Age of Adepts

The isolated island.

Massive living spaces existed within the large flying ship. As the owners of this vessel, the adepts naturally took up the best and most comfortable rooms.

Inside Mary’s living area, a unique banquet of blood was merrily carrying on.

The shimmering blood rippled in the pool at the center of the room as Mary lazily laid against the side of it. Apart from her delicate and pretty face, her long and slender neck, and her perfect collar bones exposed outside of the blood, her white and smooth body was completely submerged under the liquid.

Strangely enough, the blood in the blood pool was also roiling and churning about, as if there was a fearsome beast stirring up waves within it.

Mary casually stretched her body and absorbed the pulsating blood energy within the blood to her heart’s content. Occasionally, she extended a blindingly white arm and splashed the blood toward herself, allowing the red and sweet blood to slowly drip from her body in the form of beads.

The plentiful, pure blood energy washed her body, causing her to close her eyes and moan in pleasure every so often. That seductive moan instantly caused the few males within the room to betray awkward expressions.

The three blood knights each took up a spot of the room of their own. They all had a beautiful elf in their embrace, her clothes half-removed. Their powerful and strong hands were overbearingly wandering all over the elves’ slender and frail bodies, but their exposed fangs pierced into the elves’ aortas without any hesitation.

The sound of sucking blood and the unconscious grunt of the weak elves blended together, adding yet another layer of wicked allure to this blood banquet!

Meanwhile, the old fox Vanlier still kept his appearance as a middle-aged noble. He was crouching by Mary’s ear attentively, mumbling as if he was analyzing something.

”Lead an army independently? Are you mad,” Mary suddenly opened her crimson eyes at some point in the conversation. She glared at Vanlier coldly, ”This is the Faen plane. There are only the followers of those hacks out there. What could we possibly accomplish with the few of us?”

”Lady Mary, how has this period of rest and recuperation caused you to become so fearful and cautious,” Old fox Vanlier was not afraid at all. Instead, he started to patiently give advice, ”Have you forgotten how dominant and glorious you were back in the Knight’s Plane? Have you forgotten your recklessness in the bloody fight against Evil Bugs Acteon? We vampires cannot grow through peaceful cultivation. If we want to become stronger, we need to use all the tricks available to us. We need to be reckless.”

’”There seem to be too many gods and god messengers here in Garan. Will we suffer losses if we go for a walk out there?” Mary was someone with an overbearing and forceful personality as well. She couldn’t help but be moved when she heard Vanlier mention her glories in the past.

”Why should we be afraid of losses? The only crucial ones in this room are the five of us. As long as we don’t lose any of the five of us, anything else that we get will be pure profit. We couldn’t do it on the Goblin’s Plane. Those natives all had detestably pungent blood and were utterly unworthy of being food. The dragonborn on Lance, on the other hand, were too powerful. Turning them into blood slaves was challenging. In comparison, the elves of this Garan Continent are the most suitable food for us vampires.”

”Then, if we go out and act independently, will we throw that person’s plans into disorder?” Mary still appeared to be somewhat hesitant.

”My lady, what are you worried about? Can’t you see? Lord Greem has come to the southern shore this time because he wants to stir up trouble and draw the elves of the central mountains out. Us going out to start a slaughter will not only not affect Lord Greem, but we would also even be actively taking on a portion of his burden. Lord Greem will certainly be glad!”

”Really?” Mary’s crimson eyes suddenly glowed.

During this period of time, she had always been by Greem’s side. Their relationship had thus unknowingly improved. Her mind instantly started spinning when she heard that she could help her ’lover.’

”Moreover; Lady Mary, this subordinate will say something he shouldn’t be saying,” The old fox Vanlier analyzed while hinting at certain hidden implications, ”The clan had proactively entered Faen to help Lady Alice obtain that Staff of Divination. If this goal is accomplished, Lady Alice might have a chance to rise and become a Second Grade Witch of Fate. When that happens, my Lady, your grade superiority will no longer be an advantage on the side of Lord Greem.”

Mary’s crimson pupils suddenly shrunk.

”If, my Lady, you agree, this loyal subject of yours might be able to find a way to have Alice killed in the central mountains.”

”No!”

Mary’s voice suddenly turned cold and chilly. She abruptly stood up in the blood pool and hovered in the air with a single beat of her large bat wings. Large splashes of blood reverberated and rose into the air. Not only did they not fall back to the pool, they even curled and wrapped around Mary’s curvaceous body, strangely forming into a crimson armor.

The old fox Vanlier was blown away by the violent blood powers. He spat out blood in midair and slammed down upon the ground ten steps away, almost completely incapacitated.

”Vanlier, do not challenge my patience. I might not like that Alice, but I still know what can be done and what should never be done. If Alice enters the central mountains, then Greem is sure to follow. You trying to plan Alice’s death would be including Greem within your calculations. Oh, I see. You don’t want to live any longer!”

When the Bloody Queen raged, those within the room were stunned and panicked!

The three blood knights cast away the beauties in their embrace and kneeled upon the ground, silently waiting for their master’s orders. Old Fox Vanlier also forced himself to get up, but he didn’t try to defend himself. Instead, he crouched wordlessly upon the ground and waited for his master’s judgment.

Mary’s crimson eyes flashed with a glint of anger. They were fixed upon Vanlier. Through the Shackles of Blood and her blood essence, she could clearly sense that Vanlier’s suggestion was only in consideration of her. There was no malice in them.

If it weren’t for that, the one blood pulse from earlier would have robbed Vanlier of his life.

As her subordinate blood slaves, the lives of Vanlier and the three blood knights were completely within Mary’s control. Life and death depended on a single thought of hers.

She swept across the room with chilling eyes. Her sudden anger only started to subside when she saw how obedient and docile Vanlier was being.

”Rise, all of you!” The coldness in Mary’s voice gradually faded, ”Remember; from now onwards, apart from my orders, you all have to obey Greem’s orders to your death. That is my request and my order as well! With blood as the contract, so it is established!”

”Understood, all will be as my Lady commands!”

With the full responses of the blood slaves, a faint crimson halo rippled out from their bodies.

It was clearly the origin blood contract taking effect!

”Very good,” Mary nodded her head in satisfaction, ”You go out and prepare. We will be setting out in an hour. Our target is the Garan Continent!”

”Understood!”

…………

Inside another sinister and terrifying secret room onboard the flying ship.

Erected within the room was a massive bug’s nest. Countless corpses and bones were piled up around the blood-splattered, sticky bug’s nest.

If one were to be brutally honest, apart from some of the higher quality elves being picked out and imprisoned, Bug Adept Billis had requested most of the prisoners from the last battle at the village. They had become the blood ritual sacrifice for this massive bug’s nest.

Sadly, the numbers of these elves were still insufficient. They were incapable of satisfying the needs of the new larvae to continue growing and strengthening. With no other choice left to him, Billis could only pull back the sleeves of his robe and extend his left arm into the bug’s nest to be devoured by the larvae.

Finally, with the loud and wicked hissings of bugs, the larvae were hatched!

The bug’s nest split apart, and several juvenile bugs of a new species emerged from within.

There were twenty-one of them in total. They were only the size of a wash basin and had flat, long bodies. Their appearance greatly resembled mantises. However, their size was several times that of the mantises in nature. They were also countless times more terrifying than ordinary mantises.

These were a new species of bug that Bug Adept Billis had successfully modified after much research– the Rippers. They looked like mantises and fought like them as well. However, compared to mantises, their speed and the effect of their slashes were exceptional!

They were utterly black. The mantis shells appeared to be an onyx color, faintly flashing with a unique metallic sheen. They had two pairs of thin, semi-translucent wings on their backs, one set big and the other small. These gave them incomparably swift speeds. Three pairs of exceedingly sharp arthropod limbs existed beneath their stomachs, allowing them to climb on the ground at very high speeds.

The terrifying aspect of the Rippers was the pair of scythe-shaped forelimbs at the front of their bodies. These limbs were densely lined with sharp sawtooth edges. When they waved these limbs about in the air, they could even create a series of afterimages, along with the fearsome sound of the air being slashed apart.

The moment they appeared, these Rippers immediately swarmed toward the only surviving seven sting scorpions and started to attack.

The two swarms of bugs started a deathly battle in front of Bug Adept Billis.

Finally, the newly hatched Rippers successfully exterminated the sting scorpions with their absolute numerical advantage and the strange Execute effect of their sharp front limbs. What came next was a banquet and feast to be fought over. The scene was bloody and cruel, but there was a sense that this was merely a matter of course!

The new bug generals had been born, but sharpening their fangs and jaws would still require more flesh and blood.

Billis rubbed his bug-like chin with his remaining right arm. He finally made up his mind. It was time to go out into the Garan to make a living of his own!

His lord was already a powerful Second Grade fire adept. Yet Billis, as his subordinate, was not only incapable of being his right or left arm, but he was even falling behind. At this point, he had even been forced out of the ranks of the first tier fighters.

Such a reality infuriated and upset Billis and caused him to feel an immense sense of danger.

If things continued at this rate, he would eventually end up as a bug summoner used exclusively to exhaust the enemy. That was not in line with his original intentions to continue growing stronger.

Billis made his decision at the moment the new bug army was formed!