Chapter 61: Legendary Hero to Level 20—and This Sword Cuts Through High-Grade Recovery
Varkos’s warning had barely appeared when someone shouted from the rear.
"Make room!"
Two Legionnaires rushed toward the Fountain of Life carrying a corpse.
Not a wounded soldier.
A black-red spike had pierced straight through the center of his breastplate.
His breathing and heartbeat had both stopped.
Helmet, tower shield, weapon—everything was still with him.
His system status had only one word left.
[Eclipse Legionnaire]
[Quality: Rare]
[Level: 5]
[Status: Dead]
This was the first soldier from Forgotten Shrine to truly die inside the Regional Boundary today.
The Legionnaire carrying him spoke through a tight voice.
"During the final withdrawal from wave forty-four, he took one for the sixth group."
Cassian was already at the Fountain.
The corpse was intact.
Its formal Domain belonging record was still valid.
The most important rule revealed when the Fountain was built was finally about to be used for real.
"Life Reconstruction."
The pale-green spring flared.
[Target meets Life Reconstruction conditions.]
[Corpse Condition: Intact]
[Current Life Energy: Sufficient for reconstruction]
[Estimated Time: 01:00]
"Execute."
Life Energy spread from the wound in his chest through the rest of his body.
The puncture closed first.
Then green lines of light slowly wrapped around the heart that had already stopped.
Twenty seconds.
Forty.
Thump.
At the first heartbeat, every Eclipse Legionnaire nearby went silent.
One minute.
The soldier who had already died dragged in a violent breath and opened his eyes again.
[Life Reconstruction: Complete]
[Status: Dead → Recovering]
[Current Life Energy Reserve: Insufficient for another Life Reconstruction of the same specification]
He lay still for two breaths.
His first words were not, "I’m alive."
"Did the sixth group’s gap get filled?"
The eyes of several nearby Legionnaires changed at once.
The closest one laughed first and struck the back of his fist against his shield.
Thump.
It was not loud.
But several faces that had been tight since the battle began visibly loosened.
Veyra crouched and pressed down on the shoulder plate as the revived Legionnaire tried to push himself up.
"It’s filled."
"I can still—"
"You just died once."
Veyra’s voice was not harsh, but she pushed him straight back onto the stone step.
"The Fountain can bring you back."
"That doesn’t mean death is a position swap now."
The Legionnaire was silent for a breath.
"Understood."
Only then did Veyra release him.
"Recover first."
She stood and looked at the soldiers around them, all of whom were breathing a little harder after witnessing a real resurrection with their own eyes.
"Coming back is our advantage."
"It is not a reason for you to start competing over who dies first."
That was all.
No long lecture.
And no one felt that the warning diminished what they had just seen.
A minute ago, that man had been a corpse.
Now he was breathing.
And the Fountain had not made the entire army more hesitant.
If anything, the opposite was happening.
The Rocketiers who had already recovered were reloading again.
The Legionnaire whose severed arm had regrown was still in the rear rotations.
The first resurrection had given the line a real safety net when something went wrong.
It had not become another restraint on the army.
A little over eight minutes remained before wave forty-five.
Elara’s call connected.
She skipped any greeting.
"Aveline just sent me a map of the neighboring Regions."
"Show me."
A reduced local map of the Shattered Marches unfolded.
Cassian’s Region still had no formal name.
The system marked it only as First Regional Success Region.
To the southeast, separated by a gray boundary that had not yet opened for transit, was another Newcomer Region.
Aveline’s mark sat over it.
[Black Banner confirmed majority]
Cassian looked once.
"Confirmed adjacent?"
Aveline joined the call directly.
"Confirmed."
"Not a general reference to those forty-seven Regions."
"The nearest Region on your southeast border."
"Once both sides meet the Warden Gate and Waygate requirements, the first legal Cross-Region Transit route can connect directly. No third Region in between."
She enlarged the map again.
The Dwarf mountain range east of Elara lay right along Cassian’s southeastern edge.
The ridge holding the Dwarven Royal Hall continued outward toward that Region boundary.
Aveline continued.
"And that neighboring Region is one of the eleven where Black Banner currently has a confirmed absolute numbers advantage."
"They’re doing two things right now."
"First, they’re delaying their own Regional Boundary and concentrating war Lords and high-grade recovery resources so they can push for the Shattered Marches Top 10."
Cassian already knew that part.
The second point was new.
"They’ve started publicly consolidating unaffiliated Lords inside that neighboring Region."
"Join the Black Banner structure and they offer protection plus future Cross-Region Transit access."
"Refuse, and some Lords are already asking how much a Domain Relocation Writ costs."
Aveline placed one of Black Banner’s public recruitment notices beside the map.
"There’s a third thing."
"The Black Banner members in that adjacent Region have already published their intended direction once Warden Gates open—northwest first, to establish a Faction Corridor."
"Unclaimed or non-member-controlled Wild Resource Points, Wild Buildings, and cross-border supply routes along that line are to be folded into Black Banner patrol and revenue control first."
Elara forwarded several messages from the Regional Channel.
[Anonymous Lord: Black Banner really has the majority southeast of us?]
[Anonymous Lord: I have a Relocation Writ. Warden, don’t close outbound relocation.]
[Anonymous Lord: Anyone selling Relocation Writs? I don’t have one, but I don’t want to wait until the Warden Gate is open before deciding.]
[Anonymous Lord: If they really connect from the southeast, who on our side is stopping them?]
[Tobias Reed: Stop scaring yourselves. The gates aren’t even built yet.]
The next message immediately pushed his down.
[Anonymous Lord: That’s exactly why we’re asking now. If we wait until the gates are built, that’s not preparation anymore.]
This was no longer "some faction has members in forty-seven Regions."
This was the closest neighboring Region.
Black Banner held a numerical advantage there.
Their objective was explicit.
And they were already turning their people and resources into one coordinated structure.
Cassian looked at the Dwarf mountain line on the map.
Royal Hall.
One Legendary Hill King every thirty days.
The long-term Recruit rights for everything except Hill King had already been sold to Elara.
Her Domain was also west of this mountain line.
If Black Banner expanded northwest from the southeast, Forgotten Shrine would not necessarily be the first thing they hit.
The mountain route Cassian already owned, had already monetized through long-term Recruit rights, and would continue using to produce Legendary Troops was more likely to be first.
This was no longer "there might be a war later."
If both sides expanded outward, they would eventually step onto the same road.
Elara asked,
"What do you think?"
Cassian opened Regional Warden Authority.
[Outbound Domain Relocation: Restricted]
[Inbound Domain Relocation: Restricted]
He changed the first one.
[Outbound Domain Relocation: Permitted]
The second stayed controlled.
[Inbound Domain Relocation: Warden Approval Required]
The Regional Channel updated immediately.
It stayed quiet for less than a second before the messages accelerated.
[Anonymous Lord: Outbound is open!]
[Anonymous Lord: You’re really not locking us in?]
[Tobias Reed: I told you not to scare yourselves.]
[Anonymous Lord: You have a mine. Of course you’re not worried!]
Cassian did not explain.
Aveline asked,
"You’re not worried people will leave?"
"Anyone who wants to leave can’t be turned into combat power by locking them here."
"And Black Banner?"
Cassian looked back at the southeastern ridge.
"If they want the Shattered Marches Top 10, that’s their ranking."
"If they want to consolidate people inside their own Region, that’s their business too."
He tapped the location of the Dwarven Royal Hall.
"But this mountain road is different."
Elara understood immediately.
Cassian said,
"Royal Hall is mine."
"Hill Kings will keep coming out of it."
"And you paid for the Recruit rights."
"If they expand northwest and try to turn this road into a Black Banner transit line..."
He paused.
"Then they’re reaching into my production line."
Veyra stood beside him.
"So?"
Cassian looked at the southeastern border.
"When the gates open..."
"We’ll see who thinks they get to claim whose road."
Elara laughed once.
Not because she felt relaxed.
"That sounds a lot more like you than ’outbound relocation permitted.’"
"They’re two different things."
Cassian closed the map.
The Dwarven Royal Hall produced one Hill King every thirty days and continued bringing in Recruit revenue.
If Black Banner really pushed its Faction Corridor northwest, that mountain line would be one of the first things in its path.
Cassian had no intention of waiting until someone else’s road reached the Royal Hall gates before asking whether that Legendary production line still belonged to him.
Six minutes and forty seconds remained.
Cassian finally pulled up the unclosed settlement from wave twenty-nine all the way through wave forty-four.
The system did not replay every Common Demon kill.
It gave one summary for the continuous defense period.
[Wave 29–44 normal kill settlement]
[Battle Essence +2,060,000]
[Aether Crystal +720,000]
[Aether Crystal: 1,338,466 → 2,058,466]
The biggest increase had come from waves thirty-three through forty-four—the twelve rounds where Rocketiers erased the numbers first and the high-grade units finished what remained.
The 2.06 million Battle Essence was not going to sit on a ledger.
Cassian was about to push it straight into the next battle.
He checked the Shattered Marches Ranking once more.
[Current Region Score: 3,523,540]
More than 3.5 million was already enough to make the current lead difficult to chase.
Cassian still did not withdraw.
The lead on the ranking was one thing.
The Legendary that would walk into the canyon in less than ten minutes was another.
He took out the Legendary Hero Sigil.
[standard Hero Contract: 1 / 3]
Aurelia occupied one slot.
Veyra did not count toward the standard Contract.
The capacity added by Regional Warden had left room.
"Use."
The dark-gold Sigil broke apart in his palm.
[Legendary Hero Sigil ×1: Consumed]
[Hero Recruitment started.]
A summoning array appeared outside the Oath Hall.
Several breaths later, a figure stepped out of the light.
Short gray-silver hair.
A black short coat.
A narrow sword at her waist without a single decorative gem.
The woman did not ask where she was.
Her first look went to the dark-red war fog.
Her second went to Aurelia.
Only then did she look at Cassian.
[Celia Morcant]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Level: 1]
[Type: Martial Hero]
[Combat Profile: Sword / Precision Execution / Armor Break]
[Skills: Sword Intent / Severing Arc / Quiet Step]
[standard Hero Contract: 2 / 3]
Celia glanced down at the contract.
"Another Realm?"
"Yes."
"And that thing outside is the welcome ceremony?"
"Level 35 Legendary."
Celia finally raised her eyes.
"You recruit people in a hurry around here."
Aurelia landed from above.
"When I arrived, he made me look at a Level 18 Legendary first."
Celia looked at her.
"Then he was gentler with you."
The corner of Aurelia’s mouth moved.
Cassian had already expanded Sword Intent.
The skill name was not what made him stop.
The multiplier was.
[Sword Intent]
[Type: Legendary Passive]
[Effect: All Sword-type attack skills gain Cutting / Penetration effectiveness ×2.4]
[Does not increase Aether consumption.]
[Does not apply to non-sword attacks or defensive skills.]
2.4 times.
The important part was not that Severing Arc itself was extraordinary.
It was that any attack Celia made that qualified as sword-type would first be amplified through this layer.
An ordinary sword skill in her hands became an entire tier more effective.
Give her a high-grade sword on top of that, and this stopped being a pretty Legendary Hero panel.
It gave her a real armor-breaking option against higher-Level defenses.
Cassian looked at Celia.
"Can you fight a Level 35 Legendary right now?"
"No."
The answer came immediately.
"Level 10?"
"I could evaluate it."
"Kill it?"
"Depends what it is."
Cassian nodded.
"Then that’s not enough."
The growth panel opened.
[Celia Morcant]
[Level 1 → Level 10]
[Battle Essence ×90,000]
[Level 10 → Level 20]
[Battle Essence ×400,000]
[Total: 490,000]
"Twenty."
Celia’s brow finally moved.
"Not ten?"
"In ten minutes, the enemy is thirty-five."
"Fair."
"Confirm."
Growth light descended continuously.
Level 5.
Level 10.
It did not stop.
Level 15.
Level 20.
When the last light faded, the ordinary narrow sword at Celia’s waist already looked unable to carry her current power cleanly.
She drew it half an inch.
The blade gave a faint vibration on its own.
[Celia Morcant | Level 20]
Cassian did not send her against Varkos with that sword.
He opened the Regional Exchange.
Not to browse a long list of equipment.
Four filters only.
[Sword]
[Legendary]
[Level Requirement ≤20]
[Single-target / Armor Penetration]
One result remained.
[Lifeless Edge]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Level Requirement: 20]
[Combat Profile: Single-target Slaying / Armor Penetration]
[Weapon Skill: Lifeless Sword Arc]
[Effect: Condenses a high-penetration gray sword arc. Hits leave Lifeless Mark, significantly suppressing wound self-healing and energy-based regeneration for a short time.]
[Price: 1,200,000 Aether Crystal]
The seller’s description was simple.
The weapon had dropped from a high-grade Boss.
Its Level 20 requirement was too high.
Very few people in the current Newcomer Region could even equip it, much less had a Hero built around pure sword offense.
1.2 million.
More expensive than the one-million-Aether Stormrunner War Set.
But that Legendary set could be passed among seventeen Gloomhoof for their Trials.
This sword could only belong to one person at a time.
For most buyers, that made it harder to justify.
For Cassian, the logic went the other direction.
He looked first at Armor Penetration.
Celia’s Sword Intent ×2.4 amplified the cutting and penetration of every sword-type attack.
This weapon pushed the single most valuable part of her offensive line even higher.
As for whether Lifeless Mark would happen to provide extra value against Varkos, they would only know once the Legendary actually entered the Beacon Watchtower’s range.
"Buy."
[Aether Crystal: 2,058,466 → 858,466]
Lifeless Edge dropped from the exchange into Cassian’s hand.
Gray-black sheath.
No decorative light.
Celia’s reaction when she took it was stronger than when she had just gained nineteen Levels.
She drew the sword fully.
The gray blade barely reflected any light.
"Good sword."
Cassian set one intact Rare Dwarf Heavy Shield from the Royal Hall dozens of meters away.
"Test it."
Celia did not use Lifeless Sword Arc.
Only the ordinary Severing Arc.
A sword line crossed the air.
A hair-thin gray mark appeared diagonally across the shield.
The next second, the entire Rare Heavy Shield split into two pieces along that line.
Celia studied the cut.
"My Sword Intent amplifies the cutting and penetration of every sword technique."
She looked once at Lifeless Edge.
"And this sword suppresses recovery too."
Cassian looked at the Rare Heavy Shield that had been cut cleanly apart.
"First we confirm you can cut high-grade armor."
"Whether that Mark happens to counter Varkos too—we wait for its panel."
Celia sheathed the sword.
"Now I can say I’m ready to fight."
Aurelia’s growth interface had already opened beside them.
[Aurelia Dawnwing]
[Level 10 → Level 20]
[Battle Essence ×400,000]
Aurelia looked at Cassian.
"Me too?"
"You’re going to hold a Legendary head-on in ten minutes."
"Then I have no objection."
"Upgrade."
Silver-white growth light rose around her.
Level 20.
Two Legendary Heroes.
One built to take the front, control the air, and hold barriers.
One built around cutting something open.
The Battle Essence earned over the previous twelve waves had already been thrown straight into the next battle.
Not left sitting in storage.
Not saved for later after the Warden contest.
Veyra read both panels.
"Now it looks like we’re waiting for a Legendary."
"Still missing recovery."
Cassian took out all nine Life Waters remaining from the Fountain’s first-day output.
Three to Aurelia.
Three to Celia.
Three to Veyra.
"If Stormlance actually needs them, you decide."
Veyra accepted the three.
"So this time you’re finally not asking me bottle by bottle whether we can save them?"
"Not for this fight."
Veyra smiled.
"That sounds better."
The countdown hit zero.
Eight Level 32 Epic Hellcrown Guards emerged from the war fog first.
Then Demon Lord Varkos entered the Beacon Watchtower’s range.
[Demon Lord Varkos]
[Race: Demon]
[Quality: Legendary]
[Level: 35]
[Core Trait: None]
[Skills: Meteor Hell / Hellbound Command / Infernal Renewal]
Cassian’s eyes went to Core Trait first.
None.
He removed the final hit from his own objectives immediately.
Then his gaze moved down one line.
[Infernal Renewal]
Cassian looked once at Lifeless Edge in Celia’s hand.
When he bought the sword, all he had known was that he needed high penetration stacked with the Sword Intent multiplier.
The regeneration-suppressing Lifeless Mark had only been an extra layer.
Now it matched perfectly.
"No Core Trait."
Sigrid understood.
"Don’t preserve the kill?"
"No."
"Whoever can kill it, kills it."
Celia had seen Infernal Renewal too.
Her thumb pressed lightly against the sword guard.
"This sword just became even more valuable."
"Yeah."
Veyra did not tease him.
When something was worth devouring, Cassian would personally fight for the last hit.
When it wasn’t, he would not disrupt the team’s most effective kill pattern just to claim the finishing blow.
Varkos raised one hand.
The clouds above the canyon began turning red.
Celia tightened her grip on Lifeless Edge.
Aurelia’s silver-white wings spread completely.
Veyra was already back at the front of Aegis Fold.
Cassian said only one thing.
"It’s here."
More than a hundred points of fire appeared inside the deep-red clouds.
[Meteor Hell]
The first meteor tore through the sky with a black-red tail more than ten meters long.
Straight toward Forgotten Shrine.