CHAPTER 235: THE GODS OF THE VALLEY

Caius subtly shifted his internal senses, expanding his spatial threads across the entire region. Down in the valley, the network worked flawlessly, allowing him to map every single soldier in the clash. He felt the heavy thud of their boots, the sharp intake of their breath, and the physical displacement of their muscles as they drove pikes into armor. They possessed no mana cores or etheric pathways, relying purely on raw physical martial strength, but their physical signatures were as clear as day to his spatial net.

Yet, when Caius turned his threads toward the bearded leader and his retinue standing mere inches away, his mind met total emptiness.

His spatial threads, which reacted to physical mass, air displacement, and spatial tension rather than just magic, passed right through the group as if sweeping over empty cliffside air. They weren't just suppressing mana; they were somehow masking their very physical existence within the fabric of space. It was a staggering level of absolute stealth, and it immediately ignited Caius’s cold, analytical curiosity. How are they obscuring physical mass from spatial feedback?

The bearded leader turned his head slightly, watching the red-cloaked army begin to falter down below. "What do you think could make the red cloaks win at this point?" he asked, his deep voice carrying a rumble of genuine curiosity.

Caius didn't break his gaze from the plain. "Hmm," he murmured softly, keeping his composure. "Unless a god intervenes, they have already lost."

The man gave Caius a sharp, searching look before turning back to the bloody clash.

Moments later, just as Caius had predicted, the red cloaks' momentum completely collapsed. Pushed to the brink of annihilation, a commander in the rear wearing a regal red cape raised his hands toward the heavens, chanting a desperate prayer.

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The clouds directly above the battlefield suddenly ruptured. A blinding pillar of light struck the earth, revealing a gigantic bare-chested entity wielding a massive warhammer. The creature radiated a dense, unmistakable energy, housing a fully realized, massive mana core. With a single, earth-shattering swing, the entity smashed through the white-armored soldiers, sending bodies and shields flying through the air.

Ha, Caius thought to himself, a dry, amused smirk touching the corners of his lips. So beings with standard mana cores pass for gods in this world?

The bearded man beside Caius spat on the dirt, his face darkening with disgust. "Cowards," he growled under his breath. "Calling upon a god for aid."

Raising his broad right hand, the bearded leader murmured a low command. Spatial distortion flared beside the outcrop as a fierce female warrior materialized from thin air. She burned with a blinding, bright red mana core, her power matching the hammer-wielding entity. Without a word, she leaped down the cliff face, bounding into the valley to engage the divine champion in a furious, bone-shattering duel.

Watching the two core-bearers tear through the earth, Caius quietly adjusted his dark hood. If a single basic mana core makes them a deity... what would happen if I unleashed my full Crown Core lattice and war machine here? Would I be the god of gods in this realm? He held back a dark, silent laugh.

For a full hour, the two entities clashed until the hammer-wielding god was forced to retreat back into the sky. With their divine champion gone, the red-cloaked army broke formation and fled in complete disarray.

The battle finished, the bearded man turned back to Caius, wiping a smear of dust from his forehead. "You have a good eye for war, stranger," he said, offering a curt nod. "Will you join me at my war camp for a cup of wine?"

Determined to unravel the secret behind the leader's absolute spatial masking, Caius gave a light, indifferent shrug. "Lead the way."