Chapter 301: Not One Left Alive

Law stood above Will. Some traditions called it Order, but whatever name they used, fully mastering it was usually the province of Mythic beings.

Damon was counted among the fighters closest to Mythic at his Level. He knew enough to recognize what held the ship.

"Spatial Law..." His voice tightened. "That shape. Is this a Faerie Dragon’s Void Entanglement?"

A Mythic Faerie Dragon?

The others stared at him. His elder brother owned a squad of Faerie Dragons. If anyone aboard could identify the skill, it was Damon.

Garran tried to send a message at once. Military headquarters had to hear about this.

His face changed.

"Our communications are sealed!"

"Spatial transit too!" Corbett cried. "Look at the duration. Epic scrolls. They can cover fifty kilometers around us!"

Lethria had brought a newly purchased Epic Communication Seal Scroll and Epic Spatial Lock Scroll. Both had been consumed once she reached her position. Messages could not leave the sealed area, and no Gate would carry the people inside it away.

Damon drew a deep breath and attacked again.

A pale moon rose behind him.

This time he used Pale Moon Art, drawing his power into a narrow, concentrated strike. A chain snapped. He slashed again, and another broke.

The two surviving Nine-Star Heroes joined him. Other powerful fighters aboard the ship launched their own attacks, while Tavian drove the Skyreaver’s engines to full output. Fire streamed hundreds of meters behind it as the vessel strained against its bonds.

"What a nuisance."

Lethria’s forty-five-meter body emerged from the folded space.

"Suzette. Crescent Mark and Aether Vacuum."

She could not ignore that many attacks together. She let Phase Wander fall away and put her strength into holding the ship with Void Entanglement.

Suzette appeared nearby. The three other Legendary Nine-Star Faerie Dragons revealed themselves as well, spreading their magic across the Skyreaver.

Defensive spells began to fail. Gathering Aether grew painfully difficult.

"It really is a Mythic Faerie Dragon!"

"And Nine-Stars! How many more troops does he have?"

"They weren’t even using their full strength against us!"

"We have to get this information out. If another expedition comes without knowing—"

"Those damned intelligence officers!"

Their attacks grew more frantic. Lethria remained patient. She only had to keep them here.

Minutes later, golden light appeared on the horizon.

The Divine Dragon came through the clouds. Rhea, Aurelia, Celia, and Liora rode on its back, with twenty-three enormous crystal bats gathered around them.

Damon took one look.

"Abandon ship!"

He did not wait for anyone to agree. His body flashed through a gap in the vast net, and he fled across the open sky.

Tavian cursed after him.

"Veylan! First to run again!"

"The military must know what happened here!" Damon called without looking back. "I’m the strongest. I have the best chance of getting the message through!"

He was already growing smaller in the distance.

"This is for the Black Banner, not myself. Hold them off! I’ll see that every one of you receives a Sunrise Medal!"

Even Vivienne shook with anger. He was leaving them to die and making a virtue of it.

But the Skyreaver could no longer escape. She turned to her Hero.

"Iver. Take me with you. We’re leaving too."

She could fly, but she was a War Lord. Her own speed was nothing beside that of a Nine-Star Hero.

The handsome mage bowed elegantly.

"Thank you for your care over these past decades, Lord. I’ve enjoyed my time in your Domain."

Before she could understand, a pair of fiery wings spread behind him. He became a blur and shot away from the ship.

"My own Hero..."

Vivienne stood motionless.

"He abandoned me?"

By the time she recovered, the Dragon had arrived.

Rhea and Liora left its back. With Aurelia and Celia still aboard, it swept past the trapped ship and continued after Damon.

Twelve golden crystal bats dropped toward the deck. Their bodies flowed into Human form as they landed, arms lengthening into ten-meter blades.

All twelve were physical Crystal Maidens at Legendary Nine-Star.

Cassian had finished preparing this force during his recent buildup. From his two existing squads, the remaining eighteen Maidens had consumed the purchased Legendary Troop Souls needed to reach Nine-Star, with every Battle Essence cost paid. Physical members of the second squad had absorbed the Bloodcrystal Bat Samples bought for their flight forms. The casters still lacking Echo form had received and absorbed their own compatible samples as well.

Twelve physical fighters and eleven casters had come after the Skyreaver. Nine remained on Seabreaker to guard Cassian.

He had decided to leave no survivors. Revealing another troop line to people who would never report it was no concern of his.

The Skyreaver still carried a formidable force. Among its defenders was an entire squad of Legendary Nine-Star Arcane Mages, an Extreme caster line.

They were facing a force drawn from Cassian’s strongest fighters.

Golden blades swept the deck.

Garran opened his mouth to beg. A blade passed through his neck before he could speak.

His head rolled across the planks. A panicked Battle Dragon stamped down on it, crushing it beneath one foot. Blood poured from the body, which swayed for a moment before falling.

Corbett tried to take to the air.

Outside the ship, a caster Maiden released Crystal Storm. The attack engulfed him before he could get clear.

"No—"

He vanished in a cloud of blood. He had managed one word more than Garran.

Tavian lasted longer. His swordsmanship was good enough to rival a Legendary Hero’s, and for several exchanges he held off the blades reaching for him.

"Crystal Maidens? Nine-Star Extreme troops?"

Another blow drove him back.

"How can there be this many?"

Recognizing them did nothing to save him.

Seconds later, blades crossed his body. The War Marshal fell in severed pieces across the deck.

Vivienne proved harder to kill.

The Maidens’ golden crystal blades cut deep, but they could not slice straight through her. Wounds opened to the bone. Countless nanomachines swarmed through the torn flesh, repairing it almost as soon as the blades withdrew.

"I’m a War Marshal! I demand treatment as a prisoner of war!"

Another blade struck. She screamed.

"Stop! I want to speak to Lord Cassian!"

Rhea watched her without expression.

"I’ll become his vassal! You’re one of his Heroes, aren’t you? Tell him! He’ll agree!"

Cassian’s order had been clear. Rhea saw no reason to trouble him with a plea he had heard so many times before.

The Maidens kept attacking.

In less than a minute, the repairs failed to keep pace. Vivienne died, the second War Marshal to fall.

The fighting aboard the ship ended soon afterward.

A rolling explosion shook the sky. The precious Legendary Skyreaver broke apart a thousand meters above the sea, spilling burning wreckage toward the water.

Twelve golden bats burst from the flames. The physical Maidens had changed back for flight, their crystal bodies unmarked.

A few minutes later, the Divine Dragon returned with Aurelia and Celia.

Celia’s eyes curved into a pleased smile.

"Killing that disgusting man has made me feel much better."

Aurelia nodded. Through the Lord’s Heart, she had confirmed that Cassian had received the kill notice.

"He said there were quite a few good drops too."

All three War Marshals were dead, including Damon Veylan, the strongest of them.

The eleven caster Maidens spent several more minutes sweeping the fifty-kilometer area with Echo Survey. Nothing survived their search. Lethria had already caught Iver Caldus and killed him with ease.

Rhea rested a hand against Lethria’s forehead.

"Thank you, Lethria." She smiled toward the others. "We’re done, sisters. Let’s go."

Soon the sea was quiet again. Waves closed over the last traces of wreckage, leaving nothing to tell an outside observer that three powerful veterans had died here.

——

[Your troop Crystal One has destroyed the Skyreaver.]

[Battle Essence +95,000,000 | Skywood ×400 | Gale Crystal ×200 | Skyreaver — Legendary ×1]

[Your Hero Celia Morcant has killed Lord Damon Veylan.]

[Battle Essence +120,000,000 | Skill Book: Pale Moon Codex ×1]

More reports followed.

Cassian read them and nodded in satisfaction.

Even if those three had escaped, there was little they could have done to him or Divine Province now. He still preferred finishing the job. Letting an enemy live when he could have killed them would only have left him dissatisfied.

Then two items among the drops caught his attention, and his eyes lit up.