"By the ti those old fossils manage to descend, our strength will have already skyrocketed."
"This won't be the easy prey they're expecting. It'll be a trap."
The Infernal Matriarch agreed with The Lifeless Dreadgod's assessnt.
"Then let's begin."
The Infernal Matriarch nodded. The void-womb in her abdon tore open once more. This ti, it didn't absorb incoming attacks or unleash destruction; it birthed her brood.
She reached into the pitch-black void and dragged out two foul, placenta-like sacks, hurling one north and the other south. The corrupted flesh slamd into the cluster of Demonic Pillars, warping reality into two bottomless, abyssal rifts.
The mont the rifts stabilized, an endless tide of hellish ghouls surged out.
"Matriarch, with you here, The Lifeless Expanse is fully secured. We can safely gather our strength in peace."
The Bastion Wall stretched endlessly across the mountain range, an imposing and impregnable fortress.
Alexander felt a profound sense of relief seeing Caelus, Dirtclaw, and The Twelve Zodiac Lords return safely to The Bastion Wall.
"The Lifeless Expanse finished their battle preparations before us. Seizing the upper hand in the first clash is a massive achievent. You've all earned significant rit."
Even though it was only a victory at the Arch Lord tier, it set the tone. Their morale was soaring, and rewards needed to be dealt out quickly.
"If the Prince hadn't stepped in, we would've been slaughtered," Dirtclaw said, shaking his head. He refused to steal Caelus's thunder.
"The ambush happened too fast," Sever added. As the head of Blade Hall's The Twelve Zodiac Lords, his voice carried weight, but right now, it only held sha. "We couldn't set up our lethal formations in ti. Instead, they split us up and trapped us. We shad you, Master!"
They were the primary Arch Lord fighting force for The Bastion of the West, yet they hadn't contributed a single noteworthy achievent in the battle. It was a crushing blow to their pride.
"Master, I don't get it," Flay said, stepping up beside Sever. "Skirmishes like that should be our bread and butter, but this ti... we..."
Flay couldn't finish the sentence. The humiliation was suffocating. They were supposed to protect Caelus. Instead, he had to save them.
"We're fighting Fiends," Alexander said flatly. "They are vile, ruthless creatures who will use any dirty trick in the book. They excel at stealth and assassination. In that arena, they are your equals—maybe even your betters."
Alexander studied the subordinates he had personally trained. They were the true foundation of Blade Hall. In the past, raising twelve Arch Lord powerhouses would have filled him with pride. Today, he felt nothing.
He had deployed The Twelve Zodiac Lords to the front lines for one reason: to forge them in the brutal crucible of full-scale war. He wanted to sift out the true prodigies. He wanted to find the ones capable of reaching the demigod realm.
Raising a single demigod was worth a thousand Arch Lords. If even one of The Twelve Zodiac Lords broke through, Alexander would consider it a resounding success, even if the other eleven died in the mud.
"On the battlefield, the strong survive, and the brave advance." Alexander wasn't one to coddle his n. He waved a dismissive hand, turning his back on them. Growth was a personal journey; he had already provided the opportunity.
"Are you alright?" Alexander asked, turning his focus to Caelus.
The Twelve Zodiac Lords were subordinates, but Caelus was family. The boy hailed from the Valkorath Realm. He was the Commander's disciple and Orion's son. Since Alexander and Orion were sworn brothers, Alexander looked at the boy with genuine, uncle-like affection.
"I'm fine, Uncle Seven. Never better," Caelus replied. "I'm staying here a while longer. I haven't had enough yet. I want another round."
'Uncle Seven' was Caelus's personal moniker for Alexander. Back in the Champions Alliance, he also had Uncle Edward, Uncle Beast, and Uncle Kraken. Out of the group, Uncle Kraken was the most elusive, though he always unloaded a massive haul of deep-sea treasures whenever they crossed paths. According to Kraken, the man was too embarrassed to face Orion's son. He hadn't reached the demigod tier yet, and sharing a power level with his nephew bruised his ego.
"What's going on with your eyes?" Alexander asked, cutting straight through the bravado.
"My eyes? Just a minor hiccup. It's actually a blessing in disguise," Caelus grinned. "Uncle Seven, once I push my strength a bit further, I can refine whatever is trapped inside them. When that happens, they won't be a hindrance. They'll be my ultimate trump card."
Satisfied, Alexander dropped the subject. He knew enough about the Stoneheart Titan bloodline to trust the boy's judgnt.
"The enemy called in reinforcents, but so did we," Alexander said. "Step back. It's ti for our backup to take the stage."
Dirtclaw, Caelus, Sever, and Flay exchanged wary glances before moving behind him. They followed his gaze down to the earth far below The Bastion Wall.
Several bottomless sinkholes had ruptured the ground. A familiar, sickeningly vibrant liquid surged from the depths like a tidal wave. Deep within that colorful flood, terrifying, unfiltered Arch Lord auras flared wildly.
Everyone except Caelus gasped in horror.
"That's The Mycelial Swarm!" Dirtclaw shouted.
Back when he was still at the Alpha level, he had followed Orion into the Valkorath Realm to purge the Mycelial creatures. They had left a permanent scar on his mory. The Mycelial horrors were responsible for slaughtering the vast majority of his slave legion. To even survive that war, he had been forced to form a desperate alliance with the senior veterans of the Horde.
"I can't believe it's them!" Sever and Flay recoiled. They, too, had fought in the Valkorath Realm purge.
In fact, out of the original The Twelve Zodiac Lords of Blade Hall, only Sever and Flay had survived that campaign. The other ten current Lords were replacents promoted from the reserves.
"Master!" Sever snapped, demanding an explanation.
One cold glare from Alexander shut him up instantly.
"The Mycelial demigod, Lord Tolenna, has officially joined our Titan continent faction," Alexander announced. "The Mycelial creatures are now our allies. From this mont on, they are not targets. They are your comrades."
He scanned his shocked soldiers. "Over the next two weeks, the swarm will blanket the battlefield beyond The Bastion Wall. You are all to head to the Mycelial Nexus and inoculate yourselves with the Mycelial signal nodes."
"Once done, you will share a neural link, granting you access to all real-ti battlefield intel the swarm gathers. Furthermore, if any support-class Mycelial entities choose to bond with you, their buffs will push your combat prowess to an entirely new level."
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