Chapter 416: Ironwall

In a few messages, Cassian laid out the plan linking Fivefold Heaven with Western Beacon and its allies. He added inflammatory embellishments of his own along the way.

The Homeworld’s anger caught fire.

[Have they lost their minds? However much they hate Cassian, that’s a struggle between Homeworld Lords. Now they’re helping outsiders destroy the entire Realm?]

[Of course! Fivefold Heaven lost to him, so it found another way to get revenge. But why would the Beacon and the Jade Court help? Do they even consider themselves people of the Homeworld?]

[Damn Fivefold Heaven! Damn the Jade Court! My family put decades of savings into this sector. We finally secured a Warden’s office in a Fortune Region. If the Realm falls, everything we’ve worked for is gone!]

Similar messages flooded the Channel.

Gavin felt sweat gather on his forehead, but he tried to answer calmly.

[Gavin Roswell: Please don’t believe every accusation you hear. Western Beacon has always acted in the interests of the Homeworld. Our first concern is—]

Nerissa cut across him with wild laughter.

[Nerissa Vaust: Cassian, do you remember what I told you a week ago? Sooner or later, your Divine Nation will join the Black Banner in its grave!]

Gavin stared at the message.

"Idiot!"

Lords who had been waiting to hear both sides began to believe Cassian. Even the Provinces that had joined the Beacon and Jade Nation sounded shocked.

[Lord Roswell, you told us that your people had paid a terrible price to kill a wild Mythic and been lucky enough to get that Writ!]

[So that’s why the Jade Court was so generous. They invited our Dawn Coast Provinces in and even promised to make up our National Fortune! They were planning to leave the sector anyway!]

[Lord Talcrest, we deserve an explanation.]

Cassian’s rise threatened the interests of a relatively small number of people at the top. The fall of the Homeworld would hurt nearly ten billion Lords.

For the overwhelming majority—ninety-nine point nine nine percent—it made little difference who became the dominant power. If they disliked the result, they could move to another sector later. Losing everything they had here was another matter.

Gavin saw the situation slipping out of his control.

[Gavin Roswell: I swear before God that I led the force that obtained this Founding Writ!]

Corven followed immediately.

[Corven Talcrest: If I am lying, may the Jade Court’s royal line end without a single descendant!]

[Gavin Roswell: You see? These two foundings were a coincidence. Cassian is twisting events to serve himself. He founded the first Nation, yet now he wants to stop anyone else. What does that tell you?]

The severity of their oaths made some of the watching Lords hesitate.

Cassian laughed.

[Cassian Vale: A coincidence? Once, perhaps. Twice, if you insist. What about a third time?]

He sent another message.

[Cassian Vale: Here is my prediction. Within a month, this coincidence will happen again. Everyone understands what four Nations would mean, don’t they?]

[Cassian Vale: If I’m wrong, I’ll apologize publicly.]

Gavin’s face grew uglier.

A month? They had no intention of waiting that long. Every extra day gave Cassian another day to grow.

Across the Homeworld, Lords voiced their support for Cassian.

[He’s right. We’ll all watch.]

[Anyone rushing to found another Nation now had better be ready to explain why he’s helping destroy our Realm!]

In Divine Nation’s management group, Darian was delighted.

[Darian Frost: Nicely done! You’ve put the Beacon in a corner. Unless they want the entire Homeworld against them, they’ll have to give up the plan.]

[Cassian Vale: It isn’t that simple.]

He shook his head.

[Cassian Vale: Mostly, that let me vent my anger. It will do very little to stop them. Prepare for war. We have a few months at most.]

The group’s mood changed at once.

For the next hour, Cassian held a video conference with Divine Nation’s leaders. They went through their development plans quickly, with the approaching invasion now at the center of every discussion.

After ending the call, he opened the Palace interface.

"Upgrade the Domain."

The buildings taken from the Bloodmaw Court had supplied most of what he needed. Resources from the Black Banner’s dismantled Domains had filled the remaining gaps. At last, every requirement for Rank XIX was met.

He committed the materials and confirmed the upgrade.

A pillar of golden light shot into the sky.

[Your Domain has advanced to Rank XIX.]

[Domain Rune acquired: Ironwall.]

[Base Domain area increased to 4,000,000 square meters, before national ruler bonuses.]

[Ironwall: Sturdiness and Durability of all Domain Buildings ×2.]

The pillar broke into countless golden runes. They drifted down like snow, sinking into the ground and buildings throughout his Domain.

From Rank XIX onward, Human Domains gained a Domain Rune with each advance instead of unlocking another basic Building. Runes resembled Lord Talents in their effects, but they had no Quality grades. The one granted at each Rank was random.

Ironwall was useful, though only in a defensive battle.

Considering the Outer Realm Invasion ahead, that suited him well enough. With the Homeworld’s present strength, the early fighting would have to be fought mainly on the defensive.

Another notice appeared.

[Under the influence of Celestial Haven’s enhanced Folded Sanctuary, your Ironwall Rune has mutated.]

Cassian straightened eagerly and opened its new properties.

[Ironwall]

[Effect 1: Sturdiness and Durability of Domain Buildings ×10.]

[Effect 2: Barrier and Moat strength ×2.]

He laughed aloud.

"Now that’s an iron wall."

Ten times the Sturdiness and Durability. At the current stage, his walls would be almost impossible to break.

His Void Shield and Blood Moat were already extraordinarily powerful. With their strength doubled again, Cassian doubted whether even he could smash through his Domain’s defenses at his present strength.

"So the environment can improve Domain Runes as well."

His eyes brightened.

"Then I should aim for Rank XXI before the war begins. That would let the main army reach Level 110."

For now, there was another advance waiting.

"Everyone in the main force. Level up."

He confirmed the expenditure. One trillion, one hundred and twenty-five billion Battle Essence vanished from his reserve. Light rose around his surviving combat Heroes and troops, and Cassian felt the same power flow through himself.

They reached Level 100 together.

"About seven hundred billion left. Even with the force I have now, I’d still need another trillion to bring everyone to Level 105."

He had paid to recruit and train another ten thousand hunters over the past month, bringing his ordinary Eclipse hunting corps to eighty thousand. They earned him more than three billion Battle Essence a day, or roughly a hundred billion a month.

For an ordinary Lord, that much could fund growth all the way to Rank XXII.

For him, it was barely enough to make a difference.

Strength had to keep growing on the Realm Battlefield. He possessed magnificent troops, but without the Battle Essence to raise their Levels, that advantage would erode. Let a Legendary Nine-Star fall ten Levels behind, and it could end up fighting no better than an ordinary One-Star Legendary opponent.

"If I want Battle Essence quickly, I’ll have to go to the Outer Realms. Perhaps destroy a few native Royal Courts."

That would serve another purpose as well. Every hostile Court destroyed now would mean less pressure when the invasion began.

He was about to call his strongest fighters together when Mira sent a message.

[Mira Calder: Boss... someone from the Ninefold Sanctum is here. Its army commander, Lucan Merrow.]

Lucan Merrow?

Cassian remembered him well, and favorably. But a visit at this moment...

Was it about Origin Divine Fist?

He straightened and drew a breath.

[Cassian Vale: I’ll be right there.]

One matter after another. It was becoming that kind of day.

——

"Lord Cassian! It’s been some time."

Cassian had barely stepped out of Mira’s Gate, the passage paid, when a handsome young man in blue armor rose to greet him. Lucan clasped his hands in a courteous salute.

"Your victory over Fivefold Heaven’s advance fleet a month ago made quite an impression. All the upper Human Realms are looking at you differently now."

A faint light passed through Cassian’s eyes.

Worldsight made it clear. Lucan had come in his real body. That took some nerve. Evander had sent only a proxy on his first visit.

After a few brief pleasantries, Cassian went straight to the point.

"What brings you here, Lord Merrow?"

Lucan’s smile disappeared.

"I’ve heard that you’ve learned Origin Divine Fist, one of the Ninefold Sanctum’s signature arts. Is that true?"

*There it is.*

Cassian wasted no words denying it. He extended his right hand.

"Have you come to call me to account for it?"

An intensely compressed golden fist image formed before his knuckles. Its light pulsed, poised to strike.