Chapter 212: One Name After Another

"Understood, Boss!"

Mira seemed to have guessed what Cassian intended. Her cheeks flushed with excitement.

"I’ll gather a few careful people into a staff group. We’ll keep the information current for you."

Soon, she posted a list of ten names in the Province Channel.

[1. Bastian Norell — Fellwater Warden. Site 335: Fortress. Defensive Reinforcements present.]

[2. Austin — Coldridge Commander. Site 4419: Combat. Defensive Reinforcements present.]

[3. Selene Rook...]

Darian understood the plan too, but he was worried.

"We don’t know how many reinforcements Norell has. Let’s be careful. I still have enough War Intent for a Legion Writ. Why don’t we go together?"

"No need."

Cassian answered calmly.

"I’ll be enough."

Light flashed. He and several hundred troops appeared in the battle space outside Site 335.

The Province Channel was still reeling from his sudden return when Mira’s list appeared. At first, the Lords did not understand what it meant.

Norell’s next messages made it clear.

[Bastian Norell: Cassian is attacking me! He’s going down the list! Why am I first? I’m nobody!]

[Bastian Norell: All troops, stop them! Force withdrawal! Get me out now!]

Even the Black Banner Lords felt their faces grow hot.

Before the fighting began, Norell had been boasting that he would kill Cassian himself. Now Cassian had only just appeared outside his Domain, and the man was scrambling to flee.

[Galen Tervain: You have reinforcements! Even if you can’t win, you should make him spend as much strength as possible. Withdrawing before you’ve even fought? Have you no concern for our honor?]

[Bastian Norell: Reinforcements cost War Intent whether they fight or not! Do you think I can afford to waste it? I had one vassal send a hundred troops. It’s called psychological warfare! Damn it, he’s already inside—]

No one knew what to say.

Hours of swagger, and it had all been a bluff.

Darian gritted his teeth. The trick had worked on him too. A reinforced site’s name turned green, but only its Lord could see how many supporting troops were there.

Norell had sounded so damned confident.

Cassian was equally unimpressed.

To be safe, he had brought the twelve Stormlance, half his veteran Eclipse Legionnaires, and the three Faerie Dragons he had raised to Legendary Nine-Star. The Dragons had taken human form to accompany the force.

He had wanted a powerful enemy to make an example of.

Instead, he had found a fraud.

A huge red countdown appeared over the Domain.

[Forced withdrawal: 30... 29...]

"Stormlance. Eclipse troops. Finish this quickly."

Veyra remained back at the Domain. Even the Faerie Dragons he had brought had no need to act against an enemy like this.

Norell’s several squads of Epic troops crumpled before the Legendary Four-Star Stormlance.

"Heartpiercing Touch!"

"Thunder Javelin!"

Sword strikes and lightning tore through the defenders. Within seconds, their formation collapsed. The Stormlance raced straight for the Lord’s Hall, thoroughly familiar with this part of the work.

Cassian watched the brief, brutal fight.

"He’s even weaker than Claire."

Inside the shaking Hall, Norell dropped to his knees.

"Master Cassian! Let me serve you as Varek Sorn and his sisters do. Please, give me a chance!"

Cassian’s stomach turned.

"Disgusting. Kill him."

Even Claire’s beauty hadn’t saved her. This squat, repulsive man had no chance.

The Lord’s Hall collapsed with a thunderous crash.

Bastian Norell was dead.

His death shook the Black Banner, Beacon League, and Dawn Coast Lords alike.

Claire had underestimated Cassian. They could tell themselves she had been caught off guard.

Norell had ordered a withdrawal almost at once.

He still hadn’t escaped.

How strong was Cassian now?

The Crown Lords began to hope again. They could finally see the purpose of his list.

If he kept killing its targets like this, the strongest enemy Lords would soon flee as soon as Mira posted their names. Every retreat would give them an hour of White Flag.

Even the Black Banner couldn’t keep that up forever, however many powerful Lords it had.

Only the people who had spent the day attacking one fortified Domain after another understood how hard it would be to sustain such a pace.

[Elara Vayne: He’s attacking so fiercely. I’m worried he won’t be able to keep it up.]

Darian had already returned to the Capital and frightened another powerful Black Banner Lord into retreat.

[Darian Frost: Elara’s right. Take it easy, Cassian. There’s no need to be so eager.]

[Nessa Fenwick: He’s fast, but he recovers even faster. You don’t have to worry about how long he can last!]

Lyra suddenly cried out.

"Ah! My face..."

Cassian paid little attention to their reactions. For the Stormlance, that fight had barely counted as a warm-up.

Once he was certain Norell was dead, he turned to the next name.

Austin. Commander of Coldridge.

Among Tidecrown’s tens of millions of Lords, only a dozen or so possessed Legendary troops, even counting the Crown’s leading fighters. Austin was one of them. That was why Free Will had sent him here—to hold Cassian’s Dragons in check.

Yet instead of leaving the Capital, Austin challenged him in the Province Channel.

[Austin: I’m next, am I, Cassian?]

[Austin: This was your war with the Black Banner. Coldridge only wanted a Marches Ranking reward. We had no reason to fight you to the death.]

[Austin: But you should never have killed Claire. You have no idea what you’ve brought upon yourself.]

[Austin: I admit you’re strong. Far stronger than a month ago. Stronger than any of us imagined. So I’ll be equally plain with you: I’m not Norell. The number of Lords reinforcing my Domain is far beyond what you think.]

[Austin: Will you keep following your death list? Or will you make the sensible decision to retreat and let the whole Province laugh at you?]

Selene Rook, third on the list, joined in.

[Selene Rook: Well said, Lord Austin! Humility and self-knowledge are the first requirements for becoming an honored citizen of the Dawn Coast.]

[Selene Rook: Cassian has neither the ability nor the sense to stop. He is unworthy. From this moment, I no longer recognize his Dawn Coast ancestry!]

The Crown Lords had no time for her nonsense.

[Elara Vayne: Let’s do what Darian suggested. Get a Legion Writ and attack together. Three of us following the list still counts.]

Cassian and his forces had killed more than ninety thousand War Lords from Veylan and Kelshore. No one had forgotten that terrifying achievement.

But that campaign had lasted well over ten days. The invaders had varied greatly in strength and spread their forces across many routes.

The Lords reinforcing Austin were Coldridge’s strongest fighters, all qualified for the Final Stage, gathered behind one Domain’s defenses.

Cassian would be fighting almost an entire Marches at once.

[Cassian Vale: I have too many troops to feed, Elara. Don’t take my Battle Essence.]

He smiled as he sent it, then opened the Province Channel.

[Cassian Vale: Ignorance isn’t your fault, Austin. I’ll broaden your horizons. I just hope you’ll still sound this arrogant afterward.]

With the same force, he issued a challenge to Austin’s Domain.