Age of Adepts

Shani quickly realized something was wrong as she engaged in a melee fight with Greem.

The number of shadow creatures in the pseudo-shadow domain was rapidly dwindling from her spiritual senses.

It was a situation that supposedly should not happen.

With the origin tower’s assistance from afar and the Fourth Grade spirit shadow as a conduit for all that power, these shadow creatures should be able to swarm endlessly, drowning the entire battlefield with their fearsome numbers and fearless fighting.

It had barely been minutes since the battle started. The only reason the number of shadow creatures in the pseudo-shadow domain would be decreasing would be if the origin tower severed the portal that connected to the Shadow World. The number of shadow creatures was decreasing so quickly now that they were almost decimated by the enemy.

Dammit! What were her sisters doing in the tower? Did something go wrong along the way?

Shani became doubtful and suspicious.

How could she ever know what was truly happen far away in the Dark Witches’ origin tower in the Northern Lands of the World of Adepts? Her leader, Circe, was already jumping around furiously and coughing up blood from sheer anger.

The shadow army that the Dark Witches had gone to great lengths to cultivate had mysteriously been exterminated without a trace. As the shadow creatures projected their shadow powers to that distant Morrian Plane, their real bodies in the Shadow Valley had burst into flames and turned to ashes, one after another.

This terrifying discovery left Circe with no choice but to order the severing of the soul portal to Morrian. That allowed them to save the remaining twenty percent of shadow creatures, barely.

Circe couldn’t even cry at the sight of the mangled, thinned-out numbers of the shadow army and the severely crippled force of high-grade shadow creatures. She could angrily curse the bastards that had fed her inaccurate information about the enemy.

The Dark Witches’ decisiveness might have saved the last traces of the shadow army, but it also plunged Shani into a difficult situation while she fought on the frontlines.

The pseudo-shadow domain trembled silently.

After the soul portal had been shut off, the Fourth Grade spirit shadow that had been serving as the conduit for the origin tower’s power dissipated without a trace. Due to the lack of a soul coordinate, the origin tower lost the ability to continue projecting its power.

The pseudo-shadow domain teetered on the brink of instability!

It was important to note that a portion of Shani’s mental consciousness was currently joined with the pseudo-shadow domain itself. If she could not retract her mental consciousness before the pseudo-shadow domain collapsed, it was very likely her soul would suffer tremendous damage.

As such, Shani was terrified when she sensed the pseudo-shadow domain tremble as its power faded. She could no longer care for the battle against Greem. Instead, she fled from the battlefield and hurried towards the shadow core of the domain.

Unfortunately, Greem had picked up on the abnormality of the pseudo-shadow domain as well. He would never let her leave so easily. Thus, he instantly chased after her, refusing to give her any chance to regain control of the shadow core.

…………

Inside the endless space of darkness.

Greem strode forward, scarlet light shining from the fire-coral staff in his right hand as it relentlessly fired fireballs into the surroundings to blast away the shadow energy.

Dark Witch Shani’s elementium aura flickered in front of him, providing him with a clear trail to follow.

Greem’s face turned when he sensed that elementium aura enter a dark node. He took a step back and raised the staff in his hand. A brilliant, red wall of fire quickly appeared in front of him.

The next second, several hundred shadow arrows shot from every direction, causing the fire barrier to tremble relentlessly.

However, as Greem poured his powerful fire energy into the barrier, the thin but resilient defense managed to survive the fearsome trap that Shani had laid down for him.

After that ferocious barrage, the shadow energy flowing around him had significantly thinned and weakened. The suppression over Greem’s fire energy was reduced considerably.

Greem coughed lightly as he walked out of the radius of the explosion, where the energy aura was still in chaos. Blue light flickered in his eyes as he assessed his surroundings.

Unfortunately, the explosion from earlier had wiped out all residual elementium in the air. Greem could no longer track Shani based on her elementium aura alone.

“Chip, can you lock on to her elementium aura?” Greem asked solemnly.

[Beep. Surrounding elementium aura has been thoroughly disrupted. Target lock-on impossible.]

“Are there any other ways to catch up to her?”

[Beep. After analysis of the current circumstances, chances of the Dark Witch heading to the shadow core are over 97%. Currently calculating and simulating the location of the shadow core.

[Beep. Locked on to the shadow core’s location. Requesting that host move in accordance with the directions.]

A translucent, light blue arrow was then projected onto Greem’s vision.

Greem flew forward without any hesitation.

The illusory arrow constantly shifted directions, guiding Greem forward on the correct path.

That didn’t mean that the shadow core itself was moving. Rather, this was simply the result of a strange characteristic of the pseudo-shadow domain.

The pseudo-shadow domain had engulfed the entirety of Maple Forest Town, along with thousands of square meters of land in the vicinity. Such a large area was more than enough as a battlefield for ordinary mortals. Unfortunately, it was far too small for two Fourth Grade adepts.

Both of the adepts could exit the battlefield with a single teleportation spell.

Thus, an unusual spatial characteristic known as Mythals had been added to the domain to trap Greem within. The effect of the Mythal prevented Greem from ever escaping the pseudo-shadow domain no matter what he did.

Even if you were to close your eyes and run forward in the pseudo-shadow domain, you would only be running about in a strange curve. One’s sense of space and time in the field was disoriented. It could lead a person to circle within the domain endlessly without any knowledge of this occurrence.

The true terror of this domain characteristic was the fact that it didn’t influence your sight, hearing, sense, or taste, but your very soul consciousness. Even if you were to circle around the town for ten thousand years, you would never realize that you were not walking in a straight line, but a curved line instead.

When Greem followed the Chip’s instruction to change his direction of travel continuously, his body started to actually proceed in a straight line, heading straight for Shani’s room.

Indeed, the shadow core had not been hidden at all. It was simply laid out within Shani’s room. Greem had only overlooked its existence due to the unusual characteristic of this domain. Of course, there was even less possibility he would have made his way here.

Blue light flickered in Greem’s eyes.

The Chip projected two entirely different visions of the world in each individual eye using its powerful calculation abilities.

In Greem’s left eye, it looked as if he was standing in an empty space of darkness, walking about randomly like a blind man. Meanwhile, his right eye showed himself standing in the stone plaza of the town, the tragic destruction caused by his fire magic all around him.

One in his left eye and one in his right. One false and one true. If it weren’t for the Chip being unaffected by the domain’s powers, Greem would probably have had to defend against the attacks of the Dark Witch passively.

Greem walked along the scorched stone road towards a wooden building looming in the endless darkness. It was the only building that remained intact in Maple Forest Town.

Greem arrived at the small building after passing through the street. The thick doors of the house were wide open, and he could faintly sense Dark Witch Shani’s life aura above him.

It seemed like Shani had hastily swung these doors apart when she returned.

Greem strode forward into the room. The stairs stretching to the second floor lay right in front of him, in the hall of the first floor. The doors to the dining hall were also open to his left. Adept Cherisha was sitting on her chair worriedly, tilting her head constantly to try and listen and sense for the changes in elementium aura around her.

There were only twenty meters between them, yet somehow Adept Cherisha had not detected Greem’s presence at all.

Twenty meters. That was practically like breathing distance for Fourth Grade adepts!

Perhaps because there was a trace of power contained within Greem’s gaze, Adept Cherisha’s body trembled abruptly. She turned her head in confusion and looked at Greem’s position. She looked all around the empty hall but saw no abnormality or any traces of Greem’s figure.

As such, she could only consider her sensation an oversensitivity of sorts.

In truth, with how powerful Cherisha and Mangus were, this dining hall would not be able to trap them in the slightest.

However, out of fear of Shani’s ‘savagery,’ they didn’t dare to extend their powers anywhere out of the dining hall.

After all, at this moment, the entire Maple Forest Town was the battlefield of the Dark Witch and the legendary fire adept. It was very likely that some unexpected variance would be introduced if they recklessly extended their powers beyond the dining hall.

In all honesty, even Adept Holly didn’t want to engage in a head-on conflict against Shani, if possible. That was why he locked himself in his room and contained his power. He was expressing his intent to remain uninvolved with his actions.

Of course, Adept Holly and the two-headed adept were not helplessly waiting for their deaths either. Instead, they were simply using their powers to defend their own little regions.

If the Dark Witch dared to extend her shadow powers towards them, they had their own means of self-defense. However, if she ever did that, her hopes of a duel against the legendary fire adept would be dashed.

As such, even though Greem and Shani were tearing the town apart, it was perfectly peaceful in the dining hall and Adept Holly’s room. Neither of them had detected any abnormalities.

Greem smiled. He did not disturb the two-headed adept’s ‘neutrality.’ Instead, he stepped upon the stairs leading to the second floor.