Chapter 235: A Province of Dragons

"A divine statue. I thought so."

Like the Sea Beacon Cassian had once occupied, the statue was an aura Building. The Dawnwing Pool’s Sacred Light worked on a similar principle, though its benefits were restricted to Dawnwings.

Darian had never lacked Blueprints. What he lacked was the resources to build them. Once his Region’s Fortune passed a thousand, he could finally construct Epic Buildings. He had built this statue and a Hundred-Battle Guard Barracks.

External enhancements gave proportionally smaller gains to stronger fighters. Still, the aura helped. Instead of narrowly escaping one deadly blow after another, the Stormlance could now just hold their ground.

Noticing Cassian’s gaze, Darian proudly pointed at the statue.

"My fa—my ancestor. Handsome, isn’t he?"

Cassian let out a quiet breath. In his excitement, Darian had nearly said *father*.

He preferred not to know too much. Some family secrets were best left unspoken if one wanted to stay alive.

Pretending not to notice the slip, he gave the statue a thumbs-up. Its face remained completely hidden.

"Very handsome."

Darian beamed, every bit a son proud of his father.

While they spoke, the Black Banner army came within range.

Spells, Daoist arts, arrows, bolts from giant crossbows, and missiles filled the sky. They struck the Capital’s spatial barrier in wave after wave, sending ripples across it.

Ahead of Cassian, more than a hundred Legendary Beast Kings, Tyrants, Swordmasters, and other troops advanced behind the Behemoths. They were weaker than the great monsters, but each could tear a gap in the barrier. Some entered themselves. Others held an opening for the lower-grade troops behind them.

Those who moved too slowly paid for it. The barrier healed around them, cutting bodies in half.

Even so, enemies poured into the Capital every second, racing toward the Crown Domains.

"All defensive Buildings!" Darian shouted. "Target the nearest enemy. Fire at will!"

Maren and the other Heroes had arranged the defenses superbly. Every part of the Capital lay within the overlapping fire of at least three Domains, all occupying Fortress sites. Even Cassian learned from studying their work.

Beside him, Celia spoke quietly.

"Most of their Legendary troops have a combat rating around fifteen thousand stars."

He nodded. That was comparable to a wild Legendary Six- or Seven-Star monster without external bonuses.

The defenses were tight. The Black Banner simply drove masses of weaker troops ahead as fodder, and the attackers soon reached the Crown’s Domains.

Darian had placed his Fortress at the front of this section of the line. At least a dozen other Fortress sites could bring their fire to bear on the ground outside it.

Armored glaive troops, Dreadplate Warriors, Iron Rain troops, Ninjas, greatsword fighters, Winefiends, Slit-Mouthed Women—the enemy surged forward, with Legendary Equinox Sages and Swordmasters among them. It looked as though the next wave would swallow Darian’s Domain whole.

He merely raised a hand.

More than a thousand Legendary and Epic troops appeared along the battlements: his own forces and those of the three House Frost Lords who had descended earlier.

Flesh flew. A bloody mist seemed to cover the entire Fortress.

Then Cassian noticed a fierce presence rising from the fighting below. It was stronger even than the enemy’s Level-70 Legendary troops.

A figure encased in layer upon layer of armor jumped from the battlements and landed in the middle of the Black Banner army.

"Dain!"

His two halberds swept up and down. Wherever he went, bodies came apart.

A four-meter Lionfolk Beast King stepped into his path. Dain met its warhammer head-on with a heavy halberd.

The clang rang above the fighting.

Disbelief filled the Beast King’s eyes. It stumbled backward against the press of its own army. Dain followed, giving it no chance to recover, and brought his weapon down again.

Blow after blow crashed against the hammer. Within seconds, it flew from the Beast King’s hands. The halberds struck through its guard, bursting bloody holes across its body until it fell.

Dain’s heavy breathing came from inside the armor. That victory had taken effort.

Then he laughed aloud.

"That’s more like it!"

As though he could feel Cassian watching, he looked up and waved before returning to the slaughter.

"House Torren never fails to produce a fierce warrior."

"Did he put on every one of those Legendary armor pieces?"

"I’d heard their bloodline gave them far more Load than other Lords of the same Aptitude. Now I believe it."

Greater Load meant he could wear more equipment.

Cassian had bought Dain a Grade-B Talent Advancement Writ during the recent preparations. Dain had used it to raise One Against Many to Grade B, greatly strengthening its bonuses to his own attributes. His Aptitude was already Grade B, and the Life Essence he had received had strengthened him further.

Ravenous Appetite, his unusual Load, and the several pieces of Legendary heavy armor Cassian had given him all added to that strength. Together, they had let him kill a veteran’s Legendary troop with his own hands. The Beast King had only been One-Star, but that was still an astonishing feat.

Cassian shook his head admiringly.

"Without Seven-Star Release, Seraphine really wouldn’t be his match."

"Send the Praetorians and the surviving veteran Legionnaires to reinforce the defensive sectors."

"On it, Lord," Celia answered.

The nine Praetorians led the veteran Eclipse force into the fighting. Celia remained beside Cassian to guard him.

The Lords broadcasting the battle had made sure to catch Dain’s performance. Their feeds erupted.

[He killed a Beast King in less than ten seconds! Is that Seraphine Valcrest?]

[No. Seraphine is in another feed. She just tore a Legendary Demonkin apart with her bare hands.]

[It isn’t only the Warbound Lords. Look at Elara Vayne and Nessa Fenwick. They seem stronger than veterans with thirty years behind them at the same Level.]

Someone noticed something stranger.

[Why do the ordinary Lords in Divine Province look as strong as the Wardens back home?]

Once it was pointed out, more viewers began watching closely.

Most of Divine Province’s War Lords had over a hundred Rare troops. Some had Epics as well. More strikingly, those troops were showing far more strength than anyone expected from Level-65 Rares.

Hero Command and equipment could account for part of it. The most likely explanation was that many of these Crown Lords had already reached Rank XIII.

The Crown viewers were ecstatic.

[A whole Province of dragons! Every one of them!]

[We can win this! We really have a chance!]

Viewers from other nations were less pleased.

[Win? Keep dreaming. You’re hopelessly outnumbered and outmatched.]

[They’re only delaying the inevitable. The Black Banner will win.]

Whatever they thought of the war, Divine Province’s individual fighting strength had shaken the entire newcomer generation.

At the southern defensive line, Corin had just seen Dain’s fight.

"Sending you to Cassian was the best decision I’ve ever made," he murmured.

Compared with a month ago, Dain’s strength had more than doubled.

A Lord from Westmere suddenly cried out beside him.

"Look at this feed! Are those Eclipse Legionnaires? They’re trying to surround and kill a Legendary troop!"

Corin hurriedly opened the feed.

More than a dozen Eclipse Legionnaires surrounded a ten-meter Tyrant. Eight held a close ring around it, their positions steady. Aegis Fold spread the force of each blow through the neighboring fighters instead of letting one take the full impact.

The Tyrant struck with all its strength. The line held.

"How is that possible?"

"Those are Epic troops, aren’t they?"

The feed was crowded, and disbelief spread through the viewers. What followed was even harder to accept.

The other Legionnaires took a peculiar stance with their swords, then thrust. Condensed beams of colored sword energy, several meters long, flashed toward the Tyrant.

It sensed the danger and twisted away from the attacks aimed at its vitals. Fist-sized holes still opened across its body, spraying blood.

[What the hell is that skill?]

[That isn’t Sword of Space, is it?]

[A dozen or so Epics just wounded a Legendary troop?]

[One raised by a Lord with thirty years of development!]

[If this keeps going, they won’t just wound it. They’ll kill it!]