Age of Adepts

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It was the power of laws.

All the Second Grade adepts who had just witnessed the might of Third Grade Adept Yurga couldn't help but let out a sigh in their minds.

In all seriousness, it couldn't be considered an actual use of the power of laws. At the very best, it was only scratching the surface of that power. Otherwise, Bug Adept Billis would already have died to this terrifying Law of Instant-Death. There was no way he would still be standing after that attack.

One could tell that Yurga had only just made contact with part of the Laws of Instant-Death and had only just assimilated them into his magical attacks. One couldn't look down upon his power, even if it were only a fraction of the planar laws' full potential. It was already a terrifying finisher that most Second Grade adepts would have no way of surviving.

If it weren't for the large swarm sharing the damage with Billis, and if Billis himself was the one who had to endure the death rays, then even this newly risen bug adept would have died before achieving his full potential. He would have snapped his wings on this first flight of his.

It was also an unfortunate day for Billis!

It had been such a perfect debut, yet he had been slapped in the face by a Third Grade adept after only a minute's worth of arrogance. Moreover, he had no choice but to escape and hide in the tower without taking a step outside again.

That short clash was already evidence of the massive gulf in power between Second and Third Grade adepts, despite only a single level standing between them. It was an overwhelming beatdown. The unstoppable Second Grade bug adept had been a nightmarish existence to the First Grade adepts. Yet, he became the one who was crushed underfoot when matched against a Third Grade adept.

The grade difference of the World of Adepts was difficult to overturn through experience and technique!

The bug adept might have been beaten back, but the arrogant morale of the Alliance adepts had also been suppressed. The First Grade Alliance adepts looked at the damaged, yet firm, tower and looked at each other. Hesitation grew in their hearts uncontrollably.

The mission rewards that the high-grade adepts had promised might be compelling, but nothing was more valuable than their own lives.

Who knew what else would come crawling out of the Crimson Clan's adept's tower? If they led the charge and drew out another 'bug adept,' they would be trapped in a true abyss, and no one would risk death to save them.

That was why the battle in front of the tower was showing signs of slowing down.

"Hmph, a bunch of cowards." Adept Yurga coldly snorted when he saw this. He immediately starting naming names, "Mucha, you lead the attack on the adept's gates. I can sense it; the tower doesn't have much energy left."

Mucha was a Second Grade adept of the Kamala Clan and an able subordinate that Yurga had personally trained. It was a crucial moment in the war. Yurga couldn't possibly override the authority of the other clan leaders and order the adepts to charge. As such, his only option was to have adepts of his own clan take the lead.

Mucha was a middle-aged man with a golden circlet on his head and a rough appearance. He acknowledged the orders and immediately rushed toward the frontlines with his First Grade adept subordinates.

With the Kamala Clan adepts in the lead, the adepts of the other clans no longer behaved as fearful as before. They too followed along and lunged at the gates. They knew very well that Yurga would take action if anything else came from the Crimson Clan. After all, his own clan adepts were on the line.

As the Alliance soldiers retreated and the Alliance adepts advanced, the battle at the gates became even more intense and bloody. The Alliance adepts herded powerful voodoo beasts toward the adept's tower to assault the force wall with all their might. Meanwhile, the Crimson adepts behind the gates had to continuously exterminate the hordes of enemies to reduce the strain on the tower's energy reserves.

Voodoo beasts, magical machines, summoned creatures, corruptors, war statues, and otherworldly magical creatures.

These dispensible servants replaced the adepts as the main fighters at the frontlines. Meanwhile, the cautious adepts hid behind them and used all sorts of colorful spells to bombard the tower. On a battlefield like this, any outstanding performance by an adept's servant would be like an application for a ticket straight to hell.

For example, you had the war statue, entirely forged out of special alloy and standing eleven meters tall. It was a tool that the Magic Forest Hut alchemists had specifically summoned to accumulate more contributions in this war.

These statues were slaughter machines specially designed for large-scale wars. They kept a humanoid appearance and had not undergone any kind of ornamental carvings or decorations on the surface, revealing the wild color of the special alloy they were made of. The most eye-catching features of its giant body were the magical lines that flowed throughout it. These lines appeared and faded from sight, occasionally appearing due to powerful magical energy flow.

The war statue held a comically large metal axe in its hand. The massive blade was larger than the gate of a human city and sent winds rippling through the air whenever it moved, reminding all living beings to run away from its might.

This war statue gave an outstanding performance the very moment it appeared!

A single strike for a single enemy; the war statue smashed down with its axe, and a three-meter-tall magical machine was crushed flat, almost as if the statue was playing a game of whack-a-mole. It had only been three minutes since it had appeared, and the statue had executed five Crimson Clan machines.

If this giant were allowed to rampage on the battlefield, the tower would have a hard time resisting its ferocious attacks. As such, a strike team led by Zacha and Tigule rushed out of the tower without hesitation and intercepted the statue thirty meters away from the tower.

The strike team was formed from First Grade Crimson adepts and the last twenty Archers. They quickly spread out to make space for the two Second Grades. Meanwhile, Zacha and Tigule's Goblin Shredder started an intense fight against the war statue, whose power was equal to that of a Second Grade adept.

The battle was fierce but short. The war statue had been utterly destroyed after only a minute and a half.

The war statue's broken body had collapsed in front of the tower, trembling as rumbling noises came from within its body. All of its magical arrays started exploding in succession. Finally, the statue stopped all movement and turned into a burning heap of junk.

The victorious Dragonborn Zacha and Goblin Shredder had also paid an enormous price for this.

Zacha's body was covered with terrifying wounds left behind by ravaging elementium spells. Most of the scales on his body had fallen off, and two of his four muscular legs had been broken. He held them in the air and off the ground, immense pain shooting through his body with every movement he made.

Purple blood seeped out of his many wounds, forming into a small river behind him. What was even more terrifying was the fact that his wind indurium armor had been shattered and twisted beyond recognition. There was even a frightening fist indentation on the chestplate.

If it weren't for the combined protection of the wind indurium armor and the Fire Shields, Zacha would already have died to the heavy metal fists of the war statue.

Meanwhile, the other combatant, the Goblin Shredder, also had one foot in the grave!

If it weren't for the interference of the Alliance adepts, the combination of Zacha and Tigule would have easily taken down this war machine meant only for sieges. However, in today's environment, they had no choice but to confront the war statue, even as countless magical attacks threatened their safety.

This three-meter-tall Goblin Shredder was undoubtedly inferior to the war statue in terms of power and Physique. As such, it had to compensate for it with its fearless attacks and rapid movements.

The Goblin Shredder had only managed to create a small crack in the statue's chest after depleting all of its goblin rockets. Tigule then covered Dragonborn Zacha as he rushed to the statue's chest and engulfed the area with ferocious lightning arcs.

The armor of the war statue was beyond human imagination. Trying to take it down with ordinary physical attacks was a colossal task. However, once they created a crack that led to its internal components, it was a much easier job to defeat it!

The thin lightning blasts crept into the crack and detonated the magical energy within. That was how they had successfully defeated this giant.

Zacha, who had taken on the role of the primary offense, was undoubtedly the most severely wounded. Eva and Emelia, who had rushed up to administer first-aid once the Goblin Shredder dragged him back to the tower, couldn't even be sure if he was still alive.

Only six of the last twenty Archers returned. The rest had been left on the battlefield by the enemies' attacks. Dana the Medusa and Manticore Charon had also made it back, but their wounds were no better than Zacha's. They collapsed the moment they entered the tower.

The situation near the tower was extremely tenses now. If it weren't for the four vampires rushing out to slaughter the enemies, intimidating them for a moment, the situation would be much, much worse.

Even so, the hall was now engulfed in a sorrowful and tragic atmosphere. Many were wounded and hurt. Even Berserk Witch Sofia, who had come over from the North to assist them, had suffered heavy wounds. She was barely keeping the enemies at bay with one arm in a sling.

The situation that had been turned around with the bug adept's appearance once again become grave!

At this moment, the entire burden was weighing upon Mary's shoulders.

Fight? Or retreat?

All the clan adepts were waiting for her decision!

If she didn't make the choice soon, the tower's energy would be depleted. Would they, the adepts who had fought for the clan until the very last moment, still have a chance to escape then? If the clan's elites were all buried here, was there still a reason for the Crimson Clan to exist?

The silence of the adepts and the bloody battle on the frontlines tested Mary's heart with each passing moment.

Fighting a downhill battle as a leader was undoubtedly an enjoyable experience. However, at such a moment of crisis, when everyone's lives hung upon one decision of hers- that intangible pressure was not something that an ordinary person could bear!

If Alice had lied to her. If Alice's reinforcements were just a step too late. If the clan adepts couldn't handle the pressure and cracked ahead of time...

Countless possibilities ran through her mind and plagued her, but she had to present a calm and composed demeanor.

There were countless moments where Mary had the impulse to charge out of the tower and fight without restraint. Fighting to her death would have been better than standing still and silently enduring this torture of the heart.

Alice, where are you exactly?

Will you…will you come…