Age of Adepts

The battle was as intense as ever.

However, the young man and the two archbishops of the Church of the Omniscient Eye were still relaxed.

It was simple. They were powerful enough to escape unscathed!

Their purpose in breaking into Morrian Plane was none other than to collect the high-grade arcane knowledge of the Arcane Empire that even the gods themselves envied.

Hierro, the God of Wisdom, ruled over the divinity of knowledge and learning. Any knowledge brought back from a foreign plane would increase his divine power, not to mention a civilization as large as the Arcane Empire with as unique of a knowledge system as theirs.

If Hierro could take all of the Arcane Empire’s experience, he would have the chance to shake off his identity as a vassal god to the God of Order and Justice. He could instantly advance to become the God of Omniscience, an Eighth Grade deity in his own right.

It was only then that he would have the power and qualifications to start a pantheon of his own!

However, all this was only a fantasy.

It didn’t matter how badly beaten the Arcane Empire was; two Eighth Grade Arcane Emperors still supported them. There was no way the entire Empire would fall into the hands of a mere Fifth Grade God of Wisdom.

As such, Hierro only sent out his most trusted son, Mietzel, to collect as much of the Arcane Empire’s knowledge as possible.

The believers had waged war against the evil lich out of their distaste for him.

However, upon realizing that they had no means of quickly exterminating the lich, the two archbishops instead wanted to abandon the battlefield and head elsewhere to search for loot.

Just as they gathered their divine power and prepared to break through the encirclement of undead, two unusual figures charged onto the battlefield.

An unexpected change?

All the members of the Church of the Omniscient Eye stopped and looked at the two individuals that had just appeared.

They were not allies. Instead, they seemed to opponents.

One was an evil adept in yellow leather armor with two heads, one male and one female. The other was a muscular holy knight wearing mysterious runic armor and brandishing a holy sword in his hand.

The two of them appeared to be surprised by the battle occurring here when they arrived. They stopped their fighting and started to evaluate the battlefield carefully.

“An adept and a holy knight! They have different beliefs, distinct attributes of power, and opposing factions. It’s not a surprise they are fighting against each other.” The eldest Archbishop Antonio identified the two newcomers with a single glance and softly explained them to the young Mietzel.

As one of the more infamously powerful factions in the multiverse, the Adepts had always been regarded as an evil faction. Meanwhile, holy knights could be considered as part of the faction of order due to the Holy Light they wielded.

However, holy knights were stubborn zealots that refused to give up their ideals. They regarded all other powers apart from the Holy Light as false gods and devils, often making them oppose believers of the pantheon of order.

Still, where evil powers existed, the holy knights knew well enough to set aside their differences and unite with the god believers!

Lich Kanganas looked down at the two-headed adept from above his throne, cackling sinisterly as he spoke, “Isn’t this the tiny adept that slipped away from my fingers last time? What’s happened? Was your luck so terrible that you ran into a turtle shell this time?”

Holy knights always donned an entire set of holy armor. It bestowed them with a sacred light barrier of shocking defensive power. They were the most resilient profession, even amongst other warriors and knights.

It was no wonder that the lich would mock them as ‘turtle shells’!

Greem, who was dressed as a holy knight, stepped forward and shouted loudly, “Blessed be the Holy Light! You evil and foul creatures, kneel before the great Holy Light and repent your sins. Or I, Greem, will exterminate you all in the name of the Holy Light!”

Everyone on the battlefield felt their brains short-circuit when they saw the prideful Greem with that righteous expression on his face. It all felt so ridiculous.

Come on! It was obvious that the evil factions were the ones with the upper hand here. The forces of justice were the ones being pushed back! To think one would dare to insult everyone alone, making enemies out of both the lich and the adept. This…how blindingly devout to their beliefs did they have to be to do such a thing?

The knights and archbishops of the Church of the Omniscient Eye were stunned at the stupidity of the holy knight. Even Mietzel couldn’t help but frown.

Dammit, even I don’t dare to be so arrogant when my dad’s an actual god. Where did this brainless musclehead find the courage to be so reckless? Are holy knights always so suicidal?

Four parties had appeared on this battlefield now, each representing a faction of their own.

They could still vaguely be split into two opposing camps of contrasting attributes. There was the faction of evil– the lich and the adept. Then there was the faction of order– the believers of the God of Wisdom and the holy knight.

Even though different factions within the same camp still often fought against each other, they had to maintain a united front against the opposing camp in a situation like this. At the very least, internal conflict was undesirable until the enemy was defeated.

“My lord, can you confirm this holy knight’s identity?” Archbishop Rosseau leaned by Mietzel’s ear and whispered.

“Let me try.” Mietzel was young, but as someone chosen to be a wielder of the Libram, he had naturally possessed incredible power from birth.

The Libram of Wisdom in his hands flipped open on its own accord. When it finally stopped on a particular page, a golden circle of light rippled outwards.

Undead fell where the golden halo traveled. Only intermediate and high-grade undead could survive, screaming as they fled from the region engulfed by the golden light.

Like a divine spell whose power had overflowed, the golden halo quickly washed over the two-headed adept, the evil lich, and the holy knight.

The two-headed adept let out a grunt, putting out a thin but firm mental barrier to protect themselves, letting the golden halo naturally part in front of them.

Meanwhile, Lich Kanganas did not fear power of this level at all. He let the golden light wash over his body. The pure holy power clashed with the evil aura on his jade-white skeleton, neutralizing each other and causing no harm to him at all.

However, the skeleton giant beneath Kanganas seemed to have been angered by the golden light. He lifted his head and let out a voiceless roar, summoning a tide of death energy to resist the holy power.

Greem stared at Mietzel angrily. He then let out a grunt, raised his holy sword, and shouted.

“Light’s Haven!”

As he shouted, shimmering holy light flowed from the longsword, protecting him firmly in a layer of radiant holy light. It didn’t matter how the golden ripples washed over the barrier; they could not do anything to the holy light.

The two distinct powers only needed to clash slightly, and the owners of the forces instantly knew the attributes of the opponent’s power.

“It is indeed the power of Holy Light!”

The believers of the Omniscient Eye let down their guard after confirming Greem’s identity. They nodded at Greem with an apologetic look in their eyes for that ‘misfire’ from earlier.

Archbishop Antonio even extended an invitation to Greem to exterminate the evil in front of them. The other believers did not raise any objections.

That was because the infamous ‘temper’ of the holy knights had misled them.

A holy knight’s belief in the Holy Light dictated that they strike out against evil wherever it was. However, they also held the knight’s code of not actively attacking any non-evil creatures.

Many young and immature holy knights had been tricked into fighting evil creatures, only to fall to a hidden dagger to the back.

Even so, the holy knights still firmly upheld their ideals and beliefs, never regretting it, even if they paid with their lives.

The believers of the Omniscient Eye couldn’t be more eager to pull Greem over to their side. They wanted to use him as a scapegoat to fend off the attacks from the two evil beings in front of them.

Greem strode forward without hesitation after obtaining the invitation of the god believers.

White holy light flickered in his hands as he walked forth, turning into white beams that landed on the templar knights of the Church.

Detect Evil!

This holy spell was usually used to identify the nature of an unknown creature. It did not inflict any damage to an opponent.

Evil creatures would glow a bright red beneath the holy light. The more evil the creature, the brighter the light. Meanwhile, beings of order would release white light, while neutral creatures would glow green.

Casting Detect Evil on believers of the God of Wisdom was an act of offense in itself. Anger appeared on the faces of the templar knights.

Hurling Detect Evils everywhere they went. It was probably one of the most hated habits of the holy knights!

The believers of the Omniscient Eye gritted their teeth and said nothing.

This bastard! There’s no respect at all! Our equipment, our spells, the way we are dressed. It’s all so obvious! Still, he has to cast Detect Evil over and over again! What a stubborn fool.

Shua! Shua! Shua!

The holy light landed on the templar knights and detected no problem at all.

Thus, the holy light then bent and shone towards the three spiritualists instead.

Tolerate, tolerate, tolerate; we will trick this brat into running at the lich and the adept after this!

The spiritualists cursed angrily in their minds, all while putting on an awkward but not impolite smile.

However, just as the holy light landed on Mietzel, the milky-white light suddenly turned into a blinding red light.

Blindingly red, glaringly red, shockingly red.

“Evil…evil creatures must be cleansed!”

Greem shouted out loud. Pure and powerful holy light erupted from this sword as he swung at the utterly surprised Mietzel.