Chapter 168: A Sword Nurtured for Ten Years

Twelve Blood Princes emerged from the rivers and met the Crownward Knights head-on. They stopped the knights’ advance and even began to gain a slight advantage.

Over a hundred Epic troops followed, then hundreds of Rares. More than a dozen Bloodkin Lords came behind them.

"Feeble Humans! Tremble before us!"

Darian had been tense. Now that he could see the enemy’s army, he curled his lip.

"With all that confidence, I expected something impressive. This is it?"

The young Bloodkin had barely finished declaring victory when his smile froze.

The Crownward Knights were only the beginning.

Elara gave an order. Her Dwarf troops swelled in size. At their head, her two Hill Kings became ten-meter giants.

"Storm Guardians? And those are... Hill Kings?"

The Bloodkin youth stared. Hill Kings ranked well above average even among Legendary troops.

And there was more.

With their Hero’s Command, Darian’s Lord Talent, and his Bronze Battle Name strengthening them, Darian’s Hundred-Battle Guard stood only a step below Legendary troops. Bren led twenty of them in a tight battle formation, crushing everything in their path.

The seven Valcrests fought with Epic troops from Moonlit Dominion. The Lords themselves were formidable combatants too.

The Blood River Formation strengthened the Bloodkin’s attributes, healed their wounds, restored their Aether, and concealed their movements. None of it could make up for the difference in strength.

One Blood Duke tried to retreat into a river. His lower body had barely merged with it when several Storm Hammers struck, stunning him in place.

A Hill King’s hammer followed. The Duke’s exposed upper body burst into fragments.

The same thing was happening all across the formation.

"By the River of Blood! Who have we attacked?"

"Get back into the rivers!"

"At this rate, even the formation won’t hold!"

Liora lowered her staff.

"Lord, do we need to do anything?"

The twelve Crystal Maidens, still in human form, looked at Cassian expectantly.

Only Aurelia seemed untroubled. She stood beside Cassian, showing no sign that she intended to join the fight.

Cassian watched the one-sided battle and sighed.

"Leave it. If we join in now, we’ll only be stealing their kills."

Maren gave him a strange look, then smiled wryly.

"The Blood River Formation isn’t weak. Riftward is simply too strong."

Five minutes later, a great crash rolled through the battlefield.

The formation collapsed.

The rivers did not fall to the ground. They withdrew into the Void. Cassian strained his eyes and caught a glimpse of an immense crimson current flowing away into its depths.

"So that’s the River of Blood. They put it beside the River of the Dead for a reason."

The surviving Bloodkin Lords turned into bats and fled. Not one escaped.

One trembling captive told them everything he knew.

The instance had four entrances, one on each side of the city. Besides the Human and Bloodkin entrances, the other two led to Wingfolk and Goblin territories. The Bloodkin had already killed every Wingfolk and Goblin Lord who entered this space.

Several of the listeners fell silent.

Even two Human parties could come to blows over an instance. Different races had still less reason to spare one another.

The first explorers were usually among the strongest Lords in their territories. Sometimes a Commander led them in person. That young Bloodkin, able to connect to the River of Blood, had almost certainly been an exceptional heir to an ancient bloodline.

Now they were all dead in a place their families could not see. Their friends might never even learn what had happened to them.

That was the battlefield of the myriad races.

Once the remaining Bloodkin Lords had been dealt with, Cassian smiled.

"Coming a day late had its advantages. They cleared out some of the competition for us."

"Each run takes place in a separate mirrored space," Elara said worriedly. "Another Riftward party could meet Bloodkin of its own. Against a Blood River Formation, most of our Lords would be wiped out. Bloodkin aren’t Divines, but they’re still nine hundred and ninety-sixth in the Racial Ranking."

Each entrance could admit only one party to a given mirrored space. With the other three parties dead, their current run was safe from outside interference.

The next party to enter would have no such guarantee. They might be fighting the Boss when hundreds of Goblin war machines attacked them from behind. Or they might arrive just as the Wingfolk and the Boss had worn each other down, and claim an easy prize.

A large instance could be a hundred times more dangerous than an ordinary solo instance. Elara had good reason to worry. Even Cassian had brought a party for the first exploration, including the three Sorns to take the front when necessary.

The rewards were greater too.

"There’s usually a way for the strongest party to take exclusive control of an instance this size," he said. "Let’s clear it once and see what we find."

A minute later, a notice appeared.

[Your troop Crystal Nine has killed a Sword Dancer — Rare, Two-Star.]

[Battle Essence gained: 55,000. Aether gained: 3,000.]

[Obtained: Rare Troop Sigil — Sword Dancer ×1.]

Cassian laughed aloud.

"A troop instance!"

These were among the most valuable instances of all. They produced Troop Sigils, and a Sigil bound to a specific line could sell for several times the price of an ordinary one of the same Quality.

Sword Dancers offered slightly better value than Royal Knights. Cassian had little need for them himself, but they could transform the forces of Riftward’s other Lords.

Give him ten thousand Lords as strong as Darian, and why would he fear veterans from older sectors?

Half an hour later, the party had cleared the outskirts.

Elara checked the dozens of new Troop Sigils in her storage and beamed.

"The rewards really do match the danger. Even the Sigils we don’t need will sell for a good sum."

Seraphine looked up at the city wall.

"Most Lords probably won’t get any farther than this."

"It could be worse," Lyra said. "At least this place followed the city development route instead of the fortress route."

She turned to Cassian.

"Commander, this part is yours."

He gave the order without delay.

"Black Hole."

Twelve Crystal Dragons rose into the air. Facing the city’s defenses, they unleashed their Black Holes.

The walls were breached. Inside, the enemies ranged from Level 55 to Level 60, far too weak to stop this party.

An hour later, they had cut their way to the Lord’s residence.

The city lord was a Level-60 Sword Spirit, an Epic Hero with a combat rating of three thousand stars. Cassian could have crushed him with one hand.

He sat on the roof, drinking alone. A sword in a rust-stained iron scabbard rested in his arms. Several empty wine jars stood beside him.

He glanced at the slaughter of his soldiers, then returned to his wine.

"I’ve never seen a Boss quite like this," Lyra said with interest. "I use a sword too. Can I fight him alone?"

Cassian smiled at once.

"I left all the Bloodkin to you. Surely I can have this Boss?"

Lyra rolled her eyes. He was openly claiming the best target for himself.

After everything he had done for the Marches, though, he could have claimed ten Bosses without anyone objecting.

Cassian did not need this one’s Battle Essence. He was curious about what unusual items it might drop.

Neither he nor the others knew that he had just saved Lyra’s life again.

As Cassian and his troops came within a hundred meters of the residence, the city lord gently tossed his wine jar aside. His hand stroked the rusty scabbard.

"I’ve nurtured this sword for ten years. At last, someone worthy of drawing it."

Steel rang softly.

The blade slid an inch from its sheath.

A hundred meters away, Cassian felt a terrible edge bear down on him. A chill ran through his entire body.

One thought filled his mind.

*I’m about to be cut in two.*