Chapter 397: The Fleet Arrives

"Yes."

Cassian nodded without hesitation.

"It just costs more."

The Fountain had verified Nine’s death and her belonging to his Domain. Its stored Life Energy was sufficient. He confirmed the reconstruction, and the required reserves were consumed along with the Battle Essence.

[Crystal Nine reconstructed at the Fountain of Life.]

[Battle Essence consumed: 1,460,000,000.]

[Reconstruction of a Mythic unit has overloaded the Fountain of Life. Production of Life Water and Life Essence suspended for ten days.]

Ten days without production meant losing two thousand four hundred bottles of Life Water and sixty bottles of Life Essence. That was a painful expense.

He now had twenty Mythic troops. Future casualties would be unavoidable. More than ever, he wanted to complete the plans for a second Fountain, and then a third, in his friends’ Domains.

Rhea let out a long breath.

"As long as she can come back."

After that brief, brutal interruption, the battle settled into a grinding struggle again.

By noon the next day, more than half the Black Banner’s army had been killed or wounded. It still showed no sign of breaking.

This had little to do with its Lords’ courage.

Ninety-nine point nine percent of them were hiding inside their own Domain Shields. They had handed over command of their troops and left the soldiers to fight. After a year in the sector, almost any reasonably competent Lord could train an army willing to die for them.

Divine Nation’s casualties had passed twenty million as well. That was nearly five troops for every Lord in its army. Even in a victory this overwhelming, the losses were substantial.

Then Gavin Roswell’s voice rang through the Homeworld Channel.

"Our Black Banner allies! Your courage and sacrifice have finally been rewarded. Fivefold Heaven’s fleet has reached the inner sea. It will arrive at the battlefield within an hour!"

For a moment, the Black Banner Lords seemed unable to believe it.

Then their cheers rose in a roar.

"They’re here! Fivefold Heaven has finally come!"

"Once an upper Realm joins the battle, it can turn everything around! Cassian is finished!"

"Cassian, I’d surrender now if I were you. You might still live!"

Almost at the same time, Seven’s report reached Cassian.

He contacted Lyra at once.

"The Fivefold fleet is five thousand kilometers from you, thirty degrees north of east. Attack it now."

The Elemental Covenant would not have come without some confidence. Whatever protection it had prepared, he still needed to test it.

——

Thousands of kilometers away, more than ten thousand enormous flying ships raced through the clouds.

[Warning: Powerful Metal energy is gathering.]

Evander Ardent stood on the flagship’s deck. At the warning, he gave a cold smile.

"Quick to notice us. But using the five elements against the Elemental Covenant? He has chosen the wrong opponent."

He issued two orders.

"Activate the reactive Five Elements Defense System."

"Link the fleet’s energy reserves."

More than ten thousand blades of sharp energy formed in the sky. They converged on one of the flying ships, turning the air around it into a storm of swords.

Steelrain Array.

One of the Metal spells carried by the Five Elements Temple.

An ordinary Legendary warship would have been riddled with holes under that assault. The targeted vessel did not even try to evade.

Flames rushed from its hull. Seven or eight layers of blazing shields formed around it.

The sword energy pierced the first layer and immediately lost a fifth of its power.

Then it tore through the second, the third, the fourth.

After breaking the fifth shield, the blades finally succumbed to the burning true fire. Their sharp outlines dissolved into raw Metal energy.

Evander relaxed. Admiration replaced some of the scorn on his face.

"Worthy of the Five Elements Temple. Even with Fire countering Metal, it pierced five layers of true-fire shielding. And every ship in this fleet can transfer energy to the others."

Longing flashed in Teren Voss’s eyes.

"Steelrain Array. One of the finest Legendary Metal skills. How did Cassian get his hands on a book like that? If I learned it, my strength would rise by at least fifty percent."

Ilyse was quick to encourage him.

"I hear he has plenty of other treasures too, Teren. Subdue him, and we won’t leave empty-handed."

Evander cleared his throat.

"The Temple is our first priority. We can discuss everything else after we’ve secured it."

"The second attack is coming," Oren Briar said suddenly. "Cinderfall? He really does have a fine collection."

A rain of destructive fire appeared above the fleet.

Without waiting for another order, the defense system shifted. Fire shields became Water shields.

A furious hiss filled the air. Fire met water, and thick steam swallowed the sky for dozens of kilometers.

Wood overcame Earth. Earth overcame Water. Water overcame Fire. Fire overcame Metal. Metal overcame Wood.

No defense could hold forever, but the Temple’s spells were being met by the element best suited to counter them. Each attack lost most of its effective power. Against the fleet’s linked reserves, the bombardment posed little threat.

It continued for half an hour before finally stopping.

Evander smiled.

"Increase speed."

Another half hour passed. The Five Elements Temple came into view.

Divine Nation’s fleet had withdrawn roughly fifty kilometers from the Wonder it had been guarding.

The Covenant Lords stared at the towering structure with undisguised hunger.

"Decisive of him. He’s abandoned the Temple outright."

Evander turned toward the five younger Lords.

"If we secure it, the greatest share of the credit will belong to you."

Behind them, a Western Beacon envoy chose that moment to speak.

"Cassian is still fighting the Black Banner army. If you strike now, we can trap him between two forces and destroy him. The problem would be settled for good."

Evander glanced at him with a faint smile.

"When did the Elemental Covenant agree to fight Cassian? I don’t remember making that promise."

Sweat appeared on the envoy’s forehead. He forced a smile of his own.

"He may rule over the Homeworld, but to Lords of your standing, crushing him would be as easy as crushing an ant."

When that earned no response, he hurried on.

"He started an unjust war. He’s slaughtering fellow Humans! For the sake of our shared race, surely you can stop him."

"An ant?"

Evander laughed softly.

"Then why do my reports say his Dawnwing corps consists entirely of Legendary Nine-Star troops, led by a six-winged Throne? Why do they say every one of his Heroes fights with Mythic strength? And that he has a Mythic Crystal Dragon?"

The envoy’s smile stiffened.

"Even leaving Cassian aside, Divine Nation has an Extreme corps of Golden Behemoths. And yesterday, unless my information is mistaken, Cassian destroyed an avatar of the Slaughter Lord with one punch."

Evander’s eyes narrowed.

"You want us to cripple one another so you can collect the benefits?"

There was still a trace of disbelief in his expression. He had received the report more than half a day earlier, yet the thought of that punch continued to astonish him.

At Cassian’s age, with so little time since his sector opened, such strength was extraordinary. No Lord in Fivefold Heaven’s new sector could compare. Even in the Covenant’s long history, talents like him were rare.

The envoy’s face changed.

Only now did he fully understand. He was not the Covenant’s sole source of information in the Homeworld.

The Western Beacon wanted to use Fivefold Heaven to kill Cassian. Fivefold Heaven wanted the Western Beacon and Black Banner to keep Cassian occupied while it took the Temple.

Each side had expected the other to do the costly part.

He tried once more.

"After Cassian destroys the Black Banner, he’ll turn on you. He’ll come to take the Temple back."

"Perhaps." Evander laughed. "By then, we may already have administrator authority. Even if we don’t, no one will break the defensive formation we establish here. I believe Cassian is a sensible man."

The envoy looked thoroughly defeated.

Evander added, almost kindly, "If you must blame someone, blame him for knowing when to yield."

Before long, more than ten thousand flying ships had surrounded the Five Elements Temple. Their shields joined into a continuous barrier, sealing the Wonder inside a vast defensive formation.

At its summit, beside the energy orb, the five Elemental Root Lords took their places at the points of a star. Their expressions turned solemn. Complex hand seals followed one another without pause.

A deep hum rose from the formation.

Five streams of light—red, yellow, white, black, and green—struck the orb.

A progress bar appeared across its surface.

[Capture Progress: 0.01%]

Hundreds of kilometers away, Cassian noticed the new alert. He read it, then murmured to himself.

"So the Elemental Covenant really does have a secret art for forcing its way into the Temple’s authority. I should expect that from a sect ruling an upper Realm."

He glanced at the progress bar.

"Though they could do something about the speed."