Age of Adepts
chapter-413

Adept's Tower, Energy Room.

Gargamel sulked as he dutifully performed his task.

It wasn't anything complicated. All Gargamel had to do was toss the mountain of beautiful magical crystals into the pool and watch as they turned into pure magical energy to be drained away by the tower's defense system.

His continuous efforts poured one hundred and forty thousand magical crystals into the elementium pool, but these crystals were quickly vanishing as the battle raged on.

It was fortunate that Greem hadn't activated the defensive forcefield. Otherwise, the thousands of instances of attacks per second would have been a fatal blow to the tower. The magical crystals here would never have been able to hold on for very long.

In light of this, Greem had decisively given up on the forcefield and relied on the tower's durability to endure the attacks from outside. Most of the energy was redirected to the offensive arrays instead. Magma fireballs were being shot out of the tower at every second, relentlessly clearing out the horde of beasts.

And every time Meryl and the apprentices concluded one round of a barrage, a layer of the magical crystals vanished from the elementium pool.

Even though Gargamel had already mentally prepared himself for the task, he still felt like a stray cat was scratching away at his heart when he saw the mountain of crystals slowly disappear. The feeling of pity and loathing at watching such wasteful use of money was unimaginable.

As a wandering adept, Gargamel had no fixed source of crystal income. He had always traded away his potions in exchange for what he needed. Moreover, he had to be extremely cautious in his dealings to avoid the attention and greed of clan adepts and other opportunistic 'wolves.'

That was why poverty was the most common trait of all wandering adepts!

This was the first time Gargamel had ever seen so many crystals. He felt the impulse to just run into the mountain of magical crystals and roll around. Naturally, his heart bled when he saw the magical crystals vanishing at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Gargamel gritted his teeth and was about to pour even more crystals in the pool when the tower started trembling intensely. Half of the remaining crystals immediately vanished from the pool.

Operation All Will Burn has started?

Gargamel jerked his head up and tried to get a sense for what was happening outside through his control authority over the tower.

The tower continued to shake, but it was a whole different sight outside.

…………

This stampede that Tula had initiated included almost every single creature in a three hundred and fifty-kilometer radius of Plaguewood.

Their numbers were immense, but it was far from being inexhaustible.

At this moment, most of those animals had already been herded into the underground tunnels and caverns. Every single inch of space had been taken up.

Yet, just as the beasts were continuing to assault the tower, the sound of a tremendous explosion rang out from underneath Plaguewood. A massive fissure abruptly appeared on the earthen hill where Plaguewood stood. A thick pillar of dust and dirt was expelled a hundred meters into the air.

The sudden change in geography caused violent earthquakes, dislocation in the rock layers, and a destructive volcanic eruption.

Much of the intricate underground labyrinth started collapsing, and many more areas distorted and dislocated, sealed off by falling rocks and crumbling walls.

At the same time, the adept's tower started glowing brilliantly.

The crimson walls of the tower began to emit blinding scarlet light under the effects of an unbelievably dense concentration of fire elementium. A bright red light illuminated the entire cavern.

The floors around the tower's foundation turned crimson as they heated up. Countless cracks appeared on the ground. Terrifying flame streams of shocking temperature surged out from underneath, immediately blasting many beasts towards the ceiling of the caverns. By the time they fell back to the ground, they had already been turned into charred bones.

The heat had instantly vaporized their flesh!

The previously excited beasts started panicking. They frantically ran as they avoided the pillars of flame and hot air from under their feet. The entire hall plunged into chaos.

"The enemy is activating some kind of powerful spell. We have to stop him!" As expected of a veteran lord that had lived for a thousand years, Tula wasn't fazed by the sudden turn of events. In fact, he braved the harsh environment and unpredictable spouts of fire as he lunged towards the source of all this abnormality– the adept's tower.

The other magical creature lords that had only been spectating up until now hastily followed after him.

However, the fissures in the ground were no longer limited to the immediate surroundings of the tower. Instead, they were quickly spreading throughout the entire cavern. The explosions of hot air and fire promptly subsided as a pungent sulfuric odor filled the whole cave. Red and viscous lava followed after. It swelled up from underground and quickly started to flow down the volcanic floor.

The magical creature lords would not be afraid if this were only a little lava that had been brought up to the surface by the hot air currents. However, lava continued to surge out from below. A layer of red and boiling lava covered the entire ground. It was a lethal disaster for all the beasts packed into the hall.

They were merely predators and wild beasts that reigned in their small stretch of the forest. They had no magically resistant skin, nor did they possess excellent escape abilities. How were they supposed to survive this wave of magma with their bodies of flesh and blood?

Numerous beasts frantically hurried towards higher ground, climbing onto stone pillars and stalagmites. They desperately stepped upon the corpses of their companions as they tried to delay their deaths.

However, all their efforts were in vain!

The tunnels connecting to the outside had already been broken up during great earthquake.

All the beasts still trapped in the tunnels were instantly buried alive by the avalanche of sand and rocks. On the other hand, most of the other monsters were stuck in the caverns.

Of course, no good news awaited them!

The sea of lava still rose in height. It had barely covered the ground of the cavern earlier, but now it was over fifty centimeters high. The lava had covered the entire cavern by now. Tens and hundreds of thousands of beasts had died.

Even if someone had tied all these animals up and left them to be slaughtered by humans, it would still take more than two days to get the job done. Moreover, it would be a bloody and disgusting scene. However, when the murderer was a sea of lava, everything appeared calm and peaceful.

It didn't matter how strong of a beast or magical creature you were. No one possessed the ability to endure in pure lava. They still howled and called for help as they hung onto the stone walls, but if their grip slipped and they fell, only a single splash would occur. Their life then vanished without a trace!

Iron Rhinoceroses, berserk geladas, razor boars...

All of these fellows were extreme meat shields with tough hides and resilient life force. However, if they fell into the flowing magma, they wouldn't even have a chance to struggle. Within minutes, they would burn until only their bones were left, and a little later, there wouldn't even be bones.

The flying creatures were still able to use their wings to remain in the sky and survive the flood of lava. However, hot air and flames swiftly consumed all the oxygen in the cavern. There was also no place for the birds to land. Soon, exhaustion overcame them and one by one, they fell into the lava, where they burned until nothing remained.

Fifteen minutes later, less than a hundred magical creatures still survived. It was a significant difference from the tens of thousands that had crowded the hall earlier. All the survivors hung onto thick stone pillars, panicked and looking around for a place they could escape to. This continuously rising sea of lava had already devoured all their subordinates and tribe members.

Of the dozen magical creature lords, only a few could fly.

Even the minotaur that had been following right behind the Medusa had fallen into the lava when fighting with the Giant Berserk Gelada over a stone pillar.

Tula shot out a white spider web and pulled himself to the ceiling of the cavern. For the moment, he was safe from the looming threat of the lava. However, the other magical creatures had no such ability. They could only cling to the walls or stone pillars with their sharp claws and try their best to climb as high as they could.

However, in their moment of worry and anger, another threat appeared. A gigantic humanoid rose from the roiling lava. The body formed of red lava solidified, and a human's face developed on the uneven head.

"I am honored to be able to meet the lords of the Black Forest here," Greem smiled and took a look at the terrible state the lords were in, "This war you started has failed! I wonder what plans you lot have for the future?"

"Human." Demon-Hunting Spider Tula hung from the ceiling as he bared his fangs. A complicated glint of light glowed within his compound eyes, "Do you think you can own this territory simply because you have won this time?! Wishful thinking! The Black Forest belongs to us magical creatures. You humans, get out of our land."

Tula let out a ferocious roar and loosened his limbs from the ceiling. He then lunged towards the giant flame humanoid.

The demon-hunting spider's body was like a metallic spider-shaped monster. Not only did Tula wield immeasurable strength, but had also fought with a unique style of combat.

The armor of the flame humanoid cracked and dissipated into the air as sparks of fire.

A human adept appeared within. The adept raised his head and stared at the lunging spider.

He had crimson hair, black eyes, and a clear gaze. An unnatural calmness and coolness existed between his brows.

The gray robe he wore was nothing special, but a silver chain kept a grimoire tied to his waist. Three Ioun Stones flashing red, purple, and blue floated above his head. He held a great black staff with red patterns in his hand.

Greem moved somewhat and drifted twenty meters away. He then shook his staff slightly, and a fire arrow shot towards Tula's wide-open mouth.

Tula struck at the arrow with a massive limb and instantly shattered it.

A hot breeze blew against his face, but that kind of temperature couldn't possibly do anything to a powerful demon-hunting spider like himself.

Tula's sharp limbs almost appeared to be as light as a feather at this moment. They pressed against the sea of lava and even stabbed into the viscous liquid, yet the surface tension didn't break. His four pairs of limbs allowed him to stand upon the lava as he quickly lurched towards Greem again.

No wonder he didn't feel threatened by me. To have such a fantastic ability…

Greem thought to himself as he completed his Flame Fiend Transformation.

The next moment, a five-meter tall demon of flames emerged from the sea of lava.

A massive battle was about to occur!