Age of Adepts
chapter-352

Greem had paid a hefty price to attack Doris continuously.

Black Panther Bill had shredded the Inferno Shields protecting Greem while he was busy activating the spells in the Scroll of Voodoo. Adept Bill then projected a large patch of shadows onto Greem's body of flames.

Dark spots started to cover his crimson body. More and more shadow creatures were also materialized as this was happening, surrounding Greem with a horde of those monsters.

That said, his Ring of Fire wasn't for show either.

He didn't need to do anything to control this significant barrier. Anything within its area of effect had to endure fifteen points of continuous fire damage. It didn't sound like much, but fifteen points were the damage the enemies had to face every single second.

If one included the fiery explosions when the Inferno Shields shattered, and the aura of flames that surrounded Greem himself, the damage quickly added up. Anyone that tried to break through the layers of defense to wound Greem had to endure a minimum of thirty-five points of fire damage per second!

Bill had eaten a fire dragon-herb, elevating his fire resistance and allowing him to be immune to this bit of fire damage. However, the shadow creatures he summoned were not.

Most of the shadow creatures were swallowed by the sea of flames the moment they emerged. They didn't even make it to Greem's side. Only the slightly stronger ones were able to endure the damage and strike at Greem himself. But even those creatures were instantly burned to ashes by the flame halos that periodically surged out of Greem's body.

Bill's Eyes of Shadows could, at best, only slow down Greem. It was a fantasy to think of using it to defeat the fire adept.

However, Bill saw a chance and seized it. Several significant magical fluctuations burst forth from his body. His speed and strength increased exponentially. Bill activated almost all of the magical organs in his body to beat Greem.

This was undoubtedly a massive gamble for him as well!

The activation of every other organ in his body was a massive strain on his human body. Activating so many magical organs at the same time would likely cause his body to fall apart if he couldn't end the battle soon.

It meant that Bill was pulling all the stops!

Bill's sudden burst of power placed even more pressure on Greem's shoulders.

He had to deal with the enhanced Bill, while also being cautious of Doris' illusions. It was an exceedingly tough battle to fight. And the primary cause for this arduous fight were the illusions and the fire-resistant equipment!

Greem's established his power and dominance upon forming a defensive domain with the accumulation of the Ring of Fire, Inferno Shield, Lava Shield, and his body of fire. What battle was there to speak of if his opponent didn't even dare to close in on him?

It was this idea and mindset that guided him into investing most of his power and talent into strengthening the Ring of Fire. His own body relied more upon the increased attributes of the Flame Fiend Transformation to fight with enemies.

Greem's lopsided development of his abilities had placed him in this awkward situation. The Ring of Fire turned into a delicate and barely useful skill when he was up against an enemy that was resistant or immune to fire. It could no longer restrict the enemies' movements. The weakness and flaws of his combat ability were then exposed for all to see!

Moreover, Greem also had a severe lack of equipment and spells to defend against higher level spirits, curses, and illusions. He had no better solution than to endure such attacks with the durable body of the Flame Fiend.

These weaknesses were also another factor that constrained his power!

Neither the transformed Bill nor the fleeing Doris was strong enough for Greem to be concerned. Their abilities were frustratingly tricky to deal with when combined.

Greem wanted to exterminate the weak and frail Doris, but she was sly enough to avoid coming within two hundred meters of him. His Fire Teleportation also created way too large of a commotion. It always left too much time for the enemy to slip away.

With Doris drawing away his attention to the side, Greem didn't dare to engage with Bill fully. After all, Bill's offensive abilities in his fully activated state were extremely shocking. Greem could not afford to be hit by the combined attacks of both Doris and Bill while he engaged with one of them.

The ground suddenly tremored, just as the three adepts were entangled in their drawn-out fight.

The unique clanging of metal parts rang out through the forest as the ground quaked.

Green-white lights flashed near Doris' feet. She dashed across the field like a sprinting horse with the help of wind particles. Even with her speed, she only barely dodged the Explosive Fireball and Solar Ray that Greem had shot at her.

When the ferocious tide of fire had died down, Doris raised her right hand and aimed her palm at Greem in the distance. She was preparing to activate Spatial Confusion once again when she realized something was off.

Doris immediately turned around and was shocked to find a massive monster charging at her through the smoking, burning field. It lunged at her aggressively.

It was a metal golem. A metal golem the size of a hill!

The golem had a body in the shape of a spider. It had four pairs of thick and sharp metallic limbs, and a black cannon gleaming with a devilish light on its back.

Blinding purple energies gathered within the black muzzle of the cannon while Doris stood still, frozen in shock. A bright purple plasma bubble slowly floated towards Doris under everyone's horrified gaze.

The plasma bubble was slow. Extremely slow. It had almost no chance of hitting any target with legs or arms at the speed it flew towards the enemy. Doris would have been able to dodge it even if she had been crawling on the ground.

The slow plasma bubble, however, shifted directions at the very moment Doris dodged as if it could sense the shift in its target's position. It accelerated and continued to fly at Doris.

Doris shifted directions a total of three times, but it didn't work. It almost seemed like the plasma bubble had a mind of its own. It always managed to keep up with the changes in Doris' position. Moreover, it was gradually accelerating. The frightening killing intent behind the plasma bubble was becoming increasingly evident.

Dammit! I definitely cannot allow myself to get hit by this thing!

This thought suddenly appeared in Doris' heart for no particular reason. It was a random and sudden feeling, but Doris chose to believe it without any doubt.

Perhaps this was a disturbing habit of all diviners. They always put too much faith in their intuition!

Slash. Slash. Slash.

Three green wind blades slashed towards the plasma bubble. However, they were quickly neutralized, and didn't even manage to slow down bubble.

The plasma bubble crashed into an invisible air barrier, burning a hole through it. The orb continued its pursuit, completely unaffected.

Doris took out many scrolls, wands, and magical items to try and stop the advance of the plasma bubble, even as she ran from it. Sadly, none of these worked!

It was apparent that the state of existence of the plasma bubble was utterly different from an ordinary spell. It wasn't something that could be quickly dealt with.

Nervousness and worry started to dawn on Doris' face. She frantically began to call for help from Bill and the missing Amanda.

Alice's chuckling came out from within the spider golem as she entertained herself with this amusing sight. It was fun to watch this horrid witch be forced into this awkward and difficult situation by the Fel Plasma Cannon.

"Doris, you wicked woman. Serves you right for chasing after me. Just die here today, you bitch."

Finally, Doris was unable to deal with the immense pressure. She couldn't care less about anything else on the battlefield. Bright green lights radiated from her body as a pair of invisible wings of wind formed behind her back. She escaped into the distance without even looking back.

Dammit! These bitches were unreliable!

Black light shot out of Bill's eyes as he cursed. Even more shadow creatures emerged around Greem. Meanwhile, Bill prepared to make his escape.

Boom. A muffled explosion of flames.

Greem's giant figure appeared in his escape route. Together with Alice's giant spider golem, they had surrounded the black panther adept.

"You forced my hand."

Bill roared. His athletic body leaped and sprinted across the field. An intense black light had gathered on his terrifying claws even as he was still in midair. Slash. Slash. Slash. Countless crisscrossing black claws marks were left in the air as the claws clashed with the Lava Shield in Greem's hand.

The surface of the one-meter thick shield started to crack. Flames erupted in every direction. The shield had almost disintegrated at the moment of impact. Greem's body was composed of pure fire elementium. To some extent, it was even weaker than this Lava Shield.

Thus, it wasn't hard to imagine what tremendous damage Bill's reckless attacks could have done to Greem's body if it had connected!

However, now that Doris was out of the picture, Bill no longer held the advantage against Greem.

Greem turned and tossed the disintegrating Lava Shield at Bill. Then, he picked up his Scroll of Voodoo as he leaped backward. The only Fire Core Explosion left in the tome instantly exploded around Adept Bill.

The black panther barely escaped from the area of effect after erecting several layers of shields. Bill also had to draw upon the power of his magical organs once more for a temporary burst of speed and strength. Still, the explosion's streams of flame had scorched most of his body.

The fire-dragon herb's resistance only allowed him to be immune to fire damage below a hundred points. Anything above that could still wound him. That was why the one hundred and fifteen points of the Fire Core Explosion's fire damage and physical shockwave still managed to hurt him severely.

Another tide of flames erupted around him as he struggled to get up and escape.

Dammit! Fire Teleportation!

Bill knew what it was, but his crippled body made it hard for him to run immediately. Consequently, the erupting flames managed to surround the panther. They gathered and formed into Greem's strong magma hand, firmly grasping the enemy in his palm.

The restraints immediately drove Bill into a frenzy.

He struggled madly and shredded Greem's hand with his murderous attacks. Flames were sent flying everywhere. Meanwhile, one strange, profound rune after another started to light up beneath his thick black fur. It was apparent that Bill was preparing to use one of his hidden trump cards.

Greem's blazing hands kept a tight grip on the panther. His mouth of fire opened slightly, and a terrifying stream of flame blasted towards Bill's struggling head.

Boom.

A muffled explosion.

The black panther's head exploded like a ripe watermelon!