Age of Adepts

Goblin Plane, City of Machines.

As the majestic capital of steel that had concentrated the most powerful fighting force available throughout the Goblin Plane, the City of Machines had an enviable amount of wealth and a shocking number of magical machines.

Ever since the unique professions of magical mechanics, machinist sorcerers, and machine pilots were founded, anyone who thought something of themselves had come to the City of Machines in hopes of finding a way to get stronger.

The three major financial groups and two main trade unions of the Goblin Plane had even moved their headquarters here to tighten their connection with the World of Adepts. In doing so, the City of Machines became a massive city that combined all the wealth and talent of the Goblin Plane.

There were over a dozen steel refineries and nearly a hundred magical machine factories located on the outskirts of the City of Machines.

If there were sufficient resources and the factories were operated at full capacity, the City of Machines could produce as many as four thousand magical machines in a single day!

Unfortunately, lower-end magical machines consumed too much magic energy while having limited combat prowess. As such, the financial groups, trade unions, and research academy of the City of Machines placed more emphasis on the research and innovation of high-quality combat magical machines.

If the magical machine research in the World of Adepts prioritized the creation of heavy war-machines and powerful magic energy weapons, then the research in the City of Machines was more focused on the improvement and optimization of lower-tier magical machines.

After generations of work from the thousands of researchers in the City of Machines, the goblins had finally succeeded in creating the second-generation combat magical machines.

The so-called second-generation magical machines were actually magical machines that possessed power similar to that of a Second Grade!

Greem had also created Second Grade magical machines in the past, such as the Goblin Shredder that Tigule piloted. However, these Second Grade magical machines crafted by adepts contained far too much magical alloy. They also employed too much magical knowledge and too many techniques, making it impossible to mass-produce.

These second-generation machines forged by the City of Machines did not use such complicated and profound techniques in their creation. They were able to display pseudo-Second Grade power purely through the combination of ordinary metals and magical energy.

As such, they could be mass-produced!

Though the production of the few core components couldn’t be compared to the first-generation machines, these second-generation machines were a lot cheaper and easier to manufacture compared to the machines handcrafted by the adepts.

It should have been incredibly good news for the Crimson Clan.

Unfortunately, before the Crimson Clan could enjoy the benefits of this innovation, they were engulfed by this ‘rebellion’ of goblins.

Supposedly, as the leader of the Crimson adepts stationed in the Goblin Plane, Deserra was supposed to lead his subordinates in defense of the central tower and await reinforcements from the clan.

However, a large army of magical machines had appeared out of nowhere. These machines surrounded and sieged the adept’s tower, launching reckless charges over and over.

Compared to the three hundred thousand goblins in the City of Machines, those involved in the rebellion were only a minority.

However, the goblins had the odd mentality of not turning against their own kind. Those who were ignorant of the circumstances chose to remain neutral and witness the events as they unfolded. The goblins involved in the rebellion had to have the support of the major financial groups and trade unions. Not only did these goblins possess a tremendous number of magical machines, but they also had proper strategic command and excellent magic energy weapons.

There were at least three hundred second-generation machines in the army of magical robots assaulting the central tower.

It was their tremendous destructive tower that allowed them to breach the central tower after a brief two-hour siege!

Deserra, who had barely escaped from the assault, was only First Grade. Faced with the horde of magical machines, among which contained the fearsome second-generation, he could only retreat as he fought until he was finally backed up against the edge of the teleportation array.

In all honesty, if Snorlax had been just fifteen minutes late, the goblins would have blown up the teleportation array. This City of Machines that the Crimson Clan had devoted so much effort into constructing would have changed hands then.

The First Grade Deserra might not be able to deal with this swarm of magical machines, but the Third Grade elementium magical machine could dispose of them with ease.

Shielding the adepts and apprentices behind itself, the elementium magical machine charged towards the enemies at the massive metal door. Fighting one against a hundred, it forcefully threw the enemy’s ranks into disarray. The cannons reaching out from all over its body constantly bombarded everything in sight, all while it swung its giant metal fists about and rampaged amongst the machines. Cannon fire filled the air wherever it went, the sound of ringing metal resonating without stop.

From a distance, one could see the thin yet lethal energy beams, the massive and destructive magic energy fireballs, and the fearsome energy shockwaves rippling outwards. The entrance to the room quickly turned into a terrifying sea of violent energy.

A rain of metal shards would pour down wherever the elementium magical machine appeared. A trail of shattered magical machine debris and tattered goblin corpses lay in the wake of the elementium magical machine’s charge.

The elementium magical machine might be uncontested, but it was still fighting a difficult battle!

The ratio of second-generation magical machines in the rebel’s army was reasonably high.

The elementium magical machine could easily destroy one of those conventional machines with a single punch, or two to three of them with a single barrage. However, when it was surrounded by row after row of second-generation machines, things stopped being so straightforward.

More and more damage slowly accumulated on the elementium magical machine’s body.

However, the elementium magical machine was a Third Grade construct that Greem had devoted himself to creating. He had even mixed in large amounts of magical memory alloy when he last repaired the machine. All sorts of cracks and dents had appeared on the elementium magical machine’s body as the second-generation machines smashed, punched, and bombarded it with cannons.

However, as the battle progressed and the elementium magical machine’s plentiful magical supply circulated through its body, these minor injuries quickly healed at a rate visible to the naked eye. Dented metal creaked and reformed, returning to its once flawless state. Bent and twisted metal spikes moved and extended back to their former positions.

As long as the rate at which the enemy inflicted damage did not exceed the pace at which the elementium magical machine self-repaired, and as long as the miniature magic generator furnace inside the elementium magical machine continued functioning, then it would remain as an unstoppable metal beast. It would firmly guard the metal door that led to the interplanar teleportation array.

The remains of the magical machines that the elementium magical machine had smashed to pieces had gathered into a small hill by now. The elementium magical machine stood at the top of this hill, taking down every single machine that approached it with furious cannon fire and violent fists. It endured five to six punches every moment, along with hundreds of beam attacks from various magic energy weapons.

It was as dazzling as a display of fireworks, and certainly just as loud.

The majesty of the elementium magical machine while it fought inspired zeal and courage in all who watched it. Deserra wanted nothing more than to charge forward at this moment and fight by its very side.

However, when he saw the destructive energy explosions all around the elementium magical machine and the powerful machines that were blown away one after another, Deserra shook his head and cast these impractical thoughts out of his head. He gritted his teeth and unleashed his largest and most destructive wind magic upon the enemies.

The elementium magical machine might have stopped the main force of the enemy, but how could it, a single fighter, perfectly defend such a wide entrance? Occasionally, a few machines would make it past the machine’s defensive perimeter and rush towards the teleportation array.

It would then be Deserra and Snorlax’s turn to fight, along with the rest of the adepts!

Deserra had been stationed in the Goblin Plane for all these years and had not participated in the various clan wars that had broken out. As such, he lacked experience and training.

However, as a direct disciple of Meryl, he received a sizable number of resources from the clan that were far above that of the average adept.

As he started to unleash his elementium magic without restraint, the magical machines were blasted to the ground by wild pillars of lightning descending from the skies. The rebels could only get their hands on a limited amount of magical alloy. As such, the magical machines they had at their command were often not very resistant to magic.

The few stationed adepts and dozen apprentices alone were enough to wipe out most of the magical machines that made it past the elementium magical machine.

However, when second-generations started appearing among these machines, the inner perimeter propped up by Deserra and the others began to falter.

The sharp-eyed Snorlax also spotted Princess Vanessa’s figure among the rebels that were gathering in the distance. Standing beside her were many other influential goblins, including the leader of the Blackwater Magnate, the Chairman of the Musen Merchant Group, and the Chairman of the Risk Investment Company.

They gathered around the princess, pointing here and there at the battlefield as if arguing or debating about something.

“Des, something seems wrong!” Snorlax had a terrifyingly powerful magic-energy ray gun in his hand. He secretly snuck to Deserra’s side and spoke, even as he continued to shoot frost rays to turn the magical machines into blocks of ice, “I know those guys. They might have been able to put together an army behind our backs, but their forces shouldn’t be such an elite army with such terrifying power. I suspect that a third party is involved in their rebellion!”

“You mean,” Deserra paused for a moment, but his eyes quickly lit up, “That big ol’ brain has extended his hands into this affair?”

“Only he can manufacture such a large number of second-generation machines and transport them here to the Goblin Plane without our notice. The other goblin leaders have all been under the clan’s scrutiny. They could not have been capable of such a feat.”