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Greem and Mary"s appearance immediately brought the clan banquet to its first climax!
Greem was not a body-refining adept and had none of their strong, steel-like muscles. However, his two-meter body was still perfectly proportioned and in excellent shape.
He possessed tough and well-defined muscles, smooth skin with a gleam of red, and unique tattoos that covered his entire neck.
Greem stood proudly in front of everyone, his long crimson hair running down his back and almost reaching his waist. Paired with the intimidating scarlet light in his black eyes, he radiated an aura of wickedness, mystery, and wisdom rolled into one.
Mary, holding hands with him, was also br.i.m.m.i.n.g with charm!
She was an absolute beauty; ripe and pretty.
Mary"s face was delicate and flawless, with distinct features. Her small, red lips spread in a lazy yet satisfied smile. Her shining crimson eyes were like two pure and clear rubies embedded in her perfect face, enchanting and bewitching.
Mary wasn"t in the habit of always wearing armor. Most of her white and slender skin was exposed, and only a thin silk dress was draped across her s.e.xy body. The outfit wasn"t too large either. The upper half of it was barely able to cover a portion of her b.r.e.a.s.t.s, while the lower half didn"t go below her knees, revealing plenty of snow white flesh.
Such a dress would better be said to be seduction rather than concealment!
Mary"s attractive appearance made it hard for others to a.s.sociate her with the idea of an evil adept. However, the pair of small but delicate bat wings on her back, as well as her blood-red eyes, were constant reminders of her true ident.i.ty.
It was like a dangerous and forbidden game of thrills. Step by step, Mary ensnared the ignorant and drew them into her enchanting and blazing flames.
For some reason, when all the females at the scene saw the handsome, yet also gentlemanly, male adept walk with Mary"s hands in his own, they felt a trace of disappointment surge up their hearts, even as they were awestruck at the sight of the couple.
If…if only the hand that Lord Greem was currently holding was theirs. How perfect would that be?
Mary"s crimson eyes swept across the field and a light smile once again appeared on her face.
Everyone who was swooning promptly broke free of their daydream when Mary"s gaze swept across them. They hurriedly offered their most pa.s.sionate applause and smiles. Just now, their Spirits had barely come into contact with Mary"s own b.l.o.o.d.y and intense Spirit, and theirs had immediately shrunk into their bodies like rabbits running into wolves.
It was only at this moment that they came to the chilling realization that the target of their envy had been a genuine Second Grade adept
If they had infuriated her, no one here would be able to shield them from her fury and punishment!
"You are very charming, did you know," Mary continued to walk forward elegantly as she communicated with Greem mentally, "I sensed a trace of murderous intent in the eyes of those few girls just now!"
A light smile still hung upon Greem"s face. He continued to nod and acknowledge all of his guests, even as he replied, "I am a conservative man! You wear something so revealing again, and I will spank you on the a.s.s when we get back."
"Spank me if you want to. It"s not like you haven"t done that before…"
That was what Mary said, but red mist still shimmered around her.
In the blink of an eye, her seductive and revealing red dress had been replaced by a perfect and delicate red gown. She had changed so fast that Greem hadn"t captured her movements at all.
"Let"s make this clear first. I"ll listen to you this time, but you will have to play a game of queen with me when we get back!" Mary rolled her eyes as an idea popped into her head.
Greem laughed, and a dominating aura burst forth from his muscular body.
"Sure. As long as you beat me, I"ll listen to anything you say!"
Mary instantly went berserk over this!
Greem let go of Mary"s dangerous hand without being fazed, walked to the center of the hall, and clapped twice.
Seeing that the clan head had a speech to make, everyone quickly went silent and held their breaths as they listened to this legendary man.
"Crimson Adepts. As your clan leader, I have to drink three gla.s.ses with everyone here today."
"After so many planar wars, several familiar individuals among us have departed forever. This first gla.s.s is dedicated to our companions who have sacrificed themselves for the cause of the clan! To Sabrina, and to Endor."
Greem drank all the wine in his gla.s.s in a single shot.
"To Sabrina…"
"To Endor…"
The adepts responded loudly, drinking alongside their leader with solemn expressions.
The waitresses in the room hurriedly walked around and refilled their cups.
"This second gla.s.s is to you, everyone here in the hall! It is your combined efforts and endeavors that allowed the Crimson Clan a chance to progress steadily. To everyone."
Greem once again finished his gla.s.s.
Excitement took over the faces of all the adepts as they downed their drinks as well.
"This third gla.s.s is dedicated to our glorious future! I believe that with everyone"s effort, the Crimson Clan and all of us here will achieve our dreams and walk toward glory."
All the adepts roared in agreement and raised their gla.s.ses for yet another drink.
In particular, Snorlax"s sharp voice stood out very much.
With the soaring morale and the fiery atmosphere in place, Greem took the opportunity to loudly announce the internal rewards for the clan adepts.
The trip to the Faen Plane had been a bountiful one. They might have suffered tremendous losses, but their bounties were equally as great. This was the best time for the clan adepts to share in the boons of the war.
The rewards for all adepts that had partic.i.p.ated in the planar war were four to five times that of stationed adepts. Moreover, they"d also had the chance to gather personal loot and resources on the battlefield. With the announcement of these battle merits, the core and peripheral members of the clan became apparent at a single glance.
One had to acknowledge that Mary and Billis were the ones who profited the most from Faen this time.
They had both led troops to a.s.sault the elves, creating the perfect battlefield for the main force of the clan to attack the central mountains.
As a Second Grade vampire adept, Mary had even gathered many powerful servants about her. No one would have been surprised at her being at the top of the battle merit rankings. However, Billis" ranking over the other two Second Grade adepts as a First Grade himself, second only to Mary, was undoubtedly beyond everyone"s expectations.
Greem announced to everyone present that Billis would become a core adept of the Crimson Clan. From here on out, he would be able to enjoy the treatment reserved for Second Grade adepts, even before he had advanced. That meant that Greem was optimistic about Billis" development and that he was prepared to cultivate him as the sixth Second Grade adept of the clan.
All the adepts and pseudo-adepts of the clan couldn"t help but cast an envious gaze at Billis after hearing all this. They knew very well that Bug Adept Billis would become a new rising star in the Crimson Clan.
The only thing they could do was raise their gla.s.ses and give their respects.
Billis wrapped himself in thick layers of robes and cloaks, even during the banquet; not a piece of skin was showing. His evolution had been too thorough, leaving not a trace of humanity upon his body. He looked exactly like a bug person.
To avoid frightening everyone he came across, Billis could only hide his looks with thick robes wherever he went. It was the only way to avoid the fearful and shocked looks he got from others.
Despite the honor he had just received, Billis wasn"t at all complacent. He returned the congratulations of his peers by raising the winegla.s.s with his insect claws under his deerskin gloves. The four beady eyes under his hood glowed with a fearsome green light.
As one of the most committed partic.i.p.ants of the Faen Plane expedition, Billis knew very well that the clan"s journey into the other plane had not been for resources or prisoners. It had been for the Fate Witches located in the cold north.
The number of resources and prisoners obtained from this battle had been secondary. Most importantly, Alice had successfully advanced to Second Grade, and the Fate Witches were finally showing signs of a.s.similation with the Crimson Clan.
The most significant gain for the Crimson Clan this time was obtaining the trust and dependence of the Fate Witches led by Alice.
That was why, unknown to outsiders, the Tower of Fate in the Northern Lands had secretly become an outpost of the Crimson Clan.
The powerful Second Grade Fire Adept Crimson Clan Leader Greem had b.l.o.o.d.y Queen Mary"s full support on his left, and Fate Witch Leader Alice"s complete aid on the right. Given a chance to develop his forces, Greem would be fated to soar up high and become unstoppable by any power or individual.
It was because Billis was perfectly aware of this that he tucked away all ambition and desires that he should not have and started to consider his relationship with Greem seriously.
His body had been bestowed upon him by Greem. Even the Queen Bug that had completely a.s.similated with his soul had been given to him by Greem. Consequently, Billis could not stop Greem from retaliating if he ever had thoughts of rebellion.
Perhaps continuing to stay in the Crimson Clan was a decent choice as well!
…………
Just as the Crimson Clan was celebrating, the Tower of Fate in the Northern Lands was also undergoing a time of both pain and celebration.
Their leader Alice had successfully returned and had advanced to Second Grade. It was undoubtedly deserving of celebration. However, four of the seven Fate Witches that had accompanied her had permanently died upon that distant otherworld.
It was undoubtedly yet another heavy blow to the Fate Witches who had just started growing stronger!
That was why after the prisoners and spoils taken from Faen had been distributed by Icelady Snowlotus and Berserk Witch Sofia, Alice walked to the cold and deserted astrology platform alone.
Here, in this lonely and quiet world of solitude, Alice hugged her knees and sat in the corner of the hall. She looked at the starry sky above, two streaks of tears silently flowing down her cheeks.
It was only now that she could be herself, without any reservations, and cry all she wanted for her dead Granny Endor.