Chapter 75: The Seven-Star Altar Leaps Three Tiers! A Thousand Ten-Star Shadow Assassins Join the Ranks!

Chapter 75: Chapter 75: The Seven-Star Altar Leaps Three Tiers! A Thousand Ten-Star Shadow Assassins Join the Ranks!

[Would you like to spend Wood ×50,000, Stone ×50,000, Iron Ore ×50,000, Seven-Star Unit Altar Stone ×1, and Unit Training License (Shadow Assassin) to construct the Seven-Star unit building: Shadow Assassin Camp?]

"Build it."

Buzz—

10,000× Acceleration activated instantly.

The ground began to tremble as a towering black stone spire emerged from beneath the earth.

Complex shadow patterns were engraved across its surface, while a constantly shifting black orb hovered at its peak.

[Hidden Lord Class detected: Undead Sovereign.]

[Forced Class Authority Conversion in Progress...]

Suddenly, the surface of the black stone tower was engulfed in ghostly green flames.

A flickering green soul flame appeared inside the black orb at its peak, while the entire structure transformed from cold, solid obsidian into a translucent, gray-black substance resembling crystallized bone.

[Building Transformation Complete!]

John didn’t even bother opening the building’s status panel, let alone recruiting any units.

Instead, he immediately activated Star Coronation again.

"Let’s see how much higher I can upgrade this one."

He raised his hand and directed the power of Star Coronation toward the newly constructed altar.

[Ding!]

[Star Coronation Triggered!]

[Target: Undead Shadow Assassin Altar (Seven-Star)]

[Star Rating Upgrade in Progress...]

Seven-Star.

Eight-Star.

Nine-Star...

[Ding! Assassin Unit Altar upgraded to Ten-Star!]

John’s eyes lit up.

Ten-Star!

It had jumped three entire star tiers in one go. This was now the highest-star unit he had ever possessed!

"Not bad. Let’s recruit a thousand of them first."

[Would you like to spend Gold Coins to recruit 1,000 Ten-Star units: Shadow Assassin?]

"Confirm."

[10,000× Acceleration activated.]

A flash of purple light appeared.

Before the black altar, rows of figures emerged from the dense shadows, silently assembling into a massive formation.

They wore tight-fitting dark outfits, each with a half-mask covering their face and a slender, curved dagger in hand.

John immediately opened their status panels.

[Unit: Shadow Assassin]

[Star Rating: Ten-Star]

[Level: Lv. 1]

[HP: 3,800]

[Attack: 3,000]

[Defense: 400]

[Skill 1: Lethal Backstab (Active): Attacks launched from behind a target are guaranteed critical hits. Critical damage is increased to 500%, and attacks additionally inflict armor-ignoring Rend damage.]

[Skill 2: Shadowmeld (Active): Merges with surrounding shadows, completely concealing its presence. Movement generates no detectable magical fluctuations.]

[Skill 3: Deathshadow Detonation (Passive): When HP reaches zero and death is imminent, automatically detonates its own shadow essence, dealing massive AoE Shadow Damage to surrounding enemies.]

[Description: Death that walks in the shadows.]

"Just as expected of a Ten-Star unit. The seven-star Corpse Exploder was already considered one of my units with the highest HP."

"But this assassin actually has even more HP. Its Attack and Defense are also significantly higher than those of most other units."

John was extremely satisfied.

After examining their attributes for quite some time, he tapped the formation assignment option and placed all of them under Arno’s command.

With that taken care of, he retrieved the [War Medal ×66] from his inventory.

He then distributed the medals among the various Legion Equipment upgrades.

[Ding! Legion Equipment: Cloud-Piercing Bow successfully upgraded!]

[Cloud-Piercing Bow +0 → +3: Archer-type unit Attack increased from +35% to +50%. Arrow flight speed +20%.]

[Ding! Legion Equipment: Dragon Fang successfully upgraded!]

[Dragon Fang +4 → +8: Physical Attack increased from +1,800 to +2,400. Dragonflame burn effect increased from 30% to 45%. Damage bonus against Divine creatures increased from 10% to 15%.]

[Ding! Legion Equipment: Whisper of Decay successfully upgraded!]

[Whisper of Decay +4 → +8: Magic Attack increased from +1,200 to +1,600. Spell casting time reduced from 30% to 40%. Additional spell damage increased from 40% to 55%.]

...

As one piece of Legion Equipment after another was upgraded, the overall combat strength of his army received yet another substantial boost.

Further down was a blueprint emitting a faint blue glow.

[Joint Defensive Barrier (Epic · Combined Item)]

[Effect: When activated jointly by multiple Lords, the defensive barriers of their respective territories are connected into a single barrier.]

[Special Property: The more Lords participating in the activation, the higher the combined defensive durability of the barrier.]

"Let’s get it installed."

With the assistance of Gru and the other villagers, the central hub of the Joint Defensive Barrier was slowly embedded into the foundation stone deep beneath the castle.

Buzz—

A faint silver barrier spread outward from the center of the castle, gradually expanding along the ground until it enveloped the entire territory.

[Joint Defensive Barrier Construction Complete!]

[Currently Active Lords: 1.]

[Current Defense Value: 1,000,000.]

[Special Property: The defensive barrier is permanently bound to the territory. As the territory expands outward, the barrier’s coverage area will expand accordingly.]

[Special Note: Allied Lords can be invited to join the Joint Defensive Network. Each additional Lord increases the combined defensive value.]

John stood on the castle terrace, looking down at the barrier that had spread across his territory.

He glanced at the numbers displayed on the panel.

The Judgment Alliance had truly made the most of this blueprint.

As for him...

John’s gaze fell upon the two faintly glowing crystals in his inventory.

[Lord Core ×2]

"There’s no need to rush. I’ll wait until we’re officially connected to Godfall Continent before testing them. If it works, I might even be able to use them together with the Joint Defensive Barrier."

...

After arranging the remaining miscellaneous matters, John finally let out a sigh of relief.

"That’s enough. I’m exhausted. I need to get some rest."

And once he fell asleep, he completely lost track of time and everything happening around him.

Even in his dreams, John vaguely heard someone calling out to him from outside his room.

"My Lord! The Beast Tide..."

Half-asleep, John heard some faint commotion outside. He rolled over and mumbled toward the door.

"Tonight’s Beast Tide... You guys handle it... Don’t wake me up..."

"Understood!"

He had no idea who had responded, but at least someone had.

John buried his head deeper into the pillow and promptly fell into an even deeper sleep.

Who knew how much time had passed?

[Ding!]

[System Notification: Congratulations to player "Tyrant" for clearing the Sixth Night Tide at record speed!]

[Global Announcement: Player "Tyrant" has cleared the Sixth-Day Beast Tide at record speed!]

[Rewards being distributed...]

[Obtained: Hero Recruitment Scroll ×1.]

[Obtained: Five-Star Unit Training License ×1.]

[Obtained: Special Item — Relocation Token ×1.]

"..."

John pulled the blanket over his head.

About half a minute later, he suddenly sprang upright in bed.

"What the hell?"

Rubbing his eyes, he sat up, still somewhat groggy.

But the string of dazzling golden reward notifications on his system panel had completely woken him up.

"Oh. It’s over."

John scratched his hair and pushed open the window to look outside.

The area beyond his territory was completely clean. All the corpses had already been cleared away.

In the distance, the Crossbow Towers still glowed with a faint blue light, while several Dragon Knights leisurely patrolled along the city walls.

"Alright, then."

He yawned and casually opened the details of his newly acquired item.

[Relocation Token (Epic · Special)]

[Effect: Allows the owner to freely change the coordinates of their territory. By selecting any unclaimed area, the entire territory can be relocated to the chosen location.]

[Description: When the land you’ve put down roots in is no longer safe, take everything with you and start over.]