Age of Adepts

The journey had also allowed Greem and the others to truly witness the valiance of the orcs!

Whether it was the orc wolfriders that formed groups and came howling like wild beasts, or the lone orc warrior intent on ambushing stragglers from the witch forces, every one of their actions could not escape the eyes in the sky.

If it were just a solitary orc, a volley of Scalding Rays from the sky would be enough would turn them into skewered meat. If there were too many attacking orcs, the magical machine army would be able to rapidly spread out and fortify their position with a warning from the eyeball machines. They could then put up plenty of terrifying magic energy cannons. The Archers would flank either side of the chariots and bombard the orcs’ position with their rifles.

The wolfriders were courageous. They endured the rain of cannon fire and charged across the plains with their vicious wolf mounts, roaring and waving the gleaming blades in their hands around. Meanwhile, the orc warriors were naked from the waist up, lifting their wooden shields in front of themselves and waving their crude wooden sticks as they strode after the wolfriders.

The dense volley of cannon fire exploded in the grass, and the violent flame shockwaves ravaged outward, sending bits of grass, dirt, and dust flying everywhere. The wolfriders were mostly dressed in leather armor with a wolf helmet on their heads. Their defenses were so crude that it was hard to take them seriously.

Even slightly harder clumps of dirt would leave bruises on their bodies, let alone the magical flames. When the fire engulfed these wolfriders, they and their wolves would instantly be ignited. They could only roll on the ground and cry out in pain then.

With the eyeball machine in the sky pointing out their position, the orcs were exterminated from a distance before they even entered within range of vision. Some courageous fellow might occasionally charge out of the bushes despite the odds, but they would instantly be blown to bits by a magic energy blast to the face.

The orcs were well-known as a race with no elementium affinity. It was hard to find a trace of any magical weapon throughout the Orc Empire, let alone magical accessories distinguished by their more refined and delicate artistry. Trying to brave the penetration of magic energy beams with their strong bodies and without any external magical resistance was no more than a joke!

It wasn’t that the orcs were not courageous or that they were not terrifying enemies. Rather, all of these became inconsequential when their enemies were powerful adepts from a different plane. Apart from falling to the ground and howling in agony, they could do nothing to the magical machines.

Overwhelming defeat. It was a blatantly overwhelming defeat!

Even the powerhouses amongst the orc tribes could not escape being bombarded by the magic energy cannons if they appeared within one and a half kilometers of the army.

The adepts continued forward, slaughtering as they went!

The orcs wildly and recklessly assaulted this magical machine army, sustained by the unique bravery and savagery of their race. Unfortunately, the difference in combat power between both parties was too significant. It left the orcs with no means of realizing their courage and martial might. Their assaults had turned into tragic acts of suicide.

The Crimson Clan adepts stayed inside the magic energy chariots in very comfortable conditions. They smoked cigars and drank wine as they slowly appreciated the sight of the struggling orcs through their monitoring crystals. The only enemy that disrupted their peace was a Third Grade orc blademaster.

This orc relied on his sharp senses and amazing speed to break through the outer perimeter and reach the chariots.

After which, he very tragically ran into Third Grade Thunder Dragon Arms and interrupted his happy times.

This Third Grade thunder dragon had no discretion. He even brought his concubines along with him when he went out on missions. Still, he did not hesitate at all when he saw the Third Grade orc blademaster. He immediately transformed into his thunder dragon form after charging out of the chariot wrapped in bedsheets.

The Third Grade blademaster wasn’t a fraud either. Every slash from his long and narrow blade would easily split open the outer armor of the magic energy chariots. However, his fortune was spent when he ran into the ill-tempered Thunder Dragon Arms.

This orc blademaster’s heart was also beating wildly, having suddenly seen a thirty-meter long dragon and experiencing his intimidating aura of might up front. He desperately increased his speed and circled the thunder dragon. He would occasionally take advantage of the thunder dragon’s size and his immobility in the formation of chariots to dodge the dragon’s attacks and close in for a few hasty strikes.

The slashes of the orc blademaster might not have broken through Arms’ scales, but they did manage to make him wince in pain.

Thunder Dragon Arms finally flew into a rage after failing to kill the opponent despite his repeated attempts at attacking. He had even been cut a few times.

The next time the orc avoided his head and charged from the side, Arms quickly activated the wild lightning elementium in his body.

The blinding lightning that emerged from his body instantly flooded his surroundings. The orc blademaster that had just come near him was immediately caught in big trouble.

The blinding lightning storm went away just as fast as it came. The orc blademaster stumbled away from Arms by the time the lightning was gone. Scorch marks left by the lightning covered his entire body, and some parts were even giving off black smoke.

The orc blademaster that had been severely wounded by the thunder dragon ultimately became a prisoner of the adepts. Meanwhile, the thunder dragon quickly transformed into his human form and rushed back into the chariot after obtaining victory. The sweet voices of women could be heard from within. It seemed like he was receiving the praise and adoration of his many concubines.

In all honesty, the concubines that could follow Arms out of Witherwater City should genuinely thank him. If it weren’t for the Third Grade dragon, they would have been left in Witherwater City and become sacrifices for the impending blood ceremony.

When that happened, their fates would look very much different!

…………

Makren City.

It was a small border city located in the southeast area of the great plain.

The orcs in the city were no more than thirty thousand in total. Moreover, at least half of them were centaurs who herded animals in the wild for the Orc Empire.

Naturally, there was a small Beast God temple in the city.

The fate of Witherwater City had reached the orcs of Makren City one day earlier.

Just as the orcs summoned the seven leaders of the subordinate races to discuss the matter of attacking Witherwater City, news of a witch army rapidly approaching Makren from the official road arrived.

The intercepting squads sent out by the orc villages along the way had all been defeated. Even the famous Third Grade Orc Blademaster, Sadin, had been captured alive by the witches.

The council room, previously lively with calls for marching toward the witches, immediately froze upon hearing this news!

The entirety of Makren City put together only had one Third Grade berserker and five Second Grade powerhouses. Moreover, it was said that there was a Third Grade dragon hiding among the ranks of this approaching witch army. If this news was to be trusted, how were to supposed to fight back?

Just this Third Grade dragon alone would be enough to wipe out all the orc elites of Makren City, let alone the terrifying adept who could command this dragon!

If humans were the ones confronted with this situation, then there was no doubt that the higher-ups of Makren City would choose to run or surrender. Unfortunately, these two words had never existed in the orc dictionary. That was why the orcs decided to resist to the very end and swore to lay their lives to defend the temple of the great Beast God, even if they knew they were outmatched.

Half a day later, the magical machine army of the Crimson Clan arrived at Makren.

The orcs might be courageous, but they weren’t simple-minded enough to charge out of the city and engage with the powerful witch army on the plain.

They hastily pulled up the drawbridge, shut the city gates, and drove a large group of centaur spearthrowers up the city walls. With the deep ditch, the tall walls, and the ferocious spear-throwing of the centaurs, they were confident they could keep the enemy outside the city walls. After all, the centaurs could pierce stone and metal with their spears as long as the target was within fifty meters.

Sadly, their enemies were no ordinary opponents. They were a completely mechanized magical machine army!

The orcs holing up behind the walls were just where Greem wanted them.

With Greem’s orders, the three hundred and eighty-nine magical machines moved into formation a hundred meters outside the city gates. Twenty magic energy chariots arranged themselves in a row behind the magical machines. The ear-piercing sound of rumbling metal rang out, and four robotic arms appeared out of both sides of the chariots, pinning them firmly to the ground. Black cannon barrels then emerged from the tops of the chariots.

Magic energy cannons. Each was four to five times more powerful than the magical energy beams shot out from the rifles, with an offensive might of up to 170 to 210 points. That was already at the level of an all-out attack from a First Grade elementium adept.

More importantly, the attack range of the magic energy rifles was only thirty to three hundred meters, while the range of the magic energy cannon was as high as seven hundred meters. Consequently, Greem had never intended to have the magical machine army assault the city directly. Instead, he intended to have some artillery action with the intent of minimizing casualties.

Once the magic energy chariots switched to their long-ranged cannon forms, blinding clusters of red light started to gather inside their cannon barrels. Seven seconds later, the chariots trembled as the fire-magic energy bolts turned into massive fireballs and shot out of the barrels. They cut across the sky with a red streak, flying past the city wall and landing in the city.

Twenty magic energy chariots, twenty fire magic energy blasts; giant fireballs devoured the entirety of Makren City in an instant.

The Crimson adepts emerged from their chariots one by one and observed the city from behind the formation. They could only see clusters of large fires erupt all over the city, shaking the stone buildings and lighting up the sky.

The entire city was instantly plunged into a sea of fire!

The orc commander crouching on the city wall and peeking down from behind a parapet felt a chill run down his entire body. Even his heart felt the cold.

What was it that the witches had brought with them? How had they managed to shoot fireballs from such a great distance?

Just as he intended to give the order to attack, he regretfully realized that even the closest metal giant was a hundred meters away from the wall. The centaurs would have a tough time hitting the enemy from such a distance, even with their arm strength.

Even as the orc commander hesitated, an even more shocking and horrifying incident occurred.