Age of Adepts

Greem became angrier the more he thought about Freed with the power of an ultra-powerhouse.

However, he did not reflect on the fact that it was his actions that had pushed Freed to this extreme. If it weren't for him, Freed would never have shown his ultimate trump card.

Freed was only intermediate Fourth Grade, after all. Moreover, as his lifespan slowly approached its end, his powers had been degrading, and he was showing signs of regressing in strength. Forcefully assimilating Kerslin Castle was not without its cost. In fact, its backlash was so severe that even Freed would have to think carefully before doing it.

Despite being an animated fortress, Kerslin Castle's energy supply came from a magic wellspring underground. It could not venture more than two and a half kilometers away from this leyline node. Moreover, forcefully assimilating Kerslin Castle would cost Freed a hundred years of his lifespan.

In all honesty, Freed truly couldn't afford to pay such a hefty price!

He was already eight hundred years old. He had less than two hundred years of life left. If he were to exhaust a hundred years of his lifespan, he would soon face his grave.

All these considerations had prevented Freed from attempting this assimilation, despite having developed it as a means to push his might to peak Fourth Grade.

Even after the Crimson Fleet had already advanced into the very heartland of the Entom Clan, Freed had still hoped to beat back the enemy with the animated fortress alone. He did not want to assimilate with Kerslin Castle forcefully. Until it was absolutely necessary, he desperately did not want to take this extreme course of action.

Greem seemed to have seen through Freed's awkward position. Crimson light glowed in his hands, and his lips started moving subtly. He was silently sending a message somewhere.

Soon, the ferocious magical golem dragon looming beneath the Crimson Fleet charged forward with rumbling steps. It rushed past the magical machines and hurled itself at the gigantic Kerslin Castle like a living meteor.

It wasn't the only Fourth Grade creature to step into battle, either.

A deafening dragon's roar could be heard in the skies.

The slender and elegant body of Fourth Grade Thunder Dragon Arms appeared on the edge of one of the Motherships. He roared, letting his overwhelming aura of might fill the land. He beat his wings and dove down from the Mothership at incredible speeds.

A Fourth Grade golem dragon and a Fourth Grade thunder dragon lord.

High inside Kerslin Castle, Freed stood upon a throne carved of stone, his face filled with wrinkles and his back hunched over. He caressed two strange crystals embedded in the armrests of the throne, using those as a conduit to control this gigantic monstrosity.

Upon seeing the two enemies approach, one rumbling across the earth and one diving from the altitudes, the color faded from Freed's face. He looked down at the runic crystal hanging from his chest and gritted his teeth. He hesitated for a long while, but still, he could not make the decision.

Finally, he gave up on the impulse to assimilate and instead grabbed the two control crystals firmly and commenced his retaliation.

Kerslin Castle was like a giant, rampaging beast. It roared as its four stone pillar legs stomped against the ground, causing a row of earth spikes to appear in the path of the golem dragon, temporarily halting its charge.

Kerslin Castle then turned around and focused entirely on defending against the diving Fourth Grade dragon.

The animated Kerslin Castle was over a thousand meters in height, while Fourth Grade Thunder Dragon Lord Arms was no more than thirty-five meters in length from crown to tail. However, Freed was utterly focused, as if a formidable foe had descended.

The reason for that was simple- Arms was indeed a powerful opponent!

The animated Kerslin Castle was unbelievably humongous and possessed incredible strength. Such a horror was basically a god descended to earth against beings of lower grades. It was invulnerable and omnipotent. However, against an opponent of the same grade, Kerslin Castle was vulnerable due to its lack of agility.

Kerslin Castle was indeed mighty, but it was pointless if it could not land a hit on the enemy!

Under Freed's control, the monstrous Kerslin Castle stood on its hind legs and swept violently with its front limbs, like two mountains swinging through the air. Its movements were slow, but its massive size and overwhelming Strength allowed it to create violent turbulences in the air.

An ordinary magical creature would probably have been crushed to a pulp by these violent disruptions, let alone if the legs themselves hit them.

At this moment, the terrifying power of apex predators like the Fourth Grade dragons was put on display!

Arms was like a bolt of blue lightning as he dashed between the two massive legs. Violent electricity crackled around him, lashing out and jumping between the two mountainous limbs like silver serpents.

Every blast of electricity caused literal tons of sand and rock to fall off the legs.

An unending rain of debris continued to fall off the vicious monster's body.

A thousand-meter-tall beast and a thirty-five-meter-long blue dragon. They were so different in size that it looked like a mastiff chasing and biting at a dragonfly from a distance. Even though it was clearly Kerslin Castle that had the advantage in size, it was the only one sustaining damage in this battle.

Arms appeared to be concentrating his attacks on the head of the monstrous beast, which was the body of Kerslin Castle itself. Unfortunately, the gigantic creature was defending itself thoroughly and kept swinging at Arms with its thick front limbs. Most of the time, the beast would rather use its limbs to block Arms' attack than let a bolt of lightning crash onto Kerslin Castle.

The battle between the two Fourth Grade continued in this intense and violent fashion.

The dragon's breaths were ferocious and concentrated, so powerful that they probably outshone the attacks of most Fourth Grade magical creatures.

After being circled by the Fourth Grade thunder dragon and showered in that devastating lightning breath, the steelrock that formed most of Kerslin Castle's body had turned red. Some of it had even softened into molten rock, flowing and sliding off of its body.

A single, viciously drawn-out dragon breath had cause Kerslin Castle to slim down. Even though the amount of material lost was hardly perceptible compared to its massive body, the loss was still incredibly painful to Freed, who was controlling Kerslin Castle from within.

The vicious monstrosity started to lunge and bite with even more ferocity!

At this point, the magical golem dragon had managed to knock aside the dozen earth spikes that had kept it restrained. It rushed onto the battlefield. The two terrifying magic energy cannons on its back repeatedly fired, sending red fireballs crashing against the body of the stone monstrosity.

Tons of shattered rock crumbled and fell like a landslide. It was a terrifying and shocking sight to behold.

In the face of the pincer attack, the stone creature turned and abandoned the thunder dragon in favor of the golem dragon. The magical golem dragon that had been hurrying forward without hesitation appeared utterly shocked. It started to retreat without a moment's delay, fleeing rapidly even as it bombarded the enemy with cannon fire.

The gigantic beast stopped after pursuing some distance. It then turned back, seemingly as if it couldn't go too far away from the pit it had crawled out of.

Upon seeing this, the Crimson Clan's adepts were all able to figure out that some sort of tremendous secret was hidden in that large pit. The numerous Motherships slowly moved forward, using their giant magic energy cannons to join in the assault on Kerslin Castle.

One powerful energy beam after another, one magic energy missile soaring through the sky after another, one violent magic spell after another. In the blink of an eye, the monster had been drowned in a hail of magical attacks.

The Entom adepts who were hiding within Kerslin Castle, in the head of the monstrous beast, gritted their teeth and retaliated with their own magical attacks.

Bright and violent magic clashed in the air, both sides trading attacks with all they had.

Low-grade adept forces could not even interfere in such a terrifying battle. They could only engage the magical machine army in a corner of the battlefield several kilometers away. Only individuals with exceptional power or strong defenses had the qualifications to step on this battlefield and join in the offense against the hulking monstrosity.

For a moment, the battlefield flared with light and fire. Battlecries could be heard everywhere, and shockwaves from erupting spells filled the air.

After half an hour of arduous fighting, Kerslin Castle remained like a dog on a leash, unable to reap a single reward for all the fighting it had done. Fury surged through Freed's body. He looked at the ferocious enemies all around him and finally bit the bullet.

He plunged his left hand into his chest and ripped a gash in his own body. Strangely enough, no blood flowed from the wound.

Freed gritted his teeth, grabbed the runic crystal, and stabbed it into his heart.

"Forbidden Spell, Union of Life."

Freed shouted the spell's words, and the magical patterns on the crystal lit up in order, outlining an exceedingly complex and mysterious array.

Freed shuddered when the array finally lit up in its entirety. His appearance seemed to age at a visible rate. His skin was instantly covered in more wrinkles and, now, even dark spots like the bark of trees when winter came.

However, with the runic crystal as a perfect conduit between him and the massive Kerslin Castle, there was no longer any buffer between them. Their consciousness and aura merged together, and the two entities were now one.

Kerslin Castle suddenly froze.

The vicious beast protected Kerslin Castle beneath its arms, silently enduring the dragon breath, the giant magic energy cannon shots, and the barrage of spells.

Tons and tons of boulders fell off, slowly growing into a hill at the feet of the creature.

However, Kerslin Castle seemed to have animated once more and slowly sunk into the body of the gigantic hulk. It vanished without a trace.

The next second, the vicious beast came to life again!

It stood on its hind legs and converted entirely to a humanoid form.

The rocks attached to its body moved and rearranged into the shape of a human's head, body, and limbs. Moreover, these rocks appeared to take on life as they moved, gradually growing more active and rapid as they slid across the monster's body.

The monster's aura was growing even more violent, oppressive, and heavy. Everyone who set eyes upon it felt like they were losing their will to battle.

Peak Fourth Grade!

At this moment, the animated Kerslin Castle had gained the overwhelming power of a peak Fourth Grade!