Chapter 320: An Army from the Grimoire

Gavin’s voice remained level.

"Lord Haldane, we would like to believe you. But to settle the matter, please return to the Homeworld and submit to a mental examination."

"Gladly." Piers spoke through his teeth. "And when this delay costs us our chance to act, I hope someone will accept responsibility."

The result was exactly what he expected. There was nothing wrong with him.

Western Beacon went further, using its most advanced technology to extract fragments of his memory. The man ordering the attack was unmistakable.

Varric Kestrel.

Reports filtering out of the sealed region confirmed that the Black Banner was attacking Western Beacon’s forces. By the time the authorities accepted the evidence, several more days had passed.

Odette was more shaken than anyone.

She had watched the memory recording too. Remembering the Windbreak Scroll Cassian had asked her to pass along, she suddenly understood what it had been for.

He had planned for Piers to escape and expose Kestrel. There would be no way for Blackmere’s Governor to deny his part now.

Each step had prepared the next. This Human was frighteningly thorough. No wonder he had won Vespera’s friendship.

Odette knew who had arranged the performance. She had no idea that he had played the leading roles as well.

Vindicated at last, Piers lost no time in making himself heard.

"What the Black Banner has done is worse than anything Divine Province did. They must be punished. Blackmere is a coastal Province. I propose a Peace Strike."

Launching one was not such a simple decision. Western Beacon began with an official condemnation and a demand delivered to the Black Banner’s leaders.

A public apology. One trillion Aether in compensation.

The recipients were bewildered.

They had barely paid Divine Province a hundred billion. Now Western Beacon wanted ten times as much, over a betrayal they knew nothing about. Did everyone think their treasury existed for the taking?

They refused outright.

Western Beacon responded that a Peace Strike remained among its options. It possessed one of the largest stocks of Peacebringers in the Homeworld. The threat could not simply be laughed away.

Other nations made the expected appeals for restraint. Both sides should remain calm, preserve peace, and consider the Homeworld’s future. None of it brought the dispute any closer to an end.

"The damned Black Banner."

Gavin turned from the latest report.

"Send a Meridian cruiser toward their coast. Even if we don’t launch a strike, let them spend their days wondering whether we will."

That proposal met with immediate agreement.

"What about Windward Isle?" someone asked.

Piers was ready with an answer.

"Divine Province’s Legendary army is too strong to fight in scattered groups. Inside the sealed region, we can’t make proper use of our advantages as Governors. Gather the forces first. Once the seals expire, we attack in strength."

He looked around the room with renewed confidence.

"Legendary seals last fifteen days. A few more days of preparation will do us good. Surely Cassian doesn’t have another pair of scrolls waiting."

Not everyone liked the plan. But Piers was now the man who had uncovered their ally’s treachery, and nobody seemed eager to challenge him again.

——

[Your troop Suzette has killed a Gorgon.]

[Battle Essence +78,000 | Aether +4,000 | First-Age Coins ×2 | Rare Chest ×3 | Serpent Bow ×1 | Intermediate Physique Book ×1 | Rare Troop Soul ×1]

Cassian stopped scrolling through his battle reports.

Two First-Age Coins from one monster.

Even with the paid Dragon’s Blessing pushing his drop rate to more than a hundred times normal, he had never seen that before.

"So the closer we get, the better it becomes."

He looked toward the Firstborn Gate. It was still several hundred kilometers away, but its ancient influence already made a clear difference to the drops.

Western Beacon had reserved this entire region for itself. Cassian’s strength and the Crystal Maidens’ scouting had let him fight his way into it all the same.

A crystal bat approached from the distant sky. It descended, took Human form, and landed before him.

"Lord. The remaining Western Beacon columns have joined up. More than a dozen formations, about a million troops altogether. Lord Darian is holding back from an assault."

The Crystal Maiden continued her report.

"Their forces outside the sealed region haven’t made any major move. They seem to be waiting for the seals to expire. But a Legendary Meridian cruiser has openly set course for the Black Banner. They appear to be making a Peace Strike threat."

Cassian’s eyes brightened.

"Good. Very good."

Sending a warship to someone else’s coast was a familiar Western Beacon tactic. He had still not expected them to oblige him quite so readily.

His thirty-two Crystal Maidens maintained a network of scouts and couriers. Reports took time to arrive, but they gave him a useful picture of events across Windward Isle and beyond the seals.

Over the past few days, that advantage had allowed Divine Province’s Legendary force to destroy more than half of the enemy’s scattered columns. The survivors had finally concentrated into an army too large for Darian to attack carelessly.

Cassian glanced once more toward the Firstborn Gate.

"Everyone aboard the Skyreaver. Prepare for battle."

Western Beacon and the Black Banner could continue threatening each other. He would deal with the army in front of him first.

The Skyreaver crossed thousands of kilometers in less than an hour. Darian and the others were still discussing the enemy’s defenses when Cassian arrived. Their faces brightened at the sight of him.

"This is going to be troublesome," Darian said.

Ten kilometers away, Western Beacon’s army held a compact defensive formation.

"They’ve laid arrays and magical traps. They’ve even put up small field fortifications. They’re determined to sit there until time runs out."

He frowned at the distant position.

"If we force our way in, we’ll lose a lot of troops."

Cassian studied the army, then nodded.

"And their reinforcements will enter the sealed region sooner or later. Once those forces join them, this gets harder. We need to destroy the army here while we still can, even if it costs us."

The enemy was far weaker than the coalition they had defeated in the great naval battle. This time, however, Divine Province had brought only troops of Epic Quality and above. Its fleets could not lend their firepower to a battle this far inland.

The Lords looked serious. They had beaten every force they had met so far, but this would be a much larger fight.

Cassian took out Divine Dragon Amber.

"Dragon’s Blessing. Strengthen the primary attributes of every unit in our army."

More than ten billion Aether vanished.

Golden light descended across the assembled forces. Thousands of Legendary troops and hundreds of thousands of Epics felt their strongest attributes rise by five to ten percent.

Darian watched the blessing spread. Delight gave way to a look of helpless admiration.

"You really are rich now."

For the first time, he made no offer to reimburse Cassian for spending on their shared campaign.

The greatest column of light fell on Liora.

She checked her Spirit and immediately understood what Cassian wanted. For the moment, it could rival Lethria’s.

Liora rose into the air. An ancient bronze book appeared before her and grew as it floated upward. Its cover opened. The pages turned without a breath of wind, stopping at the fourth.

"Demonic Calamity!"

A roar burst from the page.

A tiny Balor, scarcely half a meter tall, leaped out of the Grimoire. It grew as it fell. By the time its feet struck the ground, a thirty-meter monster towered before the army.

Liora was Level 80. The Demons she called were Level 80 as well.

More poured from the book. It seemed to open into another world, disgorging a stream of Demons without pause. Every one was Rare or better.

The summoning continued for more than ten minutes.

For a while, Divine Province’s Lords could only stare. Then their cheering rose over the gathering horde.

They remembered that bronze book. Cassian had shown it to them after obtaining the Mythic drop.

Even ten kilometers away, cries of disbelief rose from Western Beacon’s defenses.

Darian looked over the force that had appeared before them.

"Nearly a hundred Legendary Demons. Several thousand Epics. Almost a hundred thousand Rares..."

He turned toward the floating Grimoire.

"Can that book really do this much?"

"The book is powerful," Maren said, her expression intent. "But Liora is the greater part of what you’re seeing."

Cassian gave Liora a signal. She swept one hand forward.

A hundred thousand Demons charged Western Beacon’s formation.

More than a dozen highborn Balors cast Meteor Hell. Thousands of blazing shapes descended, dragging long trails of fire across the sky. Each falling meteor was a Rare Hellfire Brute.

Cassian spoke quietly.

"We follow behind the Demons."