Age of Adepts

The last time he met Catherine, she had only been an ordinary trainee knight that he had spared. She had to use all her strength to be able to stand up straight before him.

Yet now, she had become an Iron Knight respected and admired by all!

It was this fact that caused Greem to realize that five years had passed in the blink of an eye.

For Greem, these five years had been nothing but a slightly drawn-out fight between him and the hunter adepts. However, for other people, five years was enough for them to experience the significant milestones of their lives.

Regardless of how quickly Catherine’s power could have grown, she couldn’t possibly have sensed the fire rune that Greem had subtly inserted in her body.

Over the past five years, the fire rune had been transmitting countless bits of fragmented information back to Greem. However, he had ignored the information of his own accord. He had been busy fighting the hunter adepts. He couldn’t possibly have had the time to examine the developmental journey of a mere trainee knight.

However, having dealt with his enemies, Greem finally had the time to pick up the line that was Catherine. He immediately understood everything that had transpired in the past few years through the information stored in the Chip’s data library.

Blackmountain City?

Catherine was currently located in Blackmountain City to the south of the Zambez Empire.

It seemed like a den of Deceit Witch remnants had been discovered there. The holy knights were trying their best to rally their forces to capture all of them in a single attack.

According to the vague information relayed back from Catherine, the witch’s base seemed to be managed by two Third Grade Deceit Witches. They had already beaten back several attacks from the holy knights, and the two forces had battled furiously in the forests, deserts, and swamps around Blackmountain City. The war had already raged on for a substantially long time.

For some reason, the two Fourth Grade Holy Knights that had been hurrying towards the battlefield suddenly turned around. It forced the holy knights to remain in a stalemate against the sly and sinister otherworldly witches, despite having superior numbers and having fought for over two months.

As one of the aces of the new generation of Iron Knights, Catherine had performed exceedingly well in the battle against the witches. She had already personally ‘purified’ five witch believers, along with countless evil voodoo beasts.

There were seven Third Grade Gold Knights within the army sieging the witches. That was what caught most of Greem’s attention.

He knew very well that the two Holy Knights must still be close to Gangsas Volcano at the moment. If Remi’s plague army were to suddenly launch an invasion on the Zambez Empire, the two Holy Knights would most definitely choose to exterminate these newfound enemies.

When that happened, there would be no Fourth Grade Holy Knights holding the line anywhere near Blackmountain City in the south.

That battlefield would then become the best place for Greem to freely collect all the holy light souls that he desired.

As for whether this plan would benefit the Deceit Witches? Clearly, that wasn’t Greem’s main focus or priority!

............

Witherwood Valley.

Six Deceit Witches wrapped in black cloaks were gathered around a campfire inside a well-hidden cave, discussing a matter in hushed voices.

“We don’t have much time left,” A one-armed witch said solemnly, “The holy knights after us might have been lured to Raven Hill, but they will come to their senses eventually. If they turned around and increased the intensity of their search, the illusion array placed outside Witherwood Valley won’t be able to buy too much time!”

The one-armed witch might have been explaining the situation and her analysis of it, but her eyes were fixed upon the tall witch that sat in front of them all. It wasn’t just her. All the other witches present in the cave stared at the witch and waiting for her orders.

The tall witch started coughing the moment she opened her mouth. The sound of her hoarse and wheezing voice was painful to hear, and her withered and scrawny chest rose and fell intensely. It took her a long time to calm the rampaging magical energy within her body.

“What is the situation at Mistvale?” Finally, she spoke.

“The holy knights broke through seven hours ago.” A witch with a head full of white hair said in a soft voice.

“And our sisters?”

“Two of them have died. The only survivor is already moving west. Judging from the last message she transmitted, the situation is not good!”

“Soulburial Swamp?”

“It’s been three days since the last communication.” The voice of the white-haired witch turned softer and softer, “I’m afraid.”

The faces of the witches all turned dark.

Once upon a time, they had all been powerful adepts that reigned supreme across all the major planes. Now, after their witch’s tower had been destroyed by the planar natives, they had become no more than street rats, hated and pursued by every being in this world. Such humiliation was enough to drive one to insanity.

Ever since the tower was razed, their group of witches had been closely pursued by the holy knights like a pack of mad dogs.

For the sake of preserving their strength and power, the remaining twenty Deceit Witches had no choice but to scatter. They hid from the holy knights and went into hiding around Blackwater City.

They had barely managed to regain their footing near Blackmountain City. They created five secret hiding spots around the area, each protected with numerous defensive arrays, giving them a chance to rest and lick their wounds.

Unfortunately, just two to three months later, the holy knights arrived like sharks who smelled blood in the water. From the peak of the tallest mountains to the deepest abyss and valley, the holy knights would find the witches wherever they hid and ‘purify’ them one by one.

Supposedly, those who could escape from the siege of the holy knights were all powerful witches in their own right. The number of Second Grade Deceit Witches was much higher than that of an ordinary party of witches. Unfortunately, even the most powerful witch would become much less powerful once she had lost all reinforcements, exhausted all her magical materials, and broke all her magical equipment.

Even the most powerful of Second and Third Grade witches could be worn down to their deaths if they lacked resources!

In addition, there were simply too many holy knights. Their numbers were shocking, and each of them lunged forward vigorously after the one before them had fallen. Not a single one of them feared death. More terrifyingly, the number of high-grade holy knights pursuing the witches was no fewer than the Deceit Witches themselves.

Consequently, the twenty-three witches from three months ago had been reduced to just twelve witches. The number of Deceit Witches had reached a tragic low. The ones who had caused all this were the damned knights that still pursued them stubbornly across the world.

There were originally two Third Grade witches stationed in Henvic Plane. One of them had already died at the hands of the Fourth Grade Holy Knight when their tower was broken. The other Third Grade witch, who had escaped with injuries, was the current leader of this discussion– the tall witch, Tess Xinnaya.

She had been slashed by a Fourth Grade Holy Knight while she was escaping, destroying more than half of her chest. If it weren’t for the high-grade potions that she carried with her, she would have already died.

However, the past few years of constant hiding and running left her no time to search for suitable ingredients or potions to treat her wounds. Consequently, though Tess Xinnaya had survived the attack, she had also been left with severe side-effects. As she currently was, she could only fight at the level of an intermediate Second Grade.

If she unleashed power beyond the limit that this broken body could bear, the life system that was barely being maintained would collapse in an instant. Given their current lack of medications, it would spell her death.

As such, Tess Xinnaya’s heart became filled with sorrow and panic upon hearing this string of bad news.

She finally managed to take hold of her emotions after a long pause. She then opened her mouth to ask, “And Tower Master Italil?”

She might not be able to live up to her rank as a Third Grade now, but Witch Italil, who had been sent to reinforce them, was still a true Third Grade witch. Italil had met up with them while they were on the run.

However, they resented her failure to save them. The loss of the magical array repair materials was the main reason for the fall of the witch’s tower. As such, the stationed witches became dissatisfied with Witch Italil and refused to listen to her orders.

Upon hearing Witch Tess’ question, the other witches looked at each other. It seemed like none of them had any clue about the whereabouts of Witch Italil.

Only the white-haired witch hesitated for a moment before speaking, “Adept Italil seemed to have received a magical message yesterday. She only explained that she was going to meet a friend before leaving in a hurry. She did not relay her specific destination.”

The faces of the witches immediately turned.

“Ilya, have you gone senile? Italil couldn’t possibly have any friends here!” The one-armed witch said furiously, concern and worry written all over her face.

The white-haired witch was surprised for a moment but immediately understood the situation, “Are you are worried that she will betray us? That’s not possible, is it? She is a witch! Those natives will never let her go.”

“Hmph! Look at where we are now, and yet, you are still so childish. If she really intended to save us, she would never have left those crucial materials with that bitch Rena!”

The words of the one-armed witch instantly drew the agreement of the other witches. They couldn’t help but start cursing angrily.

“Lady Tess, we cannot hesitate any longer. Let us move now! Otherwise...”

Just as they were talking amongst themselves, the witches’ expressions changed as they all turned to look at the entrance of the cave.

The defensive arrays they had placed outside Witherwood Valley had been triggered by someone. Judging from how quickly the person had passed through the arrays, it could only be Witch Italil, who held the same authority over the arrays as the rest of them.

They might not be concerned if Italil was the only one returning. More importantly, the feedback from the arrays revealed that a stranger had followed Italil into Witherwood Valley.

A stranger? In this accursed plane where only pursuers and hostiles roamed the land, strangers only meant enemies and enemies meant fighting and sacrifice. How many sisters had they sacrificed in Henvic Plane over all these years?

All the witches couldn’t help but get nervous when they sensed a familiar life aura heading straight for the cave.

Who was it that Italil had brought with her? Was it a friend or a foe?