Age of Adepts

As the battle on the ground slowly became a stalemate, the mothership hovering in the sky started to move.

Goblin Adept Locke stood before the main control panel in the mothership, dressed in sharp military garb. He held his hand over a turquoise button, slowly moving the firing cross onto the muscular figure beneath.

After all these years of training, he had finally become an advanced Second Grade magical mechanic. He’d also had the fortune to be promoted to the commander of the Versailles. Blood Elf Archer Sandor was also an intermediate Second Grade now and served as Commander Locke’s personal assistant.

The battle on the ground raged on. As the Versailles’ commander, Locke no longer needed to be personally involved in these ‘lowly’ ground battles.

He only had to sit comfortably in this neat command center and give instructions to the hundreds of goblin mechanics across this metal beast.

Once everything was prepared, Locke pressed the communication crystal in his right ear and shouted hastily, “Calling for Sir Billis……calling for Sir Billis; this is Commander Locke of the Versailles. Please reply if you hear this, Sir Billis!”

A short moment later, Billis’ unique, deep hissing voice could be heard.

“What’s happening? Can’t you see I’m busy? Whatever you have to say, spit it out.”

“Sir Billis, Versailles’ giant magic energy cannon is done charging. We can fire at any time. The power of the shot is estimated at around 4200 points of power, with an estimated impact radius of 115 meters. Please distance yourself from the target, or you will be within impact radius!”

“Just fire at will! If I back off, do you think your clumsy cannon can hit a peak Third Grade bloodline adept? Just fire. I will leave behind some of my swarm to keep him still. Remember, make sure you hit him; this might be your only chance.”

“Understood! Attack will begin in ten seconds. Please prepare evasive maneuver, sir!”

“Ten…nine…eight…seven……”

A loud countdown echoed in the command center.

When the final ‘one’ rang out, Locke slammed his hand down against the button to fire without hesitation.

Mothership Versailles trembled in the skies. A five-meter-thick black beam shot straight towards the ground, completely engulfing Scarface Gallow within its radius.

Horrifyingly powerful magic energy was bound within that black pillar of light. The beam disintegrated all substances that it came into contact with as it shot downward.

When the black light reached him, the distorted forcefield around Gallow only held for half a second before shattering into pieces. The black light landed directly on his body. Smoldering black smoke rose from his intricate magical armor, his tan skin, and his withered hair. His body itself started to disintegrate and fall apart.

Moreover, when the black light hit Gallow, it instantly killed the hundreds and thousands of black beetles all around him. The black light that shot past Gallow’s body continued to drill into the ground, vaporizing the tons of dirt, rocks, and sediment, creating an endless abyss on the spot.

What was this…this terrifying blast magic energy!?

Gallow turned around to look, an expression of twisted terror on his ugly face. He immediately took a step forward in an attempt to escape the black beam.

However, while he prepared to apply force and leap away, a shocking number of black beetles braved the beam of energy and swarmed him, turning into black chains wrapped around him and restraining his movements.

“Bastard…do you want to die already?” Gallow was furious. He swung his magical sword, instantly slicing the chains into carapace shards. From the corner of his eye, he could see Bug Adept Billis quickly fleeing, surrounded by a hundred of his high-grade insect servants.

“No……”

Scarface Gallow instantly understood.

That damned Bug Adept Billis had already made the decision to keep him restrained. He was even willing to cast aside all of his insect army to do so, only escaping with his high-grade servants.

The insects hissed and swarmed towards Gallow, despite having been abandoned and used as sacrificial pawns. Even as the energy blast vaporized tens of thousands of their kin, they continued forward with no fear or hesitation.

Obviously, their actions had put Gallow in a terrible spot!

All matter was quickly being disassembled and disintegrated under that ferocious beam of magic energy. Three seconds later, a scorched figure, almost half-melted, struggled out of the black beam. They stumbled and kneeled upon the ground.

If it weren’t for the strange magical sword that the scorched figure had gripped tightly in his hands, even Billis wouldn’t have been able to recognize what this shapeless ‘thing’ was.

The might of the mothership’s main cannon was incredible. Even a Fourth Grade adept had to be careful around it. A Third Grade adept like Gallow? If not for him still being close to peak condition, it not for him having an undead body, and if not for him having tremendous magic resistance, Gallow would have been reduced to dust already.

In all seriousness, what saved Gallow was none other than the three body parts that he had grafted from the corpse of the Fallen Emperor he found: the Spine of the Undead, the Withered Heart, and the Hand of Death.

These three body parts from the Fallen Emperor had reached the standard of an immortal body. They were also the sources of power that pushed Gallow’s Physique, Strength, and magic resistance to such heights. Most of Gallow’s body parts had already been melted and destroyed in the face of such surging magic energy. Only these three body parts had kept Gallow alive, due to the unique Fourth Grade forcefield that rose around them.

It was unfortunate that this patchwork ‘immortal body’ of Gallow’s was not complete. Otherwise, he would not have been so grievously injured by that concentrated energy blast. He would have been able to escape with a few minor wounds.

Strike while the enemy was down!

Upon seeing how ravaged and injured Gallow was, Bills immediately turned back. His entire body erupted into a swarm of black insects, each buzzing loudly as they lunged back toward the battlefield.

Magical mantises, Voidreavers, Slayers, and a dozen more types of insects charged forth, slipping into the shadows, disappearing into the wind, or simply leaping forward. They descended upon Gallow like a dark cloud.

Gallow lifted his burned face. Only half of his head was left now. He held back the boiling embers of rage within him and slapped his chest. Most of the flesh on his chest had been carbonized, revealing his steel-like ribs beneath.

Through those scorched bones, one could see that gray heart lying silently within, cold and unmoving.

It was the Withered Heart that Gallow had transplanted into himself!

It was a shame that the violent energy blast had ultimately managed to penetrate the forcefields generated by the undead body parts. Not only had Gallow’s flesh been burned away, but a small corner of the Withered Heart had also been scorched.

Both the Withered Heart and the Spine of the Undead had received damage of varying degrees. Moreover, such damage was irreversible and irreparable.

If Greem were here, he would be happy to realize that Gallow, who previously had 39 points of Strength, now only had 37 points remaining. His Physique had also slipped from 34 points to 32 points.

It wasn’t in reference to his energy reserves, which could fluctuate at any time. No, these were his actual base attributes!

The points that he just lost could not be regained through food, rest, or nourishment. The loss in attributes represented the loss in origin power from the ‘immortal body parts’ that Gallow had transplanted. It was a permanent loss of origin power.

For Gallow, who wanted nothing more than to advance to Fourth Grade, this tragedy was an unbearable agony upon his heart!

However, no matter how pained and furious he was, surviving was his utmost priority at the moment.

Gallow shocked his Withered Heart and activated a Talisman of Escape he had hidden within. The next second, his body fell apart. The flesh and bones appeared to be released from the death energy that kept them together and scattered across the ground.

Thirty seconds later, all the flesh and bone melted down into puddles of black liquid, which slowly seeped into the dirt and vanished without a trace.

Gallow managed to escape in the end.

…………

The invasion of the Dener Clan had provoked the Crimson Clan into an all-out resistance.

The border where the two Fourth Grade clans were connected had turned into a battlefield so chaotic and messy–where advances were made and losses sustained at every hour–that no one could predict how the war would pan out.

On the one hand, the Crimson Clan was quickly mobilizing its forces to defend important resource sites, mystic realms, and restricted areas. On the other hand, they were sending out numerous elite parties to ambush and hunt down the Dener Clan forces that had penetrated deep into Ailovis.

Ambushes, traps, reinforcements, interception, counter-interception: all sorts of battle broke out along the vast tens of thousands of kilometers of Ailovis land, centered around the Crimson Clan’s strategic locations. Schemes, conspiracies, and plans unfolded one after another, turning this once peaceful land into a bloody slaughterhouse where adepts spilled their blood.

First Grade adepts were no more than obedient soldiers and cannon fodder in a war of this scale. Only Second Grade adepts and above could be considered vital forces in this conflict. However, to truly dominate a region of the battlefield, a Third Grade adept was required.

Given the typical flow of adept wars in the Central Lands, Third Grade adepts were considered ultimate weapons that could decide the conclusion of a war. Fourth Grade adepts, on the other hand, were nuclear weapons meant for a truly apocalyptic war.

The moment Fourth Grade adepts appeared, there would no longer be any concept of victory or defeat. The only things left would be death and survival!

When it came to overall power, the Crimson Clan’s accumulation was a little lacking compared to the Dener Clan due to their relatively recent rise. However, the quantity and quality of Third Grade adepts in the Crimson Clan was undoubtedly superior.

That was why the Dener Clan was able to catch the Crimson Clan by surprise with a sudden war. They launched a full-scale invasion into Ailovis and managed to conquer nearly a thousand square kilometers of land with their better-trained foot soldiers.

However, as the Crimson Clan managed to stabilize themselves and retaliate, the Dener Clan’s advances were rapidly halted. The flames of war spread out over five thousand kilometers as hundreds of battles broke out simultaneously.

For a moment, the west border of Ailovis had become a vicious battlefield where adepts from both clans waged conflicts of life and death!