Age of Adepts

Apart from the werewolf leader and three Fourth Grade orcs who managed to escape with grievous injuries, all the other orc warriors had died on the spot without exception.

Moreover, it was only because Greem wasn’t feeling all that murderous and couldn’t be bothered to chase after the escaped orcs.

Otherwise, given the orcs’ hilariously terrible mobility, they would never have been able to escape the pursuit of a legendary fire adept. Though a few of the orcs had escaped, their bodies had been afflicted with the Undying Flames during the brief fight.

Given the might of the Undying Flames, those orcs would face unending torture and agony even if they survived.

The thought of having to lead such a pain-filled existence would be enough to strike fear into anyone!

Greem unleashed his powerful Spirit and retracted it almost at the same instant, quickly scanning the entire battlefield. After confirming that there were no worthy opponents of note, he turned and rushed into the sky, moving into the distance as quickly as possible.

A vast plain measuring hundreds of kilometers wide was no more than a matter of seven teleportations for Greem. The soaring mountains and roaring rivers were also little more than dirt lumps and gutters that he could cross with a single stride.

Greem turned into a humanoid flame, exploding and constantly reforming in the sky. As he continued to erupt and reform, he crossed several thousand kilometers of distance, leaving behind a trail of scattering flames in his path.

Greem’s brazen behavior naturally drew the attention of orcs who were passing by. Ordinary orcs could not detect his presence. By the time they hurried out of their homes after hearing the explosions, all they could see in the sky were blooming fire flowers in the air. Greem was already hundreds of kilometers away.

There were always arrogant and prideful orc powerhouses in these orc tribes. They charged into the air, intent on stopping this mysterious enemy. However, they were all blasted out of the sky by fireballs before they could even see Greem’s appearance.

Even a Fourth Grade orc would not be able to defend themselves against Greem’s Undying Flames without preparation. If they were unfortunate enough for the Undying Flames to reach their soul origin, they might even burn to death.

Greem couldn’t be bothered to talk with these orc powerhouses, nor was there anything valuable to be obtained from them. Thus, in this fashion, he rampaged his way through the most populated regions of the orc tribes and headed toward the main temple located in the central mountains.

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

The mountain peaks that could be seen after entering the central mountains were all tall enough to pierce the clouds. It was an unusually dangerous place.

Orc tribes littered the rising and falling geography of the place. Greem’s quick scan from the sky of the number and intensity of lifeforms revealed as many as three hundred thousand orcs living in the region.

Three hundred thousand...was a shocking number!

It was important to note that the orc tribes were not particularly productive. Almost every member of a tribe was a warrior, and all the daily necessities that they depended upon were obtained by enslaving other species. The orc tribes mostly consisted of orcs but also took in powerful minotaurs, werewolves, birdpeople, and werebears.

In general, the orcs were a savage and stupid race. They were humanoid beasts that would never hold compassion or sympathy for other species. They had short tempers and were incredibly cruel. They preferred action to thought and going into battle than engage in a debate.

They were classic meatheads, the kind with only brawn for brains!

Perhaps it was because of their pure, violent strength that Beast God Arugel chose them. They were blessed with divine power and became a barbaric yet overwhelming force that conquered land after land, defiling elegant civilization after elegant civilization.

Due to the severe conflict in their aesthetic sense, the orc pantheon and elven pantheon had tense relations; they were almost at the level of bitter enemies. The orc pantheon’s relationships with other species such as humans, seafolk, dwarves, and underground creatures were also strenuous.

They were simply too bloodthirsty, causing them to have no allies or friends to speak of in the World of Gods. At this point, they only had enemies or enemies-to-be.

Even the most beautiful civilizations would wilt wherever the orcs imposed their regime. All that would be left would be slaves forced into harsh oppression and enslavement. Society would also regress into little more than primal tribes.

Furthermore, the orcs were too fertile. If their numbers weren’t worn down through war, no material world would be able to endure the burden of having to sustain this terrible species that could eat and breed like locusts!

Given the normal flow of a planar war, the adepts’ first step to invading Plane Mutas should have been sneaking individuals in to establish a firm forward base. They would then slowly expand the base’s scale, constructing adept towers and interplanar portals to accommodate stronger and more numerous adept forces.

Wiping out the orc tribes around them, slowly eroding the orcs’ foundation of faith, attacking the orc kingdom, and finally destroying the main temple. The process could last for hundreds of years!

Of course, the more resources and military forces they invested in the effort, the faster everything would proceed.

Correspondingly, adept losses would increase, and more time would be required to amass such a force as well!

That was why the adept headquarters would often try these strategic blitzkrieg moves.

As long as they could destroy the main temple before the gods could cast down their clones, the planar war to come would be no more than a one-sided slaughter. Without the orc gods to aid them, how were the orc powerhouses of this world alone supposed to stop the vicious and savage advance of the adepts?

Greem’s party did not waste any time in the other regions. They went straight for their target almost immediately upon arrival, launching their quickest and most direct attack at the orc temple.

The orc temple was located atop an incredibly tall mountain. There were four platforms on the mountain face, connected with a set of stairs composed of over ten thousand steps that allowed the orcs to travel up and down. An orc camp of a thousand warriors was stationed on each one of these platforms. Every orc that could be selected for a station were strong individuals from all over the plane.

Meanwhile, the orc temple stood several dozen meters high at the very peak. It was a majestic sight. It looked as if it was carved out of the mountain itself and remained part of it, stern as the region’s mountains.

At the moment, leaders of the numerous orc tribes were all gathered in a hall within the main temple. They stared at a few orc shamans dancing around a brazier with solemn expressions.

What burned within the brazier was not charcoal but what seemed to be a collection of skulls. There were human skulls, elf skulls, dwarf skulls, dragon skulls, and many others.

The flames rising from the brazier weren’t an ordinary red color either, but a sinister green.

The skulls chattered as the sickly flames burned, releasing chilling howls and screams. Souls occasionally flew out of the flames, rushing toward one of the nearest orc shamans and carrying with them the most toxic of curses.

Unfortunately, these souls clearly couldn’t leave the green light enveloping the brazier. They were dragged back into the flames by a mysterious force before they could travel half a foot away.

These were the skulls of the orcs’ enemies when they united Plane Mutas. Using the Brazier of Curses to sear their souls and make them suffer in agony for an eternity before the orc gods were the most horrifying way for the orcs to punish their enemies!

Today, an even more terrifying enemy had appeared in Plane Mutas, forcing the great God of Slaughter Garon Arcadas to give out a divine decree. All orcs of Mutas had been given a warning of the highest order.

The Chief Priest of the orcs, Reverend Ormes, kneeled reverently in front of the thirty-meter-tall statue of Garon. He prayed silently. Meanwhile, his subordinates danced around the brazier and cast the skulls of their enemies into the flames.

Compared to the orc warriors, Ormes did not appear tall or muscular. On the contrary, he seemed almost scrawny and weak. However, he wore a thorned headpiece upon his head. The spikes attached along the inside of the headpiece stabbed into his skull.

Strangely enough, there was no blood.

You could faintly see light wounds on his ugly and wrinkled face. Sickly green flames burned within the depths of his eyes, causing everyone who stared into his eyes to feel a strange dizziness as if their soul was leaving their body.

“The enemy is coming. Have all the orcs prepare for battle!”

“Enemies? Chief Priest, haven’t the adepts that invaded our world been forced to Mount Hagmu? Could they have slipped out of the encirclement?”

“Fool! It’s not them! They were only here to steal the plane’s coordinates. Lord Garon has given us a divine decree. A terrifying group of Great Adepts has broken into Plane Mutas. Their goal is very likely to attack the main temple of Lord Garon. That is why we must immediately awaken the Earth Prophet and release the dark dragon. We will fight the enemy to the end until Lord Garon descends! Only then will we be safe!”

“Go...hurry!”

Chief Priest Ormes shouted with all he had, and the orc leaders hastily ran out of the hall and headed to various locations on the mountain.

Just then, a blinding golden light shone from the idol of Garon, illuminating the entire horizon. A strange cracking sound could be heard as the idol came to life and started moving.

“Descent...Lord Garon has descended upon us ahead of time!”

The Chief Priest felt his heart squeeze. He kneeled before the statue and asked loudly, “O’ Great Garon, why...why have you descended early?”

The giant statue slowly came to life, cloaked in the golden light. Its body, armor, appearance, and weapons all started to take on the form of the God of Slaughter as described in the legends.

He ignored Ormes’ question and instead lifted his head to look at the distant skies.

“Prepare for battle! The enemy has arrived. I will help you hold back the most powerful of them. Protect the temple. Do not let them defile or destroy this sacred place.”

Having said that, the giant statue took out the huge double axe from behind his back and rushed out of the temple with thunderous steps.

Just then, the figures of the Great Adepts appeared on the horizon!