Recaps

Leonard was transported by Kang De to another world, where Julian conscripted him and other captured spies into military service. As the prisoners began their orientation, Kang De’s army appeared on Goth’s border amid a thunderous marching song.

• Leonard awoke in custody and endured a painful punishment administered through a device before Julian introduced himself as his political commissar.
• Julian told Leonard that Kang De had conscripted him for ten years and revealed that he could no longer return to the mortal world.
• Leonard and the other captured spies saw the alien military camp, its advanced weapons, and preparations for an unknown battlefield.
• Julian ordered the prisoners to learn obedience and formation, then told them their training would prepare them to face an enemy from beyond the mortal world.
• A Council scout reported strange marching sounds and music near Nar as Kang De’s army appeared through the fog beneath purple lightning.

Phaethon warned Alex to treat Kang De with respect as the Star Palace prepared to face him in battle. When Kang De’s army began its assault, the defenders watched him teleport a vast, heavily fortified military system onto the plains, leaving them stunned by the scale of his power.

• Phaethon crushed Alex beneath his foot and warned him not to mock Kang De or endanger the Star Palace’s plans.
• Griffin reported that Kang De’s army had begun its phase transition, and a horn signaled that war had arrived.
• The vanguard base activated its defenses, including point-defense weapons and wyverns, as scouts reported spatial disturbances and strange sounds.
• Griffin, Phaethon and the disguised Alexander entered the command post and watched Kang De’s forces transition onto the plains.
• Kang De’s troops deployed trenches, bunkers, artillery, vehicles and aircraft into an extensive defensive system, leaving the Council’s soldiers silent.
• Phaethon told the stunned defenders that they now understood what a Fire Thief was.

Kang De replicated the American defensive line in the White Mist World, inspiring the Cathayan soldiers who saw it and renewing their hope of fighting for their homeland. As Griffin prepared his forces for battle, Kang De’s banner announced an unexpected challenge.

• Kang De used the American Empire’s construction project around the Bruce Nuclear Power Plant to earn delivery fees, move materials through his territory, and replicate the defensive line in the White Mist World.
• Kang De considered inventing a false global threat to unite humanity and fund a vast defensive project, but Parrot warned that the scheme could ruin him.
• Cathayan recruits were overwhelmed by the sudden arrival of the fortifications, and Dong Tianming urged them to fight bravely and help Kang De restore their realm.
• Kang De told a grieving Cathayan soldier to stay safe and return alive, then asked Dong Tianming for advice about finding a controllable, frightening monster.
• Griffin halted his rear forces and ordered them to establish defenses after spotting Kang De’s vanguard position and banner.
• Phaethon asked Griffin to read the banner, and Griffin deciphered its words as “Mid doors sniper duel.”

The Arcane Council prepared to fight Kang De, while both sides readied their forces for a long-range strike across the plain south of Nar. The first exchange began as Distant Harbor’s weapons met the Council’s combined Arcane attack.

• Griffin ordered the Council’s defenses and long-range forces to prepare, then rallied his officers by listing four reasons Kang De would lose and the Council would win.
• Kang De told his soldiers he could defeat the Council himself but had brought them to gain experience for future wars, and urged them to prioritize victory and survival.
• Distant Harbor’s soldiers checked their shields, shelters, weapons, and Trauma Retrieval System as the Council’s attack gathered strength.
• Kang De and Horus marked the Council’s positions, and Kang De ordered his forces to fire as Griffin ordered the Council to release its strike.
• The Council’s elemental torrent swept toward Distant Harbor, while a barrage of blazing projectiles rose from Kang De’s positions and poured down on the enemy.

Kang De’s forces used Horus, Sharna, the White Mist World, and specialized defenses to withstand the Council’s large-scale spell offensive. As the defense held and Kang De assessed its limitations, Distant Harbor’s artillery finally broke through the Council’s defenses and struck its position.

• The Council gathered elemental energy into a storm of spells, while Kang De ordered his mage corps to focus on defense and interception rather than contesting the attack directly.
• Distant Harbor’s detection center sent battlefield data to the White Mist World, where magitech scholars and Horus calculated threats and issued defensive orders.
• Horus directed Sharna to swallow dangerous projectiles through Phase Gates and coordinated spells, guns, and Paradox Element to neutralize or divert other attacks.
• Horus evacuated squad two from a threatened sector, and Kang De replaced damaged fortifications after the spell strikes subsided.
• Kang De told Dong Tianming that the defensive system still needed improvement and might not support several simultaneous wars against stronger enemies such as the Star Palace.
• Distant Harbor’s concentrated artillery fire broke through the Council’s Deceleration Field and interception devices and struck the Council’s position.

A Twilight Moon elf military observer reported that Kang De and Griffin’s armies had fought a three-day stalemate, with Griffin’s Deceleration Field countering Kang De’s alchemical weapons and the Council preparing to advance. Griffin refused Phaethon’s proposals to deal with the elven spy and planned an offensive, while Kang De asked Horus whether his conventional troops had completed a rotation of combat stress exposure.

• The elven observer wrote to Dairila that both armies had relied on trenches and long-range attacks, while Griffin’s Deceleration Field and defensive tactics limited Kang De’s alchemical bombardment.
• The observer warned Dairila that the Council was gaining strength and moving new Deceleration Field mechanisms forward, and suggested that Twilight Moon should help Kang De before his position worsened.
• Griffin rejected Phaethon’s suggestion to kill or frame the elven observer, warning that it could give the empress a pretext to intervene or push the elves toward Kang De.
• Griffin concluded that the Council should attack to restore morale and said the time had come to shatter Distant Harbor’s faith in Kang De.
• Kang De studied the map and asked Horus whether the conventional troops had completed one full rotation of combat stress exposure.

Grand Speaker Griffin Williams used magic and potions to drive the Council’s conscripted soldiers into an assault on Kang De’s defenses. Kang De’s forces met the charge with advanced weapons, and Karl was struck down in the fighting.

• Griffin Williams gave a magically enhanced speech and ordered the Council’s troops to attack Kang De.
• Council officers distributed morale potions and led Karl and other conscripts over the trench ladders into the fog-covered battlefield.
• The Council’s mages raised fog and earthen walls while intercepting many of Kang De’s artillery strikes, allowing the assault to press forward amid heavy casualties.
• Kang De told his troops to follow orders and protect their lives while destroying the enemy, as his soldiers prepared conventional weapons and Yilan-Tai’er Radiant Crystal guns.
• A former Oathbreaker sergeant fired a Flame Spear Laser into the charging troops, and Karl fell into the mud as his strength and awareness faded.

Gaden Mist led a group of Council recruits across a devastating battlefield toward Distant Harbor, then broke with his orders and tried to secure their surrender. Distant Harbor resumed fighting, the recruits died in a poison attack, and Gaden charged the enemy before dying without saving anyone.

• Gaden Mist sheltered frightened recruits and led them through the bombardment toward Distant Harbor's position.
• After seeing the recruits' suffering and questioning the war, Gaden told six survivors to hide and surrender once the attack ended.
• Gaden announced himself to Distant Harbor and asked its commander to accept the recruits' surrender, but the fighting resumed before he could reach the position.
• Gaden returned to the shelter and found that Cloudkill had killed four recruits and left the other two dying.
• Enraged, Gaden charged a Distant Harbor soldier, mortally wounded him, and was killed in the exchange.
• Distant Harbor recovered Gaden's body and sent it to his family after the war, but no one learned that he had tried to save the recruits.

Kang De reflected on the psychological cost of war and reassured Dong Tianming that he would do everything possible to protect his soldiers, while Dong pledged his loyalty. When Griffin launched a poison-assisted assault with elite troops, Kang De condemned him for sending brave soldiers to die and ordered a new response.

• Kang De told Dong Tianming that he wanted soldiers to return home alive both physically and mentally, and Dong was moved by his concern for them.
• Kang De joked that if the Star Palace could not be defeated, he would evacuate people with Paradox Crystals and destroy the planet; he then asked Dong whether he knew of the Curtain Closer.
• Horus reported that Griffin had used wind-enhanced poison magic to cover the trenches and sent elite troops equipped with protective spells, firearms, bombs, and offensive scrolls to attack.
• Kang De admired the enemy soldiers' courage but blamed Griffin for sending them to die in an absurd war, and vowed to make Griffin understand his crime.
• Kang De ordered Horus to collect the enemy's new weapons, keep his soldiers from becoming trapped in prolonged combat, preserve their lives while inflicting casualties, and prepare a surprise for Griffin.

Beikete and the Council assault troops endured a brutal battle against Kang De’s forces, believing they had won when Distant Harbor retreated. A massive explosion then devastated the captured position, and Kang De’s army revealed a newly formed defensive line as it advanced against the stunned Council forces.

• Beikete woke among his dead comrades, panicked, and chose to play dead rather than rejoin the fighting.
• Mile’s assault squad advanced through enemy trenches, using spells and water walls to defeat defenders and seize supplies.
• Mile’s squad was devastated when explosive weapons shattered their water-wall defense, while the wounded spy codenamed Cloud Lark reported enemy tactics and positions to headquarters.
• The Council troops celebrated when Distant Harbor appeared to withdraw, and Beikete sat up among the corpses as the fighting seemed to end.
• A huge explosion obliterated the captured position and nearby troops, after which Kang De condemned Griffin Williams and the Council forces.
• The Grand Speaker called for renewed fighting, but Distant Harbor’s crystal pillars formed a vast new defensive line as its army advanced, chanting “Ten thousand victories!”

The Council army drove Kang De’s forces from their positions, but explosives supplied by the Americans detonated beneath the battlefield and devastated the advancing troops. Kang De revealed that he meant to attack Griffin Williams’s heart, while Phaethon warned Griffin that Alex was more willing to go all out than he was.

• The Council army broke through Distant Harbor’s defenses, forcing its troops to retreat while observers praised Griffin Williams and dismissed Kang De as a weak commander.
• After Distant Harbor’s troops withdrew, explosives buried beneath the positions detonated, blasting the Council vanguard and terrifying its soldiers.
• Griffin ordered his officers to search for tunnels, then insisted the blast was a bluff and told them to withdraw and celebrate their victory.
• Kang De told Dong Tianming that the explosives had come from Amerikkka, then told Horus that he wanted to attack Griffin’s heart rather than simply kill him.
• Kang De drew inspiration from the effects of World War I and proposed giving Griffin a surprise, while Horus questioned his decision to detonate the explosives early.
• Griffin begged Phaethon for a solution, refused to sacrifice his soldiers more directly, and suspected Alex had acted; Phaethon said Alex was smarter and more willing to go all out.

Private Karl woke from a nightmare in a hospital ward, where he and other Arcane Council soldiers were recovering as prisoners of Kang De. While the wounded learned that Distant Harbor cared for its own soldiers even better, Kang De prepared a gun salute for comrades entering stasis in another plane.

• Karl remembered being wounded on the battlefield and mistook the surgeons operating on him for dark ritualists before he lost consciousness again.
• Karl awoke with a bandaged leg and a missing forearm, and Miss Julie reassured him as she tended to the prisoners in the ward.
• The prisoners gradually accepted their care, while Julie explained that Kang De had called them brave and deserving of a second chance.
• Julie described the far better facilities and benefits given to Distant Harbor's wounded, leaving the prisoners jealous and conflicted.
• Kang De stood before a solemn hall and ordered his soldiers to salute their comrades as they entered the stasis field.

Kang De staged a ceremony at the Throne of Heroic Spirits as fifty-eight wounded soldiers entered stasis, then urged the assembled army not to mistake him for a god or follow him blindly. He ended by asking them to fight beside him with understanding and purpose, and the troops saluted him before preparing to return to their operations.

• Kang De presented the wounded soldiers in stasis pods to the assembled army beneath the newly built Throne of Heroic Spirits, whose grandeur overwhelmed the soldiers and raised their morale.
• Kang De explained that the wounded were being preserved until better medical treatment could heal them and reunite them with their families.
• Kang De told the soldiers that he was a mortal, not a god, and praised the field medical system as more important than the imposing hall.
• Kang De asked the army to understand what they fought for and to avoid blind faith, while promising to bear responsibility for their choices and sacrifices.
• Kang De ordered Horus to include his speech in recruit training and future visits, then prepared the units for return teleportation and post-battle review.
• Horus commanded the troops to salute, and Kang De returned their salute with a laugh.

Kang De rejected Dong Tianming’s plan to turn the army’s respect into religious devotion, while A Fu showed him the medical system she helped build. Back in Distant Harbor, Kang De insisted he would not make war for personal revenge, and he and Hong San renewed their vow to prevent people from being treated as cattle and sheep.

• Dong Tianming urged Kang De to let the army’s reverence grow into worship, but Kang De said he preferred soldiers who thought for themselves and chose to salute him willingly.
• Horus suggested Dong Tianming could try to prove whether devotion made the army more effective, then left him pondering the hint.
• A Fu guided Kang De through the medical system, took credit for its improvements, and tried to help him relax after the fighting.
• Kang De reviewed the Earth doctors and field hospitals supporting Distant Harbor’s wounded and Council prisoners.
• Hong San asked whether Kang De would reconcile with the emperor, and Kang De said he would judge the emperor’s sincerity while refusing to start a war for personal reasons.
• Kang De told Hong San not to let people treat him as a god, and they renewed their shared promise to stop people from being cattle and sheep.

The author explained that surgery, painful recovery, and an unexpected apartment move had kept them from updating. They felt better and hoped to post a chapter the next day, but could not promise a regular schedule before their follow-up appointment.

• The author described losing weight during a hospital stay and enduring surgery, a urinary catheter, and painful wound care.
• The author said they had been confined to bed for two weeks and struggled to write or play games while recovering.
• The author went apartment hunting in the heat after their landlord said they needed the apartment, and arranged to move at the end of the month.
• The author discovered that Mr. Cockroach had returned just before the move.
• The author said they would try to resume updates and hoped to post a chapter the next day, while warning that a normal schedule was uncertain until their follow-up appointment.

In the trenches, Satri’s song about the soldiers’ misery and the Council’s leaders drew the attention of mage officers conducting an inspection. The soldiers stood together against them, and the chapter ended with a captain reading Kang De’s booklet about who the soldiers were fighting for.

• Satri sang a satirical song about the bombardments, the soldiers’ hardship, and the people who sent them to war.
• Mage officers questioned the soldiers about Distant Harbor weapons, dropped supplies, and propaganda, while the captain denied keeping anything and warned them not to force his hand.
• The captain revealed that he had used advice from a booklet written by Kang De to deter the officers, and the soldiers showed that only one of them held a purple prism.
• A soldier from another dugout approached the officers with his fist clenched, and the lead mage dismissed the inspection as uneventful rather than risk provoking the watching trench.
• The adjutant wondered what Kang De was trying to accomplish, while the mage said he wanted to know what the Grand Speaker was thinking.
• Back at the shack, the soldiers listened as their literate captain read Kang De’s booklet, beginning with questions about their enemy and what they were fighting for.

Griffin argued with Phaethon over the Star Palace’s aid and demanded a way to survive Kang De’s growing strength, then proposed a strategy that could unite the mortal rulers against him. After a flame-colored aurora appeared across the sky, Kang De read Griffin’s letter offering to end the threat of war if he left the mortal world for good.

• Griffin reviewed Kang De’s propaganda campaign and admitted that the Council’s tactics and weapons had failed to gain an advantage against him.
• Phaethon warned Griffin that he would die and urged him to make his soldiers and subjects more loyal, but Griffin rejected the proposal and demanded additional Star Palace aid and a way out.
• Griffin proposed exchanging his knowledge of the Star Palace’s plans for its trust, then suggested that they exploit mortal rulers’ opposition to Kang De’s political aims.
• A flame-colored aurora appeared across the world, and Kang De read a letter from Griffin describing the Star Palace’s plan to threaten the nations with extinction unless Kang De left the mortal world and never returned.

Kang De considered Griffin’s proposal to leave the mortal world and buy time against the Star Palace, but rejected its moral pressure by sending back a counterproposal that demanded Griffin’s cooperation and prepared for a decisive battle. After ordering his forces to ready for war, Kang De traveled to Earth and admitted to Parrot that a few years of peace in the mortal world would give him decades to prepare and fulfill his obligations at home.

• Horus read Griffin’s letter, in which Griffin urged Kang De to leave the mortal world, share knowledge, and let the nations prepare for war while Kang De’s absence deterred the Star Palace.
• Dong Tianming condemned Griffin’s proposal as a self-serving attempt to profit whichever side won, and Kang De questioned whether Cathay’s court and people would accept peace if the Star Palace stopped its attacks.
• Kang De dictated a reply demanding that Griffin let his army be defeated, help capture Phaethon, pursue Kang De publicly, and persuade his imprisoned allies to serve Kang De’s cause.
• Kang De sent the reply to Griffin, ordered Horus to prepare for a decisive battle, and opened a Phase Gate to Earth after asking Dong Tianming to hold the fort.
• On Earth, Kang De told Parrot he was tempted by the chance to gain three to five years in the mortal world, which would give him decades to prepare and fulfill his responsibilities before returning.

Kang De and Malegith weighed whether to keep fighting the Star Palace or retreat to Earth and preserve the Mortal World’s survivors, while jokingly planning to manipulate the American election. They agreed to finish the war with the Council before deciding their next move, and a device launched from the White Mist World began observing the Sun.

• Kang De reflected on his time away from his parents and asked Malegith whether their preparations could defeat the Star Palace and what the victory would cost.
• Malegith proposed mind-controlling an American president to redirect the country’s military power, but Kang De warned that discovery could provoke a nuclear war.
• Malegith suggested using Griffin to secure a temporary peace with the Star Palace, then evacuating survivors to the White Mist World if the Mortal World faced destruction.
• Malegith urged Kang De to leave the Mortal World after the Council war, but he postponed the decision and said they would deal with the immediate crisis first.
• A device made in the White Mist World emerged through a Phase Gate near the Sun and began observing it and firing projectiles toward it.

Griffin negotiated with Kang De while trying to buy time for the Star Palace’s arrival, and his account of Kang De’s homeland unexpectedly delighted Phaethon. Kang De accepted Griffin’s order releasing his prisoners’ former allies but planned to kill Griffin, then prepared a major battle at Goth’s border with Earth’s modern weapons and Dong Tianming’s support.

• Griffin read Kang De’s demands and agreed to let his students and trusted subordinates serve Kang De while he continued negotiations to buy time.
• Phaethon questioned Griffin about Kang De’s homeland, then reacted with joy when Griffin concluded that it was prosperous but still plagued by conflict and injustice.
• Griffin sent Kang De a handwritten order for his prisoners, but refrained from warning him that Phaethon seemed eager for Kang De to return home.
• Kang De accepted Griffin’s order, told Dong Tianming that he intended to kill Griffin after exploiting the negotiations, and asked Dong for support against peerless experts.
• Kang De checked preparations for air support and the Fulton System, then gathered guests and forces for a hunt at Goth’s border and the first victory against the Star Palace.

Dairila explained how she had helped secure the Dragon Emperor’s support for Kang De, while Kang De struggled with the thought of leaving her and others behind after the battle. Dairila took his hand and led him out to listen to his army, hoping to steady his resolve.

• Dairila told Kang De that she had deliberately met the Dragon Emperor and convinced him she was firmly on Kang De’s side.
• The Dragon Emperor told Dong Tianming that he had recognized Dairila’s matchmaking effort and showed him Dragon Island Defense’s staged dragon-couple marketing.
• Kang De realized that Dairila had long supported him to prepare for the Star Palace conflict and worried about leaving her behind for decades.
• Dairila asked Kang De whether he was afraid of the coming battle, then shared how visiting her army renewed her resolve.
• Dairila took Kang De by the hand and led him outside to listen to his army.

Kang De and Dairila walked through the trenches as she openly displayed her affection, while Kang De worried about his plan to leave the Mortal World and the years of separation it would bring. Dairila kissed him before the army and prepared to address the world, leaving Kang De stunned as her public declaration began.

• Dairila teased Kang De about her beauty and coached him on presenting himself confidently among elves.
• Dairila asked whether Tina or she was more beautiful, and Kang De deflected by emphasizing the bond they shared.
• Kang De told Dairila he was troubled by his plan to use a temporary pact with the Star Palace and Earth’s faster time to prepare for war, and she urged him to trust his intuition.
• Kang De began to tell Dairila everything, but Horus interrupted to announce that the army was broadcasting their meeting live.
• Dairila kissed Kang De in front of the troops, then said she wanted him to know he need not worry about her feelings and prepared to speak to the entire Mortal World.

Dairila publicly declared her love for Kang De and pledged Twilight Moon to his cause, urging the soldiers to unite against the Star Palace and the Destroyers. Kang De accepted her commitment and ordered the army to attack the Council forces in twenty minutes.

• Dairila told the assembled soldiers she loved Kang De and hoped to marry him after the war.
• Dairila explained that the true enemy was the Star Palace and called for the Mortal World's nations to form an alliance under Kang De's leadership.
• Dairila pledged Twilight Moon's resources and vassal states to Kang De and proposed a summit to unite the nations against the coming calamity.
• Dairila challenged the soldiers to prove their trust in Kang De by defeating Griffin Williams and the Council forces.
• Kang De embraced Dairila, then ordered his army to attack in twenty minutes, break the enemy formation, and slay its leader.

Kang De, Dairila, and the Dragon Emperor agreed to unite their forces against the Star Palace, while Kang De proposed a scheme to bring Dragon Island’s dragons into line. After they planned to capture the Council’s leaders alive, Kang De launched a massive assault on the Council’s positions.

• Dairila confessed that she wanted to share victory and power with Kang De, and he thanked her while asking for time to understand his feelings.
• Dairila proposed the Iron Curtain Alliance and demanded Dragon Island’s support; the Dragon Emperor agreed on the condition that the dragons be paid for their service.
• Kang De proposed using Wyvern contracts and competition to pressure Dragon Island’s dragons, alarming the Dragon Emperor with his plans.
• Kang De revealed that the emperor had asked him to become his heir, and he proposed a global summit after the battle to unite the Mortal World against the Star Palace.
• Kang De deployed artillery, armored forces, and new weapons through the Phase Gates, then ordered the allied forces to attack the Council’s positions.

Kang De launched a full assault on the Arcane Council’s defenses, while Griffin ordered a counterattack and confronted the realization that he had become expendable. As the dragon battle group fought the Council’s wyverns, Kang De summoned a colossal war behemoth to the battlefield.

• Griffin watched Kang De’s rockets strike the Council’s defensive line and ordered his forces to counterattack, sending wyverns into the sky.
• Kang De rejected Horus’s suggestion to use spatial beacons to encourage enemy soldiers to flee and ordered his troops to face the Council head-on.
• Kang De’s armored dragon battle group entered the Mortal World and clashed with the Council’s wyverns, while Stiegel destroyed a wyvern and earned military merit points.
• The Dragon Emperor offered to join the fight, but Kang De said his air force had more than fast-moving units.
• Kang De opened a vast Phase Door over the battlefield, and a colossal war behemoth emerged as he announced, “Kirov... reporting!”