The ground shook before the enemy was even visible.
Kael stood beside the Ashwood Barracks, hand resting on Veera's shoulder as she tightened the straps of her armor. Her expression hadn't changed since sunrise.
"They're early," she said.
"Or they're eager," Kael replied. "Either way — they bleed today."
The system flared:
[ENEMY STRIKE FORCE ARRIVAL: 00:15:37]
[DEPLOYED UNITS: 40+]
[COMMANDER DETECTED: MALRIC THE SHRED (RANK D)]
Kael pulled open the unit command screen.
[ASHBOUND MILITIA: x5]
[STATUS: READY]
[TERRITORY EFFECTS: SHADOW TRENCHES — ACTIVE
[LAW #1 — ACTIVE]
Veera stepped forward.
"I'll hold the front. The militia takes the flanks. We stall, bleed them, then strike hard."
Kael nodded.
"Stay alive."
Her grin was sharp. "I'm bound, remember? I can't run. Neither should they."
~~~~~~~~~~~
From the mist marched armored beasts — not literal ones, but men so brutalized they may as well have been. Bloodred cloth, twin-bladed axes, eyes burning with fever.
At the center stood Malric..
Seven feet tall. Leather cords wrapped around his arms like trophies. His chest bore the sigil of the Crimson Vale — freshly blood-painted.
He roared.
"I AM MALRIC THE SHRED — COUSIN TO VIREL, RIGHTFUL HEIR TO THIS WRETCHED WASTE. BRING ME THE SOVEREIGN'S HEAD!"
And then the world exploded.
Ash flew as trenches collapsed beneath the enemy's front line, swallowing four soldiers whole.
Screams tore through the fog as the rest staggered, half-blinded.
Then Veera struck.
Kael watched from above, his screen flashing system alerts:
[SHADOW TRENCHES TRIGGERED: -30% MOBILITY | -15% VISIBILITY FOR ENEMIES]
[LAW #1: "No invader shall leave alive" — Mobility Debuff Applied]
Veera's spear moved like a thunderclap.
She impaled one raider clean through the chest, pivoted, sliced another across the throat, and didn't stop moving.
Behind her, the militia surged.
Five ash-formed warriors flanked from the ruins, slashing knees, stabbing spines, dragging two soldiers into the dark.
But numbers had weight.
Malric crashed through the trenches like a wild god, screaming, spinning, cutting down one militia unit in a single swing.
[ASHBOUND MILITIA — UNIT LOST]
Kael's screen pulsed:
[LAW TRIGGER: Enemy Attempting Retreat]
[FAILED — Law Holds]
The fleeing soldier tripped. Roots of ash bound his legs. A militia blade ended him.
Kael's jaw tightened.
One dead. Four left.
He opened the Lawcraft Panel.
Second slot. Empty. Waiting.
Kael whispered:
"I bind my will to the fallen."
[ENTER LAW]
"For every one of mine you kill, one of yours will burn."
[LAW RECORDED]
"LAW OF RETRIBUTION" — Territory Law #2
[Effect:]
{When a friendly unit dies inside territory, a retaliatory fire pulse strikes the nearest enemy.
Damage scales with enemy tier (high vs E-rank and below)}.
The system flared — and the battlefield burned.
A ring of fire erupted where the lost militia had fallen. Malric stumbled, arms raised, howling as two of his soldiers were instantly reduced to bone.
Veera saw the flash. "He wrote a new Law."
And smiled.
The Crimson raiders fell back — or tried to.
They couldn't move. The Law held them like chains.
Veera cut down the last standing enemy with a spinning thrust that split his helm in two.
Malric collapsed on one knee, breathing hard.
"You... write Laws like a madman."
Kael stood over him, eyes glowing.
"I'm not writing Laws. I'm writing your ending."
Veera drove her spear through Malric's chest.
[ENEMY COMMANDER DEFEATED]
[BATTLE COMPLETE]
[TERRITORY DEFENDED: +150 EXP]
[LAW OF THE FIRST SOVEREIGN: 2/10]
[REWARD GRANTED: BINDING STONE (RARE)]
Kael walked through the ruins, past the smoke and broken blades.
Only three militia remained.
But his land still stood.
He opened the system.
[TERRITORY LEVEL-UP: RANK E → D]
And so did his ambition.
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°
[END OF CHAPTER 5]
°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°°