Chapter 990 A Wind Rises


    The World of Adepts.


    Recently, the Crimson n’s situation within Zhentarim had begun to grow worse.


    A rumor was starting to spread, iming that the legendary adept who had forged the Crimson n had died in a foreign ne. It was said that the leaders of the n were remaining silent about the news to avoid inciting panic.


    These rumors might have seemed entirely baseless, but it had struck a weak spot of the Crimson n.


    The Crimson n had multiple independent factions within. If it hadn’t been for the legendary fire adept suppressing all voices of disapproval with his tremendous personal power and the loyal support of Mary, Alice, Meryl, and several other adepts, no one could have gathered this force of vampires, goblins, dragons, and witches and turned them into a gathering to be feared by the world around them.


    With Greem failing to appear in the n despite the many passing years, and core member Fate Witch Alice starting to seclude herself within her Tower of Fate, the operation of the entire n fell squarely upon the shoulders of Gargamel and Meryl, two mere First Grade adepts.


    Meanwhile, Third Grade Vampire Adept Mary was also the only person left of the n’s high-grade fighting force.


    This,bined with the various unstable situations within and without the n caused some waves to begin to rise. Both the adepts who had begrudgingly surrendered during thest adept war, and certain ambitious individuals among the goblins, were carefully testing the Crimson n’s real strength. They were all trying to find ways to break free of the n’s control.


    During this time, some well-established major adept ns also expressed deep hostility towards the Crimson n. They began to suppress and bully members of the Crimson through subtle and overt acts alike.


    For a moment, many hostile incidents targeted at the Crimson n urred all across Zhentarim. Goblin merchant groups were chased out of certain territories, and several of the n’s resource sites were attacked. Despite having conquered nearly eighty percent of thend in the Ailovis Region, the Crimson n had no choice but to withdraw their defensive line and shift their forces to the dozen most crucial First ss Resource Sites.


    As the de facto leader of the n, Mary had no choice but to take on the burden of heading the group, as unwilling as she was.


    For a moment, the vampire adepts were out and roaming, returning teeth for teeth and blood for blood. They beat back wave after wave of enemies with the most ferocious showing of force, even putting down three incidents of an uprising in the Ailovis Region aimed at overthrowing the Crimson n’s rule.


    However, the more they killed and the fiercer they fought, the worse the situation for the n.


    All sorts of rumors were spreading about the n, along with the fires of war. The powerful mastermind behind the scenes appeared determined not to stop until the Crimson n had been thoroughly uprooted and crushed.


    Mary had no choice but to use her authority as the n leader to bring the Fourth Grade magical golem dragon from the White Tower to the central region. It would serve as the core fighting force in defense of Ailovis.


    That undoubtedly intimidated the mastermind and gave the Crimson n a chance to catch a breath.


    ording to their detailed investigations, the higher-ups of the n had finally figured the identity of the mastermind plotting to overthrow the Crimson n. That person was the current n leader of the Fabres n– Fourth Grade Body Refining Adept Den Fabres.


    In all honesty, most of the higher-ups were shocked and confused when they heard that Den Fabres was the one plotting against the n. After all, the Crimson n did not possess a genuine Fourth Grade of their own. That was why they had always remained incredibly respectful of these established ns, never fighting with them over territorial benefits.


    Yet, now, that Fourth Grade adept had suddenly struck at the Crimson n so viciously. It was truly beyond the expectations of the Crimson n’s leaders.


    While everyone was caught up in confusion, Mary seemed to have vaguely understood something.


    Greem’s entrapment in a foreign ne and the current predicament of the n were very likely both the plot of a single person.


    Upon understanding the cause-and-effect of the whole matter, Mary gave up on any thoughts of negotiating with the enemy. Instead, she started a full-force counterattack while fortifying the n’s worldly territories and resource sites. Under her strong leadership, Bug Adept Billis, Dragonborn Zacha, Goblin Tigule, and the whole host of vampire adepts struck out at their enemies.


    If the enemy dared to destroy one worldly territory belonging to the Crimson n, they would exterminate all worldly nobles in three of the enemy’s territories. If the enemy dared raid a resource site of the Crimson n, they would destroy five resource sites belonging to the enemy.


    The Crimson adepts had always been fearless and ruthless fighters. They were like venomous snakes, coiled offensively and retaliating against every single attack, refusing to back down orpromise even if it came at the cost of injuries to themselves.


    At the start of the battle, the Fabres n had mostly been aggravating and persuading other third party forces to attack and harass the Crimson n. However, once all these parties had suffered tremendously in the territories of the Crimson n and were intimidated by their show of force, the Fabres n finally moved.


    As a veteran n led by a Fourth Grade adept, the Fabres n had existed for over three thousand years now. The incredible amount of power and influence they had umted over the years was iparable to the Crimson n, which had only established itself less than a hundred years ago.


    As the Second and Third Grade adepts of the Fabres joined the fray to fight against the Crimson n, the entirety of Zhentarim boiled withmotion.


    Every single adept n and organization cast their attention on the Ailovis Region, silently waiting for a victor to emerge between the two groups. Some discussed the situation amongst themselves, some simply watched, and others pretentiously predicted the oue of the war.


    Still, regardless of how they talked and analyzed, the Crimson n was not likely toe out untouched from this war. After all, the enemy was led by a Fourth Grade adept with a force of three dozen Second and Third Grade adepts. They, on the other hand, only had two Third Grade adepts and a flight of unruly Third Grade dragons. The difference in power was too vast. They were hardly even on the same level.


    For a moment, all the minor organizations that had been obeying the rule of the Crimson n started be treacherous, either joining the enemy’s side or choosing to remain neutral. This further reduced the morale of the Crimson n.


    Given the basic power of the two ns, some adepts dered that the Crimson n would be facing total defeat. At the very best, they could only defend Fire Throne–their headquarters–with the might of the Fourth Grade magical golem dragon. As for their other territories and n resource sites; theycked the strength to defend them!


    However, the true cause of the Crimson n’s disorganization was not the chaos andmotion that was brewing outside. It was the absence of Greem, their legendary n leader.


    The Crimson n had always been an adept n built around Greem’s charisma and power. The tens of thousands of hearts belonging to the n had always been tied to Greem alone.


    If Greem was present, the n was present. If Greem was absent, the n was like a human whose skeleton had been extracted from their body, limp and incapable of any strength.


    Be it the brain monster’s faction in Lance or the prideful dragons, everyone refused to listen to Mary’s orders, only obeying on the surface and never genuinely acting ordingly. They never used their full strength to defend the honor and dignity of the n.


    Even the weaker goblin faction had much to say about Mary’s orders. If it weren’t for the vampire faction overpowering them by a long shot, the goblins would probably have seceded from the n to protect themselves.


    Given that case, the only ones who were obedient to Mary were a few of the core adepts, along with her subordinate vampire faction. Defending the vastnds of Ailovis and the many resource sites with such a force was no more than a dream.


    Mary had no choice but to shrink the n’s forces further, abandoning the territories and resource sites on the outskirts. She concentrated what limited military force was within her hands and silently waited for a chance to tear a piece of flesh out of the Fabres.


    Her efforts finally bore fruit. The constant retreat of the Crimson n finally baited out some valuable targets into the battlefield.


    Excited at the prospect of profit, a group of Fabres adepts started a raid against a First ss resource site located near the Raul Wastnds, ughtering all the Crimson adepts and apprentices keeping watch in that ce.


    They were led by two Third Grade adepts!


    Upon receiving the call for help sent by the n adepts and apprentices before their deaths, Mary set aside her usual attitude of turning a blind eye. Instead, she gathered the elites of the n and made a beeline for the resource site.


    The Raul Wastnds were only three hundred kilometers away from the core region of the Crimson n. The arrogant adepts of the Fabres n never expected Mary to be so ferocious and spent far too much time raiding the ce. By the time they had filled their storage devices with loot and prepared to return to the n for a celebration, Mary had descended with seven Second Grade adepts, Billis, Zacha, and Tigule, sealing off their path of retreat.


    After a bloody battle, the Raul Wastnds were wiped off the map, and both parties suffered a terrible price for their confrontation.


    Two Second Grade blood elves died on the spot, with Mary suffering severe injuries and the other n adepts sustaining wounds of various severity as well. On the other hand, of the two Third Grade adepts of the Fabres n, one was heavily injured, and the other had sustained some light wounds. Five of their Second Grade adepts had died, and countless others were wounded.


    The battle of Raul Wastnds stunned the entirety of Zhentarim!


    In the eyes of the people, the only thing that the Crimson n could do in response to the aggressive advances of a veteran n was to defend their headquarters firmly and await the moment the enemy had exhausted all their strength and finally go on the retreat.


    No one could have expected Bloody Queen Mary to have the daringness to bite back and tear a bloody piece of flesh right off the back of the Fabres n. The deaths of five Second Grade adepts might not shake the foundations of the Fabres n, but it was no less than a wicked p across their face.


    Zhentarim bubbled withmotion for a moment. Everyone looked on silently to see how the Fabres n would react.


    It was said that the battle of Raul Wastnds had caused the Fourth Grade n leader of the Fabres n to fume with anger.