The battle between the shadows and the horde had been raging for hours, stretching into a brutal stalemate. The long line of the clash that stretched for kilometers was a sight to behold from afar. 

Coupled with the occasional rain of dark fireballs that came from the rear, striking the horde's wave mercilessly like a scythe of death...

A beautiful scenery for Liam's eyes.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

The casualties on both sides increased by seconds. 

Then, the scene zoomed.

A shadow knight, towering above the normal monsters walked imposingly into the enemy's line.

Each steps under the metallic shadow boots caused the ground to tremble.

Eyes darting around, the metallic glove that had been holding the huge great sword tightened, and like always, the shadow knights were known to be mute no matter the situations. 

Under his casual stride into their line, the surrounding monsters retreated and vacated a circle in the middle. 

Fearfully looking towards him as they roared.

Boom!

He swung his sword from the top, the earth cleaved into two, parted aside and the surrounding monsters that have no time to react were cleaved mercilessly into the ground. 

Not even a shriek could be muttered before their deaths.

This wave was relentless, and the ones that followed promised to be just as cruel.

There was a timer, after all. 

A countdown dictating how long one had to crush the incoming horde. 

100 waves per day, divide them into 12 hours at least since there was a resting period during the night, and just imagine the short interval from one wave to the next one. 

And if that time ran out… the next wave would still come, regardless of whether the current one had been defeated or not. 

Piling up...

Piling up...

And by the time they knew it, the enemy's numbers was on par with them.

And this time? The limit had passed.

A deep rumble tore through the atmosphere as a massive portal yawned open outside the dome’s edge, another one appeared. 

From within, a new wave emerged, bigger, stronger, and noticeably, worse. 

Howls, screeches, guttural bellows, every sound imaginable roared into the sky like some cursed market overrun by wild, twisted beasts.

Four legged, 2 legged, creatures that only existed in nightmares. They walked out one by one from the thin film of the portal's golden curtain. Looking around, breathing in the fresh air of an untainted world, and roared.

Liam’s brow twitched. 

His eyes narrowing slightly and he looked over the horizon.

“…This one’s going to be a pain,” he muttered, voice clipped with a quiet sigh.

But there was no room for complaints.

The Warp Event was fair for everyone according to their strength. 

Most lords didn’t even survive the first day, he opened the global chat briefly just to see the cries of help, pleading for someone to save them.

Odd...

Since forfeiting was an option available to most lords. 

Such a scene shouldn't be happening in the global chat. 

But what he wasn't aware... was that, the forfeiting feature only applied if the person managed to say it in time.

But if the claws reached first to a lord's neck, then death would come, and nothing afterwards but the endless darkness for a soul that aligned themselves with the warp's rules.

The fact he’d made it this far was already brushing the edge of a miracle.

A quick glance at the rankings told him the truth, he was among the very few still standing. 

The rest?

Eliminated long ago.

Most forfeited, 10% percent of them died at the hand of the monsters, the unfortunate fools. 

The gap in power was obvious.

And yet… someone was still hanging on, still fighting tooth and nail for the top spot.

‘I’ve underestimated these lords,’ he thought, expression unreadable.

Even now, with two overlapping waves crashing toward his walls, Liam’s composure didn’t waver. 

His fingers lifted slightly from the armrest of his throne, gesturing toward the figures seated nearby.

Not even a word, and the figures around the seat understood immediately what their 'Lord' wanted.

With that single command, several streaks of light carved across the sky, blazing meteors crashing down upon the enemy horde.

Boom!

Boom!

Boom!

Explosions tore through the ground, incinerating tens of thousands in seconds.

Even tier 5 monsters, creatures that could have levelled cities, were shredded in the chaos in an instant. 

Liam swept his gaze across the battlefield. “No tier 6s…” he murmured. “Then let ours loose.”

His tone was casual, but the order held weight, no mercy for the creatures that resembled none of his aesthetic's  values.

And just like that, a group of powerful shadow summons leaped into the horde like a carp in water. 

Tier 6 shadow summons. 

They weren't exactly a knight nor a mage. More like both, a dual path awakener, each one of them. As for basic attacking spells, from the looks of it, they seemed to be using shadow based attacks. 

The absence of tier 6 monsters turned the battlefield into a bloodbath. 

His summons, began carving through the horde like executioners.

Even compared to a top-tier human fighter, these summons were superior in every way, brute strength, stamina, energy reserves, tactics.

It became a one-sided slaughter. The battlefield turned into a butcher’s yard.

From above, Mize stared, lips parted, eyes gleaming with quiet awe. 

She didn’t say anything, but in her heart, a silent admiration stirred for Liam’s decisiveness. 

The prior wave crumbled swiftly.

What was left behind was a limping, crippled second wave, struggling to hold the line.

Liam’s own forces weren’t untouched.

Casualties mounted. 

But oddly, as Mize’s eyes scanned the field, the numbers seemed to rise instead of fall.

Her gaze flickered. “He’s still summoning?” she muttered, eyes narrowing as she locked onto the shadowy silhouettes tearing through the enemy lines.

The tally was rising, closing in on 1.5 million.

Most of them tier 3 and below, but numbers didn’t lie.

"He's actually actively summoning more during the battle"

Not one to fall behind, Mize drifted upward into the air.

The mirage realm orb hovered beside her like a companion, glowing faintly as it opened before her.

She sent hundreds of her clones diving inside its inner world.

The objective was clear, create an equally overwhelming summoning skill. Something on par with Liam’s forces.

And with hundreds of minds working in perfect unison, it didn’t take long.

She worked with what she already possessed, roots, plants, nature's energy.

And when the creation was complete, she slid her fingers downward, revealing her updated panel.

----------------------------------------

[Personal Status Panel]

[Title]: Goddess Awakening

[Awakening Status]: Awakened

[Profession]: Path of the Degraded and Elemental Goddess – Divinity of Beauty, Lust, and Detachment

[Realm]: Tier 6

[Beauty System]

Beauty: 71

Cute: 70

Charm: 64

[Inventory]

Storage Ring (Mid-Stage Blue Grade): Carries high-end fashion items, accessories.

[Skills]

Imagination Realism [Tier 6]

Telepathic Control [Tier 6]

Gravity Control [Tier 6]

Ethereal Charm [Tier 6]

Soul Flowers Domain [Tier 6]

Wooden Guards, Wooden Soul [Tier 6]

Set the Heart Ablaze, Set My Conviction on Fire [Tier 6]

Purity of Soul, Neutrality of Mind [Tier 6]

Cataclysmic Orbs [Tier 6]

Teleportation [Tier 6]

Heavenly Golden Palm [Tier 6]

All Mighty Push [Tier 6]

Mirage Realm [Tier 6]

Mental Tank [Tier 6] ×100

Bless of Reduction [Tier 6]

Mental Strength Digitalisation [-]

Rapid Breeding [Tier 6]

Flesh and Blood Engineering [Tier 6]

Terrain Manipulation [Tier 6]

Absolute Clone [Tier 6]

Five Elementals Overlord [Tier 6]

Divination, Search [Tier 6]

All-Seeing Eyes [Tier 6]

Nature Summoner [Tier 6]

[Points: 78,200]

----------------------------------------

“Nice,” Mize whispered, her tone low. “And the Wooden Guard... might need them again.”

The Wooden Guard skill, the same she’d used against Liam before.

It had impressive strength, though limited in number. 

She had dismissed them right after that battle. 

But now… she might need to summon them again. 

Stronger, this time, if possible. 

Her Mental Tank had multiplied compared to that time. 

Dozens more had been crafted during her free time.

Her reserves felt bottomless now. Of course, it was only a feeling, but not an inaccurate one.

She turned her attention back to the new skill: Nature Summoner, a skill designed to summon vast numbers of lower-tier units.

And the best part? The design was based entirely on her imagination.

A breeze tugged at her robes as she hovered further from the battlefield, somewhere else from the main battlefield.

Her hair spilled behind her like a curtain of midnight water, glinting faintly.

She closed her eyes.

“I never really liked Liam’s shadows… they feel too lifeless,” she murmured, thoughtful.

Her mind began to spin.

How about massive humanoid soldiers? Each at least three meters tall, some larger. 

Built like war machines clad in heavy armor, shaped with the bulk and design of over exaggerated medieval plating.

Unlike Liam’s summons, hers wouldn’t just fight in melee. 

Long-range, short-range, they’d do both. 

High resilience. Unshakable loyalty. A blind faith in her name.

She will instill all of these into her creations. 

And most importantly, absolutely bad ass looking. 

Then, it happened. 

The ground beneath her rippled like disturbed water. Roots surged upward by the thousands, twisting, merging, reshaping. 

Soon, a perfect square formation stood ready, hundreds of thousands of still figures clad in moss-green, bark-armored suits that reflected the lights as if they were made out of metal. 

Tier 3 soldiers, all of them, motionless for now without souls. 

Each one stood at least three meters tall, a massive axe strapped across their back, and a cannon-like weapon resting on their thigh.

Real bullets? Not necessary.

Mize had designed their weapons to fire energy rounds, cheap, efficient, and powered by internal reserves. As long as the warp energy was still sufficient, then they can fire infinitely. 

Depends on their strength, really. 

Strength and energy were perfectly balanced.

Each soldier was filled with a lot of fake memories, their minds pre-loaded with tactics, techniques, and years’ worth of simulated battle conditioning. 

As for how she performed this?

It was through the battle tactics that her clones had been accumulating inside the mirage realm. Copied them and instilled them into these summoned warrior's mind. 

They looked natural, but were far from it.

At the front, the Wooden Guards rose again as she summoned them, but this time in a different form. 

Towering at four meters, their design mirrored the others but amplified.

Three thousand of these tier 4 brutes now stood as captains. 

Next came the tier 5s, five meters tall, hulking and armed to the teeth. 

Several hundred of them, each possessing unique combat skills and high-level instincts.

Nature slash... 

Vines rupture... 

Earth green...

And more, Mize casually created these skills for them. After all, she possessed the perfect affinity for the nature element. Creating these tiny derivations to equip these soldiers with the perfect means to attack and defend.

Mize made their bodies tougher, mentally invisible, spiritually powerful and even possessing special skills of their own, varied. 

She didn’t shackle them to default presets either.

 If they wanted to grow stronger, they could learn. 

Evolve.

She even added in an important order in their mind, "Keep learning and growing" since they possessed the potential to grow more. 

And finally, dozens of tier 6s. 

No armor. Just robes. 

Men and women with piercing eyes and distinct presences. 

Each one a master of a single element, capable of controlling it flawlessly, a gift from Mize for them. 

Fire, water, nature, earth, and more.

But more than that, they held something special: ambition. They could train, practice. Seek power. More freedom compared to the rest. 

They could grow, potential seeds for tier 7 in the future. 

And then… the final act.

She landed lightly before the army. With a single wave of her hand, ten roots snapped from the ground twisting into ten distinct figures. Doing so, her so called endless supply of warp energy drained several tanks in seconds. 

Ten beings, each human-shaped, each different, and each one.... a True Lord.

She named them the Ten Blades.

From First Blade to Tenth Blade, they stood as the spearhead of her new military force.

Powerful enough to dominate lesser armies, strong enough to shape the territory’s future.

Each one had consumed a full Mental Tank to summon and create . 

Before, this would’ve drained her dry. But now?

Now it was nothing.

As the wind settled and silence swept the plain, she hovered above them all. 

The army waited, glowing softly in the twilight air.

It was time to name them.

A real name.

A cool one.

She sat in silence, fingers loosely clasped beneath her chin, trying to come up with a name that had weight to it, and trying not to be cheesy with her choices. 

But after several minutes of blank staring and furrowed brows, nothing satisfying came to mind.

Rather than waste time on it, she exhaled lightly and went with the first thought that didn’t sound awful.

“Broken Blade Army,” she muttered to herself.

It wasn’t flashy. 

But it worked.

And she kinda liked it. 

Led by ten True Lord-class figures, the Ten Blades, alongside dozens of powerful experts, the Broken Blade Army was now fully formed under her name. 

With the final adjustments made, she raised one hand and brought it down, palm-first, onto the void beneath her.

The air trembled.

A silent ripple expanded out from the impact, spreading like a water ring across the sky.

The very fabric of space around the army shimmered, and in that instant, each figure opened its eyes.

Souls snapped into their shells. 

Memories and identity flickered into existence, embedded straight into their minds like instinct.

Mize watched this unfold with a faint, satisfied smile. Her gaze drifted back toward the battlefield in the far distance. 

“Now it’s my turn to move.”

A playful lilt curled in her voice.

“Who says a crossdresser can’t command an army?"