Age of Adepts

Seawoods Plane.

Only half a day later than the rest of the people in the World of Adepts, Mary and her party had also received news of Alice's advancement.

The party stopped immediately and silently awaited orders from Mary.

Mary stood atop an ancient tree, looking across at the green, boundless sea of trees. A glimmer of unconcealable cruelty and impatience flickered in her eyes.

All this while, Greem had always suppressed her when it came to individual power. That already made Mary incredibly annoyed. If Greem weren't her lover, Mary would probably already have erupted in anger.

Now, even Alice had managed to advance to Fourth Grade ahead of her.

How…was she supposed to feel about that?

Even though she could rationally accept Alice's existence for Greem's sake, the streak of competitiveness deep in her heart had never been extinguished. Mary might have looked calm on the surface after hearing this news, but in truth, her heart was already raging with waves of anger and frustration.

"Master, do you think we should hurry back to attend Lady Alice's celebration ceremony, or……"

The moment Soros began speaking, Vanlier closed his eyes in agony.

This clueless idiot……

As expected, the Soros' words came out of his mouth, Mary's crimson, ruby eyes lit up with light.

"Forward! Hmph! There's no point in attending a wretched ceremony like that. This time, we are not turning back until we kill that damned Feathered Serpent!"

Having said that, Mary flapped her bat wings and dashed ahead, turning into a single crimson line on the horizon. The vampires waiting in the forest below looked at each other and shrugged. They turned into black and red vampires and quickly chased after Mary.

As vampires, their mobility was undoubtedly terrifying!

All vampires could turn themselves into bats and glide rapidly close to the canopy of the trees. As such, the mountainous, uneven terrain of the forests meant nothing to them.

Moreover, as vampires, they did not have to bring along supplies.

The beasts that could be found everywhere in the forest were their food.

In case of emergencies, they could march for seven days and nights without sleep as long as they had a sufficient supply of blood. If they were hungry or exhausted, all they had to do was find a beast and suck some blood; they would be able to maintain their Spirits and stamina at their peak.

With this tremendous mobility, the party of thirty vampires started to slaughter all the troll tribes they could find in Degu Forest. Over five tribes of over two hundred trolls had become the food for the vampires at this point.

Due to the powerful ability of Embrace, another one hundred trolls had been turned into low-grade blood servants, serving as fodder for the vampires.

Every time they reached a new camp, most of the troll warriors were utterly slaughtered in battle. Only the particularly powerful elites would be Embraced by the blood elves and turned into servants. The weaker children and elderly were all killed as well. Not for pleasure, but to indirectly weaken the foundations of their faith in the 'Feathered God.'

The might of totem gods like the Feathered God tied directly to the number of their believers. The more trolls Mary and her vampires killed, the weaker the Feathered Serpent would be when they finally confronted it.

It was also the most common strategy employed by adepts against the faith gods!

Mary had specially summoned a helper from the clan to deal with the Feathered God. That helper was Remi, the Third Grade Spirit of Pestilence. With Remi's plague at hand, Mary intentionally let some trolls escape during the next few assaults.

This way, the trolls would unknowingly spread the lethal plague to even more tribes.

With the crude voodoo doctor medical system of the troll empire, trying to cure all the infected individuals spread across such a large territory was nothing more than a delusion. Thus, after just twenty days, nearly one-third of the troll empire had been infected by the plague.

The vampires' slaughter had finally alarmed the leaders of the empire as well. An army of over two thousand trolls was sent out to search for the tracks of the invaders.

Unfortunately, the primitive reconnaissance system of the trolls exposed all of their movements to Mary.

A terrifying plot scheming the death of the troll army was born!

…………

The light in the quiet forest was dim.

Branches, vines, and bushes grew everywhere. Trying to travel through such an environment was incredibly tricky.

However, none of this was a problem for the troll hunters!

Their athletic and muscular bodies could freely travel through the forest without being stopped by any of the thorns or brambles. Their thick skin was covered in a thin layer of moss, allowing them to blend into the scenery.

In addition to their silent, agile steps, their sensitive noses also allowed them to become the most feared trackers and hunters in Degu Forest.

Gun'da brushed aside an annoying vine and slowly walked through a bramble bush. The bush grew haphazardly. Its thick, golden branches were covered with sharp, poisoned thorns. An ordinary creature would have been cut and badly grazed just by walking through it.

However, thanks to his tough skin, Gun'da managed to pass through the bush where the brambles were thickest. The thorns scratched and beat against his toned body, but they could not inflict even a graze.

Gun'da stopped at a clearing.

He lifted his nose and sniffed the air. He could smell an odor in the humid, rotten air that did not belong to the forest.

An outsider.

Gun'da took out the wooden spear from behind his back and held it in his left hand. He then took out two unusual metal javelins with poison on their tips from his belt. He carefully continued searching in the direction of the smell.

There were no footsteps on the ground and no signs of the vines and branches having been cut down. The scent lingering in the forest was also incredibly thin. Judging by these clues, the invaders he tracked were also individuals who were extremely skilled at forest combat.

However, as a troll hunter, he was the ruler of these forests. Not only did Gun'da feel no fear at the upcoming battle, but he was also excited.

He slowly walked forward in the forest.

His alert eyes constantly searched for places where the enemies could be hiding, but he found nothing. However, his slightly stinging skin clearly indicated that the enemy was observing him through some obscure and mysterious means. Still, he could not pinpoint the enemy's location.

Gun'da narrowed his eyes. He was even more careful and alert now.

He didn't know when, but the forest had become silent. The chirping of the birds and the cries of the insects had vanished without a trace. The entire world was simply silent.

Just as Gun'da was feeling confused, a strange popping sound came from the forest's depths. An unusual being riding on a bizarre creature appeared in front of him.

Gun'da's gaze swept over, and his heart froze in shock.

What a terrifying monster!

The being who had arrived was a human boy with dark green skin and unusual patterns carved all over his body. He sat atop an unusual, toad-like creature that seemed to have been skinned. His sickly green eyes gazed right at him.

Behind the boy and sitting on the toad was a frail, skinny, ugly woman that did not have much flesh attached to her bones. She was also staring at him with her deep-green eyes.

Even though Gun'da didn't know who they were, their sinister and chilling aura was enough to make known their hostility!

Gun'da struck without hesitation.

The two javelins shot towards the two individuals sitting on the toad monster, flickering through the air as two flashes of light. Meanwhile, Gun'da gripped his three-meter-long spear and charged forward.

The ugly woman stood up in response to Gun'da's attack. She caught the two metal javelins with her hands. The thorns that covered the spears pierced her palm and injected her with a strange poison.

The woman did not seem to be aware of these wounds on her hands, nor did she seem to fear the poison.

Instead, she lifted her hands and gripped the javelins tightly. Light-green poison mist shrouded the metal projectiles and sizzled. In just a few seconds, the javelins had been completely corroded. The woman tightened her fist, and the javelins shattered into dust.

Meanwhile, Gun'da's direct attack had been stopped by the toad monster.

The toad opened its mouth, and a slimy, flexible tongue shot forth, forcefully keeping Gun'da at a distance of five steps away.

With this opportunity, the ugly woman waved her hand, and a large cloud of yellow and green poison rolled towards Gun'da.

Gun'da hurriedly retreated and just barely escaped from it.

Unfortunately, the poison cloud seemed to be alive and under the command of the ugly woman. It quickly caught up to Gun'da and enveloped him.

A short moment later, Gun'da stumbled out of the cloud, coughing violently as he did so.

In just a few seconds, the moss on his skin turned bright red, as if he had been skinned.

Gun'da had difficulty breathing. It felt like there were thousands of tiny bugs chewing on the insides of his throat and chest. His eyes turned red, and tears flowed down his cheeks. His skin burned in agony as if it was on fire.

Gun'da didn't dare remain. He turned and fled with all his strength, all while putting his hands by his mouth and letting out a strange call.

The loud call spread throughout the forest and reached into the distance.

Several troll hunters that were dressed in a similar fashion to Gun'da instantly sprinted in his direction upon hearing his cry for help.

At the same time that they moved out, they used the same communication method to spread the news that they had found the enemy.