<h4>Chapter 1310 Intimidated and Terrified</h4>
To march from Ailovis–where the Crimson n was located–to Kerslin Castle required traveling through four different regions.
It was a journey that spanned six thousand and five hundred kilometers.
If one were to travel in a straight line without resting in-between, it would still take them over a month to reach Kerslin Castle. That didn’t take into consideration the various battles or ambushes that the army might encounter along the way. Otherwise, it would take even longer.
There were one big, seven intermediate, and twenty-three small adept ns across these four regions.
Among them, the singlerge n was the Entom n of Fourth Grade Adept Nics. Naturally, due to Nics’ stance, the Entom n was also in a state of hostility with the Crimson n.
When the Crimson n’s Motherships slowly appeared on the distant horizon, all the adept ns along the way bunkered down and shut their doors. They did not dare cause any trouble and bring disaster upon themselves.
In particr, the Entom n was incredibly nervous.
All core members of the n had returned to Oakwood City and had shut themselves in the n tower. When the Motherships passed by Oakwood City a hundred kilometers away, the Entom n didn’t even risk sending out a sortie to assault them. They were terrified of the prospect of the Crimson n army changing their targets in a fury and unleashing their wrath upon Oakwood City.
The Crimson n’s air force did not just consist of seven Motherships. There was also a massive sky tform constructed upon the Motherships.
Of course, the air force’s scouts were the cheap-yet-efficient eyeball machines.
They wandered several kilometers ahead of the main army in the thousands, searching for any creature or trap that could threaten the fleet. A volley of heat rays would exterminate any individual that approached the fleet without warning.
Meanwhile, closer to the Motherships were the unique goblin airnes, piloted by goblin pilots. These airnes were approximately the size of a carriage and, therefore, the power of the magic energy weapons they carried was also much greater.
The Wild Charlie-II rapid-fire cannon.
The Model-773 enhanced magic-energy beam gun.
The Jubling-3 magic-energy torpedoes.
The ultra-modified magic-energy dome barrier.
Lotte’s multipurpose goggles.
Magic-energybustion modules.
Triggered arcane-magic defensive shields.
......
One had to admit that after hundreds of years and dozens of generations of studious research and experimentation by the goblin engineers, the magic-energy weapons of the Crimson n’s goblins were much more advanced than before.
In particr, the offensive power of magic-energy weapons and the goblin mechanics’ security had peaked.
With the constant supply of Queyras alloy from Molten Fire City, they had managed to create many magic generator furnaces. That resolved the energy shortage problem that had always held the magical machines back. The magical machine army of today was utterly iparable to the past. Theirbat prowess has risen by several levels, turning them from a cannon fodder army to an elite army within the Crimson n.
However, the past few centuries of unrestrained excavation had also caused the Goblin ne’s metal reserves to fall to a dangerously low level. The Crimson n had to search all over for simr resources nes to obtain more and better magical alloys to ensure the continuation of the magical machines’ development.
Nics stood on the highest balcony of the Oakwood City’s adept tower, a staff in his hand. He silently looked at the fleet as it flew across the sky.
Even though that person was not in view, he could still sense the overwhelming aura pressing against his face due to his Spirit as a Fourth Grade adept. In particr, Nics could sense that familiar and terrifying magical aura on thergest Mothership of the fleet.
Greem. Greem was actually in the fleet!
Nics gripped his staff tightly, so much so that the veins were showing on his scrawny left hand. His face was incredibly dark.
The people surrounding him were the Third Grade adepts of the Entom n.
They watched Nics with stern looks on their faces, fearful that their n leader might do something terrible in his anger.
One person in the crowd–a muscr man in golden armor and a giant axe slung across his back–strode forward and spoke in a loud voice, “n leader, let me charge at them with the White Ghosts! At the very least, we can stop those mouthy fools from mocking the Entom n for ourck of courage!”
“Tiger, you can’t drag the whole n into this affair just because of your own desires.” A middle-aged man with a wise but stern expression stepped forward and scolded him, “The opponents’ forces are overwhelming. If we are tounch an assault on them, we might draw their full wrath upon Oakwood City. If they give up on Kerslin Castle and chose first to attack Oakwood, we......”
The middle-aged adept left the sentence hanging.
However, everyone knew what he meant.
There was no way that Oakwood City would survive the rampage of the magical machine army. That was especially the case given the numerous powerful individuals in the enemy ranks: adepts like Bug Adept Billis, Red Dragon Adept Meryl, Mystique Emelia, and Blood Knight Soros. The odds of the Entom n’s victory were incredibly slim.
Meanwhile, it was evident that the enemy had no intention of attacking the Entom n right beside them. Instead, they marched on to assault Kerslin Castle. On the one hand, it was because Freed was the leader of the opposition forces. On the other, it was also because they did not take the Entom n’s power the least bit seriously.
Only three Motherships and a new magic golem dragon had been left in Ailovis. Yet, even these bare defenses were enough to discourage all the ambitious and malicious enemies out there.
The muscr man known as Tiger looked at the hesitating middle-aged adept and spoke in a cold voice, “Is the Crimson n not going to send forces after us if we keep ourselves shut in here and act like good, little boys? You bunch of cowards. If we are to fight with them, then we must not cling to any hope of luck. We should take advantage of their long march and of the fact that their army cannot remain stationary for too long. We shouldunch a quick sortie and retreat to our tower. What are they going to do, actually stay here and siege us?”
Another adept, this one looking much more elderly, couldn’t help but retort resentfully, “We are all cowards, and you alone are a hero, is it? If you’re so capable, why don’t you lead your forces and assault the Crimson headquarters? Let’s see the difference in our powers, shall we? The might our n has umted over hundreds of years against their overwhelming military force!”
In the blink of an eye, a few more adepts had joined the argument. They made a totalmotion on the balcony.
His subordinates’ arguments made Nics’ face turn even darker.
He tapped his staff firmly against the ground. A wave of energy rippled away, causing all the adepts to stumble backward.
“Silence, all of you!”
Nics looked around him at all the adepts; his face dripped with frost and frustration as he shouted, “The enemies haven’t arrived at our gates yet, and here you all are, fighting amongst yourselves! Hmph!”
“n leader...” The muscr man stepped forward as if he was about to say something more.
However, his words were interrupted by Nics.
“Alright, save it forter! We are not the enemy’s targets. There’s no need to put ourselves before their de.” Nics’ expression was dark as he said, “We will observe how their fight with Freed proceeds before we decide on our future actions. Until then, all of you stay here in the tower quietly. Do not start any trouble that you cannot resolve yourself. Am I understood?”
“Yes, my lord!” The other adepts bowed in unison, relief on their faces.
The muscr adept let out a reluctant grunt, but he could only bow and acknowledge his orders.
After suppressing the n’s disagreement, Nics turned and looked at the Crimson fleet in the distance. He couldn’t help but mutter to himself, “The world is about to change. The skies of Zhentarim are about to change!”
............
Kerslin Castle.
Inside a magical room.
The magical mirror flickered several times before finally revealing the distant image.
Freed looked solemnly at the silhouette of the adept in the mirror as he bowed, “Lord Ulnak, you must help me this time!”
A short momentter, the blurry outline finally stabilized to reveal a young, handsome man with a cold expression on his face.
He yawned and shot a quick nce at Freed before coldly speaking, “You know my time is precious– do not waste it. Hurry up and say what you have to say!”
“My lord, my...my n has made a troublesome enemy. If you do not offer us help now, we might not be able to meet again,” Freed might look like a wise and gentlemanly old man on most asions, but he was like an obedient little apprentice before this person.
“Oh? I thought you were doing quite well for yourself in the Central Lands! How did things end up this way?” The young man paused for a moment, “Has the Adept’s Associationunched a full-scale invasion?”
“It’s not the Adept’s Association, but...but—”
“I am eager to return to that experiment of mine. If you do not wish to speak, then there’s no need to do so!” The young man’s said with a severe tone.
“My lord, I’ll speak, I’ll speak. It’s not the Adept’s Association. It’s a newly risen n of the Central Lands that has invaded my n. Their n leader is a fire adept. He has not yet reached peak Fourth Grade, but he already has the might of an ultra-powerhouse,” Freed hastily exined the situation.
“Central Lands...fire adept...” The young man caressed his chin as he thought to himself. These few words, put together, gave him a puzzling sense of familiarity.
Suddenly, he lifted his head and asked: “The fire adept you speak of isn’t called Greem, is he?”
It was Freed who was surprised now.
He had truly never expected that even Sixth Grade Great Adept Ulnak, who resided in the realms beyond, would know of Greem’s name.
For some reason, an ominous feeling rose in Freed’s heart!