Chapter 103: These Were the Strong Enemies?

Similar rituals were taking place across dozens of Black Banner Domains.

In Severin Rook’s Domain, the invasion force was already gathering. Dozens of War Lords stood among more than a thousand troops, with armed ranks filling the open ground around the transit point.

More than a hundred wyverns, griffins, and other flying troops had been brought to stop Cassian escaping by air.

Then the Spiritbound Lords began to arrive.

They emerged from the portals one after another, their twisted faces savage with the power inside them. Even the Epic Swordmasters turned to watch them pass.

Severin looked at the young officer beside him.

"Major Hale, thank you for the military’s support. With this many Spiritbound Lords, Cassian has no way out."

Major Corvin Hale had entered this part of the newcomer Realm with the others. His position in Black Banner’s military had made him the natural choice to command its Spiritbound contingent.

Each time those Lords summoned an Evil Spirit, they had to kill their own subordinates. There were stories of veterans who had spent years—even decades—building a Domain for a single sacrifice. When they finally acted, their strength could rival the Mythic tier.

"The Spiritbound are one of our greatest gifts," Corvin said. "With your house and the Sorns both pressing for this operation, the military could hardly refuse."

He watched another hulking figure emerge from the transit point.

"Unfortunately, the Realm has only been open for a few weeks. Their Heroes and troops were still too weak. Even the strongest among them can only match the lower end of Legendary strength."

"Please convey my house’s thanks to General Hale."

Corvin nodded at the mention of his grandfather.

"Everyone is here. We should leave. The longer they remain fused, the more the spirits will eat into their judgment."

Severin’s expression sharpened. He opened a channel to the vassal he had sent ahead.

A short while later, the man came back through the portal and bowed.

"I’ve met with Lady Lysa. My spirit-mage has completed Life Detection over thirty kilometers. Everything on the other side is normal."

"Thorough," Corvin said approvingly.

"Caution keeps a ship afloat."

With the route confirmed, Severin stepped through first.

——

The Domain on the other side was quiet beneath the midnight sky.

Lysa Harrow greeted them with a smile.

"Lord Rook. Major Hale. Welcome."

Corvin looked around the peaceful grounds.

"Who would think this pleasant little Region was about to become a field of corpses?"

Troops continued to pour through behind them. Before long, their ranks crowded the Domain.

Lysa waited until the last group had crossed.

"Is that everyone?"

"Everyone," Severin confirmed. "You can begin."

She closed the transit portal.

"Just a moment."

She tore open the Epic Communication Seal Scroll Cassian had sent her.

Severin blinked as the seal took effect.

"A communication seal? Isn’t it a little early for that? Cassian’s Domain is the battlefield."

"The battlefield?"

Kara clapped her hands and laughed.

"This is the battlefield!"

Corvin turned back toward the transit point. The portal was gone.

"Lysa. What are you doing?"

Four enormous Gates opened around the Domain—north, south, east, and west.

White-winged Dawnwings poured from one. Lightning ran along the spears of the women advancing from another. Crystal Maidens, a Hill King, and the heavy shields of the Eclipse force emerged behind them, surrounding the crowded grounds.

"Dawnwings?" Severin stared. "He has those too?"

Corvin rounded on Kara.

"You’ve betrayed Black Banner! Do you understand what you’ve done? Your family will pay for this. Your whole house!"

"For Riftward!" she shouted.

There was no hesitation in her voice.

"To die for Riftward would be my family’s greatest honor. Anyone who refuses deserves whatever happens to them!"

Severin took a step back from her.

"Something is wrong with her."

Corvin’s sword flashed.

Kara’s head struck the ground. Before her body had fallen, he pointed his bloodied blade at the approaching troops.

"One squad of Dawnwings and a few other strong units. They aren’t enough to beat us. Spiritbound Lords—kill them!"

The last of Cassian’s troops crossed the four Gates. All four closed behind them.

Severin looked past Kara’s body and counted the enemy’s leading ranks. His breathing steadied.

"He’s too confident."

"Rook!" Corvin called. "This is his Region. Seal the space before he calls for help or opens a Gate to escape!"

Severin took a Rare Spatial Lock Scroll from his Inventory.

"Seal!"

The Scroll dissolved. Spatial transit shut down across the battlefield.

"Well done," Corvin said.

Severin laughed.

"He’s had a lucky run. Underneath it all, he’s still a commoner who has no idea what a Spiritbound Lord can do."

Both men turned to watch their strongest fighters advance.

——

A huge, scaled Spiritbound Lord charged straight at Sigrid.

He was one of the strongest of the forty, with power that could match a Legendary fighter. Thick plates of lizard hide covered his chest and limbs.

Lightning blazed around Sigrid as she met him head-on.

Her spear punched through his armored chest as if the scales were paper.

She twisted the shaft. The impact tore through his body, and the great scaled figure burst apart in a spray of blood.

Severin stopped in the middle of his own advance.

"Impossible."

That was one of their strongest.

One thrust?

"She must be his Hero!" Corvin shouted. "There’s only one of her! Don’t be afraid!"

Eira killed the next Spiritbound Lord before he finished speaking.

Severin’s mouth stayed open.

A third fell. Then another.

Overhead, Heloise’s squad was slaughtering the wyverns and griffins. Holy Flame clung to wings as the Vanguards swept past with their swords. The flying force brought to stop Cassian escaping could barely keep itself in the air.

Below them, the Spiritbound Lords were dying just as quickly.

The monsters that had made even the Swordmasters look twice were being cut apart by women with lightning running over their armor.

"Legendary troops," Severin said.

His voice rose.

"More Legendary troops! How can they be this strong?"

He wheeled toward the remaining Epic ranks.

"Swordmasters! Support the Spiritbound. Surround those women!"

The Swordmasters rushed forward and found the Crystal Maidens in their path.

Crystal One shaped a narrow blade along her arm. She slipped past a raised sword and drove the point through the wielder’s throat. Beside her, another Maiden struck a Spiritbound Lord in the forehead, then the heart, with quick, precise thrusts.

There was less violence in their movements than in the Stormlance charge. They simply found an opening and put a blade through it.

Crystal Rays struck from behind the melee line. Joints stiffened beneath spreading Crystal, leaving the trapped enemies open to the next blow. Farther along the formation, a Crystal Storm broke over the Swordmasters trying to reach Sigrid’s flank.

The Maidens’ familiar skills were deadly in practiced hands. These twelve had spent days tearing through Crystal Bastion, and now the same precise control was taking apart the force sent to kill their Lord.

Behind them, the nine Eclipse Praetorians held the exits with the Legionnaire lines. Whenever an enemy tried to break away from the Maidens, a wall of shields drove him back into the fight.

——

Several hundred meters away, Cassian stood on a rise with the Rare Spatial Lock Scroll still in his hand.

He glanced at the sealed transit notice and put it away.

Even inside Riftward, the attackers might have brought Recall items or other means of returning to a fixed location. He had intended to close that route himself.

Severin had saved him the Scroll.

The battle reports kept arriving.

[Your Troop Sigrid has killed a Spiritbound Lord.]

[Battle Essence +1,890,000]

[Your Troop Crystal One has killed an Epic Swordmaster.]

[Battle Essence +260,000]

Cassian read them with his hands behind his back.

"What a useful kind of Lord."

Destroying an ordinary Domain might yield around a hundred thousand Battle Essence, even counting its Lord. Moving from Domain to Domain was hardly faster than hunting at Crystal Bastion.

Yet once these Lords fused with their spirits, each could give him a million or more in a single kill.

Black Banner had even brought them all to the same place.

Celia stood beside him with Lifeless Edge held against her chest, watching the battle below. Aurelia waited on his other side. Neither had needed to draw a sword.

Veyra remained at Forgotten Shrine.

"Called out in the middle of the night," Aurelia said, stifling a yawn. "A powerful enemy invasion, I was told."

She looked down at another falling Spiritbound Lord.

"This is it?"

Cassian smiled.

"Don’t worry. I’ll have work for you both soon."