Age of Adepts

The once elegant guests had torn off their masks and were madly chasing and killing each other.

They had no weapons at all.

No, they were simply using the most primal weapons available to the human body– their teeth and limbs.

They wrapped around each other, biting and tearing, using everything they had to attack whoever was around them.

They had lost all reason and manners as humans. They simply lunged and tore at each other like a pack of wild beasts. Their faces were twisted in ugly expressions, and their mouths opened so wide that the sides were starting to split.

They would lunge at the closest target, open their mouths wide, and bite the victim on the neck or body. They would not loosen their bite the moment their teeth sunk into flesh. They howled like animals, all while shaking their heads and tearing off a large chunk of meat from their victim.

Every time a victim collapsed to the ground, seven or eight people with bloody mouths and bloodshot eyes would jump forward and tear the unfortunate person to pieces.

There were no longer any living humans in the hall. There were only beasts!

These creatures had no allies or companions. Every living creature was an enemy to them.

The young men and women who had been dancing with each other on the dance floor were now crouching over the ground, roaring and attacking each other like animals.

Greem had just approached the doors to the hall when two manservants dressed in nice suits lifted their heads abruptly.

Their mouths were covered in blood, and so were their hands.

A pretty noble lady dressed in an elegant gown lay beneath them. Half of her neck was gone, and her chewed esophagus was exposed for all to see. Her chest was bloody, with chunks of meat already missing from her body.

What was more shocking was the fact that the noble lady didn’t seem to be dead, despite her severe wounds. She turned her head around neurotically and snapped with her mouth viciously as if she was also trying to bite at something.

[Beep. Host is continuously being affected by the Halo of Nightmare. Host has entered the surface level of the Nightmare Domain; the Banquet of Slaughter has begun. Suggesting that Host finds Kerslin’s soul core as soon as possible. Otherwise, Kerslin will continue growing stronger as it absorbs the power from the blood ritual.

[The Banquet of Slaughter is the first phase. Kerslin’s base power is estimated to be at intermediate Fourth Grade. The nightmare will enter the second phase in 7 minutes, 13 seconds. Kerslin’s power is estimated to reach advanced Fourth Grade. The nightmare will enter the third phase in 16 minutes, 28 seconds. Kerslin’s power is estimated to reach peak Fourth Grade. The nightmare will enter the fourth phase in 28 minutes, 46 seconds. Kerslin will transform into a forbidden lifeform.

[The odds of victory against Kerslin in the fourth phase within the Nightmare Domain infinitely approaches zero.]

A series of notifications rang out in Greem’s mind. Meanwhile, the two monstrous manservants leaped from the ground and lunged at him.

The Chip quickly scanned the creatures, and their data appeared in Greem’s mind.

[Nightmare Ghouls. Spirit creatures. Intermediate First Grade. Created from the living beings killed by the Nightmare Castle. Soul cores of said creatures are formed of resentment and are hostile toward all living creatures. Invulnerable to physical damage, but vulnerable to elementium damage.]

Vulnerable to elementium damage?

A cold smile appeared on Greem’s face. He flicked his fingers, and two purple fireballs the size of eggs flew at the ghouls.

The fireballs were tiny, but they were incredibly powerful!

Boom! Boom!

The purple fireballs erupted into a cloud of surging purple fire the moment they touched the ghouls, engulfing them in flames.

They were no more than First Grade spirits. They were reduced to ashes by Greem’s powerful magic before they could resist.

Without the two ghouls pressing her against the ground, the half-devoured noble lady managed to flip herself over. She crawled across the floor with her chewed-up limbs, growling as she moved toward Greem. Her mouth snapped uncontrollably as if she couldn’t wait to bite someone.

A halo of fire erupted from Greem before the noble lady could reach him, turning her into dust.

The moment the flames appeared, all the ghouls scrambling in the hall paused abruptly. They stopped their movements and turned to look at Greem, standing tall at the doors to the hall. A crimson fire glowed in the depths of their eyes.

Aooooo!

All the ghouls howled and screamed before crouching down against the ground and sprinting toward Greem.

Greem gripped the fire coral staff in his hand and tapped it gently against the ground. An even larger halo of fire blasted outward. Every single ghoul that touched the halo was reduced to ashes before they could even yelp.

However, to Greem’s surprise, no matter how powerful his fire magic, he only seemed to be able to exterminate the ghouls. His attacks did not seem to have any effect on the castle itself.

The clean, smooth floor was still as smooth and bright as before. Despite all the violent flames that had burned in the room, no marks had been left on the floor at all. Meanwhile, the ghouls that he had been able to wipe out with ease were still swarming from various corners of the castle. They forcefully kept Greem in the room, unable to proceed any further.

“Chip, are these spirits undying?” After vanquishing thousands of ghouls in a matter of a few spells, Greem finally noticed something was wrong. The number of ghouls did not reduce at all.

[Beep. These spirit creatures are all souls that are bound to the Nightmare Castle. Their resentment cores remain in Kerslin’s possession. Thus, as long as Kerslin’s soul exists, these spirit creatures can be projected infinitely.]

So these aren’t the actual bodies of the spirits, but only a projection of their resentment!

Greem grunted and snapped his fingers.

A crimson barrier emerged from his body, forming a dome ten-meters in radius, keeping all the enemies at bay. The ghouls would be turned to ashes by the flames in the barrier the moment they entered. Greem didn’t even have to lift a single finger.

Burning Domain. It was Greem’s Burning Domain!

If this were the outside world, Greem’s Burning Domain would be a massive barrier that could engulf an entire kilometer. However, here in Kerslin’s Nightmare Domain, the Burning Domain was suppressed and only had a radius of ten meters. That undoubtedly made it significantly weaker.

However, that was more than enough to cremate these First Grade ghouls!

Greem looked around at everything in the hall, even as he continued to exterminate these damned ghouls with his Burning Domain. This place wasn’t the real world, after all. It was only a projection of Kerslin’s Nightmare Domain.

Consequently, Kerslin’s soul core could exist in any form here. The only way to find it was to actively force it to come out of hiding.

Boom! An explosion rang out close to Greem.

One of Greem’s Inferno Shields had been crushed to pieces by a twisting silhouette. After being hit by another fireball, the assailant struggled for several seconds in the Burning Domain before burning to ashes.

Hm? Did the ghouls’ grades just go up?

Greem paused for a moment and instantly regarded the notifications in his mind.

[Now entering the intermediate layer of the Nightmare Domain. Nightmare creatures grade increased.

[Ghosts of Despair. Second Grade. Amalgamations of a shocking number of resentful wraiths.

[Abominable Hounds. Spirit Creatures. Second Grade. Skilled at biting and lunging.]

It was then that Greem realized the monster he had just disposed of was an abominable hound. The beast did not have a single hair on its body. Instead, its naked body was covered in large patches of rot and blisters. It also had two vicious and ugly heads.

It was said that the three-headed Cerberus of the Abyssal Plane was the final form of these abominable hounds.

Moreover, these hounds all possessed an unusual ability– Flash!

This thought had just appeared in Greem’s mind when seven vicious forms abruptly appeared all around him. These hounds opened their maws wide and bit at him the moment they appeared around his Inferno Shields.

The flames of the Burning Domain burned on their bodies, causing them to howl in agony, but it was unable to reduce their ferocity in the slightest. These creatures did not seem to fear death at all. They desperately attacked Greem’s Inferno Shields even as their bodies crumbled to ashes behind them.

Three of Greem’s Inferno Shields had been torn apart when all seven of the hounds were reduced to dust.

The moment the abominable hounds died, a bone-chilling scream could be heard outside the Burning Domain. Several spectral faces surged out of the body of a ghostly woman. These faces charged into the Burning Domain and surrounded Greem.

Even though the flames of the Burning Domain burned most of the faces out of existence, some of the spectral faces managed to penetrate through Greem’s defenses and appeared before him.

The Tome of Corruption in Greem’s hands let out waves of sickly green light. An intangible force web was cast, dragging all of the spectral faces into a vortex that had appeared on the book’s cover.

The ghostly woman seemed to realize the situation and lifted her head to scream.

Similar screams rang out all over the castle immediately. More and more ghostly women cloaked in light gowns emerged from the walls, floor, and ceiling.

In the blink of an eye, they had all surrounded Greem!

Ghosts of Despair. These were terrifying monsters formed out of multiple spirits. They contained unending emotions of despair within their bodies. Any adepts that could not endure the dreadful weight of their sorrow would often commit suicide.

It was almost seven minutes now. The second phase of the Nightmare Domain would soon begin.

Greem also noticed that the more he slaughtered, the more terrifying the Nightmare Castle’s energy aura grew!

The endless horde of nightmare creatures was also rapidly evolving and growing stronger after absorbing this energy. It had only been five minutes, yet Second Grade nightmare creatures had already appeared. What kind of monsters would appear once the nightmare went into the second phase?

Greem wondered to himself when the Chip’s notification appeared again.

[Time is up! Second phase of the Nightmare Domain beginning now.]