SSS Awakening: I Can Devour Gods to Evolve My Goddesses

That afternoon, the first recalled Rare Gloomhoof had barely stepped back into Forgotten Shrine when Veyra was already waiting outside the Gloomhoof Warcamp.

Not for Cassian.

For the Stormrunner War Set.

After the first five Highbloods completed their Trials, Veyra had kept the Legendary Set here.

All four pieces carried far more scratches than when Cassian first bought them.

The Set was still intact.

By the time Cassian arrived, the other five recalled Gloomhoof had also returned to the Domain.

Six in total.

He had not emptied the outside assignments.

Veyra looked at him.

”All six?”

”All six.”

[Gloomhoof Centaur ×6]

[Quality: Rare]

[Level: 6 → 10]

[Battle Essence ×48,000]

”Confirm.”

Six columns of growth light fell one after another.

By the time the last Gloomhoof raised its bow, all six panels had settled at Level 10.

Veyra handed the Stormrunner War Set to the first one.

”I’ll handle the order after this.”

Cassian nodded.

”You already were.”

Veyra gave him a look.

”You finally remembered.”

The black-stone gate opened.

The first Gloomhoof entered.

A little over twenty minutes later, it came back out.

Rare became Epic.

The Stormrunner Set came off.

The second Gloomhoof went in.

They had already proven this sequence five times.

Cassian did not stand at the gate and watch it happen six more times.

He went to the Muster Hall instead.

Sigrid and the other five Stormlance were returning from the south.

Eira and the five who had remained at Forgotten Shrine were already Level 7.

Sigrid’s group was still Level 5.

Regional Boundary Defense was not going to give them two free levels just because they had been guarding the mines before it started.

Cassian opened all six growth panels together.

[Stormlance Valkyrie ×6]

[Level: 5 → 7]

[Battle Essence ×36,000]

Sigrid glanced at the panel.

”For the Warden battle?”

”So the same squad doesn’t enter the battlefield split into two different tiers.”

”Understood.”

”Upgrade.”

Lightning fell over all six at once.

The patterns across six sets of black-silver armor lit all the way to their spearheads.

[Stormlance Valkyrie ×6]

[Current Level: 7]

Now all twelve Stormlance were Level 7.

Sigrid flexed one hand around her spear.

Her eyes still went south first.

”Storm Guardians took over at the mines?”

”One at each.”

”If someone crosses the white-stone line again?”

”Warn them first.”

Cassian’s answer did not change.

”Same rule as before.”

Sigrid nodded.

”Then there’s no problem.”

Being recalled did not make her ask for a new set of rules at the mines.

The white-stone line did not exist because of whoever happened to be guarding it.

It existed because Cassian had already decided where that boundary was.

---

A little over two hours later, the black-stone gate of the Gloomhoof Warcamp opened again.

The sixth newly recalled Gloomhoof stepped out.

The wind patterns on the Stormrunner War Set had visibly dimmed.

A new long scratch ran along the edge of the breastplate.

Veyra removed all four pieces immediately.

She did not put them on the next Gloomhoof right away.

Cassian walked over.

”Broken?”

”No.”

Veyra turned the breastplate over and checked the inside.

”But it’s hotter than it was this morning.”

She did not assume the seventh and eighth uses were automatically safe just because the sequence had already worked.

After waiting more than ten breaths, the wind patterns stabilized again.

Only then did she hand the Set back.

”It’s fine now.”

Cassian looked at the latest Highblood.

Six recalled Gloomhoof.

Six Trials.

All six passed.

[Higher-Bloodline Trial ×6: Passed | Total Battle Essence Cost: 72,000]

The Gloomhoof line now stood at:

Eleven Epic Level 10 Highbloods.

Six Rare Level 6 Gloomhoof still assigned outside.

From leveling through the Trials, this round had cost 120,000 Battle Essence.

Add the 36,000 spent on the Stormlance, and Cassian had committed 156,000 Battle Essence today.

Counting only the Battle Essence he could confirm he still had on hand, he still had at least 145,830 remaining.

Cassian immediately marked 100,000 of that as untouchable before the battle.

Not to make the number look comfortable.

Once Regional Boundary Defense actually began, if one of his high-grade squads exposed a level gap—or if a Hero or Troop needed to be pushed upward on the spot—that 100,000 was an emergency reserve he could deploy immediately.

The rest stayed open for later Highblood rotations.

And the Battle Essence Spring discovered that morning would replenish roughly 12,000 a day.

It would not replace the 156,000 he had just spent.

But the investment was no longer being carved entirely out of a reserve that could only shrink.

This was no casual upgrade.

Veyra did not pretend it was one either.

”You’ve saved that Lure for this long.”

”And before you’ve even used it, you’ve already spent a lot of Battle Essence.”

”Yeah.”

”Worth it?”

Cassian looked at the eleven Highbloods and twelve Level 7 Stormlance.

”Ask me after the fight.”

Veyra gave a quiet snort.

”That sounds better than ’of course it’s worth it.’”

---

Before evening, the number of qualified Regional Warden participants had already climbed from ten to twenty-seven.

The Regional Channel was full of offers for Rank III materials, Building acceleration, and temporary labor.

Cassian ignored all of it.

He took four Blackfang west of Forgotten Shrine.

This was not a long expedition.

Even the farthest Blackfang was not outside the Beacon Watchtower’s observation range for long.

The Wild Tide Lure could not choose what monsters came.

The only thing Cassian could choose was the marker point.

That made the location matter even more.

Down the western gray slope lay a naturally sunken open basin filled with broken stone.

Its eastern edge still sat inside Forgotten Shrine’s western boundary.

Low ridges enclosed three sides.

Forgotten Shrine lay directly east.

Farther west was a long, narrow fissure the Blackfang had rarely entered before.

Pack Dominion sent back several short impressions.

Many.

Nests.

Big.

Won’t approach.

Cassian stopped at the last two words.

Big did not mean Epic.

It definitely did not mean Legendary.

And the Blackfang could not read system panels.

But all four refusing to approach the same fissure told him enough.

Something was in there that they did not want to touch.

Good enough.

Cassian placed the marker at the eastern edge of the basin.

It was close to Forgotten Shrine’s western boundary.

And fully inside the Beacon Watchtower’s observation radius.

If the Wild Tide Lure pulled monsters in, anything that wanted to keep moving east would have to hit the Eclipse line head-on.

The Beacon could expose targets once they entered its 1,300-meter range.

Cassian wanted to see their panels first.

If something had a Core Trait that filled a real gap in his own kit, he would keep the final blow for himself.

That was what he had wanted to do with the Wild Tide Lure from the moment he accepted it.

Stress-testing the Eclipse formation was the second benefit.

The Rocketiers also had a clean, long firing lane here.

Veyra stood on the gray slope and surveyed the basin.

”Here?”

”Here.”

”Not far from the Forge.”

”That’s why it puts pressure on the line.”

Veyra glanced at him.

”Is this a test, or are you trying to see how much of your own home you can break?”

”The first one.”

”I’ll believe you for now.”

She pointed behind the basin.

”Praetorians on the second line.”

”Legionnaires on the first.”

”If whatever comes is only enough to warm up the Legionnaires, the Praetorians don’t expose themselves early.”

Cassian asked, ”Rocketiers?”

”Behind them.”

”Once they start loading, don’t let them shuffle positions.”

Her eyes moved to the twenty rune launchers.

”Those things need thirty seconds.”

”If monsters reach their faces before they’re ready, they’d be less useful than ordinary Dwarves.”

Cassian nodded.

”Set it up your way.”

This time, Veyra did not ask whether the formation was hers to command.

She simply turned around.

”The Eclipse line listens to me.”

”Stormlance, Gloomhoof, Aurelia, and Rocketiers listen to you.”

”What if the boundary gets breached?”

”We’re still inside the Domain.”

Veyra answered without hesitation.

”Then it’s still my line.”

Cassian looked at her for two seconds.

”Fine.”

It was the first time Veyra had said ’my line’ so naturally.

Not an army from her past.

Not something she had already lost once.

This was the Eclipse army that had grown out of their Temporary Covenant now.

---

The sky was beginning to darken when everyone took position.

Cassian had not opened either of the two Chests he had received that day.

Epic or Rare, whatever came out of them should not be the condition that decided whether this test was possible.

He would use only what he already knew he had.

Eleven Highbloods.

Twelve Stormlance.

Nine Praetorians.

Two hundred Legionnaires.

Twenty Rocketiers.

The Hill King.

Aurelia.

Veyra.

And the newly built Beacon Watchtower.

Cassian stood on the eastern side of the basin with the Wild Tide Lure in his hand.

Veyra looked at the dark-red wax seal.

”Last chance.”

”This fight doesn’t count toward Regional Warden.”

”If you use it now, you get zero Warden Points.”

”I know.”

”Then why not save it for the real battle?”

Cassian looked toward the western fissure.

”In the real battle, I don’t get to choose the targets.”

”And I can’t guarantee that anything worth Devouring will still have its last hit reserved for me.”

Veyra studied him for a moment.

”So you’re using it to hunt for Core Traits first.”

”Exactly.”

Cassian looked back at the Eclipse shield line already in place.

”And while I’m at it, I get to see how this formation breaks when a whole wave actually hits it.”

The first objective was an ability he wanted for himself.

The second was a real stress test without the penalty of failing Regional Warden.

The corner of Veyra’s mouth slowly lifted.

”Now that sounds like you.”

Cassian pressed the Wild Tide Lure into the marker point.

The dark-red wax seal shattered.

There was no pillar of light.

Only an almost invisible red scent spreading close to the ground in every direction.

[Wild Tide Lure used.]

[Designated marker established.]

[Nearby wild monsters are beginning to be drawn toward the marker.]

The storage slot holding the Lure emptied completely.

Cassian looked up.

”Blackfang, return.”

The four Blackfang immediately withdrew from both gray slopes and came back inside the Domain.

He added another order.

”Report any Core Trait the moment you see it.”

”Anything I say to keep alive does not get finished off.”

Sigrid lifted her spear slightly.

”Last hit goes to you.”

”Right.”

For the first thirty seconds, nothing happened.

Then stones began rolling from the northwest.

A group of smaller wild beasts rushed over the low slope.

They were not high Quality.

The Eclipse Legionnaires did not even change formation.

A second group came from the south.

The third came faster.

The dark-silver observation ring atop the Beacon Watchtower began turning again and again.

One.

Seven.

More than twenty.

More.

At the edge of the distant war fog, silhouettes kept being exposed.

Veyra watched the number of targets thicken.

”Still think that thing was only worth a little over ten thousand?”

Cassian did not answer.

Panels flickered past as targets entered the Beacon’s observation range.

So far, none carried a Core Trait worth reserving the kill for.

But the entire Eclipse formation had already been forced into live combat.

A single-use Rare item was screening for Core Trait targets worth Devouring while pressuring the defensive line at the same time.

The first mass of wild monsters crashed into the basin.

Veyra raised one hand.

”First line.”

Two hundred heavy shields hit the ground together.

BOOM—!

The entire broken-stone basin seemed to sink under the impact.

Cassian gave no second order.

For this stretch of the fight, the line was Veyra’s to command.

He only looked farther west.

The fissure the Blackfang had refused to enter still had not released anything.

But the Wild Tide Lure’s dark-red influence was still spreading in that direction.

One minute.

Two.

Three.

At last, a deep scraping sound came from inside the fissure.

Not footsteps.

More like something enormous was slowly sliding along an entire wall of rock.

The Blackfang nearest that side all lowered their bodies at once.

Pack Dominion sent back a single impression.

Danger.

Cassian’s eyes sharpened.

”Here it comes.”

Veyra looked toward the fissure too.

”The trouble you picked?”

”No.”

Cassian kept his eyes ahead.

”I only picked the place.”

The next moment, deep inside the fissure, an enormous eye the color of dead flesh slowly opened.