Chapter 225: Thirty Floors

"Lady Selene. Lord Arun. Lord Jeff. A toast to you all."

In Ashvale, the former Marches leaders had gathered again. Only Alexei Petrov of Northbear was absent.

Galen seemed to have forgotten how readily his guests had tried to play both sides. He smiled and raised his cup again and again. Selene and the others accepted his hospitality without the slightest embarrassment.

At last, he gave a regretful sigh.

"I never imagined Cassian would go so far. Stripping you of your Commanders’ authority! You were the Crown’s allies."

"Exactly." Selene’s anger sounded entirely sincere. "He has ability, but he’s unbelievably petty. Yes, I attacked the Crown Lords. But they didn’t lose anything!"

"A man who mistreats his allies will soon find himself alone," Arun said. "He’ll never achieve anything lasting. I overestimated him."

Jeff, now handling affairs in Coldridge, frowned.

"We’re Lords of this Province too. He changed its name to Divine Province without even asking us. Does he think the rest of us don’t exist?"

Once the Crown’s victory had become certain, all three had contacted Cassian, offering every compliment they could think of and asking for reconciliation.

Cassian had simply blocked them.

They had been considering a quiet departure when Galen came to them with the Black Banner military’s plan. At last, they had something to cling to.

"Rest assured," Galen said pleasantly. "The Abyss Gate has him too busy protecting himself to come after us. All we need to do is stay where we are and stop him from becoming a Homeworld Champion."

"You have our word," Selene said. "Our strongest Lords will hold their places in the top hundred on the points list."

Galen nodded in satisfaction. That was why he had invited them. He needed the Lords of those three Marches to remain in Divine Province, especially the ones occupying its highest ranks.

"Keep Cassian out of the contest, and we’ll be able to kill him within twenty days without worrying about the consequences. The other Crown Lords are no concern. Once the Governor’s seat is vacant, the Province will belong to us again."

To make his case more convincing, he opened the Skyreach interface for everyone to see.

"I’ve calculated it carefully. To enter the top hundred within five days, Cassian would have to clear Floor Thirty. That’s impossible. Even with Extreme troops."

He gestured at the display.

"As you can see, his record is only Floor Ten—"

"Thirty!" Selene cried. "Someone cleared Floor Thirty!"

Galen froze. A terrible feeling rose in his chest. He turned toward the Tower Ranking.

[1. Anonymous — Floor 30]

[2. Darian Frost — Floor 19]

[...]

Arun sprang to his feet.

"It’s Cassian!"

"Anonymous?" Jeff snapped. "Does he think we’re idiots?"

Then his anger gave way to fear.

"The Boss on Floor Thirty should have a Combat Rating around fifty thousand stars. Was that still not the full strength of his Extreme troops in the battle?"

Sweat broke out across Galen’s forehead. Once again, Cassian had done something he had thought impossible.

He forced his voice to remain steady.

"He has some sort of life-imprint skill. Add a Combat site, and of course he dares take risks in the Tower. Give me a skill like that, and I’d clear Floor Twenty easily."

He spoke faster.

"Even so, his losses must have been terrible. He won’t dare do it a second time. This is a bluff. He’s paying any price to frighten us into leaving."

It sounded reasonable. No one looked reassured.

Arun’s expression shifted several times. Then he made up his mind.

"Lord Tervain, I have matters to attend to in Bharan. I won’t impose on you any longer."

Selene exchanged a glance with Jeff. Both stood to take their leave.

Galen watched them disappear in the light of the transit circle. Fury finally broke through his pleasant expression. He overturned the table with a crash.

"Cowards! Cassian has scared the guts out of every one of you!"

——

"Very mysterious," Darian said over the video link. "A new Lord suddenly clears thirty floors. Who could it possibly be?"

Cassian spread his hands.

"I’ll need to hide my name sooner or later. Might as well form the habit."

Darian considered that, then nodded.

The Tower Ranking was one of the clearest measures of a Lord’s strongest force. For now, the list covered only their Province. Once the Homeworld Ranking opened, and eventually the Ranking of the myriad races, many powerful Lords would hide their names to keep enemies from measuring their strength.

Unless they badly needed the fame.

Darian changed his own entry to Anonymous.

"Still, you’ve surprised us again. How much did it cost you to force your way through Floor Thirty?"

"Some losses. Nothing I couldn’t accept."

Cassian was telling the truth. Aether and time counted as losses too.

"Of course," Darian said enviously. "You can bring your troops back. I’ve stayed away from Floor Twenty because I didn’t want to lose mine. But now that I have a Combat site, it’s worth trying. Perhaps I can go straight to Twenty-Four."

Suddenly, his face brightened.

"They’re running! The Bharan Lords have started moving out of Divine Province. Your thirty-floor clear scared them off."

He laughed.

"One Marches’ worth of strong Lords gone. That should move you up a few more places on the points list."

Cassian only nodded.

"Good. Saves us some trouble."

He felt neither great delight nor disappointment. The Sunspire Lords’ constant changes of allegiance were irritating, but he had no intention of wasting his time hunting them down one by one. If they crossed his path later, he could deal with them then.

"With the strength to clear thirty floors, you can certainly guard the Abyss Gate," Darian continued. His expression grew serious. "Those three Greater Demons seem to have vanished. Space Will really is troublesome. No matter what Maren tries, she can’t find a trace of them."

He shook his head.

"I should go. I won’t be comfortable until we’ve dealt with all three."

"Thanks for your hard work," Cassian said earnestly. "Be careful."

"I will."

Ten minutes later, Nessa stepped out of the transit circle and hurried over to him.

Shortly after his call with Darian, she had asked if they could speak in person. She had sounded so formal that he was curious.

"What is it, Nessa? Why did we have to discuss it face to face?"

She looked at him with great seriousness.

"Cassian, I have a big business proposition for you."