Chapter 169: You Call That an Injury?

Swordlight crossed a hundred meters in an instant.

It was only a few meters long, tiny beside Aurelia’s hundred-meter Skyblade Descent. Yet its brilliance was so fierce, so tightly condensed, that the world seemed to darken around it.

"Lord, look out!"

"Folded Sky Ward!"

"Force Field! Wind Shield! Repelling Flame Ring!"

Aurelia’s silver planes unfolded in front of Cassian. Liora cast six defensive spells in an instant.

At the same time, both Heroes and the Crystal Maidens rushed toward him, using their fastest movements to try to put themselves between him and the sword.

They had the Fountain of Life to fall back on. None of them had stopped to think about it. They moved on instinct.

The swordlight was too fast. They could not get there in time.

"Seven-Star Release!"

Gold still burned at Cassian’s brow.

"Origin Fist!"

Even while drawing out his hidden strength, he could shape the fist art. He drove his Spirit to its limit and compressed all that power around his clenched hand.

The swordlight tore through the spell shields, then the ward.

Its brilliance had dimmed slightly by the time it struck his fist.

A metallic clang rang out.

He had stopped the edge.

The force behind it hurled him backward. His body crossed several hundred meters and smashed a house into rubble.

All of this happened in a fraction of a second. Some of the watching Lords still had relaxed smiles on their faces when the house collapsed.

Then the smiles vanished.

"Cassian!"

"What the hell was that skill?"

"Sword Nurturing! There are stories of masters storing power in a sword for a thousand years, then killing gods and demons with a single stroke!"

"That bastard hurt the boss. Kill him!"

"I’ll check on Cassian!"

Before anyone could act, his voice came from the wreckage.

"I’m fine."

Clouds formed beneath his feet. He flew out of the rubble and stopped several dozen meters above the ground.

"I took your sword strike," he said calmly. "Try taking a punch from me."

He struck lightly. A golden fist shot through the air.

Thirty percent of his strength.

The city lord neither dodged nor raised his sword. Instead, delight spread across his face.

"You survived my sword. You’re not even badly hurt. Perhaps you can—"

The fist hit him before he could finish. His body exploded into bloody mist.

Cassian frowned. It felt like punching a wad of cotton.

Not very satisfying.

Aurelia flew up beside him, her composure gone.

"Lord, are you all right? You’re hurt!"

"I am. I was careless this time." ℯ

Cassian opened his hand. A cut a centimeter long marked his knuckles. The tender skin beneath was just visible, and the edges were already drawing together.

He regarded it seriously.

Things had gone so smoothly lately that he had grown overconfident. If he had not shed the force at the last instant, the edge could have drawn blood, perhaps even cut to the bone. Five times that power might have killed him, or left him badly injured.

And that was with both Seven-Star Release and his Battle Name active.

He could not keep taking risks like this. Julian Lind had been powerful too. Trusting too much in his own strength had got him killed.

Cassian descended slowly. Seeing his grave expression, the others crowded around to check his injury.

Seraphine stared at his hand.

"You call that an injury?"

She had fought enough battles to consider a blade through the body a light wound.

Before Cassian could answer, Aurelia spoke sharply.

"Our Lord’s life is precious. I’d give mine before letting an enemy harm a hair on his head."

Liora and the Crystal Maidens nodded vigorously.

The other Lords could only smile wryly. Cassian certainly knew how to win his people’s loyalty.

Tobias glanced at Aurelia, deeply impressed. Could a Hero possibly be more devoted than that? The boss was incredible.

"If Cassian hadn’t taken that fight, I’d be dead again." Lyra patted her chest, still shaken. "Aren’t you supposed to have good luck after surviving a disaster? Why do I just get another disaster?"

Darian’s eyes shone.

"Has he been hiding a Warbound path all this time?"

He had not faced the sword himself, but he had seen its destructive force. Even with his own Warbound power fully unleashed, he doubted he could have stopped it.

Maren looked grave.

"To take a strike nurtured for ten years so easily... he must have at least the fighting strength of a Level-50 Legendary Hero. And he seems to have some way of hiding his aura. Aura Sight told me nothing about his true strength."

Cassian had no such concealment art. The gap between their attributes was simply too large.

There was something else even he did not know. The city lord had reached Lesser Perfection in both Sword Nurturing and Sword Intent.

That combination made the strike several times stronger than Maren believed. Had it been aimed at one of the other Lords, only Seraphine could have survived it.

Only after the commotion subsided did the party notice the system messages.

[Your party has killed City Lord Lucan.]

[All party members gain Swordheart Instance Authority +1.]

[The first Lord to reach 200 Authority will become the Instance Guardian.]

"Two hundred?" Tobias exclaimed. "With a Boss like that? Who besides the boss could take one of those sword strikes?"

"An instance’s Boss is usually strongest during the first clear," Elara said with a smile. "Once someone becomes its Guardian, we should be able to take exclusive control. That part is up to Cassian... Cassian? What are you thinking about?"

He looked up.

"The drops. That sword strike was worth taking after all."

Everyone grew curious. If even Cassian thought the haul was good, what had the Boss dropped?

[You have killed the instance’s guardian.]

[Battle Essence gained: 600,000. Aether gained: 80,000.]

[Obtained: Epic Troop Sigil — Sword Spirit ×2.]

[Obtained: Blank Residency Writ — Swordheart Region ×1.]

[Obtained: Skill Book — Sword Nurturing ×1.]

An Epic Hero had yielded all that.

Two Epic Troop Sigils at once. The very sword art that had just hurt him. And, most exciting of all, the Blank Residency Writ.

After a moment’s thought, he showed the others its description.

[Blank Residency Writ — Swordheart Region]

[Enter your Domain information to relocate your Domain into Swordheart Region. Arrival coordinates will be random.]

[Requirement: Domain Rank XII or below.]

[Each Lord may relocate into Swordheart Region once, and out of it once.]

"A Residency Writ for Swordheart!"

Seraphine drew a sharp breath, then grinned.

"We were right. Julian Lind released Writs before he died!"

Residency in an ordinary Region was worth very little. In a Region blessed by powerful Fortune, it could be priceless.

Sunhold Region was a famous example. Its annual entry quota was so small that even the descendants of demigod Lords had to enter a lottery. Some unlucky applicants had waited more than a century.

A Blank Residency Writ offered another way in. Only a Lord who had attained the office of Domain Sovereign could make one. Fill in the Domain’s information, and its owner could relocate into the designated Region. The power behind Sunhold auctioned a limited number each year to help fund its armies.

Some powerful Lords hid their Regions before dying, then released Writs with conditions governing how they could be obtained. It was a way to choose a gifted successor.

For example: after a hundred years, a Human Lord at Rank XII or below who killed a Legendary Hero of at least Level 80 would have a one-in-a-thousand chance of receiving a Writ.

No one knew what conditions Julian Lind had chosen.

"Swordheart Region was already a century old when it disappeared," Elara said. "Its monsters could have reached Level 200, the limit of the Seventh Realm. Even after a hundred years of abandonment, the Region Decay Formula would put them above Level 80."

She had worked through the estimate as she spoke. Now she looked straight at Cassian.

"Don’t rush into this. Restricting entry to Rank XII and below is hardly reassuring. Perhaps he wanted to lure gifted young Lords to their deaths. Get revenge on everyone who outlived him."

The Sword Saint had been powerful, but his reputation was mixed. The others urged caution too.

Cassian looked at their concerned faces and decided against a long explanation.

"Don’t worry. I’ll be careful."

The Swordgrave was something money alone could not buy, especially this early.

His Rare Heavenwork Designs would not recover an Epic forge. He needed an Epic Design first. Once he had its Blueprint, he could seek a Legendary version through the Exchange.

"I need to reach Rank XII and take the Swordgrave before the struggle for the Governorship. Then I can work toward putting a Legendary sword in every soldier’s hand."