Age of Adepts

My base. My initiative!

Elementium adepts excelled at violent elementium attacks, while vampires were more akin to phantoms roaming a battlefield.

It might appear as if the two Second Grade vampires had an overwhelming advantage when simultaneously challenging a single Second Grade fire adept. However, the truth was exactly the opposite. It was the lonesome Greem who used his rapid and ferocious fire spells to blast the Second Grade vampires and forced them to move around him, not daring to stop for a single second.

The reason a situation like this had occurred was mostly due to the blessing of Fire Throne.

Fire Throne was an adept’s tower that belonged only to Greem; he had absolute authority over the tower. Fire Throne’s flame barrier could be projected to any spot within five kilometers of the tower. That meant that Greem practically didn’t need to worry about defense during combat.

The two Second Grade vampires could only sit on their hands and run from his attacks if they were unable to break through the flame barrier. Even if they braved Greem’s fierce bombardment and closed in for an attack, it would only be negated by the flame barrier that projected from Greem’s body.

The two vampries would need to increase their instantaneous offensive power beyond the defensive limits of the flame barrier if they wanted to hurt Greem himself. Otherwise, their periodic attacks would never be able to match the regeneration of the flame barrier. They would never be able to harm Greem, even if they attacked in this manner for a hundred thousand years.

That is, unless the tower’s elementium energy reserves were exhausted!

The reason the adepts of the World of Adepts loved to construct adept’s towers was this powerful combat-support ability of the towers. Trying to conquer an adept’s tower without offensive power ten times that of the tower’s defense was no more than a fantasy.

Think about it. How were the first adepts in the ancient past that had yet to mature to their fullest strength able to survive the endless tide of monsters and demons? They had relied on these impenetrable adept’s towers and the combined might of all the stationed adepts.

And today, Greem relied on the support of the tower and forcefully endured the attacks of two vampires of his grade. It was an indirect display of the power of adept’s towers!

The fight between Second Grade adepts was genuinely frightening. There was no room for those First Grade vampire Viscounts to intervene.

The other eleven vampire Viscounts took to the skies, whistling through the air as they turned and dashed toward Fire Cave like bolts of lightning.

The defensive strength of the tower was sure to weaken now that its owner was being kept here by the two Counts. They might not be able to make much progress in attacking the adept’s tower, but it might create more trouble for the fire adept and distract him with crises happening on both ends.

The eleven vampires dove into Fire Cave. Before they had even gotten a grasp of the situation, a ferocious tide of lightning drove them out again.

Nine crimson silhouettes shot out of the cave, turning into red bats and circling in the air above Fire Cave.

The other two shadows that had fallen behind were shrouded in blinding blue electricity. They turned into ashes amidst pained cries and howls before they could even escape the web of electricity. A tall, mighty creature that resembled a centaur charged out of the cave, waving his crackling electric spear as he blocked the way into the cave.

It had bright blue scales the size of bowls, thick and powerful dragon claws, unmatched draconic strength, and that pulsating power of electricity around him.

Haines, who was casually watching the battle from behind, frowned. The blood wine in his glass trembled slightly.

Not a centaur. A dragonborn.

Moreover, it was a Second Grade lightning-attribute dragonborn with a fairly pure bloodline.

Where did Greem pick up such a high-class specimen of another race?

Adept Fügen’s expression also froze. He couldn’t help but turn and look at Adept Am.

”Sir, I have never before seen this dragonborn in the tower! He…he probably showed up a few days ago.” Am could perfectly sense the rage in Fügen’s glare.

A mysterious Second Grade powerhouse. Such important information, yet he had failed even to obtain any knowledge about it. It was an intolerable mistake for any spy.

If Lady Sanazar had known ahead of time Greem’s ability to call for such a powerful ally, she would most definitely have reconsidered her decision to abandon Greem.

While the adepts were engulfed in their own thoughts, the nine First Grade vampires shrieked and charged into the nearby woods. They returned a short moment later, holding one or two unconscious human mercenaries in their hands.

They quickly gathered together and formed a circle before simultaneously tearing the human mercenaries in their hands into two halves. They then started chanting a strange spell while the blood splashed everywhere.

A red halo flashed through the air, and the two carbonized vampires mysteriously emerged from the blood mist in the air. They appeared to be no different from before, apart from their complexions being a little paler and their auras being slightly weaker.

That was probably an alternative sort of secret revival technique of the vampire family!

The adepts present couldn’t help but shake their heads and sigh when they saw this happen.

No wonder these vampire families could pass down their legacies for thousands upon thousands of years. Disregarding everything else, this secret revival technique was not something that an ordinary adept clan would be able to accomplish. It was hardly surprising why the vampires fought with such recklessness and ferocity in combat when they had such a revival technique in their hands.

The vampires sent out a combination of eleven vampire Viscounts (First Grade) and two vampire Counts (Second Grade), while the opponent had also revealed two Second Grade powerhouses. If one were to compare them in terms of raw power, the vampires no longer possessed any sort of advantage over Greem and his faction. If one were to take into consideration the support and help of the tower, the Vik Family was very likely to be the one to lose out in the fight.

The appearance of the Second Grade Dragonborn was undoubtedly the most critical turn of events on the battlefield. His appearance directly changed the disparity between the strength of both parties, as well as everyone’s prediction for the outcome of the battle.

The Vik Family had brought out more than half of all their active military force. Their reputation over the past few thousand years would be besmirched if they, an ancient vampire family whose legacy stretched as far back as several thousand years, failed to defeat a fire adept that had just advanced six months ago under such circumstances.

When that happened, all adept clans within the Zhentarim area would see them as weaklings. They would pounce upon the Viks in hopes of tearing a piece of flesh from their body.

That was why Marquis Haines could no longer sit still upon seeing the turn of tides!

He let out no battle cry or warning. A beam of crimson light stretched out across the battlefield and Haines instantly appeared beside Greem; he waved his claws in succession. The few weightless strikes immediately caused the flame barrier to tremble intensely.

The Chip’s alarms blared and went off in Greem’s mind.

[Beep. Flame Barrier has been attacked by an external force. Defensive power reduced by 13%.]

[Beep. Flame Barrier has been attacked by an external force. Defensive power reduced by 11%.]

[Beep. Flame Barrier has been attacked by an external force. Defensive power reduced by 15%.]

……

The chain of warnings constantly rang out. The flame barrier being projected by Fire Throne was also weakening rapidly. An endless stream of fire energy was still being sent over by the tower, but it couldn’t keep up with the speed and ferocity of the enemy’s attacks.

[Beep. Flame Barrier has been attacked by an external force. Defensive power below 30%. Shattering imminent.]

Greem’s face flushed white the very next second.

It was important to note that this flame barrier projected by Fire Throne possessed a minimum of a thousand points of defensive power. It was an estimated number provided by the Chip. When paired with the constant stream of fire energy from the tower, it could easily hold against a barrage of attacks from dozens of First Grade elementium adepts with absolutely no problem.

Yet, for a Third Grade adept, a defense of this level was no more than an eggshell that could be cracked with the flick of a finger. Moreover, this adept was a vampire adept, known amongst all adepts for their weak offensive strength!

Greem had imagined the power of a Third Grade adept countless times. However, the statistics and data he had drawn out in his mind still weren’t as terrifying as a Third Grade adept in the flesh.

Greem was worried, but he wasn’t panicking. He quickly flashed backward and retreated while waving the Blaze of Destruction. He summoned a massive Meteor Shower that instantly engulfed every inch of space around him.

Greem knew very well the situation of the battle. Single-target spells would never be able to hit the Third Grade Haines. Only area-of-effect fire spells could affect the vampire adept. Greem wasn’t counting on these spells wounding Haines. He just hoped they could limit or delay Haines’ attacks and provide him with the space to dodge.

A few steps later, Greem’s flame barrier vanished in the clear and crisp sound of its shattering. He hadn’t managed to even rally with Dragonborn Zacha.

Third Grade Haines’ claws possessed intense corrosive properties and fearsome blood poison. The flame barrier of a thousand points of power turned to pieces in less than five seconds.

Greem had no flame barrier left to protect him. His Lava Shields of four or five hundred points and his Fire Shields of two hundred points were even more fragile and couldn’t do much either. Fortunately, they managed to help Greem win half a second worth of time. Greem barely managed to teleport away just as Haines’ bloody claws were about to rip his throat apart.

That was the most dangerous and closest Fire Teleportation for him since he had advanced to adept!

Greem felt intense pain at his throat when he stumbled out at Zacha’s side. It was difficult to even swallow. It seemed the edge of Haines’ claws had barely scratched his throat at the instant he teleported away.

”Quick… retreat back into the tower…” Greem mumbled out as he escaped into Fire Cave under Zacha’s support and protection.

Perhaps because he feared that terrifying speed of Third Grade Haines, Zacha made sure to use his most violent lightning storm to drown the entrance of the cave and halt any attempts at pursuit.

Zacha supported Greem as they quickly ran along the winding magma tunnels of Fire Cave toward the adept’s tower, just two hundred meters away from them.

Haines appeared at the edge of the lightning storm like a ghostly phantom.

He bent slightly forward, his tall nose no more than ten centimeters away from the storm. He locked onto the two fleeing silhouettes through the ravaging storm with his strange silver eyes.

Two Second-Grades.

In his eyes, the Second Grade figures that terrorized most of the world were no more than targets of a hunt that could suffice as a pastime and diversion.

They couldn’t be called ’opponents.’

If it weren’t for the fact that he didn’t want the Second Grade dragonborn’s all-out strike to damage the clothes he had on him, he would have caught both of them before they made it ten meters out.

Still, it was no big deal.

They have only extended their lives for a few dozen seconds. The conclusion was predetermined.

Haines’ silver eyes grew even brighter when he sensed the energy levels of the lightning storm rapidly receding.

He turned into a crimson shadow the moment the last lightning aftershock vanished, disappearing into the dark cave that was Fire Throne.

Naturally, the other vampires shrieked and followed after their leader.