Chapter 118: Where Did This Monster Come From?

Cassian had taken less than ten seconds.

Across the Shattered Marches, nearly a million Lords were struck silent. The public Channel, the Alliance Channel, and Riftward’s own Channel all went still.

Several dozen seconds passed.

[Mira Calder: More than a million votes...]

That was all she managed. The shock had driven everything else out of her head, including thanking Cassian for putting Northwatch in the top ten.

It was fortunate she did not know how many Ballots he still held.

[Seraphine Valcrest: You must have started collecting them long before the rest of us.]

[Darian Frost: Even an early start wouldn’t explain this. That ship you showed me yesterday—you have more than one, don’t you?]

Darian had finally accepted it. Cassian had secured second place for Ironwake. There was little left to complain about.

Black Banner’s Lords were discovering the other side of the result.

A moment ago, they had been wild with excitement. Now it was fear.

[Black Banner Lord: What just happened? How did Sable drop to fourth in a few seconds?]

[Black Banner Lord: No. This can’t be real.]

[Black Banner Lord: My Aether! I put two thousand on Sable!]

[Whitefield Lord: Warden Bren? What do we do?]

Bren did not answer.

The Lord called for him again, then opened Whitefield’s roster.

[Whitefield Lord: His portrait is dark. Warden Bren is dead!]

[Black Banner Lord: Ours too! He was alive ten minutes ago!]

They had been watching the votes and the odds. Nobody had thought to check their own Wardens’ records.

Now Lords across the Marches opened their rosters and found more dark portraits.

[Black Banner Lord: What’s happening?]

[Black Banner Lord: Are we all going to die?]

[Black Banner Lord: Cassian. It has to be that bastard Cassian!]

[Black Banner Lord: How? Can he kill people with curses?]

In the Alliance Channel, Rowan was delighted and confused at the same time.

[Rowan Ashford: Beautifully done. But why kill so many Wardens right before settlement?]

[Nessa Fenwick: The attributes! He wants their attributes!]

Several people understood at once. Hands went to chests as the full extent of his plan sank in.

Where had this monster come from?

Others were still asking what she meant.

[Mira Calder: Think about the last two Rankings. What happened to the personal rewards of Wardens who were already dead?]

[Darian Frost: Nearly two hundred points in every attribute...]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Give me that and I could tear a Dragon apart without using the Third Star.]

Even the slowest among them understood now.

And for anyone who still did not, noon arrived.

Golden light flooded the sky, bright enough to outshine the sun. Lines of enormous golden text spread across it.

[Marches Command Election concluded.]

[Cassian Vale, Regional Warden of Riftward, has been elected Commander of the Shattered Marches. Authority increased.]

[This is the people’s choice. Support your honored Commander in defending the Marches against outside enemies.]

The friendly Lords could not help responding.

[Anonymous Lord: The people’s choice? Were you watching the same election?]

[Anonymous Lord: This was Cassian’s choice. All of it.]

[Anonymous Lord: Which of us voted him into that seat?]

The announcements continued.

[Third Shattered Marches Region Ranking — Final Results]

Because the votes had been counted in real time, the entire Ranking appeared at once.

[1st: Riftward — 666,666 votes]

[Reward: Cassian Vale’s attributes +80 each / Region Fortune +8]

[2nd: Ironwake — 512,860 votes]

[Reward: Darian Frost’s attributes +50 each / Region Fortune +5]

[3rd: Greyfen — 500,000 votes]

[Reward: Seraphine Valcrest’s attributes +30 each / Region Fortune +3]

[4th: Sable March — 472,235 votes]

[Reward: Varek Sorn’s attributes +20 each / Region Fortune +2]

The list continued through twentieth place. Northwatch and Stoneward both remained in the top ten, earning their Wardens twenty points in each attribute and their Regions two Fortune apiece.

Then more notices appeared.

[The Warden of fifth-ranked Thornfield, Cedric Voss, is dead. His personal attribute reward transfers to this Ranking’s first-place Warden, Cassian Vale.]

[The Warden of eighth-ranked Whitefield, Bren Orwick, is dead. His personal attribute reward transfers to this Ranking’s first-place Warden, Cassian Vale.]

One after another, the unclaimed rewards passed to Cassian.

Seraphine watched the notices, hardly able to take her eyes off them.

"Command. Fortune. Aether. Attributes. He planned for every one of them."

She let out a breath.

"Every time I think I’ve seen how much he’s hiding, I find out I’ve underestimated him again."

The introduction to her cousin would have to happen soon.

[Darian Frost: Does he ever leave anything behind?]

[Mira Calder: He takes the feast and still leaves enough for the rest of us to eat our fill.]

Across Riftward, space expanded. The Aether Vein deepened in power, resource sites changed, and wild monsters advanced. Eight more Fortune spread through the Region, raising its total from sixteen to twenty-four.

The Regional Channel filled with cheers for Cassian.

[Riftward Lord: We’ve finally secured our place in the Marches!]

[Riftward Lord: Everyone told me to leave. I’ve never been happier that I ignored them.]

[Riftward Lord: I wonder what the people who moved away are thinking now.]

[Riftward Lord: Regretting it. What else?]

[Riftward Lord: Anyone who wants to move here now should pay Cassian ten thousand Aether first.]

[Riftward Lord: Only ten thousand? Is a place in Riftward worth that little to you?]

Golden light kept descending on Cassian. Power filled his body, his mind grew clearer, and Aether surged through him.

The eighty points in each attribute from his own reward were only the beginning. The dead Wardens’ rewards kept piling on top of them.

He flexed his fingers, feeling the strength behind the movement.

"With our territory, our population, and this density of resources, each Lord here must have tens of times what an ordinary Region can offer."

He had not yet opened his new Commander permissions when his expression changed.

He took a bottle of Life Essence from the Fountain’s accumulated stock and drank it at once.

Something was about to change. He could feel it.

The Essence spread through him, and a notification appeared.

[Aptitude: C → A]

[Aptitude Awakening Bonus: Physique +180 | Aether +180 | Spirit +215 | Load +172]

Cassian drew a sharp breath.

A-grade Aptitude. The potential of a Legendary Hero, now his own.

The awakening sent another surge of power through his body. Heat filled his limbs, his Aether swelled, and his senses sharpened again. Even after the Ranking rewards, the change was unmistakable.

He did not stop.

A second bottle of Life Essence came out of storage. He drank that one too.

"Warbody. Time to break through."

——

Cassian settled into his training as though this were an ordinary afternoon.

Outside, the powerful figures who had followed the election were still staring at what he had done in those ten short minutes.