Chapter 94: A Legendary Troop Building—and First Place Revealed

Cassian tapped the Blood Chalice with a fingernail.

A clear note rang from the bowl. It looked like metal until he turned it toward the light, when a deep red glow showed through its surface.

He opened the description.

[Blood Chalice | Legendary | Special Equipment]

[Absorbs and stores Blood Essence from blood-bearing creatures of Elite Quality or higher. Stored Blood Essence may be used to summon temporary Bloodkin Troops.]

[Summon Limit: 12]

[Maximum Quality: Legendary]

[Maximum Level: Current holder’s Level]

[Duration: 1 hour]

[Does not occupy permanent Recruit slots.]

[Higher summon Quality and Level require more Blood Essence.]

[Stored Blood Essence: 0]

"Twelve Legendary Bloodkin."

Cassian read the cost again, then looked up at the battlefield.

No Aether. No Battle Essence. No extra permanent troop slots.

An ordinary Lord might spend an entire year gathering blood materials and still lack enough to summon even one Blood Prince.

In front of Forgotten Shrine, those materials were still trying to fight their way through his army.

"Collect the usable Blood Essence," he ordered. "All of it."

With Katerina dead, the remaining Bloodkin had no one who could hold Aurelia back. The Stormlance broke their larger groups apart while Celia cut through the Epic line. Crystal One and the other Physique Maidens drove the weaker masses away from the Shrine’s defenses.

The last pockets of resistance soon disappeared.

Bram arranged for the remains to be processed. As the usable portions arrived, Cassian fed them into the chalice. Thin red streams vanished into its bowl without raising the liquid level toward the rim.

The storage counter kept climbing.

When the final batch from the Blood Lure had been absorbed, it stopped.

[Stored Blood Essence: 28,328]

Cassian passed the chalice to Aurelia and opened the summon preview.

[Holder: Aurelia Dawnwing | Level 20]

[Blood Prince | Legendary | Level 20]

[Blood Essence Cost: 600 per unit]

[Full 12-unit Summon Cost: 7,200]

His smile widened.

The stock from this one wave could pay for three full groups of twelve, with plenty left over. Each group would last an hour. Against an enemy who thought they had already seen all his Legendary Troops, that was a very useful hour.

Veyra glanced between the preview and the cleared slope.

"She brought the chalice and enough blood to use it."

"Several times."

Cassian held out his hand, and Aurelia returned it without activating the summon.

The stored counter remained at 28,328.

"That’s better than an ordinary piece of Legendary equipment."

——

The Blood Lure’s final report folded together.

One Legendary Blood Prince. Three Epic Blood Dukes. More than a hundred higher Bloodkin and thousands of weaker ones.

[Blood Lure | Total Kill Points: +8,000,000]

Katerina’s kill was already included in that total.

Eight million from one Lure. With the other two and the remaining Crystal Bastion run, Riftward would stay ahead even if Sable bought the fourth Region.

First place was secure.

Cassian looked through the drops. An Epic Blood Duke had left him something else worth keeping.

[Epic Troop Sigil | Blood Duke ×12]

[Use to recruit twelve Blood Dukes.]

A Sigil bound to a specific troop type.

Before the Crystal Maidens, he would have been tempted to use it immediately. Now he already had a stronger line that could fly, fight on the ground, and switch between its existing Crystal forms.

He stored the Sigil. Twelve Epic Troops still had value, even if his own army did not need them today.

"Next Lure."

The Wind Lure broke over the open ground, and a roaring storm replaced the thinning blood mist.

A Legendary Gale Colossus took shape at its center. Wind-element creatures streamed out around it, only to meet a force that had already re-formed for the next fight.

Sigrid led the Stormlance in from the side. Aurelia went for the towering figure at the center while the Crystal Maidens cut off the smaller creatures trying to spread past the fighting line.

The storm did not hold for long.

The Gale Colossus left one ordinary Legendary item. Cassian collected it with the rest of the loot and took out the final Lure.

Gloom.

Dark mist spread across the ground. This time, the figure emerging at the front carried a Hero’s presence.

[Dread Sovereign | Legendary Hero]

A black-armored giant strode out of the darkness.

Aurelia met it before the Gloom creatures behind it could spread. Celia moved in along its flank, Lifeless Edge flashing beneath the larger blade it raised. Farther back, Crystal Storm crashed into the gathering wave.

The Dread Sovereign could not turn that mass of creatures into a lasting advantage. Its escort broke first. Then its own resistance ended beneath the two Heroes’ attacks.

Two rewards caught Cassian’s eye.

[Legendary Hero Sigil ×1]

[Bound Advanced Spirit Tome ×1]

"Now that’s a good drop."

He opened the Hero Contract panel.

[Standard Hero Contract: 2/3]

Cassian studied the golden Sigil for a moment, then placed it in his highest-priority storage.

The Tome stayed in his hand.

[Effect: Permanent Spirit +20]

"Use."

The pages dissolved into light. A cool sensation spread through his head, and the strain left by hours of following battle reports eased. The figures before his eyes seemed easier to take in at a glance.

[Permanent Spirit +20]

Cassian breathed out comfortably and closed the notice.

All three Lures were gone. Their combined report showed the result.

[Three Lure Hunts | Kill Points: 20,000,000+]

More than twenty million.

The Lures had delivered. The next Crystal Bastion run would put first place even farther out of Sable’s reach.

He looked toward Aurelia and Celia.

"Back to the Bastion. Keep the rotations running until the Ranking settles."

Aurelia rested her sword against her shoulder.

"Leave it to us."

Sigrid gathered the Stormlance. The twelve Crystal Maidens followed, and the Rocketiers checked the straps on their launchers before moving toward the Gate.

Veyra stayed beside the Shrine’s entrance with her Eclipse line.

At Crystal Bastion, the familiar cycle began again. Rockets tore through the outer Crystalkin. The Dwarves returned to the actual Fountain recovery area between Overloads, while the Stormlance and two Heroes held the short gaps. The Crystal Maidens joined the clearing force.

The main keep remained untouched.

Its Crystal Mother kept producing more targets.

——

Cassian stayed at Forgotten Shrine and opened Duskmoor’s stored Blueprints.

There were still pages of them. He worked through the pile while the battle reports continued arriving from the Bastion.

Nearly two hours passed before a modest little Blueprint stopped his hand.

[Courtyard Pool Blueprint | Refined]

[Entertainment Building: Slightly improves Settler comfort.]

A pool.

Nothing about the description suggested that it belonged near the top of his priorities.

But the Spring Node had not looked like a Legendary Fountain of Life either.

Cassian expanded the full Building Evolution Path.

Branches spread beneath the Blueprint. He moved past the simpler options and followed the deeper lines until gold appeared at the bottom.

He sat up.

[Dawnwing Rebirth Pool]

[Legendary Troop Building]

[Compatibility: Legendary Dawnwing-Origin Hero registered]

[Evolution Cost: 20,000,000 Aether + Required Materials]

"A Legendary Troop Building."

He brought the branch to the center of the panel.

Aurelia was already under his command. The compatibility requirement was satisfied.

A true Legendary Troop Building would give him a lasting source of troops in her own line. He had been looking for something like this long before Duskmoor’s Blueprints landed in his storage.

And it had been hidden beneath a Refined courtyard pool.

Cassian laughed quietly.

"You really can’t judge a Blueprint by its name."

Then his eyes settled on the cost.

Twenty million Aether. Twice the Fountain’s evolution cost, before the required construction materials were dealt with.

He did not have that much available.

The force at Crystal Bastion was already doing its job, so the Pool could wait for the Ranking. The discovery still gave the Wager a very clear purpose.

Cassian moved the Blueprint into priority storage and left the evolution unconfirmed. The Required Materials remained unresolved.

"Let’s see what Sable brings me tomorrow."

——

Ten minutes before noon the next day, Kara sent her final report.

[Kara Voss: The fourth Member Region completed the transfer. Sable has finished collecting those kills.]

[Kara Voss: No further purchases.]

Four.

Varek had paid for the extra margin instead of trusting the minimum estimate. Cassian could respect the decision.

He had simply earned more than that estimate allowed for.

The public Wager was nearing its lock. Most of the money had piled onto Sable March. They were still betting that four Regions would be enough.

Cassian watched the stakes rise and smiled. He had first place covered. Now they were paying for his Pool.

He waited.

The settled income from Duskmoor, the three Lures, and the Exchange had been consolidated with the ongoing Gate, Fountain, and Domain expenses.

[Current Available Aether: 6,180,000]

Five seconds remained before the Wager closed.

Cassian selected Riftward.

Three seconds.

"Five million."

The confirmation flashed.

[Rank-1 Wager: Riftward]

[Stake: 5,000,000 Aether]

[Locked Odds: 5.17]

[Potential Total Return: 25,850,000 Aether]

[Remaining Available Aether: 1,180,000]

The Wager locked.

Cassian looked at the potential return, then at the Pool’s twenty-million requirement.

That would do very nicely.

The sudden stake had been too large to go unnoticed.

[Tobias Reed: Five million on Riftward in the last three seconds?]

[Tobias Reed: I think I know who that was.]

[Darian Frost: Cassian. You still had that much confidence?]

[Mira Calder: Don’t tell me you went through another Region while everyone was watching Sable.]

[Cassian Vale: No other Region.]

[Rowan Ashford: He’s put the money down. We’ll have the answer in ten minutes.]

[Tobias Reed: Next time I’m following him before I have time to think about it.]

[Rowan Ashford: You keep saying that.]

[Tobias Reed: Then I think about it. That’s the problem.]

The Black Banner messages came more slowly now.

Riftward had just put five million on itself after the fourth sacrifice was common knowledge. That was a great deal of money to throw away for appearances.

Varek entered the Channel.

[Varek Sorn: Riftward has not attacked another Region since Duskmoor.]

That much his reports could confirm. Neither the information from his infiltration line nor the other route reports showed another regional invasion.

His supporters seized on it.

[Anonymous Black Banner Lord: Exactly. Where would another whole Region’s points come from?]

[Anonymous Black Banner Lord: A wager doesn’t change the score.]

Cassian let them talk.

The last ten minutes passed with the Wager frozen and the Ranking countdown steadily falling.

Then gold spread across the sky.

[Second Regional Ranking | Final Settlement]

The entire list appeared at once.

[Rank 1 | Riftward | Kill Points: 146,230,000]

[Reward: Regional Warden Free Attribute +50 | Region Fortune +5]

[Rank 2 | Sable March | Kill Points: 124,560,000]

[Reward: Regional Warden Free Attribute +30 | Region Fortune +3]

[Rank 3 | Ironwake | Kill Points: 113,110,000]

[Reward: Regional Warden Free Attribute +20 | Region Fortune +2]

Cassian’s eyes stayed on the first line for a moment.

First.

Sable had bought four Regions’ worth of kills and still finished more than twenty million points behind him.

Then another familiar name caught his eye farther down.

[Rank 9 | Duskmoor | Kill Points: 53,380,000]

[Reward: Regional Warden Free Attribute +10 | Region Fortune +1]

Duskmoor’s score was still there. Its entire Lord roster remained gray.

A separate notification unfolded beneath the list.

[Duskmoor’s Regional Warden is dead.]

[Unclaimed Personal Reward: Free Attribute +10]

[Transferred to this Ranking’s Rank-1 Regional Warden: Cassian Vale.]

Cassian stared at the transfer notice, then gave a small, disbelieving laugh.

"Duskmoor again."