Age of Adepts

Catherine was sitting upon a tall, red horse, clad in delicate silver armor that accentuated her curves.

Catherine looked extremely slender on the outside, so much so that she even appeared weak. However, when she donned her full-metal armor, brandished her sword, and charged at the enemy, she would transform into a ferocious lion, more courageous and intimidating than all the male knights around her.

That was why the trainee knights following at her side couldn’t help but be confused when they saw her frown in frustration.

“Lady Catherine, what are you concerned about?” A young trainee knight found the courage to ask, “The witch remnants have already been forced into the woods near Blackmountain City. We will be able to find their hiding spots as long as we search patiently. The situation couldn’t be better. Why is it that you seem worried?”

Catherine shook her head in frustration.

“You have not personally witnessed the savagery of the otherworldly adepts. You cannot possibly understand what terrifying might they possess. I...I...” Catherine couldn’t help but shiver as she spoke, as if she had been reminded of something incredibly scary.

“Are you talking about the Battle of Hakans!” The trainee knight probed.

As Catherine’s personal guard, they naturally knew of all the brutal battles she had experienced as a knight.

It was said that Catherine used to be a member of the Hakans Holy Light Chapel. When the place fell into the demonic hands of the adepts, Catherine had stood forward, despite being a trainee knight, single-handedly saving several dozen lives from the hands of the adepts.

It was because of this experience that the holy knight leadership had assigned her to the south after the disaster of Hakans, to participate in the hunt for the witch remnants. Catherine had proven herself. She was not at all intimidated by the savagery of the adepts and instead displayed more courage than anyone else. She had managed to survive in a brutal fight against a Second Grade witch, even personally executing the witch in battle.

It was from that fight that she had obtained incredible feedback from the Holy Light and immediately advanced to become an Iron Knight!

All the knights here knew of every detail of Catherine’s story. As such, they were very understanding of her concerns and worries. Anyone would become like her if their close companions and friends were to die upon the battlefield– sorrowful, yet determined.

“Let’s not talk about me,” Catherine quickly shook off her sentiment, “Talk about the witches’ recent movements! What is the situation with the monsters that appeared to the north of the Empire?”

Another trainee knight that looked just as young as the other one quickly piped up, “I know this. The monsters are truly frightening. They have the ability to spread a plague. Ordinary civilians have no means of defending themselves at all. Fortunately, the two Lord Holy Knights were close to the area where the monsters appeared. They were able to attack in time and blockade the monsters at Red Cloud Mesa. It is said that the two Lord Holy Knights are taking turns to exterminate the creatures. Over half of the monsters have been slaughtered, and the spread of the plague has been halted.”

“And what about...what about the one hiding underneath Gangsas Volcano. What about that demon?” Catherine’s entire body trembled as she spoke. It was almost as if she didn’t even dare invoke the name of that demon.

“I don’t know! The northern branch has lost another elite force to investigate the situation of the battle between the demons there. Unfortunately, they still have not managed to locate them at all. However, since the terrifying plague monsters appeared near Red Cloud Mesa, the demons shouldn’t be far away either. The reason the Lord Holy Knights are keeping such a close eye on the region is likely out of this consideration.”

Catherine shook her head.

“The Lord Holy Knights shouldn’t have abandoned this battlefield! I keep having a feeling that the chaos created by the plague monsters in the north is only the enemy’s trick. Their real target...is likely us!”

“Us?” The trainee knights looked at each other, bewildered by the absurdity of the situation, “Do you mean that that terrifying demon will be meeting up with the witches here?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know. My heart is confused at the moment. I keep having a vague feeling of approaching danger, but I cannot discern the source of the danger. I...”

While Catherine was struggling in frustration, a large pillar of dust suddenly rose from the dirt road in the distance. Several fast horses and their riders shouted as they charged into the military camp, heading straight for the large tent at its center. The content of their words could not be discerned from a distance, but plenty of holy knights and imperial soldiers emerged from the tents when they passed by. These knights and soldiers started to talk amongst each other as if they were preparing for a battle.

“It’s the troops that were sent to scout north!” A trainee knight raised a hand over his eyes to take a better look before suddenly shouting in excitement, “They’ve returned. They must have obtained some valuable information!”

No one replied. Everyone simply got on their horses and rode down the hill toward the central tent.

A large group of holy knights had already gathered near the tent by the time they reached the center of the camp. Those who had arrived before everyone else were already talking amongst themselves, while those who arrived later asked about the situation. Catherine quickly figured out why they were all so excited.

They had found the base of the witch remnants!

It wasn’t exactly out of their expectations. The witches’ base was located deep in the Poison Swamps, just as they had predicted.

A party of holy knights sent to scout the Poison Swamps had fortuitously captured a First Grade witch trying to sneak into the Poison Swamps from a different region. They were able to extract the exact location of the witches’ base from her.

More importantly, the witch remnants seemed to have plans of abandoning that base. They were desperately summoning the nearby witches to gather. It was said that they were planning to leave that location and head north to join forces with the plague monsters.

The three Gold Knights in the central tent didn’t dare delay upon hearing such valuable information. They sent people to request for the four Gold Knights of Blackmountain City to reinforce their ranks, while quickly summoning and rallying the holy knights to form an army with which to destroy the witches’ base.

They want to escape the Poison Swamps? Hmph, they can dream on!

For some reason, Catherine felt an inexplicable panic in her heart when she saw the companions around her eager for a final battle.

However, there were as many as three to four hundred Iron Knights like herself in this camp. There was no room for her to offer her suggestion while the three Gold Knights relayed commands and instructions to all the combatants.

The Poison Swamps were one of the more well-known hazardous areas near Blackmountain City!

The swamp was located in a low basin, stretching three to four kilometers from south to north and almost six kilometers from east to west. The whole place was a fearsome swamp filled with pungent mud and puddles.

Misty pine flowers grew throughout the basin, generating large amounts of poison gas in the damp environment. The enclosed geography of the region provided no space for the poison gas to disperse, resulting in a terrifying poison mist constantly hanging in the swamp’s air.

It was because of how terrifying the place was that the locals near Blackmountain City never dared to take a single step into the Poison Swamps. Only during a few short days in the sixth month of the year would the bright sun pierce the canopy of the trees to shine into the swamp, dispersing the poison mist accumulating there.

The local natives would take advantage of this opportunity to enter and harvest some strange herbs and flowers that didn’t grow outside of the swamp. Thus, only some of the older mountain people were familiar with the geography inside the swamp.

The holy knights had further requested for Blackmountain City to recruit old herbalists that had experience venturing into the Poison Swamps.

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

The Poison Swamps.

Even though it was still daytime with bright sunlight everywhere, the basin where the Poison Swamps were located was still covered in a dense mist that obscured almost all vision.

There was no wind.

The mist was like a thick veil over everyone’s eyes. It clung to the air of the basin tightly, shrouding everything within.

The ground of the Poison Swamps was covered in bubbling ponds of mud and dirty water. A thin layer of watergrass grew above the soft and pungent mud, making it even more challenging to distinguish between solid land and soft silt.

It was difficult to travel through the forest and the mountains. The elite holy knights who had changed into light chainmail had already sealed off the few exits of the Poison Swamps while the imperial soldiers were still making their way towards the area.

Everyone was both excited and nervous as they stood at the entrances to the basin. They could see the white-shrouded Poison Swamps from a distance through the dense foliage of the forest. No one had any idea how the battle would play out.

That said, their forces had the absolute initiative. They had already destroyed all of the defenses outside the witches’ base. What could a dozen witch remnants possibly do against their overwhelming force and numbers?

A temporary battle camp set up near the entrance of the basin.

Approximately three hundred and seventy holy knights were gathered here, silently waiting for orders from their higher-grade commanders. The remaining four hundred trainee knights were leading the imperial soldiers to control several critical geographical locations nearby.

The poisonous mist inside the Poison Swamps was not something that ordinary people could hope to endure. As such, the imperial soldiers and trainee knights were all left outside the swamp. The four-hundred-strong army of holy knights was split up into two dozen parties. They entered the swamps under the lead of the local herbalists that they had managed to recruit and prepared to exterminate the last of the witches.

Catherine was in a group of fifteen knights led by two Silver Knights. All of them lit their torches and followed an old but agile herbalist to the edge of the swamp.

Before they entered, the herbalist took out some red beans and wrapped them in a piece of cloth. He then tied the beans and cloth beneath his nose before walking into the swamp, tapping the ground with a long wooden stick as he moved.