Age of Adepts

The Crimson Fleet was slowly approaching Kerslin Castle.

The seven Motherships were of a gigantic, intimidating scale and had slender, aerodynamic designs. Everyone who witnessed them emerge from beyond the horizon couldn’t help but feel a freezing chill rise in their hearts.

Meanwhile, a flood of steel rumbled across the earth: an army of goblin chariots, eyeball machines, magical machines, and that humongous magical golem dragon. A dust storm was left in their trail.

It was a terrifying army of over ten thousand magical machines!

The small castles and fortresses that the Entom Clan had built along their path were like dirt walls in front of a tractor. They were destroyed by a ferocious torrent of cannon fire and energy beams, unable to stop the approaching army for even a brief instant.

This place was already within the core territory of the Entom Clan.

They had ruled this land for hundreds of years. Naturally, they had also established a robust and comprehensive defense system, supported by numerous powerful adept forces.

Unfortunately, these soldiers were still mortal, after all!

No matter how powerful these adept forces were, their defensive fortifications would be reduced to ruins by a barrage of cannon fire. Even when they launched a suicidal charge at the enemy with what courage they had left, their only fate was being riddled with holes by the rain of energy beams.

The difference in power was simply too vast!

So vast, in fact, that there was no way to compensate for that difference with technique or experience.

It didn’t matter if the armies hid underground, in the forest, or even if they were invisible. None of them could hide from the Motherships’ scanners, which encompassed over thirty spectrums. Nor could they hide from the eyeball machine scouts that scoured every inch of land like a swarm of locusts.

Those who hid underground would be crushed to paste by a simple gravity barrier, joined as one with the dirt and pebbles under the earth. Those hiding in the forest would be greeted by a rain of cannon fire and were blasted to bits along with the ancient trees.

Those who dared to approach the Motherships while invisible were riddled with holes by a storm of energy beams before being trampled into the earth by the magical machine army that marched behind.

This murderous army of magical machines obediently and efficiently obeyed every order issued from the Motherships and kept all enemies from reaching within a thousand meters. That was because a thousand meters was the ideal firing range for the magic energy cannons!

As the lead Fourth Grade force of Zhentarim, the Entom Clan naturally had much more power than this hidden away.

The moment the magical machine army set foot into core Entom territory, all sorts of traps, ambushes, and special forces repeatedly harassed and attacked the Crimson Fleet.

The magical machine army was responsible for wiping out all ground forces, while the goblin machinist-sorcerers were responsible for protecting the Crimson Fleet.

The machinist-sorcerers formed small, mobile patrols and ceaselessly marched on the decks of the Motherships. Should any powerful adept or creature step aboard, the machinist-sorcerers would engage them along with the magical machines on board, keeping the enemy from breaching the hull.

Crimson adepts of various grades were also on board the ships, forming a vital component of the ships’ defense. They were scattered across the many entrances, firmly guarding these doors that led into the ship.

Their united defense allowed the Crimson Fleet to repeatedly repel the enemy even as they marched deeper and deeper into Entom territory. Again and again, they had thwarted the enemy’s attempts to capture the Motherships.

Finally, after two days of tiresome traveling, the Crimson Fleet crossed the last fifty kilometers of land and arrived at the looming Kerslin Castle.

The Crimson Fleet quickly stopped and hovered above the clouds, hiding behind the clouds and revealing only a small half of their silver hulls.

The magical machine army arrived soon as well. They slowly assembled in formation and stood off against the forces of the Entom Clan. The magical golem dragon stood behind the army, its hundred-meter tall figure standing out as clear as day and its appearance as vicious as any other dragon.

Just gazing upon its massive and heavy body inflicted equally heavy despair upon the hearts of the enemy forces.

Perhaps sensing this intimidating aura from the enemy, the earth trembled as the gigantic Kerslin Castle started to animate and transform before the eyes of the Crimson adepts.

Kerslin Castle.

The current Kerslin Castle was no longer the previously peaceful and quiet five-story castle. It had become a monster.

A true monster!

Kerslin Castle trembled and shook.

Some of the last sturdy pieces of rock and statues began to peel away from its walls and fell to the ground during the shaking. The main body of Kerslin Castle was struggling and squirming like a humongous monster trying its best to free itself from the earth.

As its movements were so frantic and violent, the entire earth itself trembled and quaked. From a distance, Kerslin Castle looked like a terrifying monstrosity crawling up from underground. Waterfalls of sand and stone ran down its sides as it rose.

Several hundred years of silence and inactivity had allowed far too much dust to gather on its body. Now, all of this dust and sand and stone were being brushed off to the ground like a giant stream, slowly revealing the green-gray stone foundations below.

These stone foundations looked rough and uneven at places. However, a tremendous surge of energy flowed within them, similar to that of a human’s life energy.

It was this stream of energy that came to the large pieces of rocks attached to Kerslin Castle’s gigantic body. It was this stream of energy that allowed it to struggle and rise, breaking free of the earth like an actual living being to stand up before everyone’s eyes.

In just a few moments, Kerslin Castle had come to life, turning into a vicious monster with a body of steel and stone. The castle itself had become its head. An incredibly powerful forceful also appeared around its massive body.

“Greem, do you think you are the only one with hidden aces up your sleeves?” The giant beast stood straight as Freed’s elderly voice came ringing from within Kerslin Castle, “Kehkehkeh! Since you are already here, why not have a taste of the power of an animated war fortress?!”

“It’s just an animated war fortress!” Greem’s crisp and composed voice also rang out in the air, “Is that all, Freed? Is this the final trump card you have prepared to deal with me? If that is the case, then I will be severely disappointed!”

“Hmph! Don’t you underestimate Kerslin. Today, I will stop you dead in your tracks! The Central Lands belong to us, to all adept clans. A person like you should never have been born here in the Central Lands. So, as the Chairman of the Zhentarim Association, I order you…

“To get out of Zhentarim and leave the Central Lands!”

As Freed shouted with all he had, the animated Kerslin Castle also reared its head and roared like a vicious beast. The two gigantic stone pillars that served as its legs stomped two deep craters into the ground.

The next second, it roared and picked up two gigantic clumps of dirt from the ground. A flash of yellow light shone over the dirt clumps as they became as hard as stone.

Phew! Phew!

The winds howled fiercely.

Two massive boulders cut across the five-kilometer distance and flew towards Versailles, the Crimson Fleet flagship.

The animated Kerslin Castle was over a thousand meters in height. The boulders it had created were also several dozen meters in diameter. The boulders rubbed against the air as they flew across the sky, and the rocks soon ignited. They rushed up into the sky like two meteors.

The Motherships were very large ships, but they were only two hundred meters long measured from tail to tip. If such massive boulders hit them, they would certainly snap and crash to the ground.

“Counterattack…counterattack.”

“Activate the defensive barriers.”

“All cannons fire!”

The seven Motherships frantically conducted evasive maneuvers in mid-air, the command halls loud with orders and instructions.

Multiple defensive barriers appeared, melding together and further enhancing the strength of the shields on each ship.

The numerous cannons on the front of the ships lit up immediately, letting out a rain of energy fireballs. The fireballs clashed with the boulders in mid-air, erupting into fireworks and causing a sea of flames to appear.

The boulders had shattered into several smaller rocks after the explosion and scattered in every direction.

Now reduced in size, these smaller rocks crashed on the defensive barrier harmlessly, only causing a few ripples in the shield.

However, the rain of debris that came after inflicted moderate damage on the Entom Clan’s fortifications and the magical machine army.

Greem resided within the Versailles, silently looking at the ferocious monster in the distance. The Chip’s projection of the creature was slowly spinning within his vision.

According to the Chip’s analysis, this animated castle now had the terrifying might of an advanced Fourth Grade. In that regard, it was far more potent than the beginner Fourth Grade magical golem dragon.

More importantly, it was larger and stronger, as well. If the magical golem dragon clashed with the castle, it would probably be ripped apart in less than five minutes and reduced to lifeless metal.

However, according to the Chip’s estimations, this wasn’t the limit of the creature yet. If…if Freed was vicious enough to be willing to merge with the animated Kerslin Castle, then that monstrosity could even unleash the might of a peak Fourth Grade.

Which was to say that Freed could also temporarily possess the power of an ultra-powerhouse!

An ultra-powerhouse?

It seemed like ultra-powerhouses were worth less and less these days. There appeared to be someone popping up every other day with the power to rival an ultra-powerhouse.

Greem grumbled in his mind.

In all honesty, it would be more than enough for him to be the only pseudo-ultra-powerhouse in the Central Lands. The existence of Mornashen Gaia alone was already a tremendous annoyance. Now, even Freed could transform into an ultra-powerhouse.