Read Novel Full Chapter 1600: Bones and Mortar
Chapter 1600: Bones and Mortar
Seeing Orion wasn’t in the mood for heroics, Leonidas pulled his gaze from the horizon and studied the Death-Soul Fiend with curiosity.
"This avatar is the only one I have to walk the realm right now." Orion stared at The Bastion Wall winding through the emerald peaks, frustration creeping into his voice. His Abyssal Dreadfin was locked down guarding the seas, and his Insect King avatar was still maturing. He couldn’t even risk splitting off a demigod phantom. He hated having his hands tied.
"Relax, brother. With me holding the line, anyone dumb enough to attack will be crushed." Leonidas clapped Orion on the shoulder, highly amused by his predicament. Orion being stretched thin meant he’d have to rely on Leonidas, and Leonidas relished the leverage.
"But seriously, as massive as The Endless Bastion is, it’s barebones." He gestured to the stone. "It’s a natural chokepoint, not an impregnable fortress. Forget etching eternal magical runes and arrays into The Bastion Wall for a second. We need basic fortifications first: ramparts, watchtowers, gatehouses, beacon towers, arrow towers, and suspension gates. We have to build a complete military defense network on this pass, and fast."
Orion knew all this. It was exactly why he was here.
"I know you need hands, man. I’ll get them right now."
With a wave of his hand, Orion ripped open a Dimensional Rift. Thick, corrosive death energy spilled from the tear, the reek of decay pungent enough to make Leonidas raise an eyebrow. An Arch Lord Skeletal Knight stepped through first, followed by perfectly synchronized ranks of Skeletal Knights.
"This is my sister, Clymene. You’ve met her," Orion said before Leonidas could ask. "The recent cataclysm pushed her to Arch Lord."
"Greetings, Your Excellency." Clymene bowed deeply. She had seen enough of the world to know the sheer power of the demigod standing before her, offering him the utmost respect.
"Interesting. An Arch Lord Skeletal Knight is a rare breed," Leonidas mused. "Even Arthas doesn’t have a Skeletal Knight of this caliber in his ranks."
Orion nodded, privately amazed himself. A Skeletal Knight formed from the fusion of seven souls—Clymene, Bloodfeather, Nyx, Aha, Cyrilla, Carola, and Jayne—reaching the Arch Lord tier was nothing short of a miracle.
"I also relocated The Great Necropolis of the Skeletal Knights beneath The Bastion Wall," Orion added. "It’ll make summoning new undead units easier."
The Great Bastion of the East was staring down endless swarms of the insectoid race. Without the undead scourge to bolster their numbers, the Stoneheart Horde couldn’t possibly survive a war of attrition, let alone dominate it.
"I’ve also recalled Ashreign!"
The moment Orion finished speaking, a massive Dimensional Rift tore open. Arch Lord Ashreign, Commander of the Wraith-Knights, emerged astride a hellish warhorse. Behind him, a hundred thousand Wraith-Knights marched out from the Minor Hell realm.
Compared to Clymene, Ashreign was on another level. While the Skeletal Knight had just broken into the Arch Lord tier, Ashreign was already a High Arch Lord.
"Ashreign greets My lord!" The Commander dismounted and bowed low. Behind him, a hundred thousand Wraith-Knights reined in their mounts, a deafening clatter of hooves echoing as they followed suit.
"Greetings, My lord!" they roared in unison.
Orion acknowledged them with a nod, then turned to Leonidas. "They’re under your command now." Right there, in front of the entire army, Orion handed over the reins.
"A hundred thousand Wraith-Knights, thirty thousand Skeletal Knights, plus the dozens of beast lairs I’ve seeded... yeah, this will do for now." Leonidas grinned. "I guarantee you’ll have the framework for your defenses up in a month."
In truth, Leonidas was overestimating the Skeletal Knights. Ashreign’s Wraith-Knights were forged in the brutal fires of the Minor Hell realm—they were battle-hardened veterans ready for all-out war. Clymene’s legion, however, was a different story. Aside from a core group of elites, more than half were fresh summons who hadn’t seen a single drop of blood.
But the Skeletal Knights had their own advantage: they fed on combat, growing stronger with every kill. Plus, with Leonidas needing to build defenses from scratch, they would make excellent, tireless laborers for the foreseeable future.
Orion didn’t comment on the guarantee. He simply waved the rift shut and gazed out past The Bastion Wall. The distant peaks were dark, jagged silhouettes rolling into the horizon. High above them, faint black specks circled in the sky.
Almost like an echo in his mind, Orion could hear the endless, maddening chittering of the insectoids, swarming toward them through the land bridge connecting the two continents.
"We need scouts out there immediately," Orion said, turning to look Leonidas dead in the eye. "Firsthand intel is going to dictate how this war plays out."
"Way ahead of you," Leonidas grinned. "I’ve already deployed the stealth beasts. And now that you’ve handed me this undead army, I’ll spread them out to lock down the sectors. By the way, get ahold of Makareth. Have him funnel you more abyssal units like the Shadow Wraiths. They’re damn good for this kind of work."
Orion nodded. This was just the preparation phase. These legions were merely the foundation for their defenses. Soon enough, the forces of the other Champions Alliance members would arrive, reinforcing all four corners of the continent. On top of that, the main legions of the Stoneheart Horde and their allies would deploy reinforcements.
"It’s in your hands now." With his business concluded, Orion didn’t linger. He turned and left. He still had other sectors to lock down, and the clock was ticking.
Watching Orion disappear, Leonidas narrowed his eyes, the amusement dropping from his face. Demigod or not, acting as a regional guardian in the Ascendant Plane carried a crushing weight. He knew the brutal truth: the coming war wouldn’t just see one or two demigods taking the field. If he didn’t grow stronger, he’d be nothing but dead weight.
I can feel it, he thought, gripping the stone of The Bastion Wall. Every second I stand here, World Essence floods into my veins. Is this the perk of the Ascendant Plane? Still, it wasn’t enough. It’s too slow. I need to figure something out...
What Leonidas didn’t realize was that the moment his World Dragon avatar was decreed as the eternal guardian of The Great Bastion of the East, it had tethered itself to the Titanion Realm. In a way, the nascent world gestating within his body had already begun to merge with the realm itself. That tether was the true reason his World Dragon avatar was growing stronger with every passing second.