Age of Adepts

Every living being in the battle couldn’t help but raise their heads and gaze at the brilliant red figure in the sky.

A beautiful image appeared beneath the cerulean sky.

An alluring crimson silhouette embraced a majestic knight. She leaned against the knight’s chest as she beat her wings. The two of them slowly circled in the air.

The beauty and the knight!

One slim and delicate, the other strong and muscular.

When compared, the differences in the figures of the handsome man and the beautiful lady created a striking visual contrast. There was an odd sort of surrealism to the sight.

Acteon, in particular, was disturbed at this turn of events. He was barely able to suppress his anger. He would already have charged up into the sky and resumed the fight if he wasn’t concerned about being beat by Mary in her current condition.

Bloody Sorceress Mary and her embrace with the knight had no romance or beauty to speak off. There was only the call of death and decay.

Mary’s fangs dug into the knight’s veins. Fresh blood flowed into her body through the teeth, replenishing and rejuvenating her exhausted blood energy. Miraculously, all the wounds on Mary’s body closed and healed at a rate visible to the naked eye.

Soon, a crimson halo radiated from her body, and not a trace of damage remained on Mary. Even her skin had once again become glowing white. There was also a faint and healthy red glow from having an abundant amount of blood.

Goddamned vampires! Fearsome vampires!

Wounds and injuries didn’t matter. As long as there was blood, and as long as they were alive, the vampires could recover instantly through the consumption of blood.

This recovery was the outstanding trait of vampires!

Seven minutes later, Mary casually loosened her grip. A dried and wrinkled corpse slowly descended from the sky.

Mary stuck out her agile tongue and licked the blood stained on her lips. She bent her body and looked down upon the emotionless Acteon. She pointed with her finger and shouted, "Fight!"

The halted battle once again erupted into action!

"Mary, don’t think that I...am afraid...of you." A reasonable sentence, but Acteon stuttered as he spoke. It wasn’t entirely because he was fearful of Mary. Instead, three crimson arrows had embedded themselves in his body in succession. The bolts were blowing him up as he was speaking.

Once more, several gaping holes had appeared in his body, and once more, they quickly regenerated with the bugs around him.

Acteon grabbed a carcass beetle and used it as a shield against Mary’s arrows. His other hand continuously gathered spears made of creeping beetles and launched them at his enemy.

They had both sustained losses, but Acteon was the first to think of retreat.

He had no choice. Every time he regenerated, his body cost him part of his Spirit. Commanding the carcass beetles in battle was also taxing his Spirit. He might have been able to continue the fight for a little longer if he had reduced the number of beetles in combat. That said, his Spirit was almost at its end. Drawing out the fight was not going to work out in his favor.

Of course, Acteon might have been able to exhaust Mary and outlast her if it hadn’t been for the incident earlier. His Spirit was more resilient and lasting. After all, the Queen Bug allowed him to save much more of his Spirit compared to an ordinary summoner.

However... in fact, there weren’t that many ’however’s.

The scales of victory had tipped in Mary’s favor when she had consumed all the blood from a Second Grade knight!

The value of a Second Grade knight could not be ignored, regardless of how it was used!

Acteon’s defeat was confirmed when Mary had the decisiveness to waste away a Second Grade knight in this fight.

Acteon took one last, hateful look at Mary before whistling and retreating with the remainder of his subordinates. The swarming insects returned to the hole in the ground. The carcass beetles fought as they fled and safely made it into the hole.

Acteon took a simple look at his subordinates, and his heart ached.

Only twenty-three of the thirty-four carcass beetles he had spent so much effort cultivating over the past six months remained. More than one-third of his carcass beetles had died on this accursed battlefield!

Acteon dejectedly dispersed his body once all the insects had retreated into the ground. He disintegrated into numerous tiny bugs and went into the hole as well.

The vampires didn’t try to interfere too much with the swarm’s retreat. Instead, they took the opportunity to exterminate all the enemies that had yet to make it back into the hole. Mary would never lose her cool and do something as foolish as chasing the enemy into the ground.

Perhaps Evil Bugs Acteon was praying for her to do that!

Only groups of vampires lingered on the empty mountain once the insects had disappeared. Two Second Grade Blood Knights had also surrounded Soros. His face had gone pale as he awaited his final fate.

Soros looked at the Bloody Sorceress slowly making her way towards him and the two former ’companions’ fighting with him. He tried countless times to muster the courage to gather his energy and self-destruct. However, he always failed mysteriously as his body shivered in fear.

The rustling of beating wings came from above. Vanlier landed and transformed into his elegant human form, appearing before Soros.

His lifespan had also extended since he became a vampire.

As a human, he was at the end of his lifespan. However, his life had just started now that he had turned into a vampire.

Vanlier, having experienced the fantastic feeling of regaining his youth, had embraced his new identity without hesitation. He became the first native of the plane to wholeheartedly accept his transformation from his very soul.

"O respected Sir Soros. I am sure you understand the situation you are in. Do you still intend to use your life to resist us, the great vampires? As long as you are willing to give up that frail human body and join us, I, Vanlier, will be more than willing to speak well of you before her majesty, the Great Queen Mary!" Vanlier smiled at Soros from ten steps away. He rubbed his hands together as he showed off his glibness.

"I would sooner die than turn into mindless puppets like them!" Soros scolded as he waved his longsword. His voice was loud and fierce, but there was a softness to his choice of words.

Vanlier smiled even brighter.

"Sir Soros, you misunderstand something about this. If you actively reject the transformation into a vampire, Her Majesty will inevitably have to harm your intelligence when she Embraces you. However, if you willingly accept all this from the depths of your heart, you can be like me. Not only will you be able to retain your full consciousness, but you will also even be able to set foot on a new journey of life. A lasting and powerful one."

"Do you mean what you say?" Soros’ voice shook as he spoke. Even his hand trembled.

He had still been looking at Vanlier when he started speaking, but his eyes couldn’t help but drift towards Mary when he spat out the last few words.

"As long as you sincerely submit to me and become my slave, I will allow you to keep your intelligence and all of your abilities. Choose, Soros!" Mary’s words were very much like herself; cold and direct, without any room for doubt or hesitation.

The Second Grade Knight Soros grit his teeth for a moment. Finally, he lowered his head dejectedly and tossed his longsword aside. He kneeled on one knee and spoke, "I, Soros, am willing to submit!"

A gleam of joy and excitement shone in Mary’s crimson pupils. She lowered her body and nodded at Vanlier, "Go! Get them to clean up the battlefield properly!"

"Understood!" Vanlier was happy to hear this. He turned and left after bowing in respect.

Mary’s words had affirmed his value. This acknowledgment meant that he had been given total authority over all the vampires, except for the five remaining Blood Knights.

This promotion was a massive change for Vanlier, who had no skill at combat!

Mary confidently stepped before Soros once Vanlier left. She looked down at him from above.

The two Second Grade Blood Knights kept a close eye on Soros from both sides of him. The longswords in their hands would not spare him if he made any unusual movements.

"Raise your head!" Mary said coldly.

Soros obeyed her orders and lifted his head. His eyes clashed with Mary’s crimson eyes.

"Remember, you can only retain all of your intelligence if you truly accept the Embrace from the depths of your heart. So now, open your soul to me!" Mary extended a sharp finger and drew her magical emblem upon Soros’ forehead.

Fresh blood flowed down his face.

"I am willing...I am willing...I am willing..." Soros repeated to himself again and again. His voice was hoarse and muffled, but his intention was apparent.

Mary’s sharp nails ran over her wrist. Scarlet blood flowed.

She lowered her arm and allowed the blood to stream down her finger onto the emblem on Soros’ forehead. Oddly enough, Mary’s blood and Soros’ blood lit up the symbol when they mixed.

The sizzling sound of corrosion came from the bloody markings on Soros’ head. The blood had started to seep into his flesh and carved upon Soros’ skull. Every drop of blood that fell on the brand was like boiling lava. It hurt so much that Soros trembled in agony. The intense pain distorted his face.

However, he knew well enough not to make any weird movements. He silently endured the strange vampiric reconstruction.

A surge of strong blood energy infiltrated his entire body. It rapidly corroded, ate away at, and reconstructed all the flesh, muscles, and organs that it passed through. This process wouldn’t have been so smooth and peaceful if Soros had drawn upon his runic energy to resist.

However, the intense pain from the foreign energy’s corrosion of the runic energy nodes in his body was still enough to make him scream out loud.

Just like that, more and more of Mary’s blood surged into his body, faster and faster!