Chapter 246: Another Extreme Troop Sigil

Cassian’s words had barely faded when the Eclipse Legionnaires struck.

The hundred and twenty veterans had followed behind the Dawnwings, closing to within five hundred meters of the enemy. Every one of them drew a Heartsense Sword and slashed with full force.

Sword of Space!

A hundred and twenty streaks of blue-green sword energy crossed the intervening space in an instant.

One Light-and-Dark Templar cried out. A black-and-white shield flared around its body, an automatic defense of the kind common among spellcasters.

Sword energy struck it again and again. Each streak vanished into the two-colored light, but the shield grew dimmer with every impact.

After more than a dozen strikes, it shattered. Another dozen or more cut into the Templar’s body.

Blood sprayed. The powerful Extreme troop was pierced through from every side.

At that range, Sword of Space lost much of its power. It would pose little threat to Azrak himself. The Templars, however, were spellcasters. Their Physique was their weakness, far below even that of the Soulhunters.

Four Light-and-Dark Templars died in the first volley.

"Sword of Space!"

For the first time, Azrak truly lost his composure. Every Templar was precious. Losing four at once tore at him.

"You deserve to die! If this costs me a place in the top hundred, I’ll wipe out the entire Homeworld Realm!"

"Finally upset?" Cassian smiled. "We’re only getting started."

The Dawnwings and Eclipse Legionnaires spread out, having seen what the combined Annihilation Orb could do. The Templars were forced to cast smaller Orbs individually.

Spheres of death, each more than ten meters across, appeared throughout the sky. Under Harriet’s direction, the Dawnwings slipped clear. Some Eclipse Legionnaires were less fortunate. They flew straight into an annihilation zone and vanished.

Their return fire was no gentler. Each volley brought down at least one or two Templars. Even with their defensive arts fully active, the Divines could not withstand the concentrated sword strikes of those powerful Epic troops.

Azrak’s eyes reddened.

Soon, the Dawnwings met the Soulhunters in close combat. The two forces fought fiercely, neither gaining an easy advantage. The Stormlance easily held the enemy’s two Legendary Divine Heroes.

Azrak himself was formidable. Even surrounded by several Stormlance, he fought back blow for blow.

"Impossible! Humans are slaves to the Divines! How can you have troops this strong?"

A few minutes into the melee, however, he could endure it no longer.

Sword of Space left no time between the swing and the hit. If this continued, his Templars would be wiped out. He had spent months gathering them.

He could not accept being eliminated here. He could accept losing that entire force even less.

"Withdraw!"

Pillars of light descended, enclosing Azrak and his surviving troops. The beams drew them out of the arena.

Safe within the invulnerable light, Azrak glared at Cassian until he disappeared, looking as though he wanted to tear him apart with his teeth.

Cassian spoke too softly for anyone else to hear.

"Keep glaring. The broadcast saved you."

The Divine spectators erupted.

[He withdrew! Lord Azrak lost to a Human!]

[The God King had such hopes for him. Who could have imagined he’d be eliminated in his first fight?]

[Strength matters in this contest. Luck matters even more.]

One Divine refused to accept what had happened.

[Lord Azrak did not lose! He put our people first. The Legion Contest is more important than an individual ranking. He did it for Brahma!]

The explanation was strained, but most of the Divine Lords accepted it readily. Those with enough experience to see that Azrak would probably have lost a prolonged battle kept that opinion to themselves.

[You have defeated Azrak Thalor of the Divine race and advanced to the next round.]

[Match duration: 6 minutes. Reward: 400,000 Aether.]

[Round Three begins in 34 minutes. Please prepare.]

The arena shattered like glass. When the pieces joined again, Cassian was back in his Domain.

"Thirty-four minutes..."

Each match allowed half an hour. A Lord who needed all thirty minutes to win would have only ten minutes to recover before the next fight. For an ordinary Lord, that might amount to elimination anyway.

"No wonder everyone says luck matters."

He raised his voice.

"Everyone, recover at the Fountain of Life. Be ready for the next match."

The final toll was five Dawnwings and more than twenty veteran Eclipse Legionnaires. One more Dawnwing had fallen after the first Annihilation Orb.

The Fountain verified the fallen units’ Domain belonging and deaths. Its stored Life Energy was sufficient. Cassian authorized Life Reconstruction and paid the required Life Energy and Battle Essence. All of them returned at the Fountain, their Levels and star ranks intact.

The Battle Essence cost came to eight hundred and eighty million.

Without the broadcast, he would have had Rhea reveal her full strength much sooner. Still, the match had brought in more than a billion Aether from spectators. It had been a very profitable fight.

And there was something else.

A golden Sigil appeared in his hand.

[Legendary Troop Sigil — Light-and-Dark Templars]

[Use to recruit one squad of Light-and-Dark Templars of the Divine race.]

Cassian could only laugh.

"If every round gives me an opponent like Azrak, how long before I collect the best troops of every race?"

He considered it briefly, then tossed the precious Extreme Troop Sigil to Nessa.

Divine arrogance ran deep. Give those troops to Tobias or one of the others, and they might struggle to keep them in line.

News of Cassian’s victory spread through Divine Province. People also learned that this Divine Scion had competed against its Lords in the Glory Battlefield—and finished second.

Cassian’s reputation climbed still higher.

Soon, though, other voices appeared.

[I watched the fight. That Divine withdrew for his race’s sake. He gave up the Individual Contest to preserve his strength for the Legion Contest.]

[The Divines may be our enemies, but we could learn from his willingness to sacrifice.]

[Cassian won, yes. But... never mind.]

[Why not say it? Cassian suffered heavy losses. Even if he reaches the top million and becomes a Human Champion, how much strength will he have left to serve the Homeworld?]

[There are more than thirty thousand Lords in the Homeworld Legion. Perhaps he thinks the rest of us can carry him. Everyone looks after themselves, after all.]

[So it’s "the Homeworld can manage without my contribution"? Selfish to the core. Killing dozens of Homeworld Champions already proved that.]

Cassian frowned.

He would have expected this from Black Banner Lords or the western nations. These speakers belonged to the Crown.

Then he saw their Provinces.

Plain Yellow. Plain White. Bordered Blue. Inner Court.

Of course.

"The Jade Court has really decided to join those bastards."

He read a few more messages, then grew thoughtful.

"All this effort to smear me. What are they preparing to do next? Unless..."

His expression turned serious.

"Are they planning to split the Legion? Form a second Homeworld Legion?"

Most Crown Lords were not fooled. The accusations exaggerated everything. Even if Cassian had lost troops pursuing his individual ranking, that did not give these people the right to dictate his choices.

Nessa and the others joined the argument directly. Cassian had to persuade her to keep competing; otherwise, she might have spent the rest of the contest fighting in the Channel.

Before long, another notice arrived.

[Round Three of the Individual Contest begins.]

[Matching opponent...]

[Match found: Odilia, Lord of Florentia.]

This time, forest surrounded them. Their opponent was an Elf.

Celia took one look at her.

"Too weak."