In all honesty, if it weren't for the accompaniment of the two women, no one would believe that this middle-aged adept was that famous Crimson Majordomo Gargamel.
In the past, Gargamel had skin as wrinkled as ancient bark, dark circles around his eyes, a hooked nose, and only a fuzzy ring of hair on his bald head. The first impression he gave off was that he was sinister and sly.
However, the Gargamel of the present stood straight, without any trace of a hunched back. His skin had also turned smooth and young again, though with a slight shade to it. Tiny jade-green scales that had yet to grow fully could faintly be seen on his skin.
If Gargamel used to look like an elderly in his twilight years, then he now looked like a handsome, robust, middle-aged adept br.i.m.m.i.n.g with life and vigor.
Everyone could clearly see that apart from the fine scales showing on his face and neck, Gargamel also had a pair of turquoise reptilian pupils in his eyes. A sinister and vicious aura radiated whenever his eyes darted about the room, causing every adept looking at him to feel their hearts tremble ever so slightly.
Gargamel's aura was still that of a First Grade.
However, it had already increased from advanced First Grade to peak First Grade. He was only one step away from Second Grade now. It had only been twelve days since the clan leader rewarded him with the potions, and he had already manifested some of the representational traits of his serpentine bloodline, as well as advance by a minor grade. It was proof that his compatibility with the bloodline was reasonably high.
Fire Dragon Adept Meryl, another core member of the Crimson Clan, was the first to walk up to Gargamel upon his arrival. The other adepts knew well enough not to approach them at this moment. Instead, they scattered into the surroundings and gave the two core adepts the s.p.a.ce to talk amongst themselves.
However, judging from their slightly twitching ears, they were very concerned about what the two core adepts were discussing.
"Congratulations, Gargamel. It seems like our clan will soon have yet another Second Grade core fighting force!" Meryl raised her gla.s.s and toasted to Gargamel with joy and excitement written on her face.
Gargamel hastily picked up a gla.s.s of wine from a servant's tray nearby and finished everything in a single gulp. He then smiled and nodded, "Thank you, Lady Meryl, for your concern. My current condition is excellent, but this is all but a gift from our clan leader!"
"Indeed, indeed. We must work more closely together in the future if we have the opportunity!"
The two congratulated each other with fake smiles on their faces. The two women accompanying them couldn't help but roll their eyes over and over again.
The Crimson Clan had now very clearly split into the two different branches in the Northern Lands and Zhentarim. They were not only located in different places but faced different enemies, different environments, and took different paths of development.
As part of the Crimson Clan, both of these branches should be aiding and reinforcing each other. However, as the Crimson Clan gradually grew stronger, the compet.i.tion between the two branches would only become more and more prominent.
Greem's original intention was to avoid putting all his eggs in one basket and losing it all in a single fight.
However, at this point, no one knew if the Crimson Clan's development henceforth should be centered around the Northern Lands or Zhentarim. Debates on this had already occurred countless times within the clan. Both regions had their advantages and disadvantages, making it difficult to decide which was superior.
However, with the eruption of war at the Zhentarim branch, they had once again become the focus around which the clan's authority and resources revolved; it unavoidably stole some of the limelight from the Northern Lands. Moreover, with their victory in the adept war, the Zhentarim branch would be greeting an unprecedented tide of development. In doing so, they would indirectly suppress the growth of the Northern Lands branch to some extent.
It wasn't hard to imagine that most of the Crimson Clan's resources and human resources would be invested in the Ailovis region for the next ten to twenty years. That indirectly strengthened the authority and power in Gargamel's hands.
Supposedly, both branches belonged to the same clan, and there should be no reason for hard feelings. However, for the more opportunistic neutral factions within the clan, investing in Gargamel's faction at the moment would undoubtedly yield higher returns than Meryl's faction.
That was the difference!
If Meryl and Gargamel had some degree of comrades.h.i.+p between them, all of that insignificant relations.h.i.+p had now become smoke in the past. They were having a lively conversation when they were together, but the compet.i.tion and contest of ability behind the scenes had never stopped.
While the two of them were talking, the gates of the adept tower slowly opened. The Third Grade adepts that truly represented the foundation of the Crimson Clan's power walked out and appeared in front of everyone.
Naturally, at the very front was Greem, dressed in a large red robe.
Compared to before, the overwhelming fire aura that Greem radiated was much more contained now. His dark red hair had also returned to its original black. Greem's tall and muscular body caused him to emanate a suffocating sense of power. Most of the First and Second Grade adepts in the hall had to avert their eyes to ease the pain when they looked upon the translucent barrier of flames around him.
Now that he was close to peak Third Grade, Greem was like a mobile, humanoid volcano. Though the violent and contained fire energies in his body didn't erupt furiously, he could still inspire fear in every living thing around him. It was a fear that came from the depths of one's soul.
It wasn't quite fear, nor cowardice. It was merely the instinctual reaction of a weak animal sensing an unknown danger.
With Greem's current spiritual pressure and the fire forcefield that lingered around him, any apprentice adept that came within a hundred meters of him would face unpredictable danger. As for mortals? They had best stay as far away as they could if they didn't have the courage to jump into a sea of lava.
Even the adepts could not stare at him directly. They could only glance at the translucent flames around Greem out of the corner of their eyes. If they stared at the fire too long, their eyes could be scalded.
Only the few Second Grade adeps in the room could barely s.h.i.+eld their eyes with magical energy and look directly at Greem. However, all they could see was a human-shaped blaze burning furiously. They could not see through the forcefield of fire to look upon Greem's face.
When Greem appeared, all the adepts in the lava hall immediately stopped their conversation and socializing. They turned towards him, placed their hands on their chest, and bowed.
"Hail, Clan Leader."
"Hail, Clan Leader."
Greetings rang out throughout the hall; the pa.s.sion and admiration behind the words were clear and distinct.
Frankly, the reason the Crimson Clan could develop to its current scale could all be attributed to Greem. Even though little things added up and the lower-level adepts contributed to the clan, what decided the status and position of an adept force was ultimately the power of the adept that stood at the center of the clan's authority.
Without Greem, the Crimson Clan would not have won the war, regardless of how many Third Grades they possessed. They would have been picked apart one by one by the Fourth Grade body-refining adept, and the clan would have been captured in one fell swoop. Without Greem's coordination and commands, the Fourth Grade magical golem dragon would have had trouble stopping Adept Declan from breaking into its gaps alone.
It was Greem's existence that concealed the golem dragon's weakness of slow movements and attacks. It was his presence that allowed them to force the Fourth Grade body-refining adept into a disadvantageous situation to play a game of endurance and exhaustion.
Naturally, the result of such an exchange was incredibly tragic for Declan!
In all honesty, the endless supply of magical energy from the magic generator furnace inside the golem dragon was occult knowledge beyond the comprehension and understanding of an ordinary adept. It was only in the highest archives of the Silver Union that one might perhaps be able to find similar perpetual magical machines.
It was only with such a thing that Greem could fully unleash the advantage of owning a Goblin Plane and its ma.s.sive reserves of metal ore!
Without the magic generator furnaces, the Crimson Clan would not have enough resources to support such a ma.s.sive army of magical machines, let alone bring to life these war machines that should only exist on paper. If the Crimson Clan were to lose the large number of magical machines that functioned as the base level fighters of the clan, it would instantly be reduced to its weak, former self.
The clan only had less than a hundred clan adepts. It was not enough number or power to prop up a Fourth Grade organization. If it weren't for the significant number of magical machines and goblin machinist-sorcerers charging at the frontlines in place of the clan adepts, this number of adepts would not last more than two or three wars.
One could frankly claim that it was the shocking number of magical machines that was holding the lines for the Crimson Clan! They were the ones who forged this mighty 'empire' for the clan!
Following closely behind Greem were Fate Witch Alice, b.l.o.o.d.y Queen Mary, Magic-Breaking a.s.sa.s.sin Oliven, Spirit of Pestilence Remi, Arms, and Iritina. The elementium magical machine and the old poison witch were only Third Grade magical constructs and could not be listed as official adepts of the Crimson Clan.
As the Crimson adepts looked upon the various Third Grade adepts of the clan and the foreign elders that represented its future, they once again felt the bright and vast future that awaited them. Everyone smiled.
"For the clan. For the future. For our ambitions!"
With his current lifeform grade, Greem didn't have much to talk about with these small fries before him. After toasting three drinks to the clan, Greem immediately returned to the higher levels of the tower.
However, Alice and Mary did not leave. Instead, they started announcing the internal rewards that would be given to the clan adepts who had performed the best and made the most contributions during the war.
Serpentine bloodline recreation potion, bloodline purification potion, Mask of Petrification, Grail of Purification, Armor of Invigoration, Mechanical Heart, Abyssal Staff, Philosopher's Stone…
A series of unfamiliar and strange names were announced. Even though no one knew their specific effects yet, the fact that they were Third Grade items alone was enough to drive the Crimson adepts insane.
Apart from the Third Grade items that made the adepts writhe in excitement, the clan was also offering plenty of First and Second Grade items, spanning everything from magical equipment to potions, scrolls, wands, and even knowledge. All of these were up for clan members to redeem with their points.
They only needed to exchange the contribution points they had obtained through the war, and they would be able to purchase the high-grade items that they pined for.
