SSS Awakening: I Can Devour Gods to Evolve My Goddesses

The golden words announcing the success of Regional Boundary Defense had not fully faded when another announcement descended.

Not in the Battle Channel.

Not in the Regional Channel either.

This one appeared on a higher layer of golden interface.

[Shattered Marches Announcement]

[The current Newcomer Region is the first Newcomer Region in this cycle to complete Regional Boundary Defense.]

[First Regional Success Bonus triggered.]

[All valid participating Lords who earned Warden Points: Free Attribute +10]

The number in front of Cassian changed again.

[Free Attribute: 50 → 60]

In the Battle Channel, the nineteen names that were still lit seemed to freeze for a moment.

The next second, the Regional Channel exploded.

[Anonymous Lord: Another ten points?!]

[Tobias Reed: So everyone who actually earned Warden Points got twenty Free Attribute in total from this?]

[Rowan Ashford: Getting into the first ten Rank III slots was worth it.]

[Anonymous Lord: Yesterday I still thought forcing Rank III early was wasting resources. Anyone who tells me being early doesn’t matter after this can go argue with the system.]

Cassian did not answer.

The announcement was not finished.

[Shattered Marches Channel unlocked.]

[Ordinary Lords may send 10 messages per day.]

[Regional Wardens are not subject to the daily message limit.]

[Cross-Newcomer-Region Transit authority unlocked.]

[Actual transit requires Domain Waygate Rank III.]

Another set of rules unfolded immediately after.

[The first Newcomer Region has completed Regional Boundary Defense.]

[Triggered: Shattered Marches Newcomer Region Ranking.]

[Ranking Score: Total Warden Points accumulated by each Newcomer Region during this cycle of Regional Boundary Defense.]

[Rank 1: Regional Warden of that Region receives Free Attribute +50; Region Fortune +5.]

[Rank 2: Regional Warden Free Attribute +30; Region Fortune +3.]

[Rank 3: Regional Warden Free Attribute +20; Region Fortune +2.]

[Rank 4–10: Regional Warden Free Attribute +10; Region Fortune +1.]

[Settlement: After the first 100 Newcomer Regions in the Shattered Marches complete Regional Boundary Defense.]

Only one line of explanation appeared for Region Fortune.

[Region Fortune affects resource output, resource quality, and the probability of higher-grade Wild Resource Points / Wild Buildings appearing within the Region.]

Veyra stood behind the first line, blood still wet on Crimson Oath.

She read through the new rules.

”So one million was just the door.”

”Yeah.”

”And there’s another ranking behind it.”

”Yeah.”

Veyra turned her head slightly.

”Are you starting again?”

Cassian was already looking at the Rank 1 reward.

Free Attribute +50.

He had sixty unassigned now.

Another fifty was obviously good.

But the line that held his attention longer was the one beneath it.

Region Fortune +5.

Two Gold Veins.

The Battle Essence Spring.

The Dwarven Royal Hall.

And all the Wild Buildings that had more or less fallen into his lap before this.

Those were not one-battle rewards.

They kept producing things.

If Region Fortune really affected the appearance rate of higher-grade resource points and Wild Buildings, then this ranking was not just fifty more Attribute for the Regional Warden.

It could change what the entire Region was likely to encounter later.

Cassian dragged the interface upward.

”First.”

Veyra did not look surprised at all.

”I knew it.”

She looked back toward the war fog.

The silhouettes of wave twenty-one were already drawing closer.

”But you still don’t have the Warden seat.”

”So I’ll take it first.”

”And then?”

Cassian glanced at the nineteen names that were still lit.

”Keep fighting.”

The new Shattered Marches Channel had only just opened.

For the first few seconds, no one spoke.

Everyone who could appear in that channel came from a different Newcomer Region.

Before this, there had been no stable shared channel between them.

Then the first messages appeared.

[Anonymous Lord: Which Region cleared this fast?]

[Anonymous Lord: We only have forty-seven Rank III Lords here. You already finished Regional Boundary?]

[Anonymous Lord: Wait. Rank 1 gets Region Fortune +5?]

[Anonymous Lord: If the first Region gets its Warden settled, can it keep adding points after that?]

The system supplied only one additional line.

[Settling the Regional Warden seat does not force the winning Warden’s still-active Defense Sector to end. If the Warden continues defending, later Warden Points continue to count toward the Shattered Marches Newcomer Region Ranking. Normal kill rewards and real-casualty rules remain unchanged.]

The channel went quiet for half a breath.

[Anonymous Lord: Got it. If you can keep fighting, you keep adding points.]

[Anonymous Lord: Then our Region doesn’t need to force the hundredth Rank III right now. We should raise our main force for another two days first.]

Cassian looked once and closed the Shattered Marches Channel.

The rules were out now.

Every Region behind them would raise Levels first.

Stock potions.

Finish Buildings.

Some would even deliberately hold back their hundredth Rank III Lord.

When they entered the Regional Boundary later, they would be far better prepared than this first group of one hundred had been.

That was the price of being first.

Cassian had taken the First Regional Success Bonus.

He had also shown every Region behind him the answer sheet.

If he wanted to keep Rank 1, then this lead could not stop at one million.

Before wave twenty-one reached Riftwind Canyon, the number of lit names in the Battle Channel had already fallen from nineteen to thirteen.

The regional-success reward was secured.

Staying meant more normal kill rewards.

It also meant they could keep fighting for Regional Warden.

But it also meant people could still die.

Most Lords could read the situation perfectly well.

They had no realistic chance at first place anyway.

The Region had already succeeded.

There was no reason to gamble a freshly promoted Rank III Domain for a little more Battle Essence.

[Anonymous Lord: I’m out. I only have two intact wall sections left.]

[Anonymous Lord: Same. One more wave and my Hero might actually stay here.]

[Tobias Reed: Ending mine too. I’ve made enough today.]

A few minutes later, Rowan’s name dimmed.

He left one line before withdrawing.

[Rowan Ashford: The left wall has hit structural limit after the third repair. I’m not sacrificing my Domain just to prove which of you two is harder to kill.]

Veyra glanced at it.

”At least he knows when to stop.”

”That’s why he keeps placing near the top.”

”And you?”

Cassian looked toward the war fog.

”I still haven’t gotten what I came for.”

Wave twenty-one arrived.

The Demons were visibly heavier than those in wave twenty.

The front rank was no longer made of Cinder Ravagers.

Tall Demons in charred-black bone armor pushed out of the fog.

The Beacon Watchtower had barely locked them before the system panels appeared.

[Ashbone Vanguard]

[Quality: Elite]

[Level: 31]

Behind them, a Rare Level 33 Magma Hound dragged a long ribbon of flame across the ground.

No Core Trait.

Cassian only looked once.

”Fight normally.”

Veyra raised one hand.

”First line, pull in two steps.”

”Praetorians, prepare for the second impact.”

She did not relax the line because the Region had already succeeded.

If anything, with fewer people still fighting, her orders became shorter.

The Stormlance cut off the Magma Hound’s flanking route from above.

The Highbloods continued suppressing the rear ranks.

Aurelia did not move.

The Hill King was still recovering too.

Aether Mist could accelerate recovery.

It did not make anyone capable of firing forever.

Cassian did not touch another War Drum either.

From wave eleven onward, those ten minutes were time he had deliberately chosen to keep.

A new ranking did not make that recovery window disposable again.

Halfway through wave twenty-one, only six names remained lit in the Battle Channel.

By the time the wave ended, only three remained.

Cassian.

Seraphine.

Elara.

Elara spoke first.

[Elara Vayne: So it really is just the three of us now.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: You can still keep going?]

[Elara Vayne: Two more waves at most. Any more than that and I’d be paying in lives.]

[Seraphine Valcrest: Then don’t pay it.]

Elara waited a few breaths.

[Elara Vayne: You should tell yourself the same thing.]

Seraphine did not answer.

Cassian looked at the exchange and said nothing either.

The system had already begun the next ten-minute countdown.

Veyra replaced two heavy shields that had cracked during the last wave.

”She’s right.”

”Who?”

”Both of them.”

Veyra did not even look up.

”Don’t grind my line apart for that chair.”

”I won’t.”

”Every time you say that, I have to look twice.”

Cassian looked at her.

”Done looking?”

Veyra sent the last injured Legionnaire to the rear recovery area.

”For now.”

Lunch was delivered directly outside the Oath Hall.

Cassian ate quickly.

Wave twenty-two was waiting behind the full ten-minute recovery interval.

Then he remembered something.

Ten million.

The money still had not reached him.

And now the Fountain of Life was no longer just a question of whether he might be able to bring someone back someday after they died.

The Shattered Marches Newcomer Region Ranking had just put Region Fortune in front of him.

The Regions behind them would enter with fuller preparations.

If he wanted to keep pushing deeper, then recovery and a larger margin for error were becoming immediate concerns.

Cassian called Seraphine.

She answered quickly.

The background was full of weapons striking and people shouting orders.

She was clearly still on her own line.

”You’re actually calling me now?”

”Want to discuss something.”

”Go ahead.”

”The ten million.”

There was a brief silence on the other side.

”You haven’t won yet.”

”I know.”

”So?”

Cassian dragged the wave twenty-two countdown slightly to one side of his vision.

”Give me five million first.”

Seraphine sounded as if she had misheard him.

”How much?”

”Five million.”

”Advance payment.”

The call went completely silent for three seconds.

When Seraphine spoke again, her voice had noticeably hardened.

”Cassian.”

”Did you finish wave twenty-one and already decide I’ve lost?”

”No.”

”Then what gives you the right to ask me to advance the wager?”

Cassian’s tone stayed flat.

”Because both outcomes are the same.”

”How are they the same?”

”I win.”

”You owe me ten million from the wager.”

”I lose.”

Cassian paused.

”I register as your Vassal.”

”And the independent development fund you offered your Vassal went from five million to ten million.”

The other side went completely silent.

Veyra had been watching the shield rotations.

Even she turned her head this time.

Cassian continued.

”So no matter who wins.”

”The ten million comes from your side in the end.”

”Give me five million now.”

”Settle the other five after the result.”

”...”

Seraphine gave a disbelieving laugh.

”This is the first time I’ve heard someone classify the money he wins from me and the money I invest in him after beating him as the same receivable.”

”The result is the same.”

”The result is not remotely the same!”

”For my current Aether balance, it is.”

”Cassian.”

”Yeah?”

”Not a chance.”

The call cut off.

Veyra looked at the dark interface.

After two breaths, she asked,

”You actually thought she might pay?”

”A little.”

”Based on what?”

”She has money.”

Veyra let out a laugh before she could stop herself.

”That isn’t a reason.”

”I gave her the reason too.”

”That’s why she hung up faster.”

Cassian closed the call.

Only twenty seconds remained on the wave twenty-two countdown.

He stood.

”Then I’ll settle who wins first.”

Dark-red light returned to Crimson Oath in Veyra’s hand.

”That sounds more reasonable.”

The war fog peeled open.

Cassian could already see the first silhouettes of wave twenty-two.

Seraphine would not pay early.

Fine.

Then he would let her find out sooner whether that money was a wager payout—or development funding.