Chapter 394: Fortune Taken by Force

Before Aurelia’s words had faded, thorns burst from empty air around Ronan.

They filled several kilometers of sky, cutting off every route of escape. Green vines twisted toward him as though they were alive.

"Thorn Overgrowth? A Grade-B skill?"

Halric the Spear’s grandson had spent decades as a Lord. He recognized what he was seeing—and what ought to have been impossible.

"How can a Grade-B spell reach this far? And that power..."

His voice rose to a scream.

"Transcendence!"

Ronan became one with his weapon and shot toward the edge of the thorns.

"Living Spear! Break!"

It was his grandfather’s signature skill. Sharp spear energy tore through layer after layer of vines, breaking them back into the raw energy from which they had formed.

There were too many.

When Cassian recruited Sylvara, Thorn Overgrowth had already reached Lesser Perfection. Over the year since then, funded Time Acceleration and the insights from Enlightenment Tea had carried it to Greater Perfection. She had then used a fresh leaf’s first infusion to take the final step to Transcendence.

Strengthened further by Nature Will, the spell was far beyond anything Ronan had prepared to face.

He forced his way a few hundred meters through the growth before it caught him. His speed fell until he was barely crawling through the sky.

"You’re right," Aurelia said, holding her Thunder Sword in both hands. "As a reward, I’ll make it quick."

Above him, Skyblade Descent began to form.

"Another Transcendence skill?"

Ronan felt the deadly pressure gathering overhead. Power erupted from his body as he struggled wildly.

"Break! Break!"

Determination could not make up the difference.

He had the strength of a Mythic troop at his Level. So did Aurelia. So did Sylvara. Working together, with two skills at Transcendence, they had left him nowhere to go.

Half a minute later, a ten-meter blade hung over his head.

"That should be enough."

Aurelia had gathered only half its full power. She brought the sword down without hesitation.

Ronan was moving at less than a tenth of his normal speed. Escape was impossible. He raised his spear overhead to block.

The weapon was at the peak of Legendary Quality.

The Skyblade met the shaft, slowed for the briefest instant, then cut it in two.

Ronan never had time to scream. The force passing through him tore his body into a cloud of blood.

The strongest fighter in the Black Banner’s allied army was dead. From ten kilometers away, Cassian’s Heroes had trapped and killed him in barely half a minute.

For a moment, there was silence.

Then the shouting began.

"Lord Vexley is dead?"

"He could fight a Mythic!"

Tens of kilometers away, another War Marshal stared at a Water Mirror showing the scene. He had watched the whole thing.

A moment later, he shot into the sky and fled away from the Dawnwings.

The broadcasts were in uproar too.

"Halric the Spear’s grandson. Dead, just like that!"

"He was famous even among Sector 632’s Warbound Lords!"

"I heard he came down alone to minimize his losses. Left every Hero and troop behind. I wonder whether he regretted that at the end."

Ronan’s death was shocking enough. What he had shouted before dying disturbed the experienced Lords even more.

"Transcendence. At least Grade B."

The Valcrest founder watched in open admiration.

"Only half my own Heroes have a skill of Grade B or higher at that level."

"And the one called Celia," the Caerwyn Sovereign added. "Her Sword Energy has reached Transcendence as well. Her Sword Intent must be at least Accomplished."

Edran’s expression was complicated.

"Where does he find these extraordinary Heroes? And every one a beauty with her own charm."

The other two gave him odd looks.

——

Cassian was too pleased with his battle report to care what anyone else was saying.

[Your Hero Aurelia Dawnwing has killed Lord Ronan Vexley.]

[Battle Essence +9,500 | Living Spear Skill Book ×1.]

[Supreme Aether Vein effect activated. National Fortune seized: 5.]

"Five National Fortune. Worthy of an old-sector War Marshal."

Five points could support five ordinary General appointments. Instead, Cassian committed all five to his own Sovereign office.

Its all-attribute bonus rose from thirty percent to thirty-one point four percent.

The name of an office did not determine its strength. General or Fool—the Realm did not care what a ruler chose to call it. What mattered was the National Fortune supporting the appointment and the benefit it had to provide. Names simply made administration easier.

Five points could fund five Generals, each granting a twenty-percent increase to every unit in the appointed Lord’s Domain. Added to the Sovereign office, those same points bought only another one point four percentage points.

Cassian had expected that.

The higher he pushed an enhancement, the more expensive each further increase became. He had already checked what a forty-percent bonus for his Sovereign office would require.

A hundred National Fortune.

Now he had found a way to earn it.

"Keep going," he ordered through his Domain Channel. "Kill the other Black Banner War Marshals."

"Yes, my lord!"

Rhea and Aurelia turned the army toward the second marked target.

Darian was just as eager.

"Brannok! Follow the Dawnwings!"

Deep inside the enemy formation, the Golden Behemoths never ran out of targets. A careless sweep of a claw could raise a cloud of blood. Even the weakest enemies were Elite troops, worth as much as minor Bosses in ordinary hunting.

A dozen minutes here had earned Darian as much Battle Essence as a full day of his usual hunts.

Elara, Nessa, and the others were enjoying similar gains. None showed any wish to leave.

The Black Banner’s army had become a hunting ground for Divine Province’s strongest Lords.

The next War Marshal was still tens of kilometers away when he realized he had been chosen. Hundreds of Legendary guards surrounded him. They offered no reassurance at all.

He had descended into Sector 666 for military merit, not to die.

Abandoning the battle he was supposed to command, he took his troops and fled. His speed far exceeded that of the ordinary army. Before long, he had broken away from its cover.

Aurelia smiled.

"He’s making this easy. Liora, Sylvara. Let’s catch him."

Both women knew how much those War Marshals mattered to Cassian.

"Of course."

A white shock wave cut across the sky. Lysette appeared at its tip.

"I’ll come too."

Her first assignment was complete.

"Good."

"Bitterfrost Field!"

Liora’s spell swept the surrounding kilometer clear of weaker enemies. The four Heroes shot through the opening and went after their target.

He fled. They followed.

Twenty minutes later, almost all his Legendary guards were dead or wounded, and he had run out of places to go.

"I want to speak to Cassian!" he shouted. "He likes money, doesn’t he? I’ll pay a ransom! I’ll—no!"

Lysette flashed past him. A burst of compressed air followed her blow, and his body exploded into blood mist.

Even without the chance to seize National Fortune, Cassian would never have let an old-sector War Marshal go. Every one released would become another formidable enemy for Crown Lords. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, might die because of that decision.

There were plenty of other prisoners. Eight hundred million Aether, or even a billion, was no reason to spare this one.

Lysette looked at her hands and smiled.

"Now that my Genetic Unlocking has advanced, I can fight without my life force draining away. Going all out feels wonderful."

Aurelia glanced at the woman who had taken the kill. A competitive light shone in her eyes.

"Next."

The pattern soon became clear.

If a War Marshal stayed in the army, Rhea brought the two corps straight toward him. If he fled, Aurelia and the other three Heroes pursued him.

The Marshals did not dare gather together either. Once Cassian marked one of them, escape became a question of how long he could delay the inevitable.

Taking ten thousand Legendary guards might have been enough to make the four Heroes cautious. But if every Marshal withdrew that many troops for his own protection, the Black Banner’s battle line would collapse.

Within half a day, ten War Marshals were dead.

Cassian had seized twenty-three National Fortune in total. The Sovereign office’s all-attribute bonus had risen to thirty-four percent.

For the Black Banner’s troops, watching their leaders hunted down at will was devastating. Their morale sank lower with every death.

"He can take a commander’s head from the middle of an army this size? His Heroes and troops are more than twice as strong as when we last saw them!"

"Those Eclipse Legionnaires are really Epic? They fight better than plenty of Legendaries!"

"Hold on! Once Fivefold Heaven’s reinforcements arrive, we can still win!"

Over those hours, Nine recovered between casts and used Void Sanctuary several more times. Millions of troops died in its black holes.

The stream of Battle Essence left Cassian thoroughly satisfied. He praised her generously, and she wagged her tail from side to side, delighted.

The Praetorians exchanged a look.

Only their lord could turn a Mythic Dragon into an eager pet.

Everything was going Divine Nation’s way. At this rate, another day should see more than half the enemy army killed or wounded. After that, its troops would surely scatter to save themselves.

Then something changed.