Chapter 427: The Rivers Close

"A pity the third Domain Rune wasn’t a combat Rune," Cassian added. "That would have made this much easier."

Ten days earlier, he had finally completed his upgrade to Rank XXI. The necessary growth costs had also been paid, bringing his main combat forces to Level 110.

His luck with the new Rune had been ordinary this time. After his previous gains, perhaps that was only to be expected.

The third Rune was Bounty.

Under the influence of Celestial Haven and the Foundation’s enhanced Folded Sanctuary, its effect was simple:

[All Fields in the Domain produce 50% more.]

For Cassian, that was hardly less valuable than a combat Rune.

By Rank XVIII, he had already acquired the Blueprints and paid for the construction of five hundred Legendary Fields. Within Celestial Haven, those Fields now functioned at the level of Mythic Fields. Their output had increased more than tenfold, and even the lowest-quality produce was Legendary. A small amount of Mythic produce had begun appearing recently as well.

He had not needed to build another Field since Rank XVIII. The space he saved could hold more residences, allowing him to recruit more Eclipse hunters to earn Battle Essence.

His listings on the Worlds Market had doubled with the increased harvests. Some goods were already sitting unsold.

Cassian had no intention of cutting his prices. The surplus could stay in storage, even if it was beginning to pile up in mountains.

Now Bounty had raised production by another fifty percent. At this rate, he doubted he would need more Fields before Rank XXX.

Better still, the Rune also affected the Enlightenment Tea Tree.

Its third harvest had ripened just yesterday: six hundred and ten leaves.

That was enough to supply all his Heroes and his main Mythic fighters. Tea was finally something he could provide to everyone who needed it, instead of agonizing over each leaf.

These thoughts passed through his mind as the army continued its retreat.

With Elyndra’s strength, she could probably have caught them already if she had pursued at full speed. But the God-Queen was cautious. She stayed with her legions, sending one enormous fist after another across the sky.

Every strike from the Level 125 ruler carried frighteningly concentrated power. Even from more than ten kilometers away, she kept Cassian’s forces looking as though they were barely holding on.

Some of the damage was real. Her latest punch had blasted more than a dozen Eclipse Exemplars into blood mist.

Elyndra laughed.

"My Court keeps slaves of many races, Cassian. Humans are especially popular. Kneel at my feet, and perhaps I will let you live."

"Damn it!" Cassian shouted. "Move faster!"

Several minutes passed. His army flew more than a hundred kilometers, but the gap continued to shrink.

Most of the Twilight Court’s Lords were two Domain Ranks above him. Some were three Ranks higher. Their troops held an advantage of ten to fifteen Levels.

When the pursuers came within a few kilometers, Rhea, Aurelia, and several others suddenly turned toward Cassian.

"My lord, look out!"

Lysette reached him first. She caught him in her arms and shot hundreds of meters to one side.

An Annihilation Orb appeared where he had been standing.

Hundreds of meters across, it swallowed everything within its reach. Matter and energy alike vanished into nothing.

Cassian stared at it, his alarm entirely real this time.

"They can cast from that far away? Their range is much greater than our Sunfire."

He let out a breath.

"Even if I opened the Fourth Star the instant it caught me, I’d still be badly hurt."

More Annihilation Orbs appeared among his troops.

The stronger fighters could evade them. The Legendary One-Star Eclipse Exemplars were less fortunate. Again and again, women failed to get clear in time and disappeared inside the spheres.

Within moments, hundreds had died.

"Halt!"

Elyndra raised her hand. The Templar and Soulhunter legions stopped in midair behind her.

Stars flickered in her eyes as she looked ten kilometers ahead.

"So I underestimated you. An ambush?"

She gave a cold laugh.

"A Blood River Formation. It seems the rumors about your connections with the Bloodkin were true."

The arrogance faded from her expression. She spoke quietly to the Twilight Archon at her side.

"Bring a hundred million troops here. We will break the formation together."

With two Mythic Heroes and well over a hundred thousand Legendaries beside her, she was almost certain she could force her way through it already.

Almost was not enough.

The Divines were fierce warriors, but raw strength alone did not make someone the ruler of a Court. Caution kept rulers alive, whether they came from a new world or had been born in the Battlefield.

The formation was hardly going to run away. Waiting another ten or fifteen minutes would cost her little.

Cassian’s sigh reached her across the distance.

"You’re a God-Queen. Do you really need to be this cautious?"

Blood Rivers appeared a few kilometers ahead of her, branching through the air like a vast network of veins. They filled a region more than ten kilometers across.

Elyndra sneered.

"Lost your patience already?"

Her smile froze.

"Retreat!"

The rivers were still spreading. Far faster than she had expected, they stretched across tens of kilometers of sky.

Worse, their strength showed no sign of thinning as their reach expanded.

"Impossible!" Elyndra roared. "Even a full squad of Blood Emperors couldn’t build a formation this large! Do you have a Progenitor serving you?"

A Bloodkin Progenitor was an Eternal.

The Divine Legendaries were fast, but they could not outrun the spreading formation. Within seconds, more than a hundred thousand of them were trapped inside it, including all three thousand Light-and-Dark Templars.

Elyndra herself had not escaped.

Blood Rivers surged toward them from every direction, and still the formation grew. It finally stopped after spreading across seventy to eighty kilometers, almost reaching the capital’s defensive ring.

Elyndra knew how difficult a Blood River Formation could be to shake off. She wasted no more time.

"Break through the way we came! Full force!"

She drove her fist forward.

"Ancestral Sacred Fist—Undying Nirvana!"

A river hundreds of meters wide burst apart. Its severed ends scattered under the impact.

The other Divines attacked with her. In an instant, they opened a passage a kilometer wide and several kilometers long.

They had flown only a few hundred meters into it when the rivers formed again.

This time, the streams were even denser. Countless Blood Effigies rose from them, blocking the way.

Elyndra’s face darkened, but her voice remained steady.

"Form up and break out! The Court’s armies are attacking from outside. Strike together, and we will tear through this formation!"

She was doing more than reassuring her troops. They had pursued Cassian for only a little over a hundred kilometers. Even under the Silence seal, an ordinary messenger could cross that distance.

Outside the formation, the Twilight Court’s armies were already arriving. Hundreds of millions of troops were moving into the Blood Rivers to rescue their ruler.

——

At the heart of the formation, Cassian swept out a hand.

"Dragon’s Blessing. Burn two trillion Aether!"

The cost of the same enhancement kept rising as his troops grew stronger and more numerous. At their current strength, one trillion Aether could raise the primary attribute of every unit by roughly fifty percent.

Spending twice that amount brought the increase to sixty percent.

One more trillion for another ten percentage points. For this battle, Cassian was willing to pay it.

"Godslayer!"

He supplied the Battle Name with fresh premium Aether Crystals. Against Divines, its effect doubled, raising all attributes by sixty percent.

All attributes, not merely each fighter’s strongest one.

That advantage was his greatest source of confidence.

"Disarming Toast!"

A strand of light tore free from the Twilight Archon and settled on Aurelia. Her Command enhancement rose by ten percentage points, reaching fifty percent for the battle and strengthening the Dawnwings under her command.

Inside the formation, the three thousand Light-and-Dark Templars weakened visibly as part of their Hero’s Command was stripped away.

Human Sovereign supplied another forty percent to all attributes. Cassian’s Sovereign office supplied forty percent more, and his combat slot added fifteen percent.

Power surged through his army. Every fighter seemed like a volcano on the verge of erupting. Even the Eclipse Exemplars now possessed strength far beyond the Legendary Nine-Star troops of ordinary Lords.

Months of recruitment and growth had filled out the other corps as well. Their Pools, Nests, and acquired Embryos had all consumed their share of his resources. Now those troops were ready beside his Heroes.

"Kill them!"

At Cassian’s command, his forces surged forward: the Heroes, forty-five hundred Eclipse Exemplars, a thousand four-winged Dawnwings, a thousand Faerie Dragons, and five hundred and twenty Crystal Maidens.

The Blood Rivers parted before them.