Chapter 285: Chapter 285 - A Storm Sent from Above
Atlas allowed himself, and all the forces of Gacha Haven to take a well-earned break for the next two days. It was mostly to let everyone recover, even though not all of them had actually engaged in the most recent defense battle.
During that time, he oversaw the rebuilding of damaged structures and the restoration of several facilities that had been partially destroyed during the enemy assault.
One thing was certain, these current defenses wouldn’t be the ones used in the next potential battle. The reason was simple: Atlas planned to use his Attack Token next, which meant going on the offensive. Either launching a direct strike against another lord’s island or another all-out confrontation.
Still, there was no guarantee that the enemy wouldn’t counterattack or that another challenge wouldn’t arrive before the Lord Battle Season officially ended. That also meant Atlas would be missing out on the chance to defend two times during this cycle. A risk he was willing to accept, given that he had only recently been promoted to Rank-2.
Even so, his progress had been remarkable. Two victories, both almost perfect. And they weren’t the result of luck. He had earned them through sheer preparation, an elite army, and powerful subordinates whose combined strength made victory not just possible, but inevitable.
His next goal was clear: to increase the production of Soulbinding Armor and ensure a sustainable supply of resources. The monsters they harvested needed to be bred, managed, and multiplied so their materials would remain in abundance.
He also needed to upgrade every core structure and build stronger defenses, especially now that Gacha Haven had expanded into a massive island. That required immense resources, better materials, and constant planning.
But above all, the last battle had revealed a critical weakness. Gacha Haven lacked anti-air defenses.
If not for Serenith and Morganna, who had effectively handled most of the airborne threats, the island could have been devastated.
Atlas knew that for larger-scale wars in the future, he couldn’t rely solely on them. He needed reliable anti-air structures and countermeasures. Defenses that could intercept and neutralize flying units long before they reached the island.
It was now his top priority.
But then again, Atlas’s responsibility stretched far beyond his own island. Now, he wasn’t just a commander, he was the leader of an alliance.
Up until this point, most of their coordination had been carried out through the system communication link, where each lord reported updates about their progress and the state of their respective islands.
Some of them had performed exceptionally well, securing solid victories in their battles. Others fought conservatively, engaging only as much as their resources and strength allowed. And then... there were those who had suffered defeats. Minor ones, fortunately for most.
But not all.
Atlas couldn’t ignore the reports that one of their allied lords had faced major losses, their islands damaged beyond quick recovery. That thought weighed heavily on him, reminding him that his role was not just to win. But to protect and lead.
So, on that day, he called for an Alliance Assembly, a formal gathering of all the lords under their banner.
It was held in the Noble Meeting Hall, a new structure recently completed.
Atlas sat at the far end of the round marble table, the seat reserved for the alliance head. One by one, the lords arrived and took their places, their expressions grim and focused.
The atmosphere inside the hall was tense. Much heavier than the last time they had gathered.
After several rounds of formal greetings and polite exchanges, the meeting shifted to the matter that weighed most heavily on everyone’s minds.
It was Luna who stepped forward with the latest battle reports, her expression calm but voice measured.
"Bolin," she began, glancing briefly toward one of the assembled lords, "the lord of Azure Sword Spire. The same man who visited my island during your visit, Atlas."
Atlas nodded slowly. He already had a faint idea of where this was going, having received fragments of the initial reports.
"They followed through on their earlier threats," Luna continued. "They launched a coordinated challenge. Against me, and against Brigid."
At that, she turned her gaze to the short-haired redhead sitting beside her. Brigid’s posture was straight as always, but her face was unnervingly blank.
"They brought a massive army," Luna said quietly, "far larger and far higher-leveled than what’s standard for their division. Their offensive was... extreme. I sustained about forty percent total damage. Most of my outer structures were destroyed, and I lost a significant portion of my forces."
Atlas nodded again, his expression unreadable, but his attention sharpened when Luna’s tone dropped lower.
"However," she added, glancing again at the red-haired woman beside her, "Brigid suffered far worse than I did."
Atlas turned toward Brigid. The stoic warrior met his gaze. But this time, there was something different in her eyes. Her usual iron composure was cracked, and the faint tremor in her jawline betrayed the pressure she had been holding back.
"I lost... eighty percent of my total forces," Brigid said. "And nearly ninety percent of my island’s resources are gone."
A heavy silence fell over the Noble Meeting Hall.
No one spoke. Even those who had braced themselves for bad news felt the full weight of her words. They all knew defeat was an inevitable part of war. But hearing it like this, from someone like Brigid, someone known for her resilience, her cold precision, her refusal to ever bend, made the loss hit harder than any statistic.
The air grew still. Every lord seated at the table lowered their gaze slightly.
For a moment, even Atlas remained silent.
Because they all understood, this wasn’t just about a lost battle. It was about the cost of being part of this world. A cost that, someday, any of them might have to pay.
However, if the opposing side had truly supplied their Rank-2 lords with such an overwhelming number of troops, there was only one logical explanation. They were receiving direct support from higher-ranked lords within their alliance.
It wasn’t unheard of. The system technically allowed it, though there were built-in penalties designed to discourage such behavior. Normally, when a lord’s army count or total force exceeded a certain threshold, the system would apply scaling debuffs.
But if a lord knew how to exploit that limit efficiently, and if they were backed by lords with enormous reserves of resources, the advantage they could create at their division level would still be immense.
Essentially, it was a trade-off.
The supporting lords would weaken themselves temporarily by lending troops and resources, but the ones receiving that aid would dominate within their tier, securing guaranteed victories.
Yet, if that kind of coordinated support was being done deliberately. If higher-ranked lords were willingly holding back their own advancement just to crush Atlas and his alliance....
Then it meant only one thing.
Bolin, that smug lord from Azure Sword Spire, was targeting Atlas directly, using his connections, his allies, and a strategic manipulation of rank distribution to strike where it hurt most.
It wasn’t just competition anymore. It was a message.
And Atlas understood that clearly.
He nodded slowly, taking in every word that had been said. But then his gaze shifted back toward Brigid.
If the scale of her losses was truly that severe... could she even rebuild what was left of her island?