Chapter 177: An Army from the Older Sector

More than a dozen Black Banner Commanders had gathered outside Ashvale Region. Kelshore stood among them, watching the enormous square cleared for the arrivals.

"They’re here," Galen Tervain said.

A great formation appeared in the air above the square, its countless golden lines fitting together. A pillar of gold crashed down through its center.

A Lord in black armor strode out of the light. Hundreds of Heroes and troops followed him.

"Sword Saints. Legendary Sword Saints! Feel that pressure."

"Osmund Tervain is a Commander like us, but he’s had three more years to develop. We can’t compare with him now."

"He has at least one Legendary Hero with Grade-A Command over both Sword Saints and Swordmasters."

"Grade-A Hero Command, a Grade-B War Lord Talent, and all that training and equipment... Any one of his Sword Saints could probably destroy a newcomer War Lord."

"At last! We can kill Cassian and avenge the tens of thousands of Black Banner soldiers who died in Riftward and at sea!"

The Commanders’ faces brightened at the thought.

Galen hurried forward.

"Brother! You’ve come!"

Osmund nodded, then looked down at his panel in surprise.

"Level fifty-five? Someone in Tidecrown has already reached Rank X?"

Descending units had their Levels suppressed to the Lord Level cap available in the destination’s greater map. Rank X allowed Level 55. If Tidecrown’s highest-ranked Domain had still been Rank IX, Osmund and his troops would have been limited to Level 50.

"Rank X?" Galen frowned. "Our highest-ranked Lords are still at IX, as far as I know. They’ll need another few days."

"Then it must be someone in Riftward Region," another Commander said. "Perhaps Cassian himself. With seventy-two Fortune, their supply of middle- and high-grade resources is nothing like ours."

Envy sharpened his voice at the number.

"Cassian?" Osmund laughed. "So he brought this on himself. His own upgrade has let us come here at Level fifty-five. If I’d known, why would I have risked my neck inviting Tobren Morvane?"

Commanders who knew him stepped forward to greet him. Osmund patted his brother’s shoulder, then turned to the gathering with a courteous smile.

"Please wait a little longer, everyone."

He was talented, but so were these Commanders. His real advantage was the three years he had spent developing ahead of them. He saw no reason to offend them by putting on airs.

More pillars of light descended.

Each brought another Lord, followed by hundreds of Heroes and troops. Dreadplate Warriors, Starseers, Spiritbinders, Slit-Mouthed Women... None of the troops were below Rare. Roughly one in ten was Epic, and now and then a full squad of Legendary troops emerged from the gold.

The Lords themselves scarcely smiled. Their eyes were cold and bloodthirsty.

Galen watched with growing delight.

"Military Lords?"

"My Twenty-Third Squadron," Osmund said proudly. "They just placed in the top three in the competition to slaughter Crown Lords. Heroes of the Black Banner."

Then Tobren Morvane lumbered out of a pillar, with only a few dozen troops behind him.

"Where are the Dragons? Take me to the Dragons! I want to eat them!"

Seeing the Commanders’ uncertain looks, Osmund introduced him and recounted his exploits. Their doubts quickly turned to excitement.

"With a force like this coming to kill him, Cassian will go down in history," one Commander said enviously. "He doesn’t deserve the honor."

"Cassian?" Osmund chuckled. "We’ve spent too much coming here to stop at one Marches. Riftward alone won’t satisfy Lord Morvane’s appetite. First we kill Cassian. Then we wipe out every Crown Lord in Tidecrown."

Without the Jade Court’s declaration, they would have had reason to hesitate. If every power sent its veterans to massacre hostile newcomers without restraint, the Homeworld would soon have no new generation of Lords. Their whole civilization would wither.

But the Jade Court had yielded Tidecrown to the Black Banner. The authority that claimed to speak for the Crown in the Seventh Realm had said so itself.

That was all the justification they needed. They could slaughter the millions of Lords here and expect the Homeworld’s Joint Council to applaud their righteous war.

Galen grew excited again.

"General Hale only wiped out one Crown Marches in Sector 632, and his bronze statue was placed in the War Shrine for later generations to honor. If you kill all the Crown Lords in Tidecrown, Brother, your place there will be higher than his!"

Then a worry occurred to him.

"But what if Cassian loses his nerve and relocates out of Tidecrown? We won’t have Waygate permissions inside Riftward. It could take us a long time to reach his Region."

"I’ve prepared for that."

Osmund carefully took out a golden scroll.

Galen’s eyes widened.

"A Legendary Spatial Lock Scroll!"

Such scrolls were immensely valuable, but a Lord with an Exchange could still pay a great deal to buy one. The military would reimburse Osmund anyway.

The other Commanders were delighted.

"A Legendary seal can lock an entire Marches. Even the passage to the Homeworld! They won’t be able to flee there either."

"Cassian’s Commander permissions will be useless!"

Before long, every veteran Lord had arrived at the appointed coordinates. Osmund completed a swift inspection.

Three hundred and eighteen Legendary troops. Four thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight Epic troops. Thirty-eight thousand two hundred and fifty Rare troops.

And Tobren Morvane, the monstrous Spiritbound Lord, on top of them all.

Every unit was Level 55, the newcomer’s current limit.

His brother was far too cautious, Galen thought. Why bring a force like this to kill a chicken?

"Please march on Riftward at once, Brother, before Cassian tucks his tail between his legs and runs."

He turned to the Commanders.

"Kelshore and Veylan, gather your armies and surround Riftward. Don’t let a fly escape."

Their Marches lay on Riftward’s eastern and western sides. Using their own Waygates, they could reach its borders faster than anyone else.

"Yes. And please forgive my earlier rudeness, Tervain." Kelshore bowed sharply. With reinforcements like these behind the Tervain family, he had no desire to keep arguing. "I will do everything I can to assist our veterans."

"You’re too kind, Kelshore." Galen returned the bow, then addressed the others. "The other Crown Marches may try to send aid. Our task is to stop those reinforcements and make certain Cassian dies."

——

"The Black Banner’s veterans have descended."

Darian’s announcement sent a shock through Riftward’s management conference. Everyone had known this day would come. No one had expected it so soon.

He remained calm, speaking quickly.

"The bad news is that their army has already passed through Veylan’s Waygate, just west of us. They’ll reach our border soon."

He looked around the images.

"The good news is that we seem to have no traitors left inside Riftward. Otherwise, they could have used a traitor’s Gate to come straight into the Marches. That would have caught us completely unprepared."

His expression grew grave.

"They’re being very careful. Everyone involved has been ordered to remain silent. To get this warning out, a House Frost agent who had spent twenty years undercover in the Black Banner had to expose himself."

He drew a deep breath.

"These enemies are extremely strong. We have very little time. What tactics do you suggest?"

Almost before he finished, every pair of eyes turned toward Cassian.