And death, which had been a looming certainty for many of them, became a temporary inconvenience. If a summon fell to fatal damage, it would refuse to die, healing back to half strength and continuing the fight.

Reidar felt the cost immediately. Thirty-five thousand mana drained from him in an instant, leaving him momentarily dizzy. But the effect was undeniable.

The emperor’s decree gave the summons a 30 seconds cooldown skill that prevented their death. If a summon was about to get destroyed, then it would remain with 1 hp. At that point, it would be Reidar’s or the Avatar of Primal Convergence’s job to heal them.

Reidar actually had to use the skill multiple times already, and to achieve that, he needed the mana regen provided by the Shadow Sovereigns and the rest of his summons. Of course, Since Reidar didn’t have many summons, the effects of Symbiotic Regeneration and Mana Siphon were diminished, but thanks to Mana Attunement, Mana Regeneration, and Arcane Leech, Reidar was somehow able to keep up with the huge usage of mana.

The tide of battle shifted once again in Reidar’s favor.

<I think I have a little bit of mana to spare.>

Reidar needed more summons to keep his army standing and to increase the pressure on Silas. The main problem of the battle was that Reidar couldn’t immediately summon everything because he simply didn’t have a mana pool large enough to do it, and without the ability to share his skills and leaving the summoning to his already conjured creatures, his army was limited to growing slowly.

[Summon: Archon Rift-Lords] was activated.

Eighty Archon Rift-Lords materialized around him. Boundless Legion doubled that number to 160. Legion Commander pushed it even further—an additional 20%—bringing the total to 192.

Of course, Reidar felt the dramatic spike in his mana regeneration even more now. The sensation was exhilarating, as it was a surge of power coursing through his entire being.

At the same time, the effects of Crushing presence, inside the cave multiplied, leaving Silas less and less space to move, since, if he ended up inside the Crushing Presence, he would be slowed down quite a lot.

At the same time, thanks to Adaptive Evolution, his summons were gaining 1% resistance to damage they took from a single source more than five times, meaning that the more the fight progressed, the stronger they would be.

“And Martin?” Reidar asked. “Why kill him?”

Silas laughed.

“Martin was a fool,” Silas said. He swatted one of the Rift-Lords away with a backhand, his hand glowing with fire. “He believed the System was a tool to rebuild civilization. He refused to see it as the shackle it is.”

Silas hovered higher, looking down at Reidar.

“His death was theatrical. Necessary. The Progenitor needed to make an entrance. We needed to show the people that raw power—power not granted by blue boxes and levels—could crush their ‘leaders.’ It broke their spirits. It made them pliable. It made them join us out of fear. Then we gave them hope and well-being.”

Reidar watched the man floating above the battlefield. There was no remorse in his voice. There was no hesitation. Silas viewed the people of Havenwood—no, every single person still linked to the system—not as victims, but as variables in an equation he was solving. To him, they were ants.

“You’re insane,” Reidar said.

“I am a visionary,” Silas said. “And you are obstructing progress.”

Silas spread his arms. The mana lake beneath him surged.

“Light of Judgment.”

Multiple pillars of searing white light slammed down from the ceiling. They weren’t aimed at Reidar; they were aimed at his army.

Silas noticed the effect the new summons brought to Reidar, as he increased the amount of skills he was spamming since they appeared. But he wasn’t as worried about them as he was about the titans.

The Verdant Sovereign shrieked as its wooden body caught fire. One of the Siege-Breakers was pinned to the ground, its glass armor melting under the intensity of the beam.

The Quadraginta had to scatter, leaving Reidar exposed.

Reidar rolled to the side, avoiding a pillar that vaporized the rock where he had been standing and that Silas fired shrewdly at him.

[Your Summon (Verdant Sovereign) has taken 12,500 Light Damage.]

[Your Summon (Obsidian Siege-Breaker) has taken 8,400 Light Damage.]

Reidar scrambled to his feet. He cast Sovereign’s Aegis. That prevented them from panicking, but unfortunately, it did nothing against the elemental damage they were suffering.

Reidar wanted to use Presence of the Sovereign or Gaze of the Pariah, respectively the evolution of Aura of the Alpha and Mark of Frailty, but if he did, he would lose the advantage.

Gaze of the Pariah significantly weakened Silas when used, and Presence of the Sovereign, while increasing the strength of his summons, would further weaken Silas, but Reidar had to make the man believe he didn’t have such tricks up his sleeves. Not until Reidar got enough summons to blast the man to smithereens.

There was only one skill that Reidar could share, Storm-Wyrm’s Ire, and while this was a tier 26 skill, being used by hundreds of summons at level 379 was bound to do something.

With all the passives his summons got from Reidar’s perk, Legion’s Fortitude, Elemental Infusion, Pack Tactics, Coordinated Assault, and many more, it was bound to be lethal even for Silas.

What was best was that for every 5 summons active, the mana cost for Reidar’s direct damage spells decreased.

The Avatar of Primal Convergence started healing them.

Despite everything, Silas was still alive and kicking. His regeneration was high. Every time an arrow or a blast of elemental damage scratched him, a soft golden light washed over his skin, erasing the wound.

[Silas Bishop heals for 450 Health.]

[Silas Bishop heals for 1,200 Health.]

[Arcane Leech effect has been triggered. 450 damage points converted into 125 mana points.]

[Arcane Leech effect has been triggered. 1200 damage points converted into 300 mana points.]

Source: Webnovel.com, updated by NovelKeep