Chapter 446 Melee
The two adepts didn't intercept Greem's attack. Instead, they silently assessed the strength of the fireball.
One hundred and thirty points!
A casual attack by the Flame Demon could deal up to a hundred and thirty points of fire damage. This degree of power was shocking. Even Flandre, who prided himself as an elite adept, would have trouble reaching such terrifying heights of power.
He might be a water adept, but he didn't choose to specialize with it as his mastery. That would make him and his spells extremely susceptible to a counterattack.
In usual circumstances, Flandre's magical damage was only between eighty to a hundred points. If paired with the proper magical materials, chants, and handsigns, this amount could inflate by another five to fifteen percent.
Flandre had once defeated three adepts with a single Water Dragon Wave, but that was only due to the waves of attacks from the spell itself, not to mention the fact that none of the enemies were elite adepts. After all, the core area of the Water Dragon Wave only reached one hundred and ten points. The edge of the spell dealt even less at seventy points.
If it weren't because Flandre had a unique method to shape the Water Dragon Wave into a dense vortex that could last for an entire forty seconds, he would never have been able to accomplish the magnificent feat that had propelled him to his fate.
That was why the clan elders immediately sent Flandre to the frontlines when they heard who the enemy was to be. The Flame Demon, who had the power of a veteran adept and the ability to reach elite level temporarily. The clan also assigned the veteran Sicha to go along with Flandre to ensure the success of the operation. The sole purpose of Sicha's inclusion was to aid Flandre in capturing the famous Flame Demon in one fell swoop.
On the other hand, there was Soul Adept Lamure. Her solo prowess was extremely limited. She probably couldn't even beat an ordinary adept in a straightforward fight. However, if she discovered a chink in your soul, she would be an even more lethal force than Flandre himself.
Greem set fire to the magical vine forest and saved Hill. Yet, it didn't seem he had any intention of leaping off of the wind dragon. He stood high up on the wind dragon and glared coldly at the flock of red-eyed crows flying away into the distance. His eyes then moved on to the blue-robed Flandre and the leather-armored Sicha.
Without another word, Greem raised the Blaze of Destruction high above his head. Loud and resolute chants reverberated throughout the land as a massive fire spell formed in his hands.
Judging from its shape, this was a Scarlet Firestorm!
Dammit! The two adepts had already known that Greem chose to go down the path of flame mastery. They knew he could cast spells at a much faster rate than an ordinary elementium adept. Still, watching a large-scale spell like this one form in under five seconds was a jarring experience.
"I'll keep him occupied. You give him a mean one." A ferocious light flared in Sicha's eyes. He secretly transmitted a message to Flandre before he took off. His body flashed, and in just a single instant he appeared right beneath the wind dragon's gigantic body. His figure flashed again with a golden armor on it as a golden afterimage drew across the sky. He appeared just two meters below the wind dragon's abdomen.
Sicha was a true-blue body-refining adept. His control over his body had already reached levels far beyond ordinary men. The golden circlet gave him the ability to levitate. Sicha took a few steps as if he was walking on the firm ground and not stepping on the sky. The golden claws in his hands slashed out several times, targeting the dragon's unprotected abdomen.
Back on the ground, a ripple of water enveloped Flandre. Blue light flashed as several layers of Wave Shields and Water Barriers emerged and protected him within. Once he had cast his defenses, Flandre took out a blue gemstone the size of a fist. He used it as a medium to rapidly cast Ice Lance Barrage.
Ice spells were a variation of water spells, and Flandre had mastery over several of them!
However, their attacks still couldn't reach the speed of Greem's fire spell.
Almost at the same time the two had finished communicating, Greem hurled the Scarlet Firestorm towards them. Meanwhile, he also started to transform into the Flame Fiend.
A blazing fire pillar exploded into the sky with Flandre at its center. The roiling elementium flames were streaked with traces of purple as they sizzled and burned away at Flandre's shields. The wind dragon that Greem was controlling wasn't as stiff and dull as your ordinary elementium golem. Instead, it was as agile and flexible as an actual dragon.
Faced with the storm of golden claws swinging at it, the wind dragon lashed out with its tail. Its pair of broad wings thrummed, and several transparent layers of wind vortices swiftly covered its entire body.
The delicate elementium control of the wind dragon allowed it to shape the direction of the wind vortices, causing every one of them to pull in a slightly different direction. Stacked together, they were even sturdier than any magical defense an adept could muster.
Even with his violent strength, Sicha's claw was still almost diverted by the barrier of wind. If he had been an agility-focused body-refining adept instead, he likely wouldn't even have a chance to break through the wind dragon's defense.
The golden claw pierced through the layers of wind and finally came into contact with the wind dragon's thick hind leg.
Sparks flew everywhere.
Sicha and the wind dragon were both knocked back. A considerable distance quickly grew between the two of them.
Meanwhile, Greem had transformed into a towering demon burning with flames. He pointed with his smoke-shrouded magma finger as a chain of Explosive Fireballs shot towards Sicha.
Sicha didn't actually possess the ability to fly. The power of levitation granted by his golden circlet was also much less agile than if he was walking on the ground. He waved his golden claw and smashed apart a dozen of the explosive fireballs. He quickly retreated and avoided most of the ensuing shockwaves.
What remained of the impact couldn't deal any damage to him through his golden leather armor.
While Sicha was tangling with Greem in the skies, Flandre had finally finished preparing a large spell.
Whirlpool Strangulation!
An immense amount of water elementium gathered from every direction. It condensed to form several twisting currents that surged around Greem and the wind dragon. The moment the spell completed, all the flows flooded in towards the center, and all the water merged together.
The next second, a deafening dragon's roar rang out from within the splashing whirlpool. The gigantic green dragon, whose body was so concentrated it almost looked solid, broke out of the maelstrom under the protection of a wind barrier. Lava Shields surrounded the Flame Fiend standing on its back keeping the torrent of water at bay.
Fire and water clashed.
Choking steam and heat enveloped the Flame Fiend.
Amid the mist and steam, the gigantic flame humanoid remained wreathed in flames. It threw magma fireballs and launched magma spears at Flandre, creating a storm of fire of his own.
As the chaos went on, one could sense the continuous shockwaves from within. Sicha's ferocious battle cry could be heard as well.
Greem seemed to have gone mad. He completely ignored Sicha's attempt to draw him into a melee and enduringly avoided the body-refining adept with the agility and speed of the wind dragon. Instead, he focused most of his attention on the magic duel with Flandre.
The destructive magma fireballs and the rain of water arrows collided in midair. Some of them neutralized and intercepted each other, while others slipped past and wore away at the enemy's defenses.
The three adepts circled each other, quickly moving around in the resource site. Everywhere they stopped was ravaged by the collateral damage from spells that had missed their targets.
Those magical plants that existed as the nightmares and horrors of human society had now become delicate crystal flowers; they shattered into pieces with a single touch.
Greem tossed a Scarlet Firestorm from above. Flandre deftly dodged the attack. The wildfires spread in every direction and devoured the garden and all the magical plants in a blazing conflagration.
By the time they moved away from this location, the land had been scorched and burned until it cracked. A thick layer of dust piled above the earth.
On the other hand, Flandre's Blizzard was like a chilling current. It had instantly frozen all the magical plants into white and blue crystalline sculptures. The shockwaves passed by and shattered them all into ice shards.
The magical plants bound to the gardens by powerful magical arrays gathered together and wailed as if they had foreseen the fate awaiting them ahead. Sadly, this couldn't save their lives!
It didn't matter whether it was a Magma Fireball cutting through the air or an enormous wave. Each of these magical attacks spelled their deaths.
Of course, there were a few fortunate plants as well. The powerful spells had damaged the defensive arrays and created gaps in the formation that contained them. Thus, many surviving magical plants escaped outwards. Some turned into humanoid forms and crawled outwards with great difficulty. Others dug into the earth and fled through the ground.
If these terrifying plants made their way to human settlements, they would cause a massacre. However, these three adepts were far too involved in their fights. No one could spare any effort to care about such an 'insignificant' matter!
The scales of battle were a little slanted, but as a whole, it still maintained a delicate balance.
Adept Sicha undoubtedly had the most melee combat power of the three.
Every one of his attacks was at least one hundred and ten points in power. Moreover, his movements were swift and agile. It would be challenging to get away if he managed to catch up.
Still, Greem's Flame Fiend was the one doling out the most damage.
Casually dishing out a hundred and thirty points of flame damage was something that neither Flandre and Sicha could deal with.
Flandre the Water Adept, on the other hand, was vastly inferior to Greem when it came to attack damage. However, he had the advantage of producing attacks that persisted and lingered, as opposed to the explosive destruction of fire spells. Moreover, water spells also had a bit of a slowing effect attached to them. That was why his primary purpose in this battle was to slow Greem down and give Sicha more openings to strike.
Of course, Greem also had a clear idea of what was happening from his vantage point on the dragon.
The reason he was engaging in this messy fight was all for the sake of buying time for the chip. It was currently gathering data on the two of them.