Chapter 72: I Said Riftward Was First—They Said It Was Impossible
The golden interface lit up again.
[Next Settlement: Rank 2]
The Shattered Marches Channel did not go quiet.
Quite the opposite.
The tension left behind by Sable March taking fourth and Stoneward taking third had not even faded before everyone pushed the final two names to the top of the channel.
Ironwake.
Riftward.
Someone from Black Banner spoke first.
[Black Banner Lord: Two names left. There isn’t much to guess anymore.]
[Anonymous Warden: Ironwake first?]
[Black Banner Lord: What else?]
The next message laid out the easiest public comparison.
[Riftward: 4,423,540 | Defense Ended]
[Ironwake: Later-entry Region | Entered with complete rules | Defense ended later than Riftward]
[Darian Frost: Rank-1 Stake 1,000,000 Aether]
The Black Banner Lord followed immediately.
[Black Banner Lord: Riftward was in the first batch. It stepped on the War Drum, recovery window, and high-level Waves for everyone else.]
[Black Banner Lord: Later Regions went in knowing the answers. They prepared better and pushed farther.]
[Black Banner Lord: Sable taking fourth was already enough of an upset. You really think the Region that locked its score earliest is still taking first?]
Plenty of people agreed this time.
Not because Sable had somehow redeemed itself.
Because Riftward’s score really had stopped early.
4,423,540.
Wave 45.
By the time dozens of later Regions entered, they did not even have to discover things like "don’t waste the ten-minute recovery window" for themselves.
Ironwake had entered later.
Darian was Warbound.
And he had put one million Aether on himself.
Someone laughed.
[Anonymous Warden: Riftward at twelve times is already ridiculous. If it actually takes first, doesn’t that mean the entire wager was wrong?]
[Black Banner Lord: Twelve times is the market’s price. Cassian buying it in the last three seconds doesn’t turn twelve times into a fact.]
Tobias finally jumped in.
[Tobias Reed: You were saying the same thing about 2.1 before Sable landed fourth.]
The other side paused for a beat, then answered directly.
[Black Banner Lord: Sable taking fourth doesn’t stop Ironwake from taking first.]
[Black Banner Lord: Riftward locked its score early. That’s a fact.]
[Black Banner Lord: Later Regions had the larger rule advantage. That’s also a fact.]
[Anonymous Warden: So first is still most likely Ironwake.]
Cassian had not posted once.
At Forgotten Shrine, he stood outside the Oath Hall with Veyra beside him. She read through the messages, then glanced his way.
"They already handed first to Ironwake for you."
"I saw."
"And you?"
Cassian lifted a hand.
This time, he did not open a Private Channel.
His message went straight into the Shattered Marches Channel.
[Cassian Vale: Riftward is first.]
The channel skipped a beat.
Veyra turned her head.
"Just now, you insisted the system had to say it first."
"I can’t count the reward early."
Cassian looked at the Ranking with only two names left.
"I can call the result early."
The corner of Veyra’s mouth moved.
"Wasn’t two hundred fifty thousand already a call?"
"That was money."
"This is me saying it."
The channel surged again.
[Anonymous Warden: Cassian himself showed up.]
[Black Banner Lord: Your 4,423,540 is already locked.]
[Black Banner Lord: Ironwake entered later and knew more of the rules than you did.]
[Anonymous Warden: You don’t seriously think buying Riftward at twelve times means twelve times has to hit, do you?]
[Black Banner Lord: First place isn’t something you can shout into existence.]
Cassian answered only once.
[Cassian Vale: Then wait.]
He did not explain the Fountain.
He did not explain the Rocketiers.
He did not explain exactly how Riftward had reached Wave 45.
The public information was what it was. If they wanted to believe Ironwake based on that information, fine.
The system would write the only answer that mattered.
The golden interface fully unfolded.
Second place appeared first.
[Rank 2 | Ironwake]
[Regional Warden: Darian Frost]
[Warden Personal Reward: Free Attribute +30]
[Region Reward: Region Fortune +3]
Every message that had been racing upward stopped at once.
Not for one second.
For two full beats.
The people who had just been saying Ironwake was "most likely first" did not immediately post a thing.
Because the system had already written second place.
Ironwake.
Second.
There was no longer anything to guess about first.
Tobias did not even mock them right away.
Darian Frost appeared first.
[Darian Frost: Second.]
Two seconds later:
[Darian Frost: I’ll take the reward. The million is gone.]
[Darian Frost: Next time I bet on myself, I’d rather not see second place again.]
No "we almost had it."
No excuse about later-entry rules.
That one-million-Aether stake had been on first.
Second place gave him Free Attribute +30.
It gave Ironwake Region Fortune +3.
The wager did not care.
Tobias finally posted.
[Tobias Reed: Who was it just now saying Ironwake was most likely first?]
A wall of ellipses appeared.
The Black Banner Lord finally answered.
[Black Banner Lord: Rank 2 is still very high.]
Tobias replied instantly.
[Tobias Reed: Yes.]
[Tobias Reed: It just isn’t first.]
Cassian stopped watching them argue, because Veyra had already asked,
"And now?"
"One more line."
She looked at him.
"You’re the only name left."
"I know."
"You already said it yourself."
"That was my judgment."
Cassian’s eyes stayed on the interface.
"Now I wait for settlement."
Veyra watched him for two breaths, then laughed softly.
"Fine."
"You can call the win early."
"But your ledger still needs the system."
Cassian did not deny it.
When Ronan’s ten points had been attached to the eventual Rank 1, Cassian had not counted them as his.
When he put two hundred fifty thousand into the twelve-times wager, he had not counted three million into his balance either.
Now Ironwake was second.
Only one position remained for Riftward.
But what was truly his still had to be written by the system.
The golden interface extended downward.
This time, the light was brighter.
[Shattered Marches Newcomer Region Ranking]
[Rank 1 | Riftward]
[Regional Warden: Cassian Vale]
[Warden Personal Reward: Free Attribute +50]
[Region Reward: Region Fortune +5]
Golden light swept across Forgotten Shrine—from the Warden Gate, over the Oath Hall, Muster Hall, and Forge—then crossed the Domain boundary and continued outward through all of Riftward.
Every one of the 402 Lords still registered in the Region saw the result at the same time.
Silence lasted one breath.
Then the Regional Channel exploded.
[Anonymous Lord: FIRST?!]
[Anonymous Lord: Riftward actually got first!]
[Anonymous Lord: Cassian literally said Riftward was first—and it is!]
[Anonymous Warden: 4,423,540 locked that early and it still took first?]
[Tobias Reed: Not "still."]
[Tobias Reed: It is first.]
Rowan posted only one line.
[Rowan Ashford: We got it.]
Elara was even more direct.
[Elara Vayne: First. Not bad.]
A message came in from Greyfen Basin as well.
[Seraphine Valcrest: I changed Regions and you’re still first.]
[Cassian Vale: You’re a Warden now too.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: Which is why I know exactly how hard this first place was.]
[Seraphine Valcrest: Stop acting like the system handed it to you on the way by.]
Cassian read the message and did not reply.
The system was not done.
The reward that had been hanging since Rank 10 finally moved.
[Detected: Rank-10 Duskmoor Regional Warden Ronan Greaves is deceased.]
[Rank-10 Warden Personal Reward: Free Attribute +10 | Unclaimed]
[Transfer Rule fulfilled.]
[Unclaimed reward will be transferred to the Rank-1 Regional Warden of this Ranking.]
[Recipient: Cassian Vale]
Both personal rewards entered his attribute panel.
[Free Attribute: 0 → 50]
[Transferred Free Attribute: +10]
[Current Free Attribute: 60]
Sixty.
Veyra saw it and spoke first.
"Yesterday you blew him up."
"Today you took his ten points."
"I didn’t write the rule."
"I know."
Her mouth curved.
"That’s why it’s worse."
Cassian smiled too.
Barely.
But this time, he did not force it away.
First place was real.
The sixty points were real.
And so was the next notice.
The Shattered Marches Exchange opened automatically.
[Wager Settlement]
[Target: Shattered Marches Newcomer Region Ranking | Rank 1]
[Winning Region: Riftward]
[Cassian Vale]
[Stake: 250,000 Aether Crystal]
[Confirmation Odds: 12.0]
[Total Return: 3,000,000 Aether Crystal]
[Net Profit: 2,750,000 Aether Crystal]
[Settlement Complete]
His balance jumped.
[Aether Crystal: 75,266 → 3,075,266]
Three million seventy-five thousand two hundred sixty-six.
Not a possible payout.
Not a number trapped inside the wager pool.
It was back in his hands.
Tobias’s Private Channel lit almost at the same instant.
[Tobias Reed: IT HIT.]
[Tobias Reed: My ten thousand hit too!]
[Tobias Reed: Wait.]
[Tobias Reed: You seriously just got three million?]
[Cassian Vale: Mm.]
[Tobias Reed: My ten thousand suddenly feels very small.]
[Cassian Vale: It was small before.]
Four seconds of silence.
[Tobias Reed: You’re first today. I’m not arguing with you.]
Cassian closed the Private Channel.
Three million.
Sixty Free Attribute.
Region Fortune +5.
The two hundred fifty thousand no longer needed any argument about whether it had been worth staking.
But what made Cassian look up was not his balance.
It was Riftward itself.
The golden light still had not completely faded.
Inside Warden Authority, an old Region Fortune description lit up again.
[Region Fortune: 5]
[Effective Area: Riftward]
[Effects: Influences resource output, resource quality, and the probability of higher-Quality Wild Resource Points / Wild Buildings appearing within the Region.]
Veyra read it too.
"So first place isn’t done paying you?"
"Doesn’t look like it."
"Which one do you check first?"
Cassian had not answered when Bram’s message arrived.
[Bram Alder: The first Gold Vein changed.]
A second message followed immediately.
[Sigrid: The Battle Essence Spring is glowing.]
The cheering in the Regional Channel had not even stopped, and new messages were already pushing upward.
[Anonymous Lord: My mine changed too!]
[Anonymous Lord: Wait. Is this Region Fortune?]
Cassian looked back at the same line.
[Region Fortune: 5]
First place had settled.
What first place had brought with it—
was only beginning to fall across Riftward.