Chapter 21: Twelve Epic Troops—and Another Epic Is Waiting
The first person through the gate was a red-haired woman.
Her close-fitting golden armor was plain and functional, without a single unnecessary ornament. She carried a short spear in each hand, fine threads of lightning crawling around both spearheads.
She stepped through without looking around. Her eyes went first to Cassian, then to Veyra.
Her gaze rested on Veyra for less than a second before returning to Cassian.
Her right fist struck her breastplate.
"Stormlance Valkyrie. Sigrid."
"Answering the summons."
A second figure stepped through behind her.
Then a third.
They kept coming until twelve Stormlance Valkyries stood in front of the Forgotten Shrine.
Every one of them carried her own weapons.
And every one of them had a name.
Cassian looked across the group.
"You have names?"
Sigrid nodded.
"We existed before the summons."
"Stormlance Valkyries are long-lived."
"We answered the Sigil because our people need a future."
That was all she said.
Cassian did not ask for several thousand years of history.
One question mattered more right now.
Could they fight?
The system panel opened.
[Sigrid]
[Troop: Stormlance Valkyrie]
[Quality: Epic]
[Level: 1]
[Combat Role: Close-Range Assault / Mid-Range Spear Throw]
[Skills: Storm Body / Spear Mastery / Thunder Javelin]
The other eleven were all Epic as well.
Cassian’s gaze lingered for several seconds.
Veyra stood beside him.
"Satisfied?"
Cassian did not answer the question.
He looked at Sigrid instead.
"See that shield?"
A Stone Troll heavy shield from Alaric’s Raid still leaned against the broken wall nearby.
A huge dent from the Repeater Ballista Tower marked its center.
Sigrid followed his gaze.
"I see it."
"Try it."
Sigrid did not ask what he meant.
Her right arm drew back.
Lightning rapidly gathered along the short spear.
[Thunder Javelin]
WHOOSH!
The golden spear left her hand.
A sharp crack of thunder split the air.
BOOM!
The Stone Troll shield was ripped off the ground.
It did not crack.
The spearhead punched straight through the dented center.
Then continued into the stone wall behind it.
Lightning still danced along the edge of the shield.
Cassian walked over and touched the hole.
Clean.
Sigrid lifted one hand.
The spear dissolved into lightning and returned to her palm.
Veyra watched it happen.
"At least they’re not just for show."
Sigrid turned toward her.
She did not look offended.
Instead, she asked seriously,
"You’re strong?"
Veyra raised an eyebrow.
Cassian was already turning away.
"You can ask her another time."
Veyra looked at his back.
"Answering for me now?"
"For the wall."
Veyra went silent.
One of the Valkyries behind Sigrid failed to suppress a laugh.
The tension eased.
Cassian opened the troop leveling panel.
The Dark Monster Tide had yielded 96,400 Battle Essence in total.
He had already spent 10,000 leveling himself twice during the fight.
Now he had somewhere to put the rest.
"Everyone to Level 5."
Twelve columns of golden light fell at once.
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×12]
[Level 1 → Level 2]
Second round.
Third.
Fourth.
Golden light continued pouring down.
The lightning around all twelve spears thickened visibly.
Even Sigrid’s already steady breathing became quieter.
[Stormlance Valkyrie ×12]
[Current Level: 5]
[Battle Essence spent: 60,000]
Veyra glanced at Cassian.
"Four levels the moment they arrive?"
Cassian closed the panel.
"I had enough."
He left it at that.
Sigrid, however, frowned.
She looked back at the other eleven.
None of the Stormlance Valkyries looked pleased.
If anything, they seemed uncomfortable.
"Lord Cassian."
"Speak."
"We just arrived. We haven’t done anything for you yet."
Sigrid tightened her grip on her spear.
"And you already raised us four levels."
"Let us take the outer watch tonight."
Cassian looked at her.
"It’s already past midnight."
"All the more reason to stand watch."
She said it as if the answer were obvious.
Cassian was silent for one breath.
Then nodded.
"Fine."
"Stay inside Boundary Sense."
"If you see anything Epic, don’t engage."
"Report first."
Sigrid struck her breastplate again.
"Understood."
Twelve golden figures soon vanished into the dark.
Veyra remained beside the broken wall, watching them go.
"Proud bunch."
"Mm."
"You don’t dislike that?"
Cassian glanced at the Stone Troll shield Sigrid had pierced with one throw.
"As long as they come back when ordered."
Veyra laughed softly.
"Twelve people. Twelve names."
"You going to remember all of them?"
Cassian turned his head.
"I’ll remember Sigrid first."
"And the others?"
"They can give me a reason to remember them."
Veyra watched him for two seconds.
This time, she genuinely smiled.
"Not bad."
Then she headed back toward the Oath Hall.
——
The monster tide had left behind more gear than Cassian expected.
There were not many truly rare drops.
Most of the haul came from the Dark Rangers, Hollow Mages, and other Dark units.
Usable equipment.
Salvageable materials.
Broken junk.
The Settlers sorted everything into rows.
When the count was finished, 126 pieces were intact enough to list on the Regional Exchange.
Cassian kept none of them.
He had his own Forge.
The Gloomhoof used their own bows.
The Stormlance Valkyries came with their own spears and armor.
There was no reason to let the rest sit in storage.
The Regional Exchange refreshed.
[Cassian Vale listed Dark Equipment ×126]
[Quality: Elite—Rare]
[Sale Method: Fixed price by quality tier]
A second notice followed.
[Cassian Vale posted a purchase request: Any monster lure.]
Then a third.
[Cassian Vale posted a purchase request: Defense-building blueprints.]
No explanation.
No advertisement in the Regional Channel.
Cassian closed the panel.
Then went to sleep.
He slept.
The Regional Channel did not.
Rowan was the first to appear.
[Rowan Ashford: 126 pieces of Dark equipment?]
A few seconds later:
[Rowan Ashford: That black lightning last night was you?]
No answer came.
Cassian was already offline.
Seraphine was still awake.
She looked at the rows of Dark equipment that had just appeared on the Exchange.
Then she looked toward where the black lightning had vanished.
[Seraphine Valcrest: I don’t think we need him to answer that one.]
The Regional Channel went briefly quiet.
Lucan had already typed half a message.
He deleted it.
Not because he had suddenly changed his mind about Cassian.
The 126 pieces of Dark equipment sitting on the Exchange said enough on their own.
Maelin stood behind Seraphine.
"If he deliberately triggered that Dark Monster Tide..."
"Then last night’s Raid may have been only what he was willing to show everyone."
Seraphine did not answer immediately.
She opened the Hero Power Ranking.
[Settlement: Today at noon]
"So."
"We’ll see at noon."
——
The next morning, Cassian woke to fresh tracks outside the Forgotten Shrine.
The Stormlance Valkyries had returned.
All twelve.
No one missing.
A claw mark cut across Sigrid’s left shoulder plate.
The others bore a few marks of their own.
No serious injuries.
Their spearheads and armor still showed signs of the night’s fighting.
Cassian did not ask how many monsters they had killed.
He only looked at the formation.
No one had fallen behind.
"Good."
Sigrid had clearly been waiting for that judgment.
Her shoulders finally relaxed after she heard it.
Veyra leaned against the entrance to the Oath Hall.
"That’s all you’re going to say?"
Cassian looked over.
"What else?"
"They were awake all night."
"I didn’t order them to go."
Sigrid: "..."
Veyra laughed out loud.
Before Cassian could check the Hero Power Ranking, a new message appeared in the Regional Channel.
He knew the sender.
[Elara Vayne: Our second attempt at the Level 10 Epic outside my Domain failed last night.]
Cassian stopped.
Another message followed immediately.
[Elara Vayne: If any nearby Lord is willing to assist, loot and mining rights will be divided by contribution.]
Then came a screenshot.
A silver-black mineral deposit.
The same Large High-Grade Iron Vein.
A familiar massive silhouette.
[Unknown Epic Creature]
[Level: 10]
[Danger Level: Extreme]
Cassian stared at the image.
He had seen this thing before.
The first time Elara sent him that screenshot, this had been the target.
She later bought his first 5,000-Aether Blacksteel Sword because of it.
Then ordered twenty-two more.
Back then, Cassian had only been Level 1.
Now he had just personally killed a Level 10 Epic.
Veyra had come over at some point.
She glanced at the image.
"You just killed one."
"And now there’s another."
Cassian had already opened Elara’s private chat.
Veyra looked at him.
"You want this one too?"
Cassian did not answer immediately.
He enlarged the old screenshot instead.
The Core Trait line was still the same.
[Unknown]
A few seconds later, Cassian started the call.
"She already tried it and failed."
Veyra raised an eyebrow.
"So?"
"I’m going over now."
The call began connecting.
Cassian kept looking at the Epic creature on the screen.
The corner of his mouth lifted slightly.
"Let’s call it helping."
Veyra watched him for two seconds.
"If you’re going to call it helping..."
"You should probably stop staring at the monster."
The call connected.
Elara appeared on the screen.
Her silver-gray light armor had several new scratches across it.
She looked noticeably worse than the last time Cassian had seen her.
The moment she saw him, she asked,
"You saw my message?"
"I did."
Cassian did not ask about the mine first.
He did not ask how the loot would be divided either.
"Show me how you lost last night."