Chapter 136: A Battle Worth Seeing

Black Hole did not distinguish friend from foe. While the twelve openings remained, the Crown Lords dared not send their troops into that part of the sky.

They also did not know why the Crystal Maidens had charged so fearlessly. Loyalty was part of it. Having the Fountain of Life behind them was another.

Cassian had sent them forward to claim the first great harvest of Battle Essence.

It was working beautifully.

Tens of thousands of battle reports flooded his log. In that brief exchange, he gained more than eighty million Battle Essence.

Before ten seconds had passed, one of the Crystal Dragons could take no more. Her body covered in fractures, Crystal Ten fell toward the sea. The Black Hole she had been maintaining vanished.

"Ten!" Crystal Nine cried.

Then she roared, "Retreat!"

"Kill the Dragons!"

"Don’t let them escape!"

The Black Banner Lords shouted almost as one. That first wave of Black Holes had cut away nearly a twentieth of their vast aerial army. They hated the twelve attackers more than anything else in the sky.

"Iron Eagle Elites!" Darian shouted. "Cover their retreat!"

The other Lords sent their troops forward too, putting them between the pursuing enemy and the wounded Crystal Dragons.

Mercer’s eyes were wet as he watched them fall back.

"A man like Cassian comes along once in a lifetime."

The charge had drawn the Crown’s forces together. From their Lords to their soldiers, they went into battle with the same fury.

And the sky erupted.

Compared with this, Cassian’s earlier battles had been little more than skirmishes.

Energy beams, cannon shells, ballista bolts, arrows, and spells crossed the sea in every direction. Flying troops filled the air for tens of kilometers.

On one side were thousands of Epics. On the other, an army approaching a million, with high-grade troops scattered among the weaker ranks.

Soldiers died every moment.

Winged Folk, Griffins, Dragonhawks, Wyverns, Angels, Demons—severed wings and broken bodies fell like rain.

One of Lydia’s two-winged Angels cut down dozens of Rare Winged Folk before a Spiritbinder struck it with Life Stripping. Its strength collapsed. Dozens of heavy crossbow bolts pierced it, and blood scattered through the air.

Even Cassian’s selected Eclipse Legionnaires were falling.

The seven Valcrests found themselves surrounded by dozens of Epic Greater Demons. Their formation was close to breaking when Seraphine pressed a finger hard against her chest.

"Seven-Star Release. Third Star."

Her six relatives went pale.

"Seraphine!"

They knew what using the Third Star meant. Even if she survived it, the backlash could leave her crippled.

A vast fist imprint crashed into a Greater Demon, bursting it into blood.

Another blow followed. Then another.

For less than ten breaths, Seraphine swept through the enemy like a god of slaughter. Dozens of Greater Demons died beneath her fists. Everyone nearby stared at the display.

Then her power plunged.

"Seraphine, I’ll avenge—"

Lyra’s grief turned to astonishment before she finished.

Seraphine took out the vial of Life Water Cassian had given her and drank it. Pale-green liquid disappeared between her lips. Her exhausted body began to recover, vitality returning as quickly as it had seemed to leave.

She laughed.

"Stop staring at me. Keep fighting!"

Relief swept through the other six. Then the questions came.

"What was that?"

"How much does a bottle cost?"

"Do you have any more?"

"After the battle!" Seraphine said quickly. "Ask me afterward!"

Darian’s performance surprised Cassian too.

He strode through the air on the wind, letting his Warbound power pour out without restraint. The pressure made the Wyverns facing him falter. Several Epics had already died by his hand.

Maelin’s voice came from Resolute, trying to persuade him to hold back.

"Show them everything you can do, and Black Banner will start watching you too. Isn’t it better to leave their attention on Cassian?"

Cassian sneezed.

"Is someone trying to curse me again?"

A Greater Demon had slipped through the fighting and was approaching him from behind. Cassian sent a streak of swordlight from the Seven-Star Sword through it, killing it before it reached him.

He looked across the battle, his blood stirring. He had only heard of wars like this in stories.

Now this was a sight worth seeing.

It took a few deep breaths to suppress the urge to unleash Origin Fist.

He kept his Dawnwing army, the Stormlance, and the remaining Crystal Maidens in reserve. He had not even committed the Ghost Fighters to the fighting.

He had shown enough today.

If he displayed Origin Fist’s full power or revealed his entire Dawnwing force, Black Banner might send someone down from a higher Realm within days. Killing that enemy could force him to reveal half his remaining cards. Then they could send someone stronger, and the cycle would begin again.

There was no need.

"We’ve already won this battle."

Cassian studied the fighting and made his judgment.

"And I’ve done more than enough."

He was right.

Under the fire of twelve Ghost Carriers, every enemy warship of Epic Quality or above still exposed on the sea was sunk in less than twenty minutes.

The battle continued, but the lower-grade ships could see what waited for them. Every beam that rose from the water might be theirs.

The Rare warships were next.

"I’m done! Even if we win, we probably won’t survive!"

"I came for the military and the great houses’ commissions. What good is the money if I’m dead?"

"Where are the Mirage Ships? Hide us! Get us out!"

"They don’t dare come out. The Crown has them locked in place. If you want to live, run!"

Lords abandoned their Heroes and troops in their haste to escape. Some ordered their own soldiers and warships to hold the enemy back while they boarded the fastest vessels and fled.

Kuma urged them to fight. He promised victory. Then he threatened them.

More ships kept turning away.

"Our Lord has abandoned us..."

The troops left behind lost their will to fight. Some followed their Lords. Others turned against them outright. The few who remained loyal and held their ground were quickly cut down.

"We’ve won!"

"They have no high-grade ships left on the surface. After them!"

"Make them pay! I lost two squads of Epics!"

The Crown had won, but the losses were heavy. Nearly half of its thousands of Epic troops were dead or wounded.

Eight of the ordinary Epic warships had been sunk. Fortunately, Mercer had transferred their Lords aboard the stronger ships beforehand. Not one Crown Lord had died.

Darian joined the others in pursuit, their ships racing after the retreating Black Banner fleet.

"My Lord, forty-eight of the selected Legionnaires fell," Rhea reported.

Cassian checked the Fountain’s reconstruction records. As each death had been confirmed, it had verified the soldier’s belonging record and death state. The accumulated Life Energy was sufficient, and he had authorized the cost of rebuilding them at home without returning their remains through the sealed sea.

All forty-eight reconstructions were complete. The soldiers were alive at Forgotten Shrine, resting after their return. Their Levels remained unchanged.

Cassian nodded. Aegis Fold and Mistveil March had kept the deaths down to forty-eight in a battle like this.

His gains had been enormous. So had his expenses.

Keeping the Ghost Carriers concealed and submerged took Energy. Their shields and cannons took more. In fighting this intense, natural recovery could never keep up.

He had been burning through high-grade Aether to sustain the fleet. Legendary warships would accept nothing less.

By his tally, the high-grade fuel bought through the Exchange for this battle had already cost him nearly fifty million Aether.

An ordinary Lord could be handed a Legendary fleet and still have no way to afford running it.

Liora contacted him.

"My Lord, what should we do with the eight Mirage Ships we’ve caught? They’re staying inside their pocket spaces. We can’t keep waiting forever."

Mirage Ships were excellent vessels. Cassian wanted them himself.

Unfortunately, he did not have a sealing item.