Age of Adepts

Greem and the others had only left Witherwater City for half a month, yet everything here had become so unfamiliar.

The once blue skies had turned a dark red. Strange and brilliant elementium ribbons floated and hovered in the air, entangled with each other and forming a beautiful, though terrifying, scene.

All the orcs within five hundred kilometers of the city had either been captured by the witches or had fled for more remote locations. It was the only reason this bizarre scenery had yet to been discovered by the orcs.

Greem lifted his head and looked at the wandering lights that had almost descended onto the roof of the orc council hall before entering. He couldn’t help but sigh to himself. The orcs didn’t have much time left!

These wondrous, beautiful, and seemingly phantasmal prismatic lights weren’t intangible substances; they indeed did exist.

They were mainly formed of the magical elementium leaking from within Witherwater City. It was a sign that the sacrificial ceremony that the Death Witches had been preparing had already started. It was only to avoid alerting the orcs and drawing them out into a full-force confrontation that the ceremony had not been completely put into motion.

Death Witch Khesuna waited casually inside the council hall, not a single expression on her delicate and cold face. It wasn’t the first time Greem had wondered if Khesuna had turned her body into an existence similar to corpse princesses.

Otherwise, given the tendency for Death Witches to come into contact with and absorb negative energy, her flesh and blood should not be preserved in such a perfect state. Of course, one couldn’t dismiss the possibility that Khesuna practiced some secret technique to maintain her appearance and prevent it from being corroded by the negative energy.

That said, a Death Witch refusing to embrace the power of death completely went against the essence of what it was to be a Death Witch. That was why Greem was reasonably confident that what lay beneath Khesuna’s pretty face and skin was not living flesh, but wholly dead and rotten meat.

The smell of her corpse rot could probably be detected from miles away if she didn’t conceal it with secret methods!

It was this understanding that allowed Greem to not be enchanted by Khesuna’s ice-beauty looks. The most valuable thing to a Fourth Grade Death Witch was her terrifying Fourth Grade death powers, not this sack of skin or her looks.

A trace of anger rose in Khesuna’s heart as she watched Greem and Alice walk into the hall, side by side.

How was this Alice so useless?! She hadn’t seemed to have managed to charm the male adept and had instead been charmed by him. How was a witch like this qualified to be one of the leaders?

That was a thought shared by all Northern Witches!

Those who could enjoy luxury and glory in the Northern Lands could only be powerful witches. Meanwhile, the male adepts were either subordinates or concubines. They were strictly prevented from ever achieving status above the Northern Witches.

This extreme and perverted ideal of ‘witch supremacy’ was, in truth, the mainstream belief of all Northern Witches!

What about romantic relationships between men and women, and feelings of love? These fake things did not exist in the minds of most Northern Witches at all. If it weren’t out of consideration for their own biological needs and their requirement for descendants, most of the Northern Witches would probably seal off the Northern Lands and forbid any male adepts from entering their territory and seducing the more weak-willed young witches.

From Khesuna’s perspective, Alice failing to manipulate this male adept in the palm of her hands, despite being the leader of the Fate Witches, was already a failure on her part. Not to mention that she was placing herself on the same level as him; these were all signs that Alice was being corrupted and falling toward depravity!

Still, Alice was a leader of a witch faction after all. She might still be at Second Grade, but she had the same amount of authority as Khesuna on the Witch Council. Though upset, Khesuna did not show her emotions. Instead, she appeared all the more calm and collected.

“You’ve come back so quickly. Could it be that you have finished the mission I assigned to you?”

Her tone was cold and void of any warmth.

Still, for a Fourth Grade witch, this was already a sufficiently ‘gentle’ attitude toward Greem and Alice! Any other Second Grade adept would not even have the chance to stand straight before Khesuna.

Do not assume that this Fourth Grade witch was just a small girl because of her delicate looks and beautiful appearance. The memory of her standing proudly upon Fourth Grade Corpse Dragon Artest’s back while battling another Fourth Grade dragon was still engraved in Greem’s mind, fresh as when he first saw it. He dared not forget that scene!

“It has been completed,” Alice smiled gently, “These are the things we brought back with us.”

At her motion, Greem waved his hands, and three animal-hide flags filled with orcish flavor appeared in the center of the hall. The orc council hall was immediately engulfed in a savage and primal aura the moment the flags appeared. Everyone’s ears could vaguely hear the desolate and deep drumming sounds of the orcs.

The flags of the Warhammer, Dhaka, and Platerock tribes.

Khesuna nodded expressionlessly, once again acknowledging their results.

Of the dozen witch forces they had sent out, Alice’s troops were the first to complete the mission and return to Witherwater City. In all seriousness, their mission hadn’t been the hardest one. However, it wasn’t the easiest one, either. The fact that Alice had managed to arrive before all the other groups indirectly demonstrated the strength and efficiency of her group.

It was important to note that there were indeed Third Grade witches among some of those other groups. Meanwhile, there were no other high-grade adepts in Alice’s group apart from the arrogant Third Grade thunder dragon.

Since they had managed to complete their mission, they should naturally obtain the reward they deserved!

Khesuna flipped her palm, and three magical balls of various colors hovered before her.

“These are the three pieces of high-grade knowledge we agreed upon beforehand. You can take them away with you now. Remember, you are only allowed to show this knowledge to members of the witches. You are not to spread them to any others.”

A brilliant flame flickered in Greem’s black eyes while he stood silently behind Alice. His heart couldn’t help but be moved by Khesuna’s words.

These were the only three pieces of high-grade knowledge that he was currently lacking.

Once he got his hands on them, becoming a Third Grade adept would only be a matter of time!

Perhaps because she sensed the passion burning in Greem, Alice glanced at him slightly and reminded him to remain calm with her eyes. She then stepped forward and took the three magical balls of light.

“Since you have achieved your goal here, will you still be participating in the upcoming battle? If you are willing to continue fighting for us Death Witches, I still have some things you might be able to use here with me.”

This time, Khesuna took out a strange magical lamp. All sorts of mysterious patterns had been engraved on the antique lamp. The magical aura radiating it was the power of Fate that she so desired.

“Destiny Guide.” Alice practically moaned when she spoke the name of the lamp. Judging from her appearance, she was stuck in a great internal struggle, full of reluctance.

Destiny Guide was a piece of magical fate equipment passed down by the ancient witches.

This item might not be of any use in the hands of other adepts, but in the hands of a Fate Witch like Alice, it could unleash resounding might no weaker than a pseudo-artifact.

If Alice could personally light up this magical fate equipment while she traversed the long river of Fate, she would never get lost in its crossroads.

The Destiny Guide would be able to safely bring her soul back to her body regardless of how dangerous the situation she had found herself in!

That was the true meaning of the existence of Destiny Guide!

Finally, Alice’s longing gaze shifted away from the magical lamp. She said decisively and firmly, “No, thanks. The power of us Fate Witches is not enough to participate in the upcoming battle. I wish to return to the World of Adepts as soon as possible!”

Greem, who was standing behind Alice, hesitated a few times. In the end, he decided against speaking his thoughts.

“Very well, then!” Khesuna put on a slight smile and said: “You and your men have to stay in Witherwater City for another three days. We will be hosting our sacrificial ceremony three days from now. Before the ceremony begins, we will open an ultra-long-range portal to send away some of our forces. You may choose to leave at that time. Very well; you may leave and go rest now. Remember, do not take a single step out of where you stay in the three days you will be spending in the city. Otherwise, we Death Witches will not be responsible for any accidents that occur.”

Khesuna was truly not jesting.

By the time Greem and Alice returned to the orc manor from last time with the other clan members, the doors were already guarded by a group of undead.

The manor was large, but when you stuffed a hundred magical machines and several dozen magic energy chariots into the place, there would no longer be enough space to stand, let alone sleep. Fortunately, the magical machines didn’t need a place to rest. The one dozen goblins packed themselves in a single room and barely managed to make enough space for the Crimson adepts.

However, this time, the orc servants and maids in the manor had all vanished without a trace. If it weren’t for Arms always bringing four beautiful maids with him, Greem and the adepts would probably be unable to even find a cook in the kitchen.

Once they had returned to the manor and retreated into their room, Greem looked up at the dark red sky. He couldn’t help but ask Alice, “Why did you reject Khesuna? That item seems like it would have been a tremendous help to you!”

Alice stopped by the door and shook her head silently. She didn’t turn back as she spoke, “It’s not worth it! It doesn’t matter how important a piece of equipment is. It will never be as important as our own lives.”

“You mean to say that there will be danger here?” Greem was shocked.

“Not that it will, but that it must!” Alice softly laughed as she said, “Don’t you underestimate those gods just because of how easy the past few days have been. If the gods were to unleash their true might, then we would be no more than some slightly stronger ants!”

Greem fell silent for a moment before nodding his head.

He was already somewhat feeling the loss of control at this stage of the planar war.

There was no doubt that the Beast God Aruger would exact wild and reckless revenge against the witches once he realized their true intentions. When that happened, the war here would most definitely escalate in severity.

At that time, even Fourth Grade witches might not be the ones directing the flow of the battlefield. Second Grade adepts like themselves would probably end up being just like what Alice had described– only slightly stronger ants on a vast battlefield!

It was best to leave as soon as possible.

Greem immediately dismissed all thought of watching the spectacle. An intense desire to retreat had taken its place.