Age of Adepts

“Brat, to think you’re still full of energy after a fight with a Gold Titan…quite the body you have, innit?” Cerveris continued to verbally assault Greem even as he wove between the flames.

In all honesty, he was impressed by this legendary fire adept from the Central Lands at this point.

He had personally witnessed the might of the Gold Titan earlier.

If Mornashen Gaia were willing to join the Adept’s Association, his fighting power would undoubtedly rank within the Association’s top five. Meanwhile, even Cerveris couldn’t get a good grasp of Greem’s true limits; he could not estimate Greem’s real power.

However, Cerveris was almost sure that Greem’s individual fighting power was no weaker than those three ridiculously powerful bastards ranked as the top of the Adept’s Association. Even Cerveris himself was only ranked fourth!

That meant Greem’s actual combat prowess was superior to his.

If it weren’t out of consideration for the fact that Greem had been fighting with Mornashen for so long, Cerveris would not have jumped out and taken on the role of the firestarter.

Contrary to expectations, this legendary fire adept was just as ferocious as before, even after so many hours of fighting. Cerveris couldn’t help but stare at Greem, continually scanning and observing those two sun-like radiances within his body.

To think an elementium adept from Zhentarim with no background and no support could possess two ultra-grade artifacts, one of which was a piece of origin magical equipment and the other Soul Equipment. This fire adept was so unbelievably wealthy that even a prodigy of the Adept’s Association like Cerveris couldn’t compare to him.

Cerveris howled with all he had in his mind at the mere thought of this.

Dammit! How is this bastard so incredibly lucky! Isn’t the planar consciousness of the World of Adepts playing favorites a little too much?

However, the moment this thought appeared in his mind, Cerveris knew he had messed up.

This wasn’t space, where the planar consciousness had no reach or influence. It was the World of Adepts, the world where the adepts’ will ruled over all else. To curse the planar consciousness in this world, even in one’s mind.

Cerveris, who was elementiumizing his body to avoid a fireball from Greem, felt a stinging pain from within. His body, which had turned semi-immaterial, instantly reverted to normal.

A few strands of law aura that had contaminated his body earlier had unexpectedly merged together, giving them enough strength to break free of the suppression of his curses and start a riot in his body. That was what caused his immaterialization to fail!

“Planar consciousness, you dam…” Cerveris’ face flushed white. He didn’t even have time to escape through other means when he was hit right in the face by a Magma Fireball.

The violent and ferocious magical flames scattered everywhere, licking Cerveris all over his scrawny frame. The boiling lava within the fireball also engulfed his entire person.

Cerveris howled in agony and rampaged through the sea of fire randomly, like a black ape that had been burned to a crisp on the outside. The pieces of cloth that peeled off his body sizzled wherever they landed, melting everything around them and reducing all substances into pungent, stinging slime.

It hurts…it hurts so incredibly…so incredibly much!

Cerveris howled over and over until, finally, he was able to neutralize the fire laws in his body with a monumental amount of curse power. However, just as he managed to resolve the trouble within him, he felt the flames around him flicker and stall for an instant.

Cerveris turned around in horror. The only thing in view was a massive magma palm.

Boom!

An earthshaking thud could be heard as the giant magma palm crashed down from above, slamming Cerveris straight into the ground.

The magma palm blazed with raging fires and bubbled with scalding lava. All the earth around the point of impact was quickly scorched black. Even the air itself crackled and became distorted from the heat.

Szzzzz!

A strange sound could be heard as black smoke dissipated from the cracks between the giant’s fingers. The smoke quickly escaped in all directions, as if it had a mind of their own.

A short moment later, the smoke gathered a thousand meters away, reforming into Cerveris’ badly tattered body.

“Bastard…bastard. You dare wreck my body? I will curse you.”

Cerveris cursed Greem angrily as he reached into the air with his hand.

He pulled out the Book of Curses.

However, the moment the heavy book fell into his hands, he stopped cursing and hurling insults. He became utterly silent.

The red-trimmed black book in his hands, with a series of mysterious runes carved onto the cover, had been damaged. Perhaps Greem’s attack had been too violent, and the overwhelming fire laws of the Orb of the Fire God had seeped into the Book of Curses with its endless fire energy.

The left corner of the Book of Curses was visibly sizzled. Smoke was even rising from some of the individual pages as if they were about to ignite at any moment.

Aaaaah! My Book of Curses…I will curse all of you for ten thousand years!”

The Book of Curses was Cerveris’ Soul Equipment. Any damage sustained by the book was damage inflicted on his soul. Any damage to the soul was not to be overlooked!

Cerveris no longer continued his reckless fighting. He roared loudly and shouted the last of his curses before turning into black smoke and cutting across the sky, fleeing rapidly from the battlefield.

Cerveris had fled!

At this instant, countless people cursed Cerveris silently in their minds.

Fourth Grade Golem Master Tartas, who was hidden in his crystal skyship above Stoneshard Valley, swore angrily.

“Damn all your ancestors, Cerveris. You freaking bastard that can only talk shit. You can’t even beat a Central adept on the last legs of his strength. I…I…damn all the women in your family.”

The commander of the skyship, whose face was now full of Tartas’ spittle, carefully bowed and asked, “My lord, should we still proceed with our operation now?”

“Proceed? Operation my ass! You pea-brained bastard! Can’t you tell the situation’s gone entirely out of control.? If Cerveris won, we might have been able to recruit an ultra-powerhouse for free and take Greem back with us to the Union. Now what? Cerveris has fled! What can we still do by hanging out here? Prepare to pack up and go back, people!” Tartas was even more furious now.

Even though the Silver Union had sent him here to observe the future trajectory of the Central Lands, they had also authorized him to intervene at a crucial moment as an inspector from the Silver Union. However, Tartas was only a Fourth Grade golem master, after all. He was still a fair distance away from becoming an ultra-powerhouse.

If he were to really start a fight now out of impulse……

Tartas looked at that colossal flame giant on the horizon and gulped. He felt his breathing run short.

Tartas wasn’t the only one resenting the situation at this moment. Even Death Witch Leader Khesuna couldn’t help but sigh in the shadows.

“My lady, that Greem fellow seems to be almost done in. What do you think we should do now?” The Third Grade witch looked into the distance, excitement and eagerness written all over her face.

Ultra-powerhouses. Gold Titan. Ultra-Grade artifacts. The power of laws.

One rarely encountered battles of such a level. At the very least, she had never heard of such a battle in the hundreds of years since she’d been born. Others might not be able to witness such an event, but she had been present at such a close distance. The glory and excitement of all this made her almost eager to want to participate personally.

She might not have the power to join a fight of such a level, but the Lady Khesuna beside her did.

Charge forward, defeat these male adepts, and crush all of these losers beneath her feet.

She fantasized and felt her whole body turn hot with passion.

The next second, her excitement was extinguished by a single chilling glance from Khesuna.

“Fool!” Khesuna said coldly, “I go and defeat Greem. What then?”

“Then…” The Third Grade witch paused.

Wasn’t the glory of defeating an ultra-powerhouse enough? That was an ultra-powerhouse!

“Have you considered the consequences of defeating Greem? What stands in front of us is not a conflict between clans. It is a conflict between regions for control over the Central Lands! If I defeat Greem, it would mean that both the incumbent forces of Zhentarim and Greem’s rising clan will have been defeated in this war.

“Greem will be forced back to the Crimson Clan, pull back his forces, and go on the defensive. But what about Freed and the others? What will they choose? They are no longer enough to stand up against Greem. This much is obvious after today’s battle. What will they do? Either flee from the Central Lands, or draw in an external organization to serve as a counterbalance to the threat of Greem.”

“Tell me which among the three major organizations will they choose?”

The Third Grade witch finally came to her senses after hearing Khesuna’s cold line of questioning. She lowered her head, thought for a moment, and replied, “It will not be our Northern Witches. We Northern Witches have never had good relations with the people of Zhentarim. They would never ask for our help even in times of crisis!

“It’s not likely that they will go to the Adept’s Association either! After all, the Adept’s Association is too powerful. It’s easy to invite someone into your home, but to ask them to leave after that is much more difficult. Should the Adept’s Association be allowed to reach into Zhentarim, victory or defeat will no longer matter. Zhentarim will no longer belong to the Zhentarim Association!

“Therefore, in my opinion, it is most likely that they ask for help from the Silver Union! The members of the Silver Union are very mercantile people. It isn’t completely impossible to get the Silver Union to support them with an ultra-powerhouse if they offer enough resources as payment.”

The Third Grade witch turned pale after completing a simple analysis of the situation. She immediately realized how reckless she had been.

It was not a simple battle between individuals. It was a conflict for power, for authority over a significant region of the continent. Moreover, this war could even affect the balance of power between the three major organizations. Of course, everyone had to weigh their options before they committed them to action!

Her suggestion for Khesuna to join the fray of battle was a terrible, terrible idea for the Northern Witches’ benefit.

The Third Grade witch lowered her head, not a hint of color in her face.