Zac didn’t even dare to resist. He didn’t dare to make the slightest of movements for fear of the last drop of blood in his body flowing away.

The blood mist gathered, and Mary’s tall and slender figure once again appeared by Zac’s side.

When her crystalline crimson shoes stepped upon Zac’s head, the two-headed ogre only grunted softly. He no longer had the savagery and pride that he previously held.

The three blood knights walked with steady steps and arrived at Mary’s side. The ogre warriors were strewn across the battlefield behind them, howling and screaming in pain. As for those wounded Aba Beemen? Not a single one of them remained alive.

”And Vanlier?” Mary took a look around her and couldn’t help but ask.

Vanlier was undoubtedly the weakest among her four subordinates. That was why Mary never made Vanlier participate in ordinary battles. After all, in Mary’s eyes, Vanlier’s most significant value was his mind. His ability to fight was secondary and unnecessary.

”Master, I’m here!” Vanlier’s voice rang out from the forest nearby, ”Take a look, master, at what I’ve brought you.”

Soft footsteps sounded as Vanlier led a black-robed individual and appeared before Mary in his middle-aged noble appearance.

For some reason, the black-robed person curled up when they saw Mary. Pieces of black things were continuously falling off from their hidden body. These dark pieces seemed to be black shell-shards. However, they quickly split into countless crawling black beetles when they hit the ground. These beetles dispersed and made their way back into the robe.

”You are terrified of me?” Mary tilted her head and looked at this strange black-robed person.

Before Mary had left to come here, Greem had only vaguely told her that Fire Throne had assigned an agent in this location to restrain the magical creatures. He hadn’t told her any details. It was only when she started to recall the strange smile that Greem showed when talking about Billis that Mary sensed something was off.

Mary could vaguely smell a trace of the familiar on this Apprentice Billis.

That mutated Queen Bug…

Mary’s gaze froze. The spiritual pressure that fell upon Billis suddenly possessed killing intent.

Back then, the annoying Evil Bugs Acteon had clashed with Mary for an entire year before they drew it to a conclusion. The victor had lived, and the defeated had died!

The brutal history of their fights had filled Mary with disgust for all bug-like lifeforms. Not to mention Billis, who possessed faints shadows of Evil Bugs himself. If it wasn’t because Mary had thought of Greem at that moment, she might have been unable to help herself from tearing Billis into pieces and chop him into a paste.

For Greem’s sake, Mary suppressed the feelings of disgust that surged up in her heart. She coldly ordered, ”You are Billis? I’ve heard Greem talk about you. How is it? Have you completely assimilated with the Queen Bug? Take off your shirt to let me see..”

Billis could clearly sense the cold killing intent spilling out of Mary. Of course, this wasn’t because Billis’ spiritual senses were sharp enough to use against an adept. Rather, it was because Mary had never tried to hide her disdain for Billis.

However, the hostility that Adept Mary displayed wasn’t what concerned Billis the most. What truly worried him was the mutated Queen Bug that had assimilated with him. It was as if the Queen Bug feared Adept Mary from the depths of her soul.

Through the assimilated soul origin, the fear and nervousness that the Queen Bug felt had been etched into Billis’ natural reactions as well. That was what caused him to appear too anxious and frantic near this female adept.

Even though he had never seen this powerful and beautiful female adept in his life, and even though they both belonged to the same faction, his soul origin was continually warning him; a single mistake, and he would very likely be killed on the spot.

Billis was reluctant to reveal his ’true face’ to anyone after he had completely transformed into a bug. Billis would treat any magical creature or human as an enemy if they expressed disdain when they saw his face. He would think of the cruelest ways to kill the opponent.

Yet, at this moment, under Mary’s chilling killing intent, Billis had no choice but to take off his black robe and expose his black and shiny bug body beneath the sunlight.

One had to acknowledge that Billis was far more committed and far deeper down the path of Bug Transformation compared to Acteon.

Most of the time, Acteon had only treated his bug transformation as an auxiliary means to help him grow stronger. He had still wished to preserve a trace of humanity in the depths of his heart. Billis, on the other hand, had entirely given up on his human identity. He only weighed things in terms of pure power. That was why one could see absolutely no signs of a human on his exposed body.

This... this was just a strange bug that stood straight and who knew how to speak like people!

Mary was delighted with Billis’ obedience.

She had been hoping for Greem to increase the strength of his subordinates when she handed him the Queen Bug. Now that things were going perfectly, Mary had nothing to complain about.

Her killing intent from earlier was mostly just an instinctual reaction to difficult memories from her soul. Now that Mary had managed to adjust herself, the memories were no longer able to affect her emotions.

”Two red bugs escaped from the battlefield. I need to know their current position.” Mary commanded coldly.

”They fled there!” Billis quickly point towards a direction with his finger, ”They have already escaped towards the bee’s nest, along with the remaining Aba Beemen. If you would like to, Billis can help show the way!”

Even Billis became unusually obedient and friendly under the pressure of death. He was trying to use every opportunity he had to get on equal terms with Adept Mary.

”Call out all your entire army of bugs!” Mary instructed, ”Watch over the ogres here. I’ll come back to deal with the prisoners once I have cleared out that bee’s nest. Do it diligently, and you can get six of the corpses after the whole thing.”

”Understood! Billis will try his best to complete Lady Mary’s orders!” Billis’ body of bugs trembled slightly.

This Adept Mary had a pretty clear grasp of his power. Billis only needed six more ogres to gather enough life energy to raise himself to pseudo-adept. When that happened, he would no longer be as weak as he was now.

Vanlier leaned close to Mary and whispered after they had left the battlefield, ”My Lady, are you that unconcerned about that bug man? What shall we do if he takes all the blood treats and takes off?”

Mary continued flying forward without even looking back. She tossed out a sentence coldly.

”Isn’t that even better?! He had best not give me a reason to kill him. Otherwise…”

Several red silhouettes quickly flew into the distance before she could finish speaking.