Age of Adepts

Beholders were evil and twisted magical creatures.

They possessed mighty mental powers and excelled at using mind magic to turn intelligent creatures into their servants. The multiple eyestalks on their bodies could each fire a magical beam with a different attribute. Not only were these beams extremely lethal, but they also fired instantly.

As the beholder’s body possessed anti-gravity forcefields of its own, they could easily hover in the air. Moreover, the massive eye at the center of its fleshy body could fire a Light of Temptation, instantly taking control of an enemy’s body.

Consequently, a powerful beholder would often enslave hundreds and thousands of slaves to construct a safe lair for itself. It would then become the ruler of the den, governing over the life and death of every single one of its subordinates and slaves.

The Second Grades of the Crimson Clan immediately retreated into the fort at the sight of the Third Grade beholder. There, they commenced a nervous discussion about their next plan of action.

If it were just an ordinary Third Grade magical creature, they might have been able to keep it away from the fort by working together.

However, all the Crimson adepts lost their confidence in victory when they were dealing with a terrifying Third Grade beholder.

Among them all, Tigule was the one with the loudest voice.

“Zacha; Meryl repeatedly emphasized that you were the one in charge before we arrived here at this battlefield. Tell us, how are we supposed to continue fighting this war? You aren’t as foolishly loyal as to fight against a Third Grade beholder as a Second Grade yourself, are you? That’s a Third Grade and a beholder! You will probably be charmed the moment you get close to it and turn into its newest slave.”

It was only natural that Tigule feared the beholder as much as he did.

The goblins were not known for their Spirit. Amongst all the Second Grades here, Tigule was the only one fighting with a magical machine when he was only an advanced First Grade himself. Consequently, he was genuinely terrified of the beholder’s mental powers.

The Goblin Shredder might have a shockingly high physical defense and decent magical resistance, but it could not shield its pilot from such intangible mental powers.

Tigule, and individuals like Zacha, who only had muscle and limited mental resistance, were basically committing suicide if they even got close to a beholder. The monster only needed to order them to commit suicide, and it would be able to kill them without even lifting a finger.

As the beholder slowly entered the battlefield with its horrifying aura, the atmosphere in the fort instantly thickened and froze.

The civilians and goblins inside the fort also started to become restless.

If the situation turned bad, the adepts all had the means to escape. That would leave the ordinary humans behind with a bunch of weak apprentices. How were they supposed to stop the attack of the stampede then?

While everyone was growing anxious and nervous, a strong and powerful male voice rang in Zacha’s ear.

“Zacha, help me lock on to your position. I am teleporting over!”

It’s Greem! It’s the clan leader!

A smile immediately appeared on Zacha’s broad, indigo face.

He roared and stepped forward, tearing off a metal tag from his neck and grabbing it in his hand. He then concentrated wild lightning power and injected the energy into the tag.

As the tag turned increasingly brighter from the lightning powers, it also became red and hot, burning Zacha’s hands and causing his flesh to sizzle. Even so, the dragonborn clung on to the tag, clasping it firmly between his hands as he raised it before him.

A short moment later, a profound and mysterious light array radiated from the metal tag, causing the air itself to vibrate slightly in its own unique fashion.

A Fire Teleportation rune!

The Second Grades of the Crimson Clan were unlike those low-grade adepts with no proper knowledge. They almost instantly recognized the true nature of this strange light array. Its appearance usually meant…

As this thought appeared in everyone’s mind, a burst of fire erupted in the center of the array. A faint yet tall silhouette appeared out of thin air, quickly materializing.

It was the clan leader. It was the clan leader!

A deafening wave of cheers spontaneously erupted within the fort!

The beasts outside the fort suddenly stopped moving, confused and fearful as they sensed the aura of slaughter pressing toward their faces. The Third Grade beholder also stopped moving, staring firmly at the unnerving form that had appeared.

Fire Teleportation!

It was a fire spell that Greem had only mastered after advancing to Third Grade.

The low-grade Fire Teleportation had only allowed him to teleport to an area within his visual radius, up to a maximum of four hundred meters. Meanwhile, the upgraded version had a much more extended range. As long as Fire Teleportation runes had been set up within a hundred-kilometer radius, Greem would be able to use his tremendous mastery over flames to instantly teleport over.

Meryl had already considered this when she chose the Doverand Basin as the battlefield.

As such, Greem immediately had teleported over from the White Tower without any hesitation upon hearing about the change at the frontlines.

He was not at all worried about running into an excessively powerful opponent.

After all, the initiative in this battle had always been in Meryl’s hands.

The bold yet careful Meryl had long since figured out the power and distribution of the magical creature lords around the tower before the stampede broke out. The existence of this Third Grade beholder was a surprise to the low-grade adepts and ordinary civilians, but that was not the case for the leaders of the clan.

The reason Zacha was chosen as the commander of this battle was due to him having once been Greem’s soul servant, and because of his continued loyalty. That was why the Fire Teleportation rune used for locking on to his position was left in his care.

And Zacha did indeed live up to his obligation, successfully guiding Greem over to the battlefield!

…………

The fire finally dispersed.

Greem’s vision was once again clear.

His massive Spirit instantly engulfed the entirety of the basin, and he promptly understood the situation. His Spirit unavoidably clashed with the sinister and chilling Spirit of the beholder.

Greem lifted his head and locked eyes with the beholder, through the towering fort walls, through three hundred meters of distance, and through the horde of countless strange monsters and beasts.

A blast of fire immediately rose around Greem’s tall body. However, an evil white-green will seemed to be wrapped within the flames, causing him to shiver slightly.

Scorch marks mysteriously appeared on the beholder’s hovering body. It had to fire off several magical beams of various colors from all its eyestalks at itself to dispel those strange magical fires that were burning on its body.

Greem frowned slightly. He had to raise the output of his fire energy somewhat before he could successfully drive away the evil will around him with his Burning Domain.

Both parties gained a comprehensive understanding of their opponent’s strength after just a single exchange. Their expressions couldn’t help but turn stern and cold.

If this were the extent of tricks up Greem’s sleeves, the battle against the beholder would be much more unpredictable. However, as of now, Greem had already stabilized has Spirit and gained possession of several trump cards. He would not fear the challenge of a Third Grade beholder.

Greem laughed beneath the worshipping and admiring gazes of the people around him. He then walked across the sky toward the beholder.

Greem rapidly armed himself as he walked forward.

Burning Suncrown, Emblem of Fire, The Fearless, Ash, Fire Dragon’s Breath; the five pieces of Second Grade magical equipment let out an overwhelming surge of fire aura that combined with Greem’s soul aura, forming a strange, large red barrier around his body.

This Ring of Fire quickly enveloped the beasts and creatures around the fort as he walked forward.

After he had advanced to Third Grade, the Ring of Fire had turned into the Burning Domain, bringing frightful magical damage. The five-hundred-meter Burning Domain brought catastrophic damage down upon the horde when it appeared.

All beasts caught in the red barrier had wild fire energy surge out of their orifices, turning them into ash before they could even leave.

Ordinary beasts and birds had no magical resistance and vanished into dust within a single second. Even the more powerful magical creatures were only slightly better off than them, enduring for three to five seconds before dying a painful death.

Only First or Second Grade magical creatures at the edge of the Burning Domain could barely escape with their life.

The fearless horde immediately fell into chaos before a human volcano like this. The creatures quickly escaped into the distance, leaving the battlefield at the center of the basin to the two powerful Third Grades.

The beholder started waving its eyestalks in frustration when it saw Greem’s domineering performance. Several magical barriers of various colors quickly emerged on its body.

This powerful human adept appeared to be an elementium adept specializing in fire.

Individuals like these might have tremendously powerful fire spells, but their bodies were much more frail compared to Third Grade magical creatures. As such, the Third Grade beholder quickly prepared itself to engage its opponent in close combat.

However, before it could execute its plan, the human adept started undergoing some strange transformations.

An odd, palm-sized doll suddenly appeared on Greem’s shoulder. Its body was covered in strange patterns, and a sickly-green poison halo hung around its body, giving its small stature an even more wicked and peculiar vibe.

The appearance of the Spirit of Pestilence added a fire poison effect to Greem’s Burning Domain.

That wasn’t the end of it.

Greem waved his hand as a two-meter tall elementium magical machine created entirely from metal appeared in front of everyone.

Everyone could see the iconic metal body of a magical machine on this strange being, while also sensing the unique elementium flux of elementium golems on it. As Greem placed a miniaturized magic generator furnace into the elementium magical machine, it gained a staggering increase in power.

It was almost as if a small sun had been placed into the machine’s chest, as it was now spewing out red flames and searing heat waves. A surge of incredibly violent and pure magic energy flowed out of the magic generator furnace, slowly lighting up the entire body of the elementium magical machine.

Its originally ghostly blue metal body started to turn red-hot from the injection of the powerful magical energy. The elementium magical machine had transformed into a fearsome flame humanoid.

The expression of the Third Grade beholder finally soured when it sensed the intensity of the magic energy projecting from the machine!