Age of Adepts

“Cerveris…this is an internal conflict of our Zhentarim. What is it? Does your Adept’s Association intend to intervene as well?”

Greem instantly recognized his opponent and remarked coldly.

He gathered a prismatic ball of flame in his palm as he questioned the enemy, brushing it over the black wormcurse on his chest. Where the fire burned, the black spots faded away. The wormcurse let out a strange cry, almost like that of a living creature. It then turned into a puff of black smoke and vanished without a trace.

Upon seeing Greem dispelling his wormcurse with fire laws, Cerveris couldn’t help but start cackling coldly.

“You can drop all the nonsense. Weren’t you a real arrogant snob back at the Adept’s Association? You even beat up that brat, Olivia. I represent only myself today– no relation to the Adept’s Association whatsoever. I simply don’t like you and want to teach you a lesson. How about that?”

Cerveris was a short male adept. His back was hunched over and curved like a bow. He had a hooked nose, ghostly green eyes, and when he smiled, you could see the black and yellowed teeth in his mouth. He had gone almost entirely bald. There was only a sparse ring of sickly yellow hair around his scalp.

He wore a pure black robe on his person, adorned with all sorts of magical gemstones. With his every movement, the jewels would gleam and reflect blinding light, making it difficult to stare straight at him.

Most elementium adepts became greatly affected by the law powers they continually studied and assimilated at the Fourth Grade level. Their appearances, bodies, and even their manners would begin to change. Cerveris was known for his curse magic. As such, he also used special magical techniques to modify his body and turn its attribute into voodoo poison.

In doing so, his Physique became more compatible with his innate magical talents!

However, this also resulted in an undesired consequence. His voodoo poison body was corrupted by the laws of darkness and became twisted beyond recognition. Moreover, this corruption occurred at the level of the laws. It was impossible to undo the corruption through ordinary means.

That was why dark adepts that studied necromancy, curses, voodoo poison, or agony magic often had hideous appearances. They had all been affected by their law powers!

When Cerveris emerged like the gargoyle he was, the adepts of the Central Lands frowned. Hesitation appeared in their eyes.

Even though Cerveris had made it very clear that his assault on Greem was a personal action, he was still the most notorious ultra-powerhouse of the Adept’s Association. It wasn’t easy to separate his personal activities from the Adept’s Association’s stance.

If the battle earlier had only been a civil war within Zhentarim, the appearance of Cerveris had changed the nature of this war!

At this point, it wasn’t just the adepts of the Central Lands that hesitated. Even Mornashen, who had just been engaged in violent combat, couldn’t help but pause in doubt.

He did not like Greem or the Crimson Clan’s forceful rise to power. That was why he had decided to teach this young Fourth Grade adept a lesson when Chairman Freed extended him an invitation to do so. However, to work with an outsider against an adept of the Central Lands was out of the question. Mornashen frowned, anger and fury taking over his face.

Greem looked around him, his eyes sweeping past the faces of the adepts present. He then said, “Cerveris, even if you want to intervene in the affairs of the Central Lands, don’t you think you should ask for the approval of some people here? Chairman Freed, what are your thoughts on this?”

Greem casually kicked the ball over to Chairman Freed, who had a helpless look on his face.

When he heard Greem call him out, the frown grew even wider. However, he had to take a stance at a moment like this.

After a moment’s hesitation, Freed stood forward and said resentfully, “Greem, ever since you advanced to Fourth Grade, you have constantly disrupted the proper order of Zhentarim. It has drawn the ire of all of your equals in the Central Lands. Everyone has gathered here to crusade against your tyranny and recklessness. That is why…I believe that Cerveris is justified in joining this battle!”

“Seconded!” Vice-Chairman Mirva also stepped forth, “This war was caused solely by your foolish actions. There is no division of Zhentarim and the outside world in this war. Greem, don’t think you can escape judgment just by bringing up tensions between the different organizations!”

“Indeed!”

“If you are fearful, then admit your defeat now. As long as you lower your head, surrender, and sign a contract discontinuing your expansion, we will still allow you to remain in the Central Lands!” Nicolas and Matthew, who had always been more cowardly than the others, jumped out at the same time and fed the flame.

Surprisingly, it was Adept Kerala–who had always been quick to act–who remained silent and speechless.

Greem couldn’t care less about these clowns.

The only people here right now that were a threat to him were the so-called ‘ultra-powerhouses’!

Greem’s gaze fixated upon his opponent, Mornashen. He silently waited for him to take a stand.

Mornashen had managed to heal all the wounds on his body with that short rest. His injured Titan body was now as unchanged as it had been before the fight.

He looked around the battlefield and shook his colossal body. A blinding flash of golden light shone as he reverted to his original, three-meter size.

“Ptoo!” Mornashen spat, his spit flying through the air with the speed of a bullet and punching a deep hole into the ground. “I’m not as shameless as you people! Even if it’s a war, it’s a war between us Central Land adepts. What is the damned point if you call for foreign help? I am done with today’s battle. You people are free to fight however you like. I am out!”

Having said that, Mornashen ignored Freed and the other adepts’ purple faces. He waved his sleeve at them and turned away, vanishing from the battlefield in a matter of a few jumps.

“Kehkehkehe! Who would’ve thought that there were still a few fellows with some spine here in the Central Lands? He’s free to leave. It’s not going to make a difference. Come here, come here, come here. Your name is Greem, isn’t it? Come! Let this great one trade a few blows with you. Let’s see what you are really made of, eh? Instead of you relying on your two artifacts to brush those Central adepts aside,” Cerveris then turned around and said, “You lot! I’m helping you people to get rid of a big problem today, eh? You’re not going to stand by and just watch, are you? Come, come. Everyone, strike together and take down this Greem fella!”

Cerveris immediately extended a right hand as scrawny as a chicken’s leg and drew three sickly green runes in the air.

The runes glowed with a pale green light when they were completed and vanished on the spot.

A few hundred meters away, Greem felt a chill run through his body. Three unusual runes appeared directly on his blazing body. If it weren’t for the quad-colored law defense around him, the three runes would have entered his body and reached straight for the core of his power.

[Beep. Host has been attacked by curse runes. Initial estimates suggest the runes’ effects to be: Decrepification, Blindness, and Confusion.

[Rune attacks have been stopped by law defense. Effectiveness has been halved. Host will suffer from Decrepification (-5 Physique), Blindness (unable to see anything, range of spiritual senses halved), and Confusion (unable to visually lock on to enemy targets. Chance for a spiritual lock on to fail.).

[Curse duration: 7 seconds.]

Dammit! What terrifying curses!

It was important to note that Greem’s Fourth Grade magic resistance and law defense had already made him impervious to most curse magic. Even the occasional curse that could affect him typically could not last for more than a third of a second. He had never experienced curses like those from Cerveris. Every one of them was so potent and persisted for so long.

Seven seconds. And that was with the law defense mitigating half of its power! These curses were probably able to completely reduce an ordinary adept’s Physique by half and then turn them into a blind madman.

Cerveris snorted when he saw Greem’s prismatic barrier neutralize half of the curse runes’ power. He reached into the air and pulled out a black wooden staff. His silhouette flickered, and he appeared right beside Greem. He lifted his hand, and a barrage of shadow arrows shot out.

Greem sensed Cerveris approach, but with the curse placed on him, it was almost as if his eyes had been covered with a black cloth. He could not see anything at all. His spiritual senses were also poorly oriented due to the Curse of Confusion. He could not determine whether the presence he had locked onto was the actual opponent.

Greem had no choice. The flames around him surged as he leaped a thousand meters away with Fire Teleportation.

At that moment, Freed and the other adepts hesitated for a moment. However, their faces twisted in hesitation as they made up their minds. They took out their magical equipment and prepared to attack Greem.

However, Mary, Arms, Shadow Demon, Remi, and the magical golem dragon wouldn’t just sit by and watch this happen. Their bodies flashed with color as they charged forward.

Adept Kerala watched as everyone charged forward. She alone remained motionless, her brows fixed in a deep furrow. Freed couldn’t help but speak sternly to her, “Kerala, your Dener Clan is already in so deep against the Crimson Clan. Do you think that this can end peacefully for you still? Let this chance slip by, and what will you use to stop Greem from making further advances? Don’t forget, he is already an ultra-powerhouse. If we don’t unite our forces, we can only be defeated by him one at a time.”

Kerala’s face twitched a few times, and a vicious expression took over.

“Greem, if I help you now, would you say grudge between us is settled?” Adept Kerala suddenly shouted, but the content of her words was so shocking that everyone couldn’t help but be stunned from surprise.

Damn, that was an option for her?

“It’s a deal!” Greem laughed loudly and said, “In truth, I have always been quite impressed with you, Adept Kerala. It is my honor to be able to fight by your side!”

“You had best keep your word! Hmph!”

Kerala’s expression seemed to have lightened up slightly. She let out a battlecry, and the red-eyed monkey on her shoulder leaped forward in a somersault, instantly transforming into a terrifying, berserk ape. The ape howled loudly and lunged at Freed and the others.

The battle instantly devolved into a chaotic mess!