Age of Adepts

A battle between Second Grade lifeforms was drastically different from a fight between First Grades.

It didn’t matter whether it was the First Grade adepts or the First Grade dragonborn; all of them were merely rookies that had only just stepped into the ranks of supernatural beings. They might be superhuman in some aspects and be fundamentally different from ordinary lifeforms, but at their very core, there were still many aspects to them that were limited by their past racial identities.

Take First Grade human adepts for example. They might already possess supernatural powers, but their energy output was still inferior to magical creatures of the same grade. The main reason for this was the tremendous amount of damage that magic power could deal to the caster if too much of it were flowing through their veins at a single instant.

However, most human adepts would have completed assimilation with some form of elementium magic upon advancing to Second Grade. When that happened, their mortal bodies would no longer be the limitation to the might of their magic. It is only then that an adept could fully unleash their strength.

When Second Grade Greem transformed into the fearsome flame fiend, his terrifying flames and immense heat surrounded everyone. It didn’t matter whether it was the mighty dragonborn or the goblins hiding in their magical machines. All of them could very clearly feel the terror of a Second Grade fire adept!

The previously lukewarm underground hall instantly turned into a hell of magma and incinerating flames. Lava flowed everywhere, and streams of fire blasted here and there.

The metal floor and all the rocks in the room glowed red from the frightening heat. The thick hooves of the dragonborn sizzled from contact with the ground. The limited amount of clothes they had on them ignited with the rapid rise in the room’s temperature.

A deep breath in such an environment would introduce scorching winds to one’s weak and unprotected lungs. Ordinary creatures would be turned into mummies within three seconds of exposure to Greem’s Ring of Fire. Five seconds and they would be reduced to ashes due to combustion from concentrated fire elementium.

As Greem expanded his Ring of Fire, the First Grade dragonborn had no choice but to step back and frantically retreat from the reach of the red barrier. The adepts standing in front of Greem also quickly fled to the side, leaving the battlefield to the two Second Grade leaders.

Even the First Grade adepts who were extremely confident in their abilities didn’t dare to test the might of the Second Grade dragonborn leader so easily. The Dragonborn was different from the Second Grade magical machines of the Goblin Plane. The Second Grade machines of the Goblin Plane might have all sorts of flaws and weaknesses, but the Dragonborn was different. He was from a higher plane, and his strength couldn’t be compared to the goblins.

When Greem’s Ring of Fire engulfed Zacha, a brilliant flash of cold blue electricity emerged from his body. The powers of electricity clashed with the forces of fire, causing a layer of colorful lights to appear around Zacha.

Zacha’s hooves started to move with this coat of colors around him. He picked up speed and launched a ferocious assault at Greem. Zacha’s muscular body provided him with incomparably violent physical prowess. When he brandished his electric spear and stabbed at Greem, the electric spear forged from special materials created tens of thousands of silver, snake-like arcs from the friction with the air. These arcs of lightning lunged at the opponent.

Greem would never dare to take on such a savage attack from a Second Grade powerhouse head-on, regardless of how confident he was in himself.

His body paused for a moment and instantly vanished in a blast of flames. He then appeared twenty meters to the side of Zacha, and a storm of magma fireballs arose along with Greem.

Shu! Shu! Shu!

A chain of five magma fireballs crashed toward Zacha simultaneously. However, all of them were destroyed by forked lightning that the dragonborn launched to the side. Red boiling lava splashed everywhere when the crimson fireballs exploded. They became a rain of lava that covered an extensive area.

Zacha’s broad hooves stomped against the red floor. His lithe body quickly turned back and avoided the rain of lava with an agility that couldn’t be reproduced by a human body. Zacha promptly switched directions and surged at Greem.

Twenty meters of distance was far too close for Second Grade creatures!

A quick lunge and his long arms, paired with the four-meter-long electric spear, allowed Zacha to reach Greem in a single breath.

One had to mention the size of the hall in this fight. The underground area was wide and spacious, but that was only relative to the goblins. This place was undoubtedly too narrow for two Second Grade creatures fighting with all they had. It was a lousy place for elementium adepts who relied on long-ranged spells.

However, Greem was no ordinary Second Grade adept!

After failing to catch Zacha by surprise, Greem ignored the electric spear that was about to stab him. Instead, he pointed downward with both of his hands as a powerful Doomsday Volcano erupted at the spot that Zacha was about to set foot.

Doomsday Volcano was an area-of-effect fire spell.

It would cause a small volcanic eruption in an area specified by the caster.

When the Doomsday Volcano erupted, a frightening hot surge of lava blasted out from underground, sending the enemy flying into the skies while bathing them in a shower of lava. The volcanic eruption only lasted for thirteen seconds, but the temperature of the lava would reach more than three thousand degrees.

Ordinary creatures would be vaporized from slight contact with the blazing winds caused by the lava, not to mention actually bathing in the stuff.

Zacha didn’t manage to dodge due to him not picking up on the spell in time. He happened to step right upon the core area of the Doomsday Volcano’s eruption.

Scorching air broke out of the earth and blew against the indigo scales of Zacha’s lower body.

Zacha immediately retracted his spear when he saw himself destabilized and about to be blasted upwards by the air current. He thrust his spear into the rock beneath him with all his strength. The erupting Doomsday Volcano had its spell structure disrupted by a sudden flow of arcing electricity and was promptly canceled.

Greem took the opportunity of the enemy shattering the spell to retreat further. His body exploded into flames and reformed in an area fifty meters away.

There were nearly a hundred goblin soldiers in the place where Greem had teleported. However, with Greem’s appearance, the portion of flame powers he wasn’t controlling spread to his surroundings and quickly dragged the goblins into a blazing hell.

Greem hadn’t intended to attack the goblins. It was merely the usual dispersion of energy from his Fire Teleportation.

However, this insignificant amount of energy for a Second Grade adept was a disaster for the hundred goblin soldiers.

The goblin soldiers didn’t even have a chance to run. They were reduced to cinders in a wave of fire. Their bodies instantly turned to ashes; only parts of their armor and magic energy weapons remained. These metal pieces clinked as they hit the ground.

Just then, Zacha pointed to the skies with his spear. A blinding flash of lightning swiftly crashed down upon Greem.

The bloodline talent of the Dragonborn– Lightningfall!

The Dragonborn weren’t skilled at magic, but they still had the blood of Thunder Dragons running through their veins. They could easily cast some of the cruder lightning spells as they wished. Zacha had a plan in mind when he called down this blast of lightning. The thunderstrike possessed a unique paralyzing and restrictive effect.

The blinding lightning smashed through two Fire Shields and one energy shield before exhausting all of its energy. The lightning’s aftershock came in the form of tens of thousands of tiny snake-like arcs. These small arcs of electricity crackled around Greem, forcefully preventing him from using his Fire Teleportation.

Zacha took this opportunity to close in on Greem rapidly.

In less than two seconds, Zacha had made it a distance of forty meters and appeared beside Greem.

Greem frowned slightly. He tapped the ground hard with the Blaze of Destruction, and a Flame Halo of Repulsion blasted out of his body.

The strength of the Flame Halo was extremely negligible. It was only twenty points in power. However, the most powerful part about the spell was its strong physical shockwave.

Zacha had just reached Greem’s side and had barely destroyed one Magma Shield when he was pushed away by a wave of fire that had enveloped his body. His subsequent attacks naturally missed!

Greem, on the other hand, took this opportunity to reward the Dragonborn with a Scarlet Firestorm, then teleported away before he could be caught.

The two Second Grade powerhouses from different planes started a ferocious battle to the death with the underground hall as their battlefield.

All goblins, adepts, and dragonborn kept their heads low and maintained a distance from them wherever they went. Even so, some of the slower individuals still died to the devouring flames or the suddenly enlarged iron hooves.

Half an hour ago, the furious Princess Vanessa had led her goblin army to find trouble with the adepts. Yet her army was now scrambling around the hall with no discipline to speak of. They were fearfully avoiding the aftershocks from the battle between those two monsters.

Never had Princess Vanessa so clearly felt her own insignificance and weakness!

The value of their existence might not even compare to a shiny ore in the eyes of these foreign invaders. At least a metal ore could attract the attention and appraisal of these powerful individuals, while they, the goblins… their lives were as insignificant as dust on the ground, blown to the winds with a gust of hot wind.

At this moment, at this critical moment for the Goblin Plane, even Vanessa the Goblin Princess had no choice but to run around the hall with a company of her soldiers.

They would run forward, and a wave of fire would brush past them. A dozen goblins burned to ashes!

The panicking soldiers would then scream as they headed in the other direction.

However, before they could even make it several dozen meters away, a terrifying blast of lightning would crash to the ground. An apocalyptic tide of electricity would ravage them, and yet another dozen goblins were dust in the wind.

Princess Vanessa’s will utterly shattered. She stumbled about, running without any sense of direction.

For the first time in her life, an irrepressible thought arose in her heart.

Sometimes, living was more important and more valuable than dignity!

Though she had clearly understood this far too late.