Chapter 22: She Wasn’t Fighting an Epic Monster—She Was Fighting an Epic Hero
"Show me how you lost last night."
On the other end of the call, Elara didn’t answer immediately.
She pulled up a battle recording.
The recording opened on the same silver-black iron vein, with the same massive shadow crouched at the mouth of the canyon.
At first, nothing looked different from the screenshot Cassian had seen before.
[Unknown Epic Creature]
[Level: 10]
[Danger: Extreme]
Elara’s force advanced from the western side of the canyon.
The front line had barely crossed the first broken ridge when the creature vanished.
It didn’t charge.
It didn’t retreat.
Its entire body seemed to sink into the shadow along the rock wall.
A moment later—
The rider on the far left went flying with his mount.
BANG!
The recording jolted violently.
Cassian raised a hand.
"Stop."
The image froze.
He dragged it back half a second.
Just before the creature disappeared, twelve faint gray shapes had appeared beneath the cliff.
They were almost impossible to see.
"What are those?"
Elara’s expression darkened.
"They weren’t there the first time."
"I assigned a dedicated scout for the second assault."
She brought up another set of markers.
[Wraithbound Thrall]
[Quality: Elite]
[Count: 12]
Cassian’s gaze paused.
"It has troops?"
"Yes."
Elara clenched her jaw.
"And it isn’t a normal wild monster."
"Halfway through the second fight, the system corrected its classification."
The recording resumed.
A Wraithbound Thrall lunged out of the rock wall.
Elara’s front line had just blocked it when the huge shadow appeared on the opposite side.
One claw swept across a shield.
The entire shield was ripped aside like paper.
At that exact moment, the target marker flickered.
[Target Classification Corrected: Wild Hero]
Cassian narrowed his eyes.
Elara continued.
"The level still showed ten."
"The quality was still Epic."
"But it’s a Hero."
"Those twelve Wraithbound all move with it."
"That’s where the second assault fell apart."
An ordinary Epic unit and an Epic Hero were not the same problem.
One fought alone.
The other could turn twelve Elite units into a hunting formation built around its movements.
Cassian didn’t look at the mine.
He didn’t look at Elara’s casualty report either.
He dragged the recording back to the instant the beast disappeared into shadow.
"This."
"Did you see how it vanished?"
"I did."
Elara sounded tired.
"Knowing didn’t help."
"Once it goes into the shadows, normal scouting skills lose it."
"As soon as the Wraithbound tie down the front line, it comes in from the side."
"I tightened the formation for the second assault. It still cut us open."
Cassian watched for a few more seconds.
Then he closed the recording.
"Got it."
Elara stared at him.
"You’re actually coming?"
"Yes."
"How far are you from me?"
Cassian pinned the coordinates she had sent onto his map.
The straight-line distance appeared almost immediately.
[18.6 km]
Elara was silent for a moment.
"The distance isn’t terrible."
"But the gray ridge between us still hasn’t been fully mapped."
"No one knows what you’ll run into."
Cassian checked the time.
08:17.
"Everyone meets at eleven-thirty?"
"Yes."
Elara nodded.
"Any nearby Lord who wants in will meet on the west side of the canyon at eleven-thirty."
"Drops and mine benefits are still divided by actual contribution."
Only then did Cassian ask another question.
"If someone gets there early..."
"And starts first?"
Elara understood immediately.
"Then their contribution counts."
"If you can really kill the Boss before the rest of us arrive, its direct drops are yours."
"The mine is three kilometers outside my Domain. I still need to develop it afterward."
She paused.
"I’m not treating mining rights as Boss loot."
Clear enough.
Cassian nodded.
"Fine."
That answer made Elara suspicious.
"Why does that ’fine’ sound wrong?"
"What’s wrong with it?"
"Forget it."
She rubbed her forehead.
"Just don’t do anything stupid."
"I’ve already lost twice. Waiting another three hours won’t kill me."
Cassian looked at the Epic Hero frozen in the recording.
"I’ll try."
"Cassian—"
The call ended.
Veyra had been sitting outside the Oath Hall the entire time.
She waited until Cassian closed the panel before speaking.
"That last thing she said."
"She was very clearly asking you not to get yourself killed."
"I heard her."
"And?"
Cassian looked toward the Stormlance Valkyries who had just finished their night watch.
"Then I go."
Veyra followed his gaze.
All twelve Valkyries had formed up again.
Faint marks from the night still showed on their golden armor, but none were seriously injured. Most had already recovered.
Veyra glanced at the Domain boundary.
Then at Cassian.
"I can’t go with you this time."
The Temporary Covenant still limited her movement to Forgotten Shrine’s Domain.
Cassian nodded.
"I know."
He didn’t say it was a shame.
He also wasn’t about to touch the seven Eclipse Chains just to make one trip easier.
Veyra studied him for another second.
"Who are you taking?"
"Sigrid."
Cassian picked one more Valkyrie from the twelve.
"One more."
The second Valkyrie stepped forward and struck a fist against her breastplate.
She didn’t give her name.
Cassian didn’t ask.
Sigrid looked at the map.
"Eighteen kilometers."
"We’re walking?"
"Yes."
Cassian was Level 7.
Sigrid and the other Stormlance Valkyrie were both Epic Level 5.
Distance wasn’t the real problem.
The unmapped gray ridge in the middle was.
Cassian looked at the ten Valkyries staying behind.
"You remain here."
The Gloomhoof, Blackfang, and Repeater Ballista Tower were all staying as well.
Finally, Cassian looked at Veyra.
"The Domain’s yours."
Veyra leaned against a stone pillar with Crimson Oath in her arms.
"You’re getting very comfortable saying that."
"You’ve never lost it."
She looked ready to answer.
Then stopped.
In the end, she only lifted her chin.
"Come back early."
"There’s a ranking at noon."
The Hero Power Ranking countdown was still running.
[Settlement: Today, 12:00]
Meanwhile, Elara’s new message had already set the Regional Channel buzzing.
[Elara Vayne: Additional information. The target is not a normal Epic unit. It is an Epic Wild Hero accompanied by 12 Elite Wraithbound Thralls.]
[Elara Vayne: Coordinates posted. Action begins at 11:30. Rewards will still be divided by actual contribution.]
Replies appeared almost immediately.
[Lucan Deyne: A Level 10 Epic Hero? We’re fighting things like that during the newcomer stage now?]
[Rowan Ashford: I’m too far away, so I won’t take a slot. One warning: if the first set of information was false, the second set may still be incomplete.]
A few seconds later, Seraphine’s name appeared.
[Seraphine Valcrest: I’ll be there.]
No explanation for how she planned to arrive.
No question about what share she wanted.
Just one sentence.
I’ll be there.
Cassian finished reading and closed the Regional Channel.
Sigrid stood beside him.
"When do we leave?"
Cassian checked the time.
08:31.
The group would assemble at eleven-thirty.
The Hero Power Ranking would settle at noon.
Only half an hour separated the two.
If he waited for everyone to gather and then spent time dividing positions and responsibilities, things would only get messier.
"After breakfast."
"We leave at nine."
Sigrid nodded.
Cassian looked once more at Elara’s coordinates.
18.6 kilometers.
"Before eleven."
"I want to be there first."