Chapter 271: No Way Back

"Aurelia’s holding them for now."

Cassian read her report with satisfaction, then punched toward the distant enemy.

A golden fist a hundred meters across swept through the air. Elemental Beasts and Divine troops alike disintegrated in its path.

His Heroes and troops were not the only ones receiving those bonuses. With his present strength, he was confident he could beat Azrak easily.

Fortunately, the Divines had not noticed anything unusual about Godslayer.

Not yet, at least.

He turned his attention to the Dragon. Its immense golden body climbed alongside the Temple, then its tail struck again.

The Wall of Metal cracked under the blow. A deep crater a hundred meters across opened in its surface.

[Your summoned Divine Dragon has attacked the Five Elements Temple. Wall of Metal durability −0.2%.]

Celia cut down the enemies in front of her. Before the next group could close in, she turned her Heartsense Sword on the Wall of Metal, carving more than a dozen deep slashes into it.

The other fighters attacked just as fiercely, using their speed to keep themselves safe. They had one purpose here: destroy the Temple.

Scars spread across its shining walls. Every loss of durability brought another notice to the Divine Lords. Watching their World Wonder suffer made them furious.

Flying troops converged on the raiders, but Cassian was not their only enemy.

His sudden attack had thrown their defenses into disorder. Elemental Beasts pressed through the gaps, especially the flying ones. Claws scraped the Temple, leaving fresh wounds before the defenders could turn to deal with them.

There were far too many monsters. Together, they did much more damage than Cassian’s fighters.

From a distance, the entire Temple seemed buried beneath a shifting mass of beasts and troops.

Without this monster siege, Cassian would never have attempted the raid.

Keldran proved decisive. Even with the defense already going badly, he detached several thousand troops of Epic Quality and above and sent them toward the Spatial Vortex.

If they attacked the guards from behind, Azrak’s army could break through from the other side.

Cassian had prepared for that.

Faerie Dragons ambushed the force halfway there. The Divine troops took heavy losses.

"Faerie Dragons! Cassian even has—"

Keldran stopped himself.

"No. They must belong to Blood Throne."

Compared with that powerful faction, Cassian was insignificant. So was the entire Homeworld.

Keldran gritted his teeth and detached tens of thousands more troops. This force included over a thousand powerful units with spatial abilities to counter the Faerie Dragons.

They reached the vortex, but the two attempts cost him almost an hour.

The vortex was more than a hundred kilometers from the Temple. The Divines possessed a few items for transport between fixed points, but those could only carry a limited number of units.

"Thirty-eight percent... Thirty-six..."

Cassian watched the Temple’s durability fall, then gave a quiet order.

"Leave the vortex. Put everything into destroying the Temple."

"Yes, Lord!"

Aurelia led the dozens of Dawnwings away. A few kilometers from the vortex, they reached their pickup point.

Liora met them there. She took Aurelia and the Dawnwings back in successive Teleports, carrying no more than five passengers each time. The last group appeared outside the Five Elements Temple, and the whole force joined the attack.

The Faerie Dragons had joined the assault too. With more fighters attacking and fewer defending, the Temple’s durability fell faster still.

Keldran had barely reclaimed the vortex when the new reports reached him. Any pleasure in that small victory disappeared.

"Lord Azrak! The Temple’s in danger. Hurry!"

"I’m coming back!"

Azrak no longer had any thought of plundering the Homeworld’s Temple. If his own was destroyed, the Legion Contest would end in complete failure. Brahma would not even have a rank.

"Cassian..."

He glared at the flickering Five Elements Formation, unwilling to leave.

Two more hours. With two more hours, he could destroy the Human Temple, even with those invincible Stormlance defending it.

But his own Temple might not survive one.

"All forces, fall back to defend our Temple!"

Several Scions beside him protested.

"Lord Azrak—"

"I said all forces!"

His eyes were red.

"If we kill Cassian and those Bloodkin elites, we’ll cut off the Homeworld’s and Blood Throne’s hopes in this new sector. At least we’ll make them pay!"

The Divine army began withdrawing at speed. Azrak and the other strongest fighters entered the vortex first.

This time, no one could mistake it. The entire army was retreating.

The Crown Champions’ cheers shook the sky.

"They’re leaving! They’re really leaving!"

"Cassian must have their Temple in trouble!"

"He attacked their home and saved ours! Long live Cassian!"

Seraphine was just as excited.

"You strike an army when it’s halfway through a crossing. That vortex is so narrow they’ll need more than half an hour to get everyone through. Should we hit them then? It would take some pressure off Cassian too."

Darian’s eyes brightened. Before he could agree, a message appeared in the Legion Channel.

[Cassian Vale: Don’t pursue. It isn’t worth the losses.]

It was as though he had known exactly what they were thinking.

Everyone relaxed a little at the sight of his name. He had finally answered.

[Nessa Fenwick: Cassian, how are things on your side?]

[Cassian Vale: Don’t worry. I caught them in the middle of a monster siege. I’ll be gone before their main force gets back.]

A monster siege. Now they understood. Admiration for his timing spread through the group.

"We should listen to him," Elara said at once. "We’ve barely held on with the formation protecting us. Even then, we’ve lost almost thirty percent of our forces."

She looked around at the others.

"There will be plenty to do after this contest. The Provincial Ranking. Battles beyond our own borders. There’s no reason to cripple ourselves fighting the Divines just to feel better for a moment."

They had spent hours being attacked at their own doorstep. Of course they were angry. But they knew she was right.

Darian was still unwilling to let it go.

"We’re too weak," he said. "That’s what it comes down to."

——

In the private group of eight Governors overseen by the three elders, admiration had replaced all doubt.

"He went deep into enemy territory, made an alliance, and forced almost ten million Divine troops to retreat. He saved the whole Legion. Who would believe a story like that?"

"No wonder the people above have supported him so strongly."

Brienne Wren sighed.

"He’s convinced me. Completely."

"By the way, Brienne. Do you really not know who Darian is? If I’m not mistaken, that was Bloodline Invocation. The one he reached must have been that person in the Third Realm—"

"I don’t know," Brienne Wren interrupted. "And I don’t want to know."

The others grew still. No one pursued the subject.

——

Another half hour passed.

All five of the Temple’s walls had fallen to somewhere in the teens for durability.

Azrak, however, felt relief.

He was less than ten kilometers away. With the Legion’s main force returning, Cassian would die if he stayed.

After driving him off, they could use the Elemental Pearls accumulated during the battle to repair their Temple. Keeping a place in the top hundred should not be difficult.

Why had he gone after the Homeworld at all?

Regret filled him, then turned into fury.

"Cassian! You Blood Throne vermin! Come and die!"

His voice rolled across the vast battlefield.

Then his heart clenched.

A warning surged through his superior Divine bloodline. Disaster was upon him.

Thousands of meters above the ground, a magnificent blade of light suddenly filled the sky.

Azrak’s mouth fell open.

"So big..."