Age of Adepts

The initially even battle abruptly turned to one side with a burst of power from the magical sword.

The audience all around the Capital of Steel was suddenly even more interested now. They watched the battle unfold excitedly.

Of course, they were genuinely impressed by the Fourth Grade adept's horrifying offensive power. The magical sword, upon awakening, was so sharp that it was a lethal threat to most Fourth Grade adepts.

That was what impressed the other adepts so much!

However, they all had similar means of obtaining a temporary burst of power. Naturally, they knew full well the consequences of using such a technique. It was either a period of weakness that came after, some significant side-effects, or the use of some extremely rare resources.

It didn't matter which of these it was. The price of using such a powerful burst of power was always incredibly heavy!

Of course, the result of using such a technique would often be brilliant as well.

The magical golem dragon started swaying after two of its legs were severed. It could no longer stand firm on its remaining limbs. However, just as the Fourth Grade adept prepared to take the opportunity and destroy it, the golem dragon unleashed its most potent barrage of attacks so far.

Energy pillars, energy beams, and energy bolts crashed down on the adept like a ferocious torrent.

Even as powerful as he was, the Fourth Grade adept's face flushed white. He weaved between the attacks, trying his best to escape the barrage.

Meanwhile, while the adept was occupied with dodging the attacks, the golem dragon bent down. Countless fine white threads emerged from the severed pieces of its limbs and reconnected with its stumps. The threads then pulled, adjusted slightly, and merged the limbs back together.

By the time the Fourth Grade adept broke through the web of fire and approached the golem dragon, it had already repaired itself. At the same time, the adept seemed to have come out of his 'awakened' state. That said, apart from his slightly pale complexion, the burst of power didn't seem to have inflicted any severe side-effects on him.

The adept and the golem clashed once again.

The Fourth Grade adept undoubtedly had the advantage in this battle due to his agile movements. Most of the time, he was the one that had the momentum. On the other hand, the golem dragon was too large. It was ill-suited to a small-scale skirmish between adepts like this. It was spending most of its time turning around, barely fending off the enemy's attacks.

However, the magic energy cannons all over the golem dragon's body were still a significant threat to the Fourth Grade adept. Should his movements ever be restrained by the golem dragon's Dilation Field or Static Barrier, the barrage of energy bolts that followed would be unbearable.

Thus, the battle continued in this painful stalemate.

In the end, it was the Capital of Steel that shattered the balance.

While the golem dragon occupied the Fourth Grade adept, the two giant magic energy cannons that had been destroyed by the adept had been repaired under Gazlowe's control. When the giant magic energy cannons rumbled and rose above ground once more, everyone was stunned for a moment.

Four giant magic-energy cannons?

The gaps in the web of cannon fire were compensated with the addition of these two giant cannons. There was even less space for the Fourth Grade adept to dodge now.

Finally, with the ferocious attacks from the four giant magic-energy cannons, the adept was finally hit by one of their blasts.

Boom!

The Fourth Grade adept was blasted right out of the Capital of Steel and sent hurtling into the endless darkness of space. Most of the clothes he wore had been burned away, and the magical sword in his hands hummed and trembled without stopping.

He opened his mouth and spat out blood. There was a scorch mark the size of a washbasin on his exposed chest.

However, even a wound like that was healing at a pace visible to the naked eye.

While the Fourth Grade adept was expelled from the battlefield, the golem dragon thundered towards the other Darkblood adepts.

Sizzling magic energy beams, ferocious energy fireballs, sweeping lasers, and giant magic energy cannons bombarded the city like artillery. The Darkblood adepts could no longer stand their ground in the Capital of Steel. They were chased out of the city and into space.

Without a Fourth Grade adept to hold back the magical golem dragon, it was a terrifying war machine forged from the collective efforts of the goblin engineers of Crimson Clan. It was a devastating monster against 'ordinary adepts.'

Meanwhile, the magical machine guards marched alongside the golem dragon, like troops around a general. They pursued and hunted down the fleeing Darkblood adepts. It wasn't until all the adepts had left the Capital of Steel and returned to space that they stopped chasing.

The Fourth Grade adept smiled viciously when he saw his forces being pursued mercilessly by the enemy. He gripped his sword and prepared to charge back into combat.

However, he immediately stopped just as he was about to move. He turned his head and looked somewhere in space.

A male adept with golden skin and no hair or eyebrows had appeared there, standing in his way.

"Kaelf? Are you stopping me?" A cruel expression appeared on the Fourth Grade adept's face. Black smoke rose around him as if he was about to unleash some terrifying power in his anger.

"Weston, you have lost this war!" The golden-skinned adept showed no fear. He returned the glare with his own cold gaze.

"We have not! As long as I'm still here, we have not lost this war." Weston was utterly furious. "Move aside…I will personally tear that giant metal can into pieces. I want to rip that bastard beneath the city into shreds!"

The golden-skinned adept remained rooted on the spot.

"Weston, this is Exodar Camp, not a territory of the Istanal Clan. I don't know why you launched an invasion against the Crimson Clan, but you have thoroughly lost this war today. I chose not to intervene in the battle earlier because the Istanal Clan is a well-established force in Exodar Camp. However, at this point, you had better stop. Otherwise……"

Even though he did not finish his sentence, Weston could clearly read the implication of threat and warning behind his words.

The golden-skinned adept's intentions were clear.

As a veteran force that had existed in Exodar Camp for over a thousand years, the Istanal Clan was a familiar organization. As the Head of Investigations, Kaelf could have chosen to turn a blind eye to the fighting if their invasion had been successful.

However, it was obvious that the newcomers had the advantage now. If Weston, as anxious as he was to turn the fight around, returned to the battlefield, there was no doubt that he would only expand the scale of this 'tiny skirmish.'

When that happened, Kaelf would be put into an awkward position, as the one who was supposedly responsible for the order of the Camp!

Weston grit his teeth and shouted out loud, "This…is it your intention, or is it his intention?"

"What's the difference?" Kaelf coldly said, "Lord Ulnak has been watching the battle. He requested I tell the Istanal Clan something. Your clan might be connected with that Lady Maysa, but here in Exodar Camp, he does not wish to hear the name of Maysa again! That is Lord Ulnak's words, as well as Lord Erlenwald's intentions."

The true master of Exodar Camp was Seventh Grade Great Adept Erlenwald. Sixth Grade Ulnak was only one of his many disciples, responsible for managing the affairs of the Camp.

As a Seventh Grade Great Adept, he was of equal standing to Great Witch Maysa. Naturally, he did not wish to see the hands of an outsider reaching into his territory. That was why his disciple Ulnak was so hostile towards anything that had to do with Great Witch Maysa.

The Istanal Clan had gathered a large force of adepts and sieged an adept clan that had just established itself in space without any prior communications or negotiations. It was a terrible precedent that could easily throw the order of Exodar Camp into chaos if left standing.

Weston's expression froze when he heard the names of the two Great Adepts. Finally, he suppressed his anger.

He lifted his left hand and turned the strange, snake-eye ring on his little finger. He whispered a few instructions into the ring.

The Darkblood adepts hovering above the Capital of Steel ultimately let out a sigh of relief when they heard his orders. They started to leave this tragic battlefield slowly.

The high-grade adepts of the Istanal Clan couldn't help but be in low spirits after they took a headcount some distance away from the battlefield.

Of the three thousand Darkblood adepts, only one thousand was left after the two endless days and nights of fighting. Almost every single of the surviving adepts were wounded, many of whom were crippled. Some of them were barely hanging on, having half their body devoured by the ferocious energy attacks.

It was the most severe damage that the Darkblood Army had suffered since its creation!

After a short rest in space, the army slowly grouped up and returned to Exodar Camp. The Istanal Clan had its own adept tower in the Camp. They could only return to their own world through the teleportation array there.

As the Darkblood Army retreated, the high-grade adepts watching in the darkness left, one after another.

However, when they returned to Exodar Camp, news of the Istanal Clan being defeated despite launching a surprise invasion against a newly established clan had spread.

This news completely shocked and surprised the clans in Exodar Camp.

The Istanal Clan was a veteran force of Exodar Camp, after all. How could they have been defeated at the hands of an unknown, new clan?

Many curious individuals began to investigate and dig into the affair. They quickly discovered all the background information on the 'new' clan.

As expected, there were all sorts of intriguing information within.

Thus, the surprising name of the Crimson Clan quickly became known through Exodar Camp.