Age of Adepts

The night was low.

This was a remote and desolate small forest.

Through the sparse forest trees, the appendix lights from the Savia castle 3 miles away could be seen from afar.

Two sorcerers wearing the Fabreus family crest on their chests stared at the castle in the distance with fierce faces. So the family has ordered that these ill-informed fellows must be cleared out today. Remember, no one will be left alive, all the people and livestock in the castle must be destroyed, and all the spoils of war must be yours..."

Hearing the leading sorcerer's lecture, everyone of the eleven sorcerer apprentices following behind them showed joy on their faces, while the fifty or so black-armored guards further away who were following orders erupted into a slight cheer.

"All right, let's go!"

With a command from the sorcerer, eleven sorcerer apprentices with more than fifty black-armored guards rushed out of the woods, their footsteps swiftly pounding straight into the grey castle that stood in the darkness.

They had already investigated before coming, there were only two sorcerer apprentices in Count Thomas's castle, one intermediate and one advanced, not really a powerful character.

In the quest chips offered by the Fabres family, the head of that Count Thomas was worth 200 magic crystals, and the heads of the two Crimson Apprentices were worth 50 magic crystals each and 100 magic crystals each. As for the other high ranking members of the family, most of them were in the range of 5-10 magic crystals.

The two official sorcerers leading the group might not look at these 'small sums', but the group of sorcerer apprentices they had brought with them were red hot with magic crystals, and one by one they scrambled to the killing field.

Although the sky was already dark, the outer walls of the castle were still heavily guarded, and a guard with a torch in hand patrolled along the way, looking like a soldier in mortal danger.

Count Thomas, who manages the castle and the surrounding 120-mile area, is only one of the many secular dignitaries of the Crimson family, and the most unassuming one at that.

However, with the surrounding secular dignitaries fearing the Fabreth family's influence and one by one chose to fall in line, Count Thomas, who resolutely ousted the other party's ambassador, appeared to be so conspicuous and awkward.

It can be said that from the moment the ambassador was ousted, the castle was in a state of panic, and everyone was waiting for an unknown disaster to strike at some point.

If it wasn't for that granddaughter who was studying in the White Tower of the North, Count Thomas might not have been able to muster the courage to confront an old wizard family. Little Winnie was very talented and was already an advanced apprentice at just 11 years old.

If nothing unexpected happened, it was a safe bet that little Winnie would become a full-fledged wizard before she turned 30.

And once little Winnie became a full-fledged witch of the Crimson Family, the entire Thomas Family would have a golden opportunity to rise to prominence. It was precisely because of this bond that Count Thomas had the courage to chase away the messenger who had come to surrender.

Perhaps knowing that disaster was inevitable, Count Thomas, after driving the messenger away, sent his most stubborn son (little Winnie's father) along with several talented grandchildren to the small town of Pine Tower.

That was where the Crimson Family originated and should not be directly impacted by this war.

As for himself, he had prepared himself for the worst and was waiting for the dreaded calamity to descend. His thought was simple: he was hoping that the Crimson Family would treat little Winnie and the rest of his family well for the sake of his 'loyalty to death'.

That way, when Little Winnie made her mark in the future, the seeds left behind by the Thomas family would continue to grow and flourish quickly by clinging to her!

As the alarm bells on the city walls rang into a blur, Count Thomas, who was hiding alone within his bedroom, closed his eyes in pain.

He was already over 80 years old this year, time was running out, and there was only so much he could do for the family.

Other worldly nobles might not be optimistic about the Crimson Family's future, being wallflowers and falling with the wind to the powerful side. But Count Thomas always had a strange feeling that the Crimson Family would still achieve a final victory just like the last Sorcerer Family War.

Once the Crimson Family was victorious, the nobles who chose to join the enemy's side at this moment would definitely be in for a bloody purge.

Flowers watered by blood would only grow stronger and brighter!

In the last Wizard Family War, Count Thomas stood in the right place, thus climbing from a small Baron Thomas to the position of Count. But what he didn't expect was that it had only been a dozen years since the second choice had come to him so quickly.

This time, the war was much larger and the Crimson Family's enemies were more terrifying, so the choice was becoming more difficult. But it was a good thing that little Winnie was there, too, to spare Thomas the problem of laborious choices.

He was old and could no longer continue to lead the Thomas family, so it was time for him to sacrifice himself to gain more room for the family!

Count Thomas rose shakily from the couch, drank the red wine from his glass in one gulp, and staggered towards the large bed. In his hand, a golden dagger decorated with patterns and a large ruby inlayed in its grip glinted with a cold light.

Now that the enemy is here, that is the moment when he must die!

He didn't want to fall into the hands of the enemy again and suffer, so it was better to kill himself early.

However, just as he reached the bed, there was a soft knock on the wooden bedroom door.

"Lantus, don't try to talk me out of it, I won't go with you! You should also run away before the enemy invades the fort! That secret passage in the backyard stables will allow you to escape the castle safely..."

Lantus was one of the two Crimson Apprentices that Count Thomas had hired at a high price, and he had repeatedly stepped in to persuade the Count to flee back to the small town of Pinta with them. Unfortunately, Count Thomas hesitated and declined. So when the knock sounded once more, Thomas instinctively assumed that the visitor was the senior apprentice, Lantus.

The wooden door opened noiselessly.

A tall, evil figure stood pinned in the doorway, the bright light behind him casting in and casting a golden halo around the edges of his profile.

It was not Lantus!

Thomas's heart was pounding, and he took a few steps back in fear, trembling, "You... you... who are you...? "

The tall black shadow simply ignored Count Thomas's question and strode to the window, looking through the narrow wooden window at the tidal wave of black-armored warriors coming up to the city, the strange face hidden in the shadow of the hood revealed a strange smile.

And behind the tall dark shadow, Lantus, the senior apprentice carrying a windshield vapor lamp, also walked in and smiled at Count Thomas.

"Well, Earl, you should not be so intent on seeking death. This is the wizard lord sent by our family to take you to the small town of Sonta. You should hurry up and come with me, it's still a long way to go!"

If one could stay alive, who would want to die in vain.

Under the persuasion of the apprentice Lantus, Count Thomas hurriedly put away his dagger, not caring to carry more wealth and treasure, called out a few of his closest concubines and servants, boarded a long-awaited black carriage at the back of the castle, and clattered off into the distance.

Although the black carriage was not so conspicuous in the night, it was impossible to conceal it from the sorcerer apprentices and black-armored guards who had attacked the Fabres family. But surprisingly, no matter who came as close as fifty paces to the black carriage, they would be cut off by a sharp blade and beheaded on the spot in silence.

Right from the time Count Thomas and the others tremblingly boarded the carriage to the black carriage swinging into the darkness, eight black-armored guards and two sorcerer apprentices had already died in the hands of that mysterious killer.

And everything that happened here was of course also discovered by the witch power eye that the lead wizard had inspired.

So, above the black night sky, an invisible eye of witch power began to slowly move to the back of the castle, secretly scanning everything here.

In the earl's bedroom on the third floor of the castle, the tall black figure was still gazing out of the window, silently examining the 'fierce battle to the death' between the black-armored guards and the castle guards. The castle guards were brave warriors with metal armor, stomachs and sharp swords, but when they encountered the wizard guards in demonic armor, they were still unbeatable.

Just as the black-armored guards stormed into the castle for a massacre, Lantus, the senior apprentice who had sent the count away, rejoined the room and came behind the shadow to bow and salute, "My lord, the castle has been cleared, and all that should be sent away has been sent away!"

"Good...very good...then let my little darlings have their fill again!"

As the tall black shadow hissed coldly, countless black beetles crackled inside the black robe and fell out like dumplings. These black beetles spread across the floor like a tidal wave and poured out of the bedroom, automatically parting to the sides as they passed the apprentice without involving him.

Despite knowing that these strange beetles were under the control of Lord Billis, they could not have mistakenly injured themselves. But as the tidal wave of dense insects passed close to his reach, the apprentice Lantus' heart still couldn't help but rise to his throat.

Gritting his teeth and using all of his strength, Lantus was able to keep himself from screaming out in a rude manner.

The fight outside only lasted a few moments before it quieted down, a sign that the guards and servants left behind in the castle had been slaughtered. The black-armored guards and sorcerer's apprentices who were searching the castle door to door were soon confronted by the swarming black beetles.

The sharp wind sounds of wielding swords, the crackling of burning torches, and the loud roar of bursting elemental fireballs... soon rang out from all corners of the castle.

The sounds of frantic fighting and miserable screams were endless.

However, the black-armored guards who had been hunters just a moment ago had become prey in the eyes of others at this moment.

The miserable screams rose and fell, but would soon die down, leaving only the strange gnawing sounds of chattering teeth and legs in the darkness.

"Damn, it's Worm Witch Billis..."

Within the grove, the two official Fabres Family Wraiths paled and couldn't help but have their hearts pounding wildly.

The Crimson Family Worm Witch could be even more terrifying than that Legendary Fire Witch.

Although the legendary fire witch was powerful, he had only struck out a few times in front of everyone, far less cruel and bloody than this Worm Witch who had killed everywhere.

Moreover, more importantly, Worm Witch Billis could be considered the core wizard within the Crimson Family.

Having encountered him, although the mission had obviously failed, it would still be a great credit as long as his trail was reported to the authorities!

The moment the two witches looked at each other and prepared to turn around and flee, the scene before them suddenly blossomed and two large heads tumbled into the air....