Age of Adepts

The goblin zeppelin floated fifty meters in the air. It slowly reached the skies above Beta Town. The scene below was so horrifying that no goblin could bear to witness it.

The town wasn’t that big. All in all, there were only seven or eight streets. However, there were plenty of shops and stores on the streets. Most of them were weapon shops, blacksmiths, and alchemy stores. Under normal circumstances, this would be the golden hour where the traffic was at its highest and the shops would be shouting for business.

But now...

Mutilated goblins and slaves were scattered all across the streets. The doors of the shops were wide open, their insides a mess as well. Dark red blood stains were everywhere, along with corpses that had been gnawed on and eaten beyond recognition.

The blacksmiths and the alchemy stores had been set on fire.

Ferocious flames surged out of the shops, wildly licking away at every flammable object. The goblin constructions were mostly outfitted with metal plates to increase their defenses, and a lot of their core components were made with pure metal parts as well.

Sadly, all these turned into dust under the sea of flames that devoured everything!

"Master Beirut is still in the alchemy store." Uldum’s pained cry rang out from the goblin zeppelin.

Beirut was Beta Town’s only advanced goblin engineer, and he was the only one that could repair the goblin shredders if they malfunctioned. As such, Uldum’s heart was unbearably heavy when he saw the alchemy store engulfed by the raging sea of fire.

The goblin zeppelin could only shift its direction and maneuver between the pillars of fire and smoke.

Beta Town had only been under attack for half an hour, but the damage dealt to it was lethal.

The damned enemy seemed to be extremely familiar with the town. They immediately slaughtered their way down a street to the alchemy store after breaking through the entrance to the town. After wildly slaying everyone in the alchemy stores and the smithies, they murdered their way out of town through the nearest street and escaped towards the northwest.

A dense tropical forest lied to the northwest of the small town.

The reason the goblins knew the path taken by the enemy so well was because of the clear view they got from above with the goblin zeppelin. They could see a clear, bloody path winding through town. The other streets and shops had received varying degrees of attacks, but the damage they suffered and the casualties were much lower. It was obvious where the main battlefield had been and where else had only been dragged into the conflict.

The goblins in hiding came out once again when they saw the goblin zeppelin patrolling above the town. They cried and sobbed and waved their arms at the sky.

Just as everyone thought the danger had passed, the blacksmith that was still burning with flames exploded. The mushroom-shaped building instantly broke apart into many pieces. Countless splinters and twisted, shattered metal plates shot in every direction like heavy rain.

Yet another terrifying rain of fire suddenly fell from above.

The massive amounts of gunpowder stored in the basement of the blacksmith had ignited!

After the terrifying explosion, a massive crater appeared in the center of Beta Town. The hole was scorched black, and a sea of fire continued to burn inside it. Debris and random objects fell and rolled away from the crater at the edges of the impact site. Some goblins and slaves could be seen hanging onto the walls of the cavity, continuously calling for help.

General Bezzek’s face turned green. He gritted his teeth as he looked at the terrible state of things below. His gripped his fists tight.

"Uldum, you immediately go down to help the mayor in his rescue efforts. I will lead men with me to track down that goddamned intruder. Quick, carry out my order!"

"Yes!"

Uldum saluted and took a parachute from the guard beside him. He reached the edge of the zeppelin, steeled his heart, and jumped off.

The goblin zeppelin had no time to reach a lower attitude for him to get off; They needed to pursue the enemy as soon as possible. That was why Uldum had no choice but to carry out the orders of the general, even when he knew that the goblin parachutes weren’t all that safe.

As tiny mushroom explosions continued to bloom in the air, the goblin zeppelin made a sharp turn and sped towards the northwest of the town.

"Get yourself together," General Bazzek tore apart the uppermost button of his uniform that suffocated him and waved the copper handcannon about as he roared, "All observers get into positions. You must find that damned bastard. All cannoneers, prepare everything. I want you to use all one hundred percent of your rage to drown the enemy once we find them.”

Goblins with telescopes hanging at their necks ran towards both sides of the ship and filled every single observation spot. They raised their scopes to their eyes and swept through every suspicious location below them.

Countless goblins ran and shouted under the deck. Magic cannons forged of copper were pushed into position. The metal plates on the hull of the ship were forced open to reveal the black cannon holes.

However, unlike Earth, there were no large piles of cannonballs and barrels of gunpowder. Those were all replaced by crates of magic energy batteries. These magical cannons had all undergone complete technical construction from the Goblin Empire’s Institute of Engineering and Technology. They could convert the strange force in the magic energy batteries into clusters of unstable energy fireballs.

Such fireballs would generate terrifying energy explosions with the slightest impact once fired.

Each of these expensive magic energy batteries had to be swapped out after firing five energy fireballs. Consequently, the Goblin Empire mainly trained their cannoneers to be able to change batteries in combat rapidly.

It was a massive waste if a magic energy battery was swapped out without being used up. And if the magic cannon had its battery swapped before completely cooling down, it would be prone to self-destruction. That was why being a goblin cannoneer was both an occupation that tested technique and tested luck!

The goblin zeppelin zipped through the air a mere thirty meters above the ground. Countless magnified eyeballs were anxiously sweeping the land, not letting anything slip past their sight.

Finally, at the edge of the forest one kilometer away from Beta Town, the goblins discovered the signs of an insect crawling on the dirt.

Judging from the numbers of the tracks, the insects numbered no less than ten!

General Bezzek immediately flew into a rage when he saw the tracks disappear into the sprawling forest.

"Contact Naaru, quickly. Have him get over here with his land corps immediately. I want him to raze this place flat in an instant."

Naaru was the deputy general of the Seventh Land Corps.

Bezzek had intentionally left the deputy general with the army to command them. Under Bezzek’s strict orders, the Seventh Land Corps that had been hurrying towards Beta Town promptly changed directions and quickly advanced on the general’s position.

With the goblin tanks and the hawkstriders as transports, the goblins could reach top speeds of twenty-five kilometers per hour. However, the slightly clumsy mechas and shredders clearly couldn’t keep up with the army. Thus, the entire army was dragged into a line, like a snake with disjointed bones.

Bug Adept Billis, who had been watching all this unfold while hiding nearby, couldn’t help but lick his lips in pity.

His army of bugs had yet to form completely. They were functional in small brawls, but they were utterly insignificant in a clash between armies.

The assault on the goblin town while taking advantage of the distraction allowed him to capture two or three goblins with advanced knowledge. It also allowed him to obtain large numbers of magical energy batteries and other unknown materials. The goblin prisoners were relocated to a hidden cave, while he stowed the spoils in his spatial ring.

Thus, Billis had retained extremely high mobility and agility even now.

The tracks left at the edge of the forest were only a guise. Billis had sent out three sting scorpions to lure the enemy’s leader away while he turned back with the remaining twelve sting scorpions. He once again reached for the lumber mill camp.

He wouldn’t do something like clashing with the enemy directly. The mission his master gave him before the reinforcements arrived was to survive and expand his bug army as much as he could.

Bug Adepts like himself were restrained by the Adept’s Code of Conduct wherever they roamed in the World of Adepts. They were never able to hunt down intelligent life to expand their armies recklessly. Here, the entire plane was like a delicious cheese that had yet to be exploited. He could ruin the place as he liked and no damned adept executor would come to interfere.

That was why he loved this place!

Even though there were unknown risks and dangers here, an indescribable feeling of relaxation and comfort rose in the depths of Billis’ heart. He loved this place; or rather, he belonged to this place.

An entire plane filled with delicious blood treats waiting for him to feast upon. What else could be more enticing and more relaxing than this?

An hour later, the furiously forest-razing General Bezzek once again received an alert form the distance. The lumber mill camp had been attacked!

By the time he hurried back to the camp with the Seventh Land Corps, only scars and pools of blood remained on the ground. What was even more horrifying was the fact that all stationed guards and troll slaves had vanished. Not a single corpse, mutilated or otherwise, was left in the entire massive camp.

The magic energy batteries stored in the camp warehouse had all disappeared as well. That was the worst news that impacted the Seventh Land Corps the most!

All the magical machines that the land corps were equipped with required the batteries to properly function. Now that all the stored cells had been stolen, what was the army supposed to use to continue the battle?

General Bezzek immediately calmed down after realizing this problem. After much consideration, he chose not to have anyone defend this camp with no advantageous terrain. Instead, he led all the goblin warriors into Beta Town and set up a new defensive system with the town at the center.

After doing all this, General Bezzek finally set aside his face and reputation to send messengers to the empire’s military headquarters. He also sent out emergency reinforcement request letters to the other nearby generals.

The storms of war of an even greater scale silently brewed, beyond the senses of Bug Adept Billis.