Age of Adepts

Greem had always been the most mysterious character within the Crimson Clan!

As the founder of the Crimson Clan, Greem had the prestige of being known as a legendary fire adept. He was also one of the few powerful adepts who had managed to advance to Third Grade before they were two hundred years old.

There were even private rumors that Greem possessed a dragon plane. It was said that he had defeated a Third Grade adept as a Second Grade and that he had an intimate relationship with one of the witch leaders of the Northern Witches.

When so many rumors gathered upon a rising adept like him, it was enough to turn him into a powerful adept who was envied, admired, and respected by all. Naturally, a powerful adept like that was what people would follow and admire.

That was why Greem had always been a ‘god’ of sorts within the clan!

However, he never really showed himself, choosing instead to indulge in his research and magic. He rarely ever involved himself in the specifics of clan matters. That was why many newly recruited Crimson adepts had not even had the chance to see him even once.

However, this did not hinder their admiration or respect for him.

In their hearts, Clan Leader Greem was omnipotent and could not be defeated!

That was why an overwhelming will to fight erupted from their hearts when they saw Greem personally descending in such a dominating fashion. The adepts all started cheering and shouting.

“Long live Lord Greem!”

“Our clan leader is undefeated!”

For a moment, a loud wave of cheers rose through the sky as the entire fort fell into a celebration.

Greem and the Third Grade beholder hadn’t even started fighting, but the Crimson Clan was behaving as if victory was in their hands. Their fervent behavior instantly brought the atmosphere of the battlefield to a boiling point.

Greem released the newly forged Third Grade elementium magical machine at the start of the battle and even placed a new miniature magic generator furnace into its core. With two against one, they had the Third Grade beholder at a complete disadvantage.

Kirkburn squirmed anxiously with hiss eyestalks waving more urgently as the eyes opened and shut.

As the only Third Grade magical creature lord of this stretch of the Black Forest, Kirkburn possessed tremendous power and authority. Of the two dozen Second Grade magical creatures running around the battlefield, eight were mind slaves of his.

Unfortunately, two of them had become sacrifices of the war in the skirmish earlier, dying at the hands of the human adepts. The lazy and cautious behavior of the other second Grade magical creature lords also infuriated Kirkburn.

That was why he had personally appeared on the battlefield to use his immense powers to crush these outsiders that didn’t know better.

However, that wish of his was unlikely to come true now.

That was because a powerful individual that made him feel a trace of fear had suddenly appeared and was standing in his way. Moreover, that person…that person had actually summoned an equally powerful Third Grade.

Kirkburn smacked his lips. He couldn’t think of a word to describe this towering magical machine golem before him.

A metal construct, an elementium golem, or a combination of both?

Before he could come to a conclusion, the gigantic magical machine golem controlled by the human adept roared and charged at him.

What did it feel like when the earth quaked and the mountains trembled? What did it feel like when the sky was collapsing, and the ground was splitting apart?

Kirkburn immediately understood what these felt like when the machine golem moved.

The two-meter body of the elementium machine was relatively small compared to most metal constructs, but it still weighed as much as seventy tons. When it sprinted across the earth toward the beholder, every one of its footsteps would leave a deep crater in the firm dirt.

All the beasts and magical creatures that failed to escape from its path were instantly crushed to pulp beneath its feet, sticking to its soles as their remains were scattered across the earth. The ones that narrowly escaped death were also knocked around by the quaking of the earth and could not flee quickly.

The elementium magical machine raised its right arm as it charged at the beholder. Its elementium hand vanished abruptly, revealing a black cannon barrel beneath.

The next second, dense fire elementium gathered within the cannon, forming a concentrated fireball the size of a fist before it shot quickly at the beholder, spiraling through the air as it did so.

It only took 0.3 seconds for the fireball to crash into the beholder’s energy forcefield and erupt into a blinding cluster of flames.

The forcefield blocked most of the flame shockwaves, but the remaining energy waves still pushed the beholder away.

Five hundred and ten points!

Kirkburn’s heart tightened when he saw this.

The opponent’s strange golem was able to inflict an attack of over five hundred points so easily. It caused Kirkburn to lose confidence in the battle today for the first time.

The battle that ensued went just as Kirkburn had predicted. He was immediately trapped in a difficult fight.

The power of a beholder came from its magical beams that could bypass any defense.

The seven or eight eyestalks could simultaneously fire magical beams of different colors and attributes. Each one of them could inflict extreme pain and torture on the enemy.

Ray of Enfeeblement.

Ray of Blindness.

Ray of Chaos.

Ray of Fear.

Scorching Ray.

Frost Ray.

Ray of SLowing.

These various unique powers and weakening effects added together upon the victim. Though they were not that powerful individually, together, they could make life a living hell for the opponent.

However, these magical beams were unprecedentedly awkward when used against an elementium magical machine.

The elementium magical machine was immune to all adverse mental effects. Meanwhile, those insignificant offensive powers could not even break through its outer energy forcefield. With a miniaturized magic generator furnace as its source of power, the elementium magical machine’s energy forcefield reached up to eight hundred points of strength. Moreover, it would never face the possibility of running out of energy.

It also meant that Kirkburn would not be able to break through the energy forcefield without an attack of over eight hundred points of power. How could the beholder’s compound attacks compare to the miniaturized magic generator furnace when it came destructiveness and sustainability!?

The elementium magical machine immediately forced the Third Grade beholder away the moment it appeared on the battlefield. Their attacks caused sparks to fly everywhere when they crashed against each other’s forcefields. Unfortunately, it was evident that the elementium magical machine’s shield was tougher, and its attacks more severe.

After just two rounds of attacks, Kirkburn felt a chill in his heart.

He could not even move the machine, yet the machine was causing his forcefield to crackle and snap, crumbling at the edges. If it weren’t for his many eyestalks and rapid regeneration, he would be utterly exposed to the machine’s attacks.

Though he still had a layer of fine scales on his body to defend against elementium and physical damage, that was his last layer of defense. Kirkburn didn’t want to use his body to test the enemy’s ferocious fire unless it was absolutely necessary.

Since he couldn’t do anything about this golem, then he would assault its owner!

The human adept’s defense couldn’t be as impenetrable as this golem’s, could it?!

His eyestalks flashed forward like whips, smacking away two fireballs hurling toward him. He then froze the ground beneath the golem with a Frost Ray and vanished from the spot as his body trembled.

[Warning, warning. Detecting unusual spatial flux. Scans suggest it to be pinpoint teleportation magic. Teleportation coordinates are: XXX, XXX.]

Greem, who had been watching coldly from two hundred meters away, smiled faintly. His body blurred as he flashed fifty meters away. Three dozen meter-long eyestalks whistled through the air and slashed at his previous position just as he left.

The beholder emerged from the spatial layers, regaining his vision and locking onto Greem’s position once more.

Three of the eight eyestalks dangling around it fired out beams of Frost Rays, trying their best to slow down the machine’s charge. Meanwhile, the other five turned and bombarded Greem.

In truth, Kirkburn himself was within Greem’s Burning Domain while attacking him. The fire elementium that had mysteriously gathered in the air turned into terrifying magical flames, sizzling and crackling as they burned away at his forcefield.

The two hundred points of fire damage were not significant, but the domain was a constant source of magical damage. Kirkburn felt the tremendous pressure even with his immense power.

This amount of fire damage was nothing if he could end the fight quickly. However, if it dragged on, two hundred points of fire damage per second was no small deal, even for the beholder.

Greem was not in a hurry to rally with the elementium magical machine. He pulled himself together and started his first battle against an enemy of the same grade since his advancement.

At this moment, Greem had a set of fire armor around him, perfectly protecting his body.

He didn’t look like an adept now, but a mighty warrior of flames. He had flame armor on, with an inferno shield and fire spear in his hands. He casually dodged left and right while counterattacking against the barrage of magical beams.

A web of magical rays shot toward him in front of his gleaming blue eyes. Though the gaps between the beams were small, there was still space for Greem to weave between them.

If Greem possessed Mary’s exceptional Agility and inhuman reflexes, he could casually stroll through the rain of fire. However, his Agility did not allow his body to perform such complex movements. He had to rely on the small fire jets hidden all over the fire armor to rapidly blink away from the zone of the beholder’s attacks.

Meanwhile, his counterattacks were the fire spears formed by Fire Molding, occasionally mixed with some Third Grade Vicious Fireballs. The more powerful Meteor Burst took too much time to chant. Thus, Greem decisively gave up on casting the spell.

Kirkburn instantly felt heavy pressure the moment the fight started!