Chapter 188: Enough to Arm a Marches

Seraphine answered first.

[Seraphine Valcrest: You can thank Darian and his family connections for that...]

Cassian opened a Gate and stepped beyond the Marches’ border just in time to see her enthusiastic explanation.

He silently approved, then added his own contribution.

[Cassian: We owe Lord Darian a great deal. As Commander, I can only feel ashamed that I needed him to save us.]

[Darian Frost: Don’t be discouraged, Cassian. You did very well. My family just happens to be rather useful.]

Cassian almost laughed at how proud he sounded.

Riftward had been sealed for half a month. His friends did not know exactly how many enemies had entered, or how strong those enemies had been.

They would notice the discrepancy eventually. They had some idea of how many Lords they had killed, and a hundred thousand Black Banner invaders had disappeared inside the Marches.

By then, however, everyone would have heard how House Frost arrived just in time to save Riftward.

Cassian could enjoy his fortune in peace.

The Black Banner and Free Will Lords slowly began to accept what they were reading.

Austin suddenly burst out laughing.

"Wonderful. Wonderful!"

He pointed at Galen.

"Thank you for the ten billion Aether, Lord Tervain. The Black Banner can keep Riftward!"

The Coldridge Lords wore expressions of deep satisfaction.

They had not gained the Marches. Cassian was still Free Will’s enemy. But seeing these treacherous Black Banner bastards suffer was a pleasure in itself.

And they had received ten billion Aether for nothing.

"Why?" Galen muttered, his face ashen. "How did this happen?"

They had gained nothing. They had lost Free Will’s trust. The ten billion Aether might be the smallest part of the disaster.

He still did not know whether Osmund was alive.

Yet the reports had come from his brother’s own trusted men. How could they have—

"Damn it!"

He suddenly remembered the Sorns. Varek and his sisters had betrayed the Black Banner and gone over to Cassian.

Why had he not thought of them sooner? If he had been a little more alert...

There was no way to take that failure back.

A moment ago, he had been imagining paradise. Now he had fallen straight into hell. Austin’s mockery barely reached him.

"How much did it cost to bring Lords from Sector 642 down this quickly?" ℯℯ𝑙.

"From the strength they’ve shown, they must be at least Commander-level veterans. Who exactly is Darian Frost?"

Private families were not supposed to be able to match the state’s military strength.

Even if a few Crown veterans disliked the Jade Court enough to pay the enormous price of descending, how could they stand against the Black Banner military?

A private power would need the scale once attained by Peace Province, Haven Province, or White Lotus Province to assemble a hundred powerful War Lords. Everyone knew the Crown had produced no comparable force among the newest decades of sectors.

That was what made the news so hard to believe.

Galen suddenly jolted upright.

"Withdraw! Back to our Marches! We’re too close to Riftward. Those House Frost Lords could attack at any moment!"

The other Black Banner Lords needed no second warning. They fled as fast as they could.

Austin froze for an instant. Then he abandoned his mockery and hurried away too.

Coldridge was Riftward’s enemy as well.

——

As soon as the Spatial Lock ended, Cassian sent the Dawnwing corps back aboard his Ghost Carriers. He had no intention of leaving that force where everyone could see it.

The fleet had been waiting near the Goblin outpost. Now, on his orders, the Carriers headed back downriver toward the sea.

A day later, the Legendary communication seal expired.

Information flowed freely between Riftward and the outside world again. News of the invading Lords’ deaths reached their home Regions in Kelshore and Veylan.

Grief swept through both Marches.

The Black Banner Commanders lost the last of their hope. Fear of the House Frost veterans spread so widely that many Lords dared hunt only within range of their Marches’ Gates.

In Galen’s Domain in Ashvale Region, the Commanders gathered for an angry discussion.

"Only three Lords! Three, and they defeated a hundred of our military veterans. Even Tobren Morvane couldn’t stop them!"

"Osmund is responsible for this. If he hadn’t been arrogant enough to split his army, three enemies could never have picked them off one at a time."

Galen’s expression darkened.

Confirmation had arrived. Every Lord sent down in the expedition was dead, including Osmund and Tobren.

Galen had arranged the descent. It had ended in disaster, and Kelshore and Rolfe Veylan had died with them. His standing in Tidecrown had suffered badly.

"Friends, I acted too hastily."

He stood, his face full of grief.

"I would gladly end my life to atone for this. But Cassian still lives. Until that enemy is destroyed, I must bear the torment of my own guilt."

The other Commanders exchanged looks. They were disgusted, but none said so.

Instead, they assured him that the failure was not his fault.

"Thank you for understanding."

Galen bowed at a right angle, then straightened with renewed force.

"We failed because we were impatient. I’ve checked the numbers. Even including Riftward, the Crown has fewer than four hundred thousand Lords left in Tidecrown. We have more than fourteen million."

He looked around the gathering.

"With that advantage, we cannot lose the Governorship if we proceed carefully. Once the Governor’s seat is ours, the whole Province becomes our ground."

The others nodded.

Commander Merwick added another suggestion.

"To be safe, we should request Lords from a proper war sector. Sector 632, for example."

Every face grew serious.

——

At Forgotten Shrine, Cassian’s friends were giving him peculiar looks.

Darian spoke for the group.

"A hundred thousand Lords invaded from Kelshore and Veylan. We added up our kills. All of us together killed fewer than ten thousand."

He leaned toward Cassian.

"Commander, perhaps you could explain what happened to the other ninety thousand?"

Seraphine and the others nodded eagerly.

Cassian looked suitably alarmed.

"House Frost’s strength really is unfathomable..."

Darian laughed despite himself.

"Still acting? Shall I ask around and get someone to give you a little gold trophy?"

Elara knew Cassian had three Legendary Heroes. She stepped in at once to help steer the conversation away from his secrets.

Darian rolled his eyes at her.

"A handsome face, and you forget your friends."

Everyone had things they preferred to keep private. None of them intended to press him. It was simply difficult to take in the scale of what he had done.

More than ninety thousand Lords, killed by Cassian and his forces.

Their rough estimate of the Battle Essence alone made them dizzy. That did not include the equipment or any of the other rewards.

"Boss," Tobias said, "that should last you half a year. Maybe a whole year."

Cassian spread his hands without explaining.

How could he tell them he had already spent almost all of it?

After reaching Rank XI, he had spent another nine billion Battle Essence bringing Aurelia, Celia, Liora, and the main combat force to Level 60. The Stormlance, Praetorians, twenty-four Crystal Maidens, seven hundred Legionnaires, and the Dawnwing corps had all reached the new limit.

Then he paid to recruit ten more Dawnwing squads—a hundred and thirty new troops—and spent another nine billion Battle Essence raising them to Level 60 as well.

Two hundred and eighty-six Dawnwings now served him.

Only about a billion Battle Essence remained in reserve.

Mira had grown comfortable enough with Cassian to ask for a favor.

"Commander, have you got any equipment you don’t need? Spare a little for me?"

He glanced toward the square and smiled.

"Everyone, step back ten meters."

They moved, wondering why.

With a crash, a mountain of equipment appeared in the middle of the Domain square. It rose more than ten meters high.

"That must be... hundreds of thousands of pieces!"

They had expected a great deal. Seeing it piled up before them still made them swallow.

"Take your pick," Cassian said casually. "That’s only a tenth."

Nobody spoke.

At last, Darian found his voice.

"You’re going to arm an entire Marches by yourself."

Cassian reserved the Epic equipment and anything better for those closest to him. Even without it, the heap of gear, none higher than Rare, was far more than the people present needed.

Mira took charge of distributing the rest to Riftward’s War Lords as a benefit from the Marches.

After Rank XII, the contest for the Governorship and the Contest of Champions would begin. That was when the real struggle would open.

The stronger Riftward’s thirty-six thousand Lords became, the greater the strength and influence at Cassian’s command.

Once his friends had gone, he finally had time to look at the new Building unlocked at Rank XI.

The Worlds Market.