Chapter 102: Votes for the Marches—and Spiritbound Lords

Cassian was eating breakfast when two notices appeared before him.

[Your Ghost Carrier has left the Shattered Marches.]

[Your Ghost Carrier has discovered Sunset Bay.]

He stopped with his fork halfway to his mouth.

"Already?"

Mina and Harriet had only left the harbor the evening before. Now his ship had crossed the boundary of the entire Shattered Marches.

There really was an ocean out there.

Cassian laughed.

"The sea has just as much to offer as the land. And there’s no one there to fight me for it."

He put down his fork and opened the next report.

[Your Troop Eve has killed a Sea Serpent.]

[Battle Essence +52]

[Aether +10]

[Ballot ×4]

"Ballots?"

He selected the reward. A card edged in gold appeared in his hand.

[Ballot]

[Cast a vote for the Lord you wish to place in command of the Shattered Marches.]

[Event not yet active.]

Cassian stared at it for a moment.

"So we’re collecting votes."

He had expected the contest for the Marches to put the contenders on a campaign map and let them fight it out. Even if the enemy outnumbered him a hundred or a thousand to one, that was a contest he would have welcomed.

An election was less convenient.

The Lords friendly to Riftward were badly outnumbered. Darian and Mira had no obligation to hand him their support either. Command of the whole Marches would carry far greater privileges than a Regional Warden’s seat, and each of them had reason to want it.

Black Banner would not stand together without a single disagreement, of course. Once that seat came within reach, there would be plenty of people fighting to take it.

Cassian turned the card between his fingers. His frown soon eased.

So far, these Ballots had only appeared in reports from beyond the Marches. His forces had been hunting inside the boundary for days without finding one.

Out there, he already had a Legendary warship and Legendary flying troops. His Vein’s loot bonus would help them collect more with every hunt.

And the contest was probably at least ten days away.

He had reached the hunting ground before the others even knew what they needed to collect.

"Can’t get enough people to vote for me?" He smiled. "Then I’ll vote for myself."

Another report arrived.

[Your Troop Avril has killed a Sea Serpent.]

[Battle Essence +57]

[Aether +10]

[Ballot ×6]

This serpent had been five Levels higher than Eve’s target. Four Ballots had become six.

Cassian opened the following reports and compared them. The kills kept coming, and the pattern grew clearer.

"That’s it."

For ordinary monsters, every five Levels added another Ballot to the base drop. The Vein’s bonus applied to the Ballots too.

He looked from the growing stack of gold-edged cards to the Dockyard’s construction menu.

One Carrier was no longer enough.

Cassian bought the next Carrier’s materials through the Exchange, paid the listed prices, and committed the full ten-million-Aether value of material to a new construction order. As the Dockyard began work, he returned to the Dawnwing Pool and placed more recruitment orders.

The next Vanguard emerged from the glowing water.

"Upgrade."

Light enveloped the newly recruited Dawnwing Vanguard.

[Dawnwing Vanguard | Level 1 → Level 20]

[Battle Essence Cost: 2,100,000]

Cassian watched the last of the light sink into her armor.

"Still short on Battle Essence."

Over the past few days, he had acquired and used another monster lure—a Light Lure. That hunt alone had brought in nearly ten million Battle Essence. Yet the Dawnwings consumed it almost as quickly as he could earn it. Their growth costs were second only to those of Legendary Heroes.

He thought of the Black Banner forces his army had destroyed at Duskmoor.

"That was a good harvest."

——

A communication request appeared in Lysa Harrow’s channel.

She accepted it. Severin Rook’s image opened before her.

"Lady Lysa." He inclined his head. "Cassian’s troop creation made his name known throughout the Marches. Now he has Legendary troops at his command. He has become a serious threat to Black Banner."

Kara listened, still using the false name Black Banner knew.

"We’ve accepted your recommendation," Severin continued. "We strike Riftward tonight and kill him."

"Excellent." She made no attempt to hide her pleasure. "What force are you bringing? We can’t afford to underestimate his Legendary troops."

"You needn’t worry. I’ll lead the operation myself. Twenty squads from our strongest Epic lines and more than a hundred squads of other Epic troops. All Level 25 or above."

His smile widened.

"The military is supporting us as well. Twenty Spiritbound Lords will take part. Open the way to Cassian’s Domain for us, and he’s finished."

Kara frowned.

"Send everything you can. I still think he’s hiding something. That force isn’t enough to make this certain."

Severin considered her words.

"Wait."

When he contacted her again, his answer was immediate.

"The military agrees. Forty Spiritbound Lords."

Kara would have preferred even more, but she knew how difficult those Lords were to cultivate. Forty was almost the military’s entire reserve in the Marches.

She sent the information to Cassian as soon as the call ended.

He paused over the Dockyard orders, read her report, and laughed.

"Good. Very good. You handled that well."

He had just been thinking about his shortage of Battle Essence. Now Black Banner was gathering a force to bring him more.

Forty Spiritbound Lords alone would make this worthwhile. Even without reaching their complete forms, each should be worth at least a million Battle Essence.

Kara nodded eagerly.

"We’ll wipe them all out."

Cassian bought two Epic Communication Seal Scrolls and a Rare Spatial Lock Scroll, then sent one of the communication seals to Kara.

In the Deep Layer, he had Bram prepare the Mindseal Tower’s upgrades. Cassian confirmed each set of requirements and paid the costs, bringing the existing Tower from Level 2 to Level 6.

[Mindseal Tower | Epic | Level 6]

[Enslave Capacity: 3/7]

He closed the panel.

——

Late that night, an unremarkable Black Banner Domain became a slaughterhouse.

"Why are you killing us?"

"You’re our Lord!"

"No. You’re a demon!"

A young man with a white mourning band tied around his head moved among his own people with a curved sword. His face shone with feverish excitement.

Two Elite Heroes. Hundreds of Elite troops. More than a thousand Settlers.

They had trusted him. Now they could only stare as he cut them down.

Whatever he had given them had left their bodies paralyzed. They could neither fight back nor run. Each watched the blade move closer, waiting helplessly for it to be their turn.

Blood thickened around the ritual circle. The air shook with the cries of the dying and the hatred they left behind.

The young Lord killed the last of them and raised his sword.

"Great Hound Spirit! I offer the blood and souls of my companions. Come forth!"

Spiritbound Lords followed one of the most extreme paths a Lord could take. Black Banner’s military cultivated them as a rare and dangerous weapon.

The old account of their origin spoke of a founder who had made a pact with the Evil Spirits to escape a ruler’s wrath. The principle of the pact was simple: kill those closest to you with your own hands, then use their blood and resentment to bring an Evil Spirit into the world.

The stronger the victims, the more they could offer. The closer the bond, the more powerful the hatred born when that bond was betrayed. Even a parent could become fuel for the rite.

For a Lord in this Realm, the loyalty of a Hero or troop made the sacrifice more effective.

It took unusual aptitude to survive this path. It also took someone willing to butcher the very people who trusted him most.

Even Black Banner could not produce such Lords in large numbers.

A shadowy paw caught the edge of the ritual circle.

A huge hound dragged itself through the opening. Its jaws spread, and the blood mist and resentment hanging above the bodies rushed into its mouth.

Then it leaped at the young Lord.

Spirit and flesh merged.

His body swelled until he stood four meters tall. Fangs pushed from his mouth, claws lengthened from his fingers, and his spine bent beneath a thickening back.

A monstrous hound now stood on two legs inside the circle.

"So much power."

His voice had deepened, but there was still thought behind his eyes.

"A pity he’s growing so quickly. With time to reach my complete form, I could have been stronger."

He stepped through the portal.