Chapter 43: Legendary vs. Legendary—the Royal Hall Opens
When the distance dropped to three hundred meters, the first rank of Dwarf Gunners behind the Royal Hall pulled their triggers together.
BANG! BANG! BANG! BANG!
The gunfire merged into one continuous roar inside the mountain basin.
More than a hundred spirit rounds crossed above the shield line almost at once.
Aurelia was not the only target.
The five Stormlance, the Gloomhoof, the Blackfang—and Cassian standing behind them—were all inside the first volley.
Aurelia raised her sword before the shots landed.
"Folded Sky Ward."
Dozens of thin silver planes unfolded through the air in front of her.
It was not one thick wall.
Each surface changed the angle only slightly.
But as more than a hundred spirit rounds struck those layers, their straight trajectories bent again and again until the entire volley split like a storm forced around a mountain.
Rounds screamed past both sides of Cassian’s formation.
Stone exploded from the walls.
Not one shot punched through the center.
Aurelia was already moving beyond the silver planes.
Cassian spoke at the same time.
"Now."
Five streaks of lightning vanished.
The Dwarf Gunners’ first volley had been dangerous, but the spirit structures inside their weapons had gone dark.
The second shot was not ready.
That was the window.
Five Level-7 Stormlance did not charge the Ridgewarden shields.
Their first Thunder Javelins sailed over the front line.
BOOM!
Five thunder spears detonated through the rear formation.
More than twenty Dwarf Gunners in the front rows went down at once.
The Stormlance followed their own weapons into the gap.
"The rear!"
"Stop them!"
Two Ridgewarden squads immediately turned back.
The five Gloomhoof fired before the Dwarves could complete the movement.
Their arrows did not waste force on shields. They struck knees, shield arms, ankles—anything that would slow the turn for half a second.
Half a second was enough.
The Stormlance were already through.
Four Blackfang slipped along the outer rock wall and entered through a side passage, attacking only the Dwarves trying to circle toward Cassian’s rear.
The battlefield broke into separate fights almost immediately.
Above it all, Haldor’s attention locked onto Aurelia.
"New Legendary."
"You think replacing one fighter will let you take my Royal Hall?"
"I’m only here to beat you."
Aurelia’s answer was short.
Haldor roared and brought his warhammer down.
[Storm Hammer]
A dark-blue hammer shadow crossed more than a hundred meters.
It did not target Aurelia.
It flew toward one of the Stormlance who had just broken into the Dwarf Gunner line.
Haldor had already seen what was collapsing his defense fastest.
Aurelia’s wings snapped open.
She cut across the battlefield a heartbeat before the hammer landed.
CLANG!
Her silver-white sword met the giant storm hammer head-on.
The sword shuddered.
Wind pressure exploded outward and swept loose stone across dozens of meters.
Aurelia slid back two steps.
Then she raised her sword again.
"Haldor Stormhammer."
"Your opponent is me."
The Hill King stopped looking elsewhere.
He charged.
[Titan Descent]
Storm power flooded into his body.
Haldor’s already massive frame grew again.
Four meters.
Six.
Almost eight.
It was as though a moving hill had risen in front of the Royal Hall.
His enormous hammer came down through the wind.
Aurelia did not retreat.
"Thunder Crown."
Silver lightning raced from her wings to the edge of her sword.
The two Legendary figures collided in midair.
BOOM!
Thunder and storm burst outward along the mountain walls.
Even the outer Dwarf formations staggered.
Cassian watched only long enough to confirm one thing.
Aurelia had locked down the Hill King.
That was enough.
The rest of the battlefield belonged to him.
The Dwarf Gunners had not finished loading their second volley before the five Stormlance tore open the rear line.
Only a dozen or so scattered shots made it out.
There was no third volley.
Once the ranged line disappeared, the remaining Ridgewardens, Ironhorn Ram Cavalry, and long-bearded heavy infantry could only press forward.
Their numbers were still enormous.
But the quality gap was finally starting to matter.
The Level-7 Stormlance did not fight Ridgewardens shield to shield.
Thunder Javelin targeted any dense formation trying to come together.
The Gloomhoof kept pulling units off the edges.
The Blackfang trapped anything that separated from the main body and prevented those units from regrouping.
A group of Ironhorn Ram Cavalry broke from the left slope and angled directly toward Cassian.
Eira finally moved.
She went only five steps forward.
Her short spear rose.
Lightning pierced the chest of the first Ram Cavalry and snapped back before the second Dwarf could bring its shield up.
Both riders fell.
The others tried to spread.
Cassian drove Ground Anchor into the stone beneath his feet.
He did not rush forward.
He stayed behind Eira and watched her stop the entire group less than twenty meters away.
Nothing passed her.
This was exactly why he had refused to put all six Stormlance onto Haldor before.
Now the strongest threat had an answer.
And Cassian still had someone beside him.
Now the fight was worth taking.
Twelve minutes later, the last intact Ridgewarden line in front of the Royal Hall was split apart by Thunder Javelin.
Three minutes after that, no organized Dwarf formation remained standing in the outer field.
The system compressed the flood of kill notices into one settlement.
[Dwarven Royal Hall Outer Garrison: Cleared]
[Battle Essence +240,000]
[Troop Soul: Elite ×80]
[Major Loot: Dwarf Heavy Shields / Rare Lances / Gunner Cores / Stormforged Armor and more — stored]
[Allied Deaths: 0]
[Life-Echo Brand Triggers: 0]
Cassian paused at the last line.
Good.
Not needing the safety net was better than proving it worked.
The battle in the air was still going.
Haldor’s Titan Descent remained active.
Several obvious dents had appeared in Aurelia’s silver armor.
Neither one had gained an absolute advantage.
The five Stormlance had already returned to Cassian’s vicinity.
If they all joined now, the duel would end quickly.
Aurelia dropped a little lower instead.
"Lord Cassian."
"Say it."
"Let me finish the rest alone."
Eira glanced at her.
Cassian did not agree immediately.
He checked the battlefield first.
The Dwarf Gunners were gone.
The organized garrison was gone.
Eira was still beside him.
The other five Stormlance had regrouped.
Letting Aurelia continue alone would no longer recreate the problem he had refused to accept before—the problem of leaving himself unprotected.
"Fine."
Cassian nodded.
"Finish it yourself."
Aurelia did not thank him.
She simply tightened her grip on her sword.
Haldor had watched the exchange.
The Hill King did not flee.
He did not call for anyone else to buy him time.
"The Royal Hall can have another master."
"Stormhammer will not surrender."
Aurelia rose into the air again.
"Then we fight to the end."
No one interfered with the second phase of the Legendary duel.
Haldor’s storm grew heavier.
Aurelia’s lightning became narrower and more concentrated.
More than ten minutes passed.
For the first time, Titan Descent destabilized.
Haldor’s eight-meter body lurched.
A layer of storm power leaked from his shoulder.
The backlash had begun.
He knew it too.
"I lost."
His breathing was heavy.
"At least I lost head-on."
Aurelia was not unscathed.
Several feathers of silver light were missing from her right wing.
The hand around her sword trembled faintly.
"If you’d held that form a few more minutes," she said, "my Ward would have broken first."
Haldor bared his teeth in something close to a grin.
"Enough."
"Come."
Aurelia gripped the sword with both hands.
Her silver-white wings folded tight behind her.
Above the battlefield, a blade of lightning dozens of times larger than the weapon in her hands began to take shape.
[Skyblade Descent]
Haldor did not dodge.
His warhammer rose one last time.
Aurelia swung.
The skyblade fell.
BOOM!
Silver-white light swallowed the steps in front of the Royal Hall.
Then the storm stopped.
Haldor’s huge body split through the center and crashed onto the stone.
The system notice appeared.
[Aurelia Dawnwing killed Hill King — Haldor Stormhammer]
[Quality: Legendary | Level 18]
[Battle Essence +360,000]
[Aether Crystal +500,000]
[Legendary Hero Sigil ×1]
[Advanced Physique Tome ×1]
[Aether Crystal: 466 → 500,466]
Cassian’s eyes did not go to the Sigil first.
They went to the bound Tome.
[Advanced Physique Tome]
[Bound]
[Use: Permanently increases Physique by 20.]
He took it out immediately.
"Use."
The thin book dissolved into warm golden light and sank through his chest.
Beneath the Wraithplate, his muscles tightened as though compressed by an invisible force.
There was no dramatic burst.
But when Cassian closed one hand, he could clearly feel that his body could endure more force than before.
[Physique +20]
That reward was his.
The Legendary Hero Sigil went into storage.
Cassian did not use it now.
The mountain was not fully his yet.
Aurelia landed.
"It’s over."
"Good fight."
She looked at him.
"I expected you to order everyone in for the final kill."
"Earlier, I would have."
"And later?"
"Later, the field was already secure."
Cassian started toward the Royal Hall.
"You wanted to finish it yourself, so you finished it yourself."
Aurelia said nothing more.
She followed.
The great bronze door at the center of the Royal Hall stood fully open.
Eira took her usual place on Cassian’s right.
Aurelia walked half a step to his left.
Cassian crossed the place where Haldor had fallen and entered the Dwarven Royal Hall.
A system notice rang out.
[Wild Troop Building Found: Dwarven Royal Hall]
[Current State: Unclaimed]
[Choose: Ignore / Destroy / Occupy]
Cassian did not pause over either of the other options.
"Occupy."