Age of Adepts

Envy and resentment flickered in Adept Kerala’s eyes when she saw Mary in the night sky, as bright and eye-catching as a blooming rose.

She tapped her staff, and a strange, tiny monkey climbed out of her sleeve. The monkey sat on her shoulder and glared at Mary with its red eyes. Kerala’s body began glowing as she applied a series of halos to herself.

Bloody Mary was a terrifying killer known for her Agility. Even Kerala had to be on her guard with so little distance between them.

“Mary, is your presence here meant to be a challenge to me?” Kerala glared at Mary furiously as she said.

“How, how could I dare to do so?” In her deathly sweet voice, Mary spoke, “You’re a real old veteran, even among the Fourth Grades! You will have to look for Greem if it’s a fight you want. I could hardly be bothered by such crude matters.”

“Then why are you standing in my way?”

“One of my subordinates just died. Of course, I had to look to clear the ledger with you. I will be very upset if that Mona girl of yours doesn’t die tonight!”

“Step aside…this is my territory. You have no right to stand in my way!”

“Hehehe, Lady Kerala, you really intended to go save that Mona! Very well then, go ahead,” Having said that, Mary stepped aside, as if she wouldn’t intervene if Kerala were to just fly away.

However, her aura was still firmly locked onto Adept Kerala. She was not loosening up at all.

“You……” Kerala was flustered. She hesitated for a moment, but she did not walk down the road past Mary in the end.

They were both Fourth Grade adepts. Kerala was a few hundred years older than Mary and far more experienced and sinister when it came to fighting. However, they were both of the same grade, and even Kerala wasn’t absolutely confident in coming out ahead.

Kerala gritted her teeth and hesitated for a long while. Finally, she sighed and flew back to the tower in the distance.

A short moment later, lights flashed in the tower. Adept Kerala had teleported elsewhere.

…………

Rhine City.

Dener Clan Territory, Berkley Province.

Compared to Musta, this city was a hundred kilometers away from where Marilyn Mona was trapped.

It was the middle of the night, and bright light suddenly flashed from the city center’s tall tower. A violent energy tide shrouded the structure, creating a flashy show of light.

It was so bright that one could see the colorful lights from dozens of kilometers away.

A short moment later, a black silhouette flew out of the tower, heading somewhere into the distance.

However, before Kerala could even make it out of the city, a deafening dragon’s roar could be heard from afar. A fearsome figure cloaked in lightning appeared before her.

That aerodynamic form, blue body clad in crackling lightning, those firm, gleaming scales, and those seemingly scrawny yet powerful claws.

In all honesty, no one wouldn’t be nervous when a terrifying dragon stood in front of them and stared at them with their amber eyes.

“Fourth Grade…Thunder Dragon…Arms,” Adept Kerala spat out the name from between her teeth.

Of course, she added a bunch of curses after that name in her mind.

“Human adept, this road is closed for the moment. I suggest you find another path!” This was the first time Arms had shown himself in the World of Adepts since his advancement to Fourth Grade. He appeared calm and collected in front of this Fourth Grade adept. His overwhelming aura of might weighed down upon the city, terrorizing its entire population of humans.

There were no questions or pointless banter from Kerala. She immediately turned and left for the tower.

A short moment later, lights flickered all over the tower. Kerala had teleported away again.

Her destination this time was a clan tower on Kerry Island.

It was one of the Dener Clan’s First Class resource sites. Due to the magical array laid down around the island, not many people knew of this place.

Of course, the reason Kerala hadn’t chosen to teleport here was that this island was quite far from where Mona was. It was over two hundred kilometers away. However, it seemed like the Crimson Clan’s Fourth Grades had intercepted all the towers close to Mona. Kerala had no choice but to teleport here and fly the rest of the way.

Fortunately, two hundred kilometers wasn’t all that far for a Fourth Grade adept like herself.

What she never expected was for a dense cloud of black smoke to erupt right in front of her the moment she emerged from the barrier surrounding the island.

The edges of the black smoke blocked Kerala’s Spirit. It was more than enough to alert Kerala to the oddity and power of this smoke. If she had to fight in such an environment, her vision, sight, smell, and spiritual senses would all be suppressed to their lowest sensitivity.

It was undoubtedly a terrible scenario for an adept!

“Shadow Demon……” Kerala glared at the black smoke in front of her with endless hatred. She chose not to charge forward after a moment’s hesitation.

If this had been the past, she would have had no idea what she had run into. Now, with all the information provided to her, she finally had a better understanding of the Crimson Clan and that mysterious legendary fire adept.

That…must be that personal bodyguard that the fire adept had made for himself– Shadow Demon!

Shadow golems were strange creations that combined the strengths of metal golems and shadow creatures. They might not have the most potent offense or defense, but they were uniquely difficult to deal with.

Moreover, the fire adept was a very generous man. He had equipped this golem of his with multiple pieces of Fourth Grade shadow equipment. It was an unbelievable squandering of resources and a heartbreaking display of lavish wealth!

After all, most Fourth Grade adepts in the Central Lands didn’t have more than a single piece of Fourth Grade equipment! Meanwhile, the fire adept was equipping his goddamned golem with Fourth Grade weapons.

Just the thought of this filled Kerala’s heart with fury!

Of course, Kerala had confidence in defeating an unintelligent golem that was only capable of fixed offensive and defensive routines.

However, she was in a hurry to save someone. To start fighting against a difficult opponent like this shadow golem here was not exactly the best idea!

Kerala didn’t want to give up yet. She turned and headed towards the tower once again.

However, just as she turned around, a crisp frog’s croak could be heard from her waist.

Kerala paused for a moment. She took out a mysterious wooden badge from her belt. Magic surged into the belt as a tiny humanoid projection appeared above the badge. It resembled Psionic Marilyn Mona.

Mona’s projection had glazed eyes with blood streaking down from the corners. The projection slowly turned into loose sparks of light before completely crumbling in front of Kerala’s eyes.

Marilyn Mona was dead!

As a core member of the Dener Clan, Kerala naturally had Mona’s soul brand in her possession. Now that even her soul brand had scattered, it wasn’t hard to imagine what had happened to her!

Scarface Gallow had lost all hope of advancement, while Marilyn Mona had died to the Crimson Clan’s encirclement. Even if the Crimson Clan had also lost a Third Grade adept, this war was already a loss in Kerala’s mind.

Moreover, as the war raged on, the Dener Clan would continue to bleed.

It was unbearable torture for her, the leader of this clan!

The Dener Clan might be supported by several other Fourth Grade organizations in public and the shadows. However, what kind of support and aid could compensate for the loss of two Third Grade elites?

It was at this point that Kerala truly regretted her actions.

She should not have listened to the promises of those gutless fools. She should never have been the one to step forward, using the Dener Clan as the blade.

Kerala, who was about to leave, instead turned around and shouted at the black smoke, “Greem, I know you can hear me. Three days from now! I will be waiting for you at Stoneshard Valley to resolve this conflict!”

Having said that, she turned and returned to the resource site without looking back.

A long while later, a towering metal figure slowly appeared from the smoke. It stared in the direction Kerala had vanished into and brooded for a moment. Finally, it shook its head silently and disappeared.

At the same time, a Mothership was hovering somewhere a few thousand kilometers away.

After giving Shadow Demon the order to retreat, Greem cut off his spiritual connection with the golem. He turned back and asked, “What’s the current situation of the war? What other organizations and clans have gotten involved? You all should have been able to investigate that much by now, am I right?”

Gargamel, Meryl, Emelia, Snowlotus, Vanlier, and the other subordinates were sitting below him.

They looked at each other. In the end, it was Meryl who stood up and replied, “Teacher, we conducted our investigations. Although no official adepts from any other clans have appeared in the war so far, quite a few of their armies and forces have been seen.”

“Ah, what are there?”

“The White Spirits of the Entom Clan appeared during the Battle of Stoneshard, and the Swamp Flying Dragon Army of the Banda Clan was seen during the attack on Fallmountain City. Apart from these, we also saw the Cloud Giant force of the Gaia Clan, the Ghost Army of Annemdor Academy, and the Stonedragons of the Fabres Clan.”

The person who stood behind the Entom Clan was naturally Elder Nicolas, Elder Matthew led the Banda Clan, and the Gaia Clan was founded by that man with the Gold Titan’s bloodline. Meanwhile, Annemdor Academy was a private asset belonging to Vice-Chairman Mirva.

Who would’ve thought an ‘ordinary’ adept war would have involved so many Fourth Grades?

Greem chuckled coldly, an expression of thought taking over his face.