Published at 8th of September 2026 7:19 am

Chapter 1086: Combat-experienced Strategist

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Malrik’s Soul-bound katana, Solaris, didn’t extend to his soldiers, hence why he always attended almost every battlefield in hiding in case a Rank 9 or Void-class Monster suddenly made a move. He was a man obsessed with his family, hence why his katana’s ability worked for them; as for his soldiers, he cared for them, but it didn’t border on obsession.

As for how he interfered, he did small things, like making the enemy trip whenever they were about to land a fatal attack, or making them go blind for a split second, causing them to miss, and all sorts of other minor things.

So, all his soldiers were battle-hardened veterans who had come face-to-face with death, but had never actually died due to his constant interference.

Asher remained silent for a moment, as though he was imagining the scale of a battle that would lead to the loss of thousands of people. But then, another thought couldn’t help but occur to him, but as he was about to ask it, he shook his head.

He wanted to ask why other Frontier Commanders didn’t do what Malrik was doing; going into the battlefields and saving their soldiers and such. He understood that while not everyone was as strong as Malrik, doing that kind of thing and making their soldiers see them could create a different type of battlefield.

Soldiers might throw caution into the air, and a normal opponent whom they could defeat might kill them instead simply because they would have grown used to their Commander or whoever saving them at the last moment.

"What if your opponents use it against you one day?" He asked, his eyes turning to Malrik. "You said the Rank 10 Emovira you are chasing is the slippery type, right? What if he created a false battlefield just to make you leave your headquarters or something, then wipe out everyone there while you are away?" He asked as though that was what he would do if he were Malrik’s opponent, using his enemy’s habits against him.

Malrik fell into his thoughts as he spoke, "I suppose you are right..." A smile appeared on his lips.

But what he didn’t say was that he had already anticipated things like that happening, and besides, even if it did happen, he could return to the headquarters in less than a second. During the battle against the Assassin Guild, he had covered the entire Zarethorne Empire in a few seconds; him moving from a battlefield to the Headquarters would take even less time.

Asher gazed at Malrik, his Emotion Perception reading the man.

’It seems he has considered this and is somehow hoping his opponent would exploit it,’ Asher thought to himself with a shake of his head.

He only hoped that whatever was about to escalate at Malrik’s Frontier didn’t lead to his... Asher didn’t dare complete that thought. He didn’t want to raise any red flags.

’I wonder how large a Frontier is to hold millions of soldiers and people,’ Asher thought to himself as he walked.

’I also wonder if there are normal people who do the cooking and other minor chores,’ he wondered for a moment, then shook his head, not bothering to ask, as he was sure Malrik wouldn’t even reply.

"What of the Elders and Great Elders? How many soldiers have they lost?" He asked.

Malrik snapped out of his thoughts at Asher’s question as he answered, "I don’t know. I don’t go around asking someone how many soldiers they’ve lost, you know."

Asher laughed a bit as he replied, "That makes sense."

He stayed silent for a moment, then asked, "What Outpost would you recommend I join?"

Till now, he still didn’t know which Outpost to join. He couldn’t exactly make a decision with zero information.

"Why don’t you come to mine? When you become a Soulstar, I can make you the Vice Commander after you defeat my current Vice Commander," Malrik replied with a smile, as he wanted Asher to come to his Frontier.

This was where he planned to take Asher if he failed his third awakening. Even if Asher failed his final awakening, Malrik planned to train him to at least become a strategist or something, while also training him in various combat forms. After all, just because he didn’t awaken didn’t mean he couldn’t participate in battle one way or the other, and just because he failed his awakening didn’t mean he shouldn’t know how to fight, either.

He had made plans for Asher to be a combat-experienced strategist. Although he had scrapped the plans now that Asher had deviated from his original plans, the thought of having his younger brother under his command still appealed to him.

"Your Vice Commander isn’t a Crownstar Life Ranker?" Asher asked in a bit of surprise.

Malrik stared at his younger brother as though he was naive. "Do you think Crownstar Life Rankers grow on trees or something? Even the Wargrave Knight has only four Crownstar-ranked Knights," he replied. "If every Outpost has a Crownstar Life Rank Commander and Crownstar Vice Commander, then what is the use of the soldiers when we could just overpower everything by ourselves?" He asked.

"I see..." Asher replied with a weak smile.

He couldn’t be blamed; he had seen way too many Crownstar Life Rankers. Instructor Melissa, Instructor Jude, Instructor Jane, Instructor Hale, Cindralis, Vice Principal Berion, Yveric, Malrik, Azaron, Conrad, Zarek, the Elders and Great Elders, the Emperor, the former Emperor, and FatelessPen.

How could he possibly be blamed when it was as though the world was showing off these beings like they were common commodities?

"My Vice Commander is a Spark Soulstar Life Ranker," Malrik continued. "I’ve approached a few Crownstar Life Rankers who aren’t loyal to any organization and aren’t the type to go AWOL or betray, but they all turned me down, as Crownstar Life Rankers aren’t bowing their heads to anyone." He shook his head as he explained.

Asher nodded his head as he perfectly understood. Imagine someone who didn’t serve anyone for all their lives, fought for everything by themselves, cherished their freedom, then reached the highest Life Rank, just for someone to approach them with the idea of subordination.

It was crazy on all levels.

Almost, if not all, Crownstar Life Rankers who were under someone right now were people who had been there for years and had been trained to the Crownstar Life Rank from a young age.

So, unless these Crownstar Life Rankers needed something that the other party had, they weren’t going to bend a knee for anyone. Although becoming a Vice Commander wasn’t exactly bending a knee, they would still answer to the Commander nonetheless.

"As for your offer of joining your Outpost, I decline," Asher replied, as he had already made plans not to join Malrik’s from the very beginning.

Malrik turned his head towards Asher for a moment as he asked, "Why?"

Asher shrugged. "Personal reasons."

Malrik stared at this younger brother of his for a moment, then gave a small smile as he replied, "I understand." His tone remained calm as he continued, "But I don’t have any recommendations for you. Just join whoever you want to join. Everyone has their own headaches and enemies, so it doesn’t exactly matter."

He stated this as he pushed open the door to his room, and he and Asher stepped in.

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