Chapter 86: The Enemy’s Eyes Are Mine—and the First Real Region War Begins

"My real name is Kara Voss."

"I’m a Black Banner infiltrator."

The last word left her mouth.

The smile on Kara’s face finally cracked.

She looked at Cassian.

Her first reaction was not to explain.

It was to attack.

The cup flew first.

Not to hit him.

To block his vision.

At the same time, her right hand pulled a narrow blade from her sleeve.

One step.

Straight for Cassian’s throat.

Fast.

At least far faster than an ordinary production-oriented Lord should have been.

But the moment she entered two meters—

the air suddenly grew heavy.

[Abyssal Pressure I]

Short-range pressure burst outward from Cassian.

Kara’s charge hit it like deep water.

Her step slowed for half a beat.

Only half a beat.

Enough.

Cassian shifted sideways.

Predator Step moved him less than a body length.

The blade scraped the edge of Wraithplate instead of reaching his throat.

Kara changed immediately.

Her shoulder drove toward Cassian’s chest.

She wanted to knock him aside and break for the Gate.

Cassian planted his right foot.

[Ground Anchor I]

His body did not move.

The impact rebounded through Kara’s own shoulder instead, numbing the arm for an instant.

Cassian caught her wrist.

Twisted.

The blade hit the floor.

A second later, Kara was pinned against the edge of the table.

From the moment she moved to the moment it ended—

less than three breaths.

In the Deep Layer, the dark-violet light atop the Mindseal Tower brightened.

Cassian did not negotiate with her.

He did not ask whether she wanted to cooperate.

Her identity was confirmed.

She had also just tried to kill him.

The Tower’s second function had been waiting for exactly this moment.

"Enslave."

[Mindseal Tower: Enslave Activated]

[Target: Kara Voss]

[Current Enslave Capacity: 0 / 1]

A layer of dark-violet light, visible clearly only to Cassian, fell from deeper inside the Domain.

Kara’s entire body went rigid for an instant.

There was no long struggle.

No second attempt to attack.

Her Level, Quality, and Spirit did not exceed the current effective suppression range of the Epic Building.

[Enslave: Success]

[Current Enslave Capacity: 1 / 1]

Kara’s expression slowly returned to normal.

Her memories were not erased.

Her way of speaking did not become someone else’s.

What changed was deeper than either.

The allegiance underneath it all.

She looked up at Cassian.

This time, she did not search for the Gate.

"Lord."

Cassian released her.

"Outside, you’re still Lysa Harrow."

"In front of Black Banner too."

"Act exactly as you did before."

"Don’t let them know you were exposed."

"Understood."

Veyra came up from the Deep Layer only then.

She looked at the narrow blade on the floor, then at Kara.

"Control stable?"

"Stable."

"Then my line still stays closed to her."

Cassian looked at her.

"You think the Tower might fail?"

"No."

Veyra rested Crimson Oath against her shoulder.

"Just because she’s yours now doesn’t mean she needs to know how the Eclipse trains."

Cassian nodded.

"Fine."

This wasn’t about doubting whether Kara might betray them again.

It was basic compartmentalization.

She would know what she needed to know.

Nothing more.

The Deep Layer.

Eclipse.

Veyra’s training details.

None of those were part of Kara’s job.

Cassian sat back down.

"Now talk."

"Who sent you?"

Kara answered without hesitation.

"Black Banner’s internal infiltration line."

"The specific order didn’t come from Varek personally."

"Nadia Serr?"

"I don’t know."

"My handler only gave me the assignment."

"Objective?"

"Enter Riftward."

"Get close to Forgotten Shrine."

"Find out why the Rocketiers can disappear between the Outer March and the Domain."

"Find out how many high-grade forces you’re hiding outside public view."

"If possible, identify the entry point that lets outside Troops re-enter Riftward."

"And in the best case—"

Kara paused.

"Kill you directly."

Veyra glanced at the blade on the floor.

"That part was just tested."

Kara lowered her head.

"It failed."

Cassian did not ask whether she was loyal now.

Enslave had already answered that question.

He only said:

"The next time Black Banner contacts you, answer normally."

"Whatever they ask you to watch."

"Whatever they ask you to investigate."

"Whatever they’re preparing to attack."

"Tell me all of it."

"Understood."

The enemy believed it had planted a pair of eyes inside Riftward.

The eyes were still there.

Only the direction they were looking had changed.

——

Twenty minutes later, Tobias arrived first.

Rowan was second.

Elara came through the Gate last from Eastern Mountain Route.

There was still mining dust on her clothes.

Her first words after stepping through were:

"If you called me back because of Rank 10, I’m eating and leaving."

"We’ve finished mapping the guards around the Gem Vein."

"Going back after dinner?"

"Yeah."

Cassian brought out the Epic Moonrice.

"Eat first."

Kara had already gone back to using the Lysa Harrow identity.

She sat a short distance away, looking exactly as she had when she first entered Riftward.

No one could see from her face what the Mindseal Tower had done a few minutes earlier.

Tobias served himself first.

"Do Officers get priority?"

Rowan did not even look up.

"No."

"Then why do I keep feeling like this Officer job is a bad deal?"

"You can resign."

"Absolutely not."

A few exchanges later, the table relaxed.

The Second Regional Ranking had not settled.

Rank 10 was only today’s refresh.

Nobody was pretending this was a victory banquet.

But going from outside the top hundred into the top ten was still worth sitting down together for one meal.

Before dinner properly started, Cassian opened the current stock page for the Dwarven Royal Hall.

[Dwarven Royal Hall | Owner: Cassian Vale]

[Stable Rare Lines: Ironhorn Ram Cavalry / Ridgewarden]

[Owner confirmation required for each Recruit]

Two Rare Recruit opportunities currently available for confirmation were listed there.

"If either of you needs one, pick."

Tobias blinked.

"You’re giving away Troops?"

"I’m giving away these two opportunities."

Cassian continued,

"I won’t charge an access fee."

"You pay the Building’s Recruit cost yourselves."

"If you don’t have the Aether on hand, put it on the ledger."

Rowan looked at him.

"That still counts as giving them away."

Rare Recruit access from the Royal Hall had never been a public commodity.

Cassian only answered:

"Then count it as part of dinner."

Rowan raised his eyes.

"Long-term access?"

"No."

"Current stock. One time."

Tobias lowered his gaze to the list again.

What mattered was that the right unit could go straight into his own Troop line now.

He looked twice.

"Ridgewarden."

"For patrol routes."

Rowan chose faster.

"Ironhorn Ram Cavalry."

"If a transport route goes bad, I want something that can force people off the road long enough to move the convoy."

Elara did not choose anything.

Tobias looked over.

"You don’t want one?"

"I already have long-term Royal Hall access."

Elara lifted her bowl.

"If I steal these too, Cassian will charge me twice."

Cassian looked at her.

"I wouldn’t."

"I’m still not taking them."

She was decisive.

"The eastern line doesn’t need either of those right now."

Once Cassian’s Owner confirmation went through, the corresponding Lords could add the Troops directly to their lines.

Cassian confirmed both personally.

[Ridgewarden | Rare | Recipient: Tobias Reed]

[Ironhorn Ram Cavalry | Rare | Recipient: Rowan Ashford]

Tobias paid the Recruit cost on the spot.

Rowan put his share on account.

Cassian added no access premium.

Veyra watched from the side.

"This actually does look like you’re handing out troops."

"That’s because I am."

——

Less than half an hour after dinner, Kara’s Private Channel lit up.

She did not send a long explanation.

She simply forwarded the latest order Black Banner had sent to her line.

[Another non-Black-Banner Region activity zone has been identified.]

[Initial assessment: target defenses are attackable.]

[Expected action: tomorrow at the earliest, the day after at the latest.]

[Spatial-Lock-type sealing measures may be deployed.]

The room went quiet.

Cassian asked,

"Which Region?"

"I don’t know," Kara answered immediately. "They use their own coordinate system."

"I don’t have a name I can directly match to Riftward’s map."

It was the same problem as before.

Every Region recorded outside positions relative to itself.

Without a completed cross-Region location match, one coordinate set could not simply be translated into a Region name on Cassian’s map.

The smile had disappeared from Tobias’s face.

"Spatial Lock."

"Yeah."

Black Banner had brought one to the previous strike on Forgotten Shrine.

Now they were preparing to use the same kind of method against another Region.

Cassian did not throw all of Riftward into a panic.

He only looked at the expected action window.

"If anything else comes through—"

"send it directly to me."

"Understood."

——

The next day, two new Inbound Relocation Requests appeared almost back-to-back.

The first carried a trade attachment.

[Wind Lure | Rare]

The second carried another.

[Gloom Lure | Rare]

Their stated reasons were almost identical to Kara’s original one.

Riftward had eight Fortune.

Kill Points Rank 10.

They wanted to relocate into a stronger Region.

Cassian left both requests pending.

Kara needed only one look at the two public names and contact codes.

"They’re from the same infiltration line."

"Certain?"

"Certain."

Cassian turned toward the Deep Layer.

The Mindseal Tower currently had one Enslave slot.

Kara occupied it.

The upgrade rule already displayed on the Building panel was exactly what he needed now.

After Bram received the order, he did not build a second Tower.

He upgraded the existing one twice.

The Level 1 and Level 2 requirements on the Building interface were both green.

Cassian confirmed them.

After the second upgrade, the glow inside the dark-violet Crystal needles became noticeably steadier.

[Mindseal Tower | Level 0 → 2]

[Enslave Capacity: 1 → 3]

Only then did Cassian approve the two relocation requests.

The Registered Lord count changed again.

[403 → 405]

Both newcomers were called to Forgotten Shrine for what looked like routine inbound registration.

The first one.

Truth.

True affiliation: Black Banner.

Enslave.

Success.

The second.

The same.

From confirmation to Control, neither was given a second chance to invent a story.

[Mindseal Tower | Enslave Capacity: 3 / 3]

Black Banner believed it had placed three pairs of eyes inside Riftward.

All three pairs were still there.

But now every order those eyes saw would come back to Cassian.

——

The next two days were unexpectedly quiet across the Shattered Marches.

Crystal Bastion kept farming as usual.

Riftward’s Kill Points continued rising.

Eastern Mountain Route did not turn into another major battle either.

Using the guard distribution Elara and Brogan had mapped before dinner, the Dwarf line pushed in through the thinnest side.

They cleared the obstruction at the mouth of the Gem Vein by the shortest route, then began mining immediately.

No pursuit deeper into the area.

No attempt to expand the mining zone.

They took only the Gem Ore Forgotten Shrine needed for advancement.

On the third morning, the first shipment large enough to satisfy the requirement came through the Gate.

The advancement panel turned green at once.

[Forgotten Shrine | Rank V → Rank VI]

[Key Resource: Gem Ore | Satisfied]

[Other Requirements: Satisfied]

[All Requirements: Satisfied]

Cassian placed his hand on the confirmation field.

He had not pressed it yet.

A Warden-level Emergency Message suddenly forced its way to the top of the Shattered Marches Channel.

Sender:

Mira Calder.

Only two lines.

[Mira Calder: Northwatch’s external Spatial Links have been sealed.]

[Mira Calder: Black Banner Troops have entered the Region boundary.]

The channel went blank.

For the past several days, the ten-times Kill Points rule had still looked like a Ranking incentive.

Now, for the first time, it did not look like a number at all.

Someone had truly sealed another Region’s exits.

Someone had truly marched troops inside.

The first real Region war—

had begun.