Age of Adepts

The newest version of the Goblin Shredder was a mighty magical machine warrior.

Its lower half still used the extremely stable spider-model mechanical legs, while its upper half was a massive humanoid body of metal. Four strange mechanical arms were attached to that torso.

Two of those four mechanical arms were fitted with a metal drill and a spinning disc respectively; these were weapons meant for melee combat. Equipped on the other two limbs were miniature energy cannons that could reach a stable output of energy shots reaching one hundred and forty points every five seconds.

The individual strength of each energy shot didn't seem to match the Goblin Shredder's identity as a Second Grade magical machine. However, even a Second Grade adept's magical defenses couldn't endure for more than a few seconds once the Shredder closed the distance and rained down relentlessly upon the enemy.

Moreover, the various energy restrictions that prevented the installation of excessively powerful magic energy weapons had vanished with the activation of the miniaturized magic generator furnace in the Goblin Shredder's chest. With the stacking of multiple magic energy weapons, the Goblin Shredder had been forged into a fearsome war machine by the goblin technicians.

The Goblin Shredder charged forward at the elven blade dancers, whirling its four mechanical arms as violent energy shots blasted out of the guns. These blade dancers who were only pseudo-adept level were either knocked aside, hit by the energy shockwaves, or even simply blown away by the Shredder's massive body.

In a single instant, eight blade dancers had been taken down by Tigule. They all had broken bones and torn muscles.

Dong. Dong. Dong.

The magical machines strode over these elves with neat and orderly footsteps and continued to advance toward the top of the mountain. The construction machines following behind them surged forward and quickly put manacles on these elves. They then tossed them into the goblin chariots.

Two dozen metal eyeballs continuously circled them, preventing them from missing any elves while also keeping an eye out for any ambushes or assaults from other elves.

Striking the unprepared with preparation and throwing metal against flesh; the orderly magical machine army was practically a tightly-held iron fist. It smashed right through the groups of elves that had gathered together hastily without any resistance.

The Goblin Shredder that Tigule piloted was fitted with a magic generator furnace. It would almost never have an issue with insufficient energy. As such, Tigule led the charge as the vanguard. Meanwhile, the magical machines would retreat to the backlines every fifteen minutes to recharge their magic energy batteries.

At any rate, they had plenty of magical machines. They could take turns on the battlefield with no worries about faltering!

The Dark Witches floating in the skies upon their flying brooms couldn't help but be impressed by the unstoppable magical machine army.

Truly, the Fate Witches were the rich ones. Bringing such an army of metal golems from the World of Adepts over to fight the local natives had shown incredible results, just as they had expected. If one were to be brutally honest, these magical machines alone would have been enough to raze Jintha'Alor if the male adept had been willing to spend more magical crystals.

These magical machines still worked against low-grade elves. However, the price needed for them to win against high-grade elves with advanced combat professions was just too high!

The first losses among the magical machines happened as the Dark Witches watched.

The ones who launched the assault on the machines were a group of elven archers in light leather armor. They had scimitars at their waists and quivers on their backs. There were both male and female elves in their ranks, and every one of them had extraordinary archery skills as well as swift, agile movements.

They climbed up the tall trees and shot arrows at the machines as they leaped from tree to tree as if they were merely walking upon the flat ground. As elven archers that had already advanced, every one of them could draw forth a remarkable strength that resembled an inner power of some sort. This power could be attached to the arrows to increase their lethality.

Ordinary arrows, even those with triple-edge arrowheads that were most useful for piercing armor, had a difficult time penetrating the thick metal armor of the combat magical machines. However, these arrows glowing with the mysterious power reduced the solid bodies of the machines into butter. They shot right through.

The destructive power of the arrows exploded within the magical machines, triggering the self-destruction of the energy system. The three Archers standing at the front of the formation were destroyed by the elven archers, one by one!

This time, there was no need for Greem's orders. The goblin technicians hiding within the squad quickly gave their orders. The next second, the long-awaited barrage appeared once again. The bullets stormed into the trees where the elven archers were hiding.

The trees trembled, branches snapped, and splinters flew everywhere.

Mixed within were the pitiful cries of elven archers being struck by the bullets.

It couldn't have been avoided. Elven archers, be they male or female, were just too frail and slender. None of them could endure the force of the bullets, even if they had tough leather armor protecting them. The condition of their bodies meant a single bullet was enough to cripple them. Two rounds might even snap their bodies in half!

Once the Archers put their full might on display, the opposing elven archers couldn't even find stable footholds. They could only grit their teeth and move between the ancient trees. The arrows that they shot while on the run were still powerful, but they could no longer pierce the armor as effectively as before.

It was a batch of excellent slaves. It would be far too much of a shame for them to be killed off by the magical machines like this.

As such, Uzzah nodded her head slightly as three First Grade dark witches pressed down on their flying brooms and zoomed into the forest.

Since the Dark Witches had started moving out, Tigule naturally wouldn't try and fight with them over the enemy. The Archers immediately stopped firing and continued up the hill road in formation. The magical machine remains that had been reduced to scattered components were then carefully retrieved by the construction machines.

The three dark witches rode upon their flying brooms and arrogantly wove through the dense woods. They cackled incessantly as if without a single fear in this world.

A female elven archer with short green hair couldn't stand the arrogance of the witches. She hid in a dense canopy and took the opportunity of a dark witch passing by her side to fire her arrow. The arrow struck the witch right upon her in the center of her head, between her exposed brows.

The elven archer's heart was filled with the pleasure of exacting revenge when she saw the witch's broken body fall from the sky. Just as she was savoring the feeling, the anxious call of her companion rang out from a nearby tree.

"Verna, run!"

Run? Why do I need to run?

Before the green-haired elf could understand what was happening, a vague silhouette slowly appeared out of the tree's shadow behind her.

Snap! A beam of black light hit the green-haired elf, paralyzing her in an instant and making it hard for her to move even a finger. In the next second, a sinister, slimy, and dark form wrapped around her body. The unknown enemy leaned against her ear and laughed wickedly, "Kehkehkeh. Poor brat, how did it feel to kill me just now? Do you want to have a taste of being killed as well?"

She had no time to reply. A large cluster of shadows surged forward and instantly dragged this green-haired elven archer into a bottomless pit of darkness.

A brief moment later, the darkness dispersed, yet no sign of the female elf remained.

Most of the so-called dark witches had transformed their bodies into shadow substance; they no longer had vital spots within their bodies. Without substantial magic damage, normal physical damage was practically ineffective against a dark witch.

That was why the three Dark Witches were utterly fearless in the face of two dozen advanced elven archers (First Grade), even though they were only at First Grade. In fact, they could use their odd physical damage immunity and potent shadow movement powers to crush the enemy and leave them with no means of defending themselves.

If it weren't for the powerful elven archery techniques that they possessed, the dark witches would have slaughtered them a lot faster. These archery techniques allowed them to draw out some form of energy attack that resembled magic. If the witches pressed the elves too hard, they might use some kind of suicidal attack to drag the witches along with them.

Right now, the three dark witches were flashing about, disappearing and reappearing at will while using their ability to jump between shadows to dance around the elven archers. They used their shadow powers to paralyze their enemy the moment they found the chance to do so. They would then drag the enemy into the Realm of Shadows.

The dark witches were slowly, yet efficiently, eating away at the numbers of the elven archers through this method.

The elven archers had gathered together, but despite multiple attempts to fight back, they had achieved nothing.

Even their powerful elven archery techniques were ineffective if they couldn't use a single saturated attack to kill a witch in a single blow. Any damage that the dark witches received could be negated by regenerating from the shadows that were everywhere.

After losing eight companions, the remaining elven archers could no longer endure the pressure. They whistled and rushed to Jintha'Alor along the winding paths.

At this point, a strong force of elves had already gathered before the giant tree hall at the waist of Jintha'Alor's hill. Judging from where the fleeing archers were running, they intended to group up with that force of elves.

"Hmph! The enemy has appeared! You lot, don't be standing around anymore. All of you go down. Leave all the archers behind." Uzzah watched the whole situation unfold from above and finally gave the order to her subordinates.

"Understood!" The dark witches bowed in unison.

Apart from the Second Grade dark witch, who stayed by Uzzah's side, the other Dark Witches laughed sinisterly at the same time and dove down from the skies. They lunged straight at the elven archers who were jumping between the ancient trees.

Greem turned into a massive flame humanoid and stood in the air, silently assessing the formation that the enemy had arranged themselves into in front of the tree hall.

The most eye-catching member of the enemy's ranks were those three unbelievably tall and ancient treants.

Their bodies were seven meters from top to bottom. Even the three to four-meter tall magical machines looked like dwarves before them.

Their formerly withered and wrinkled bark turned into layers of tough wooden armor. The green canopy turned into flowing long hair. Several cracks appeared on their bodies. From afar, they looked like the facial features that humans possessed.

Moreover, these towering treants all had firm and solid muscles. Circles of wooden patterns filled their bodies. Their lower bodies were covered with thick roots, while their arms were formed by tens of thousands of branches and vines twisted together.

In particular, the ten-meter-tall Deadwood Guard even held a massive tree in his thick humanoid hand as a makeshift weapon. That tree alone would have taken two men to embrace fully.

That intimidating aura of might was fearsome! So fearsome that it made one want to avert their sight!