Age of Adepts

The pursuit on the battlefield continued, but news was already spreading out like a plague.

Every person and organization that heard of this news couldn’t believe their ears and scrambled to confirm the validity of it. By the time they obtained confirmation through their various means, time was no longer in their hands.

Ailovis was now a chaotic battlefield, as well as a giant vortex. It was dragging all the adept organizations and forces around it into the fray of battle.

The Crimson Clan’s rampant expansion and invasions over the years had driven away all the adept organizations in Ailovis. When the clan war broke out, these defeated forces and opportunists came out of the cracks, spurred by the might of the Fabres Clan. They became supporters of the Fabres Clan, shouting in favor of them and traveling everywhere to get former Crimson forces to surrender.

The Fabres Clan was not opposed to this uninvited ‘alliance’ either.

After all, the Fabres forces needed to be concentrated in a single place before they defeated the Crimson Clan. They could not afford to send soldiers all over Ailovis to maintain order. As such, the Fabres adepts chose to simply turn a blind eye to these scavenging vultures trying to make some profit by raiding resource sites while the two adept clans fought.

At any rate, once the Crimson Clan was defeated, ownership of all the territories and resource sites they had obtained would be transferred to the Fabres Clan without exception. A few people taking a little advantage of the situation to gather some resources while the war was going on wouldn’t hurt their final profits too much.

Thus, while the Fabres forces were having their final showdown against the Crimson Clan outside Pinecone City, the adept organizations and clans that had reached their dirty hands into Ailovis were enjoying the feast of their lives, freely exploiting and raiding everything that once belonged to the Crimson Clan.

Perhaps the name of the Fabres Clan had given them the illusion of inevitability. Still, it caused them to abandon their much-required cautiousness, and they did not pay close attention to the final battle that would decide the fate of Ailovis.

Consequently, Fourth Grade Adept Declan abandoned the battlefield and fled while the Fabres elite forces left behind the voodoo beast army, the modified beast army, the subordinate armies, and the other soldiers to retreat; the battlefield rapidly spread outwards in every direction.

A top-tier adept could instantly decide the outcome of the battlefield!

Even though the elites of the Fabres Clan were still present, and even though the Fabres Clan’s overall military strength was still several times that of the Crimson Clan’s, all of it became an illusory bubble when their greatest fighting force was defeated. Everyone began to flee.

The adepts that owned magical flying beasts summoned their steeds and escaped the battlefield as quickly as they could. The rest of the elites took out the best of their abilities to escape pursuit as well; they no longer tried to fight against the Crimson forces and instead started running to the border of Ailovis.

Naturally, the subordinate forces had no such discipline or ability. They were quickly routed after a few assaults by the Crimson magical machines.

These individuals had been recruited from all sorts of places and had many peculiar abilities. Some summoned magical beast as their mounts to run, while some turned into ravens, deer, and rats to hide. Some used their innate abilities to hide in towns or villages while others simply crouched down and surrendered.

Faced with this swarm of ants that had just had their nests destroyed, the Crimson Clan decided not to spread their forces to capture them all. Instead, they concentrated their soldiers and chased after the few, still composed, elites of the Fabres Clan.

If someone were to look down upon Ailovis from high in the sky, they would find that the Fabres elites were fighting as they fled, trying their best to reach the border. Meanwhile, the main forces of the Crimson Clan were using the Motherships, goblin chariots, and other vehicles to travel to important mountain passes to intercept the enemy.

As the two parties engaged in the chase, the battlefield spread to every corner of Ailovis.

While the web of war was cast across the entire region of Ailovis, all of the opportunists and fence-sitters that did not belong to the Fabres Clan-those only here to net a profit and scavenge for goods-found themselves in trouble. By the time they realized something was wrong and tried to leave, all the principal roads and mountain passes around them had become fiercely contested regions that the Fabres Clan and Crimson Clan were viciously fighting over.

Meanwhile, these fence-sitters were like pathetic bugs caught between two raging elephants. They no longer had the chance to escape and survive unscathed!

These opportunists had brazenly trespassed into Crimson Clan territory its and resource sites, chasing away or imprisoning the adepts and apprentices that the Crimson Clan had stationed here before rampantly robbing the places of their resources and wealth.

However, while they were enjoying this rare and sumptuous feast in high spirits, the situation around them took a terrible turn. The entire region of Ailovis had become a bloody battlefield where one clan chased after the other.

These small adept organizations and forces that had placed the wrong bets were caught in-between now. They were as anxious as ants on a hot pan, desperately searching for the opportunity to escape.

Unfortunately, these two clans had gone berserk in their attempts to chase and escape. No one had the time to investigate the validity and actual factions of these ‘allied’ forces. Any outside force with no clear affiliation had only one outcome if they ran into the two clans- death!

Several parties sent out by the surrounding small adept organizations were murdered and exterminated by the two clans.

Of course, the leaders of some of these organizations were smart enough to save themselves. They immediately let out the imprisoned Crimson adepts and apprentices and treated them to good food and service while promising grand compensations to the Crimson Clan. In doing so, they barely managed to whitewash themselves into ‘allies’ of the Crimson Clan.

What could you say? These fence-sitters and opportunists were just that shameless!

After covering for themselves, they quickly waved their flags and joined the Crimson Clan, becoming the most passionate group of people chasing after the Fabres Clan.

While the forces of the two powerful clans engaged in difficult battles all across Ailovis, all sorts of ridiculous and unimagine stories of betrayal and loyalty occurred all over the place.

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

Stoneshard Valley.

It was a winding valley caught between two towering mountains and one of the key passes of Ailovis, controlling the southwest border.

It used to be a fortress territory where the Crimson Clan had stationed forces, but when the clan war broke out, the garrison was recalled, and this place became an abandoned fortress.

It was noon when the blue skies suddenly burst with activity.

A silver Mothership arrived carrying several hundred magical machines, with the full intent of taking back control of the fortress.

However, just as the four hundred magical machines charged down the ship and got into formation to assault the fortress, a gray flag rose from the tallest stone tower of the fortress.

The sigil of a bloody spear had been embroidered on the flag with golden thread. This sigil represented a famous name in Zhentarim- the Dener Clan.

The one leading the Crimson magical machines was Second Grade Blood Knight Soros. He saw the Dener Clan’s banner waving above the fortress and immediately called for the forces to stop. He started to evaluate the location.

Perhaps discovering the arrival of the Crimson Clan’s magical machine army, the gates of the outpost opened, and a party of adept forces emerged on magical steeds. The one in the lead was a man. His face was filled with messy cuts and plenty of stitches. At first glance, it almost looked like his face had been diced up and bound together with cured and simple rope.

Soros’ heart sank.

The ‘monster’ leading the Dener forces was a Third Grade adept.

The scar-faced adept rode up to the Crimson magical machines and looked down upon Soros on his horse. Even as a vampire, Soros felt a chill run down his spine when the adept stared at him with his murky, pupil-less eyeballs.

“I am Gallow of the Dener Clan. In accordance with Lord Kerala’s orders, I am here to make an announcement. Your war with the Fabres Clan cannot cross the borders. It must be restricted to the Ailovis region. If any side is to break this rule, we of the Dener Clan have the right to correct them!”

Soros’ crimson eyes flickered as he protested, “Sir, this valley is our clan’s asset to begin with.”

“No longer!” Scarface adept Gallow coldly said, “For the sake of supervising and enforcing this rule, we have temporarily confiscated this valley and outpost. Naturally, we will return it to you once the war resolves. You may leave now!”

As Adept Gallow explicitly threatened Soros, the hundreds of clan soldiers behind him slowly pushed forward. Judging from the aura and energy intensity they were radiating, this was an adept force with powerful fighting ability.

None of them might be an actual adept, but strengthened by their magical steeds and their mysterious armor, they could exhibit fighting power equal to an adept. Moreover, the ones leading the force were a Third Grade adept and five Second Grade adepts. An army with this much power would have no problem tearing through the Crimson Clan’s four hundred magical machines!

Soros’ face twitched a few times, but after some quick thinking, he finally waved his hand and signaled for the magical machines to retreat several hundred meters away. He then quickly contacted the Crimson leadership. However, just as they were waiting for orders from above, a large army of defeated Fabres forces swarmed from a distance.

Soros was about to lead the machines to intercept them, but the Dener Clan’s squad of magical steeds stood in front of them and blocked their path forward.

“Lord Gallow, what does this mean?” Soros couldn’t help but scowl.

“Exercising our duty to supervise the battlefield. You are free to do as you please.”

Soros’ nose almost went crooked from anger when he heard the opponent’s casual and relaxed answer.

“Alright, you got us!”