Recaps

Lee Jae-yong defied the Challenger Alliance’s orders and rejected Kim Geun-seok’s command, insisting that South Korea would fight Bear Country on its own terms. He planned to lure Bear Country’s forces along the route from Ulaanbaatar to Darkhan and ambush them, leaving the attack yet to begin.

• Lee Jae-yong brought 500,000 South Korean troops to the Bear Country border but delayed the attack and began drawing up his own battle plan.
• Xi'er demanded to know why Malaysia had not carried out the border harassment, and Lee introduced himself before declaring he would not serve as cannon fodder.
• Kim Geun-seok confronted Lee for disregarding Commander Park’s orders, but Lee argued that the situation had changed and that he no longer had to obey Kim.
• Xiaochuan mocked the Koreans for fighting among themselves, and Lee left the commander channel after facing the others’ accusations.
• Lee told Park Jeong-yong and Choi Tae-won that they would lure Bear Country’s forces toward Ulaanbaatar, retreat toward Darkhan, and ambush them along the 300-kilometer route.

Lee Jae-yong persuaded the Goryeo leaders to prepare an ambush for Russian Bear, then Choi Tae-won provoked Bear Country by attacking civilians across the border. Russian Bear responded by announcing a massive assault on Malaysia, and Choi began to suspect their plan had gone wrong.

• Lee Jae-yong convinced Choi Tae-won and Park Jeong-yong to use the terrain between Ulaanbaatar and Darkhan to ambush Russian Bear's forces.
• Park Jeong-yong, Lee Jae-yong, and Choi Tae-won set up 1,000 hidden strategic points with weapons, mines, and bombs, while Choi prepared to lure Russian Bear's troops.
• Choi Tae-won led fewer than 2,000 motorcycle cavalry across the border and ordered them to shoot Russian Bear civilians.
• The Firmament increased Russian Bear's Wrath for Malaysia's Challengers and announced that Russian Bear would launch a large-scale attack from multiple military districts.
• Choi Tae-won retreated into Malaysia and grew uneasy as the warnings listed incoming tank, artillery, aerospace, and naval forces.

Choi Tae-won realized Russian Bear was attacking Malaysia on every front and that Lee Jae-yong’s fixed-position strategy had left their forces exposed. Lee insisted on destroying the first Russian Bear wave, and his forces ambushed its tanks at a mined strategic point, leaving several disabled.

• Choi Tae-won recognized that Russian Bear’s all-front offensive made Malaysia’s forces vulnerable and ordered his motorcycle corps to retreat south toward Ulaanbaatar while drawing enemy fire.
• Choi Tae-won warned Lee Jae-yong that Russian Bear’s air force would soon arrive and urged him to use mobile guerrilla warfare, but Lee ordered him to lead the enemy to strategic point one and destroy the invading troops.
• Lee Jae-yong and Park Jeong-yong watched the live feeds from the command yurt in Ulaanbaatar as Russian Bear’s First Tank Division advanced toward the first strategic point.
• Russian Bear’s leading Armata T-14 tanks triggered Lee Jae-yong’s mines, and the explosions overturned several tanks.
• Goryeo forces concealed on elevated ground opened fire on the tank formation and disabled several more Armata T-14 tanks.

Lee Jae-yong celebrated his ambush against the Armata T-14 tanks until Bear Country deployed reconnaissance and support vehicles that neutralized his hidden weapons. The BMPT-72s repaired the damaged advance’s momentum and destroyed the Goryeo positions, leaving Lee stunned.

• Lee Jae-yong and Park Jeong-yong celebrated the ambush’s destruction of several Armata T-14 tanks, and Lee boasted that he had surpassed Kim Geun-seok.
• Unfamiliar BRDM-2 reconnaissance vehicles and BMPT-72 fire support vehicles emerged from the smoke and moved to the front of Bear Country’s formation.
• The BRDM-2s pursued Choi Tae-won’s motorcycle unit while locating the weapons hidden at Malaysia’s strategic points.
• The BMPT-72s charged through the Goryeo bombardment and fired missiles at the elevated positions, destroying the tanks, cannons, and howitzer vehicles there.
• T-16 Armoured Recovery Vehicles repaired the damaged Armatas, and Lee Jae-yong stared in disbelief at the BMPT-72s’ ability to fire at steep angles.

Lee Jae-yong’s forces struggled against Bear Country’s tank division, and Choi Tae-won and his motorcycle unit were wiped out. Lee rejected calls to change strategy, killed Park Jeong-yong, and was marked by the Firmament for violating Instance law.

• Bear Country’s tank division destroyed Lee Jae-yong’s first strategic point, and he ordered his forces to keep fighting despite Choi Tae-won’s advice to retreat and take a roundabout route.
• A BRDM-2 ambushed Choi Tae-won’s motorcycle unit, killing him and the Challengers with him.
• Park Jeong-yong urged Lee Jae-yong to scatter the troops and follow Kim Geun-seok’s plan, but Lee refused to change course.
• Lee Jae-yong shot Park Jeong-yong, accusing him of being a Bear Country spy.
• The Firmament warned Lee Jae-yong that he had violated Instance law and marked him for severe punishment when the Instance ended.

Lee Jae-yong’s scattered defenses collapsed as Bear Country overran Malaysia and killed the last Malaysian Challenger with a three-pronged nuclear strike. The Firmament punished Lee for killing a teammate, declared Malaysia annihilated, and gave Bear Country its territory as a base for attacks on Eastern Ocean Island and Stick Country.

• Lee Jae-yong ordered the Challengers to ambush Bear Country, but Malaysian Strategic Points fell one after another until he was the only Challenger left.
• Lee Jae-yong realized that scattering his forces had cost Malaysia its chance to resist and caused the deaths of five hundred thousand Challengers.
• Bear Country breached every region of Malaysia and launched three nuclear attacks on Ulaanbaatar, killing Lee Jae-yong.
• The Firmament docked Lee Jae-yong 3.2 million points, disabled his personal Instance for thirty days, and demoted him to Level 2.
• The Firmament declared Malaysia’s forces annihilated, transferred its resources and territory to Bear Country, and announced that Bear Country would attack Eastern Ocean Island and Stick Country.

After Malaysia fell in under two hours, Xi'er blamed Lee Jae-yong for ruining Nirmaner's chance to strike the Russian Bear and demanded control of the remaining forces. Kim Geun-seok and Xiaochuan agreed to put their troops and fleets under Xi'er, leaving him responsible for the fight ahead.

• Spectators jeered at Lee Jae-yong's tactics after Malaysia disappeared from the Instance livestream.
• Xi'er condemned Lee Jae-yong in the commander channel for letting the Russian Bear wipe out Malaysia and wasting Nirmaner's chance to attack.
• Kim Geun-seok apologized on South Korea's behalf and asked Xi'er to take charge of the remaining forces.
• Xi'er ordered Kim Geun-seok and Xiaochuan to follow his commands and hand over every last soldier and horse.
• Kim Geun-seok offered Goryeo's fighter aircraft to Xi'er, and Xiaochuan agreed to place the Daiwa fleet under his command.

Xi'er took command of the remaining Challenger forces and prepared a three-pronged assault on Bear Country while its forces were occupied elsewhere. He ordered his generals to attack Volgograd, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg, with Daiwa's navy and Goryeo's air force supporting Rommel.

• Xi'er became the Instance's supreme commander after Xiaochuan and the other commanders placed their Challengers under his command.
• Xi'er reviewed the positions of Mansh, Guderian, and Rommel, whose armies were stationed near Bear Country's western and northwestern borders.
• The three generals reported that Bear Country had sparse defenses around Volgograd, Moscow, and Saint Petersburg because its forces were tied up elsewhere.
• Xi'er ordered Mansh to attack Volgograd and withdraw to join Guderian, who would advance on Moscow and attack it with Mansh.
• Xi'er directed Rommel to strike Saint Petersburg when its forces moved to support Moscow, with Daiwa's navy and Goryeo's air force assisting him.

Xi'er chose Saint Petersburg as the Challenger Alliance’s main target and ordered coordinated attacks to distract Bear Country and avoid its mobile forces. He began the war by sending Mansh and 700,000 troops toward Volgograd, while the Dahe and Korean forces headed covertly for Saint Petersburg.

• Xi'er chose Saint Petersburg as the final target because its location offered a safer route for a combined assault and reduced the risk of Bear Country surrounding the attackers.
• Xi'er ordered the Dahe ships and Stick Country fighter planes to proceed covertly toward Saint Petersburg, while Xiaochuan and Kim Geun-seok watched from their Command Rooms.
• Xi'er ordered Mansh to lead an attack on Volgograd and officially began the war.
• Mansh set out from White Bear Country with 700,000 troops to cross Bear Country’s border and strike Volgograd.

Xi'er declared war on Bear Country and coordinated a three-front invasion, sending Mansh toward Volgograd while Guderian and Rommel advanced on other routes. Mansh's cold-adapted army reached Volgograd and began its assault with Nirmaner's secret heavy weapons, leaving the surprise attack underway.

• Mansh asked Xi'er to declare war before the army crossed into Bear Country, and Xi'er issued the declaration before ordering an immediate invasion.
• Xi'er directed Mansh toward Volgograd, Guderian toward Moscow, and Rommel across the Manselke Hills as part of a plan to converge south of Moscow.
• Mansh's army crossed the border equipped for the extreme cold, using improved vehicles, anti-slip chains, padded coats, and liquor.
• Mansh reached Volgograd and ordered 700,000 armored vehicles to attack the city.
• Mansh deployed Nirmaner's secret weapons, including the Super-heavy Maus Tank and Gustav Heavy Cannon, in the assault.

Mansh’s forces devastated Volgograd with their secret weapons, then withdrew toward Moscow rather than risk being trapped by the approaching Russian reinforcements. Their disciplined retreat left the livestream viewers stunned as the army moved to rendezvous with General Guderian.

• Mansh ordered the Nirmaner forces to unleash their secret weapons against Volgograd, and the barrage destroyed the city’s outer defenses and nearby tanks.
• The Firmament announced that Russian air, naval, and army reinforcements would arrive within twenty minutes to an hour.
• Mansh recognized that his forces could not capture and occupy Volgograd before the reinforcements arrived, and that advancing would risk encirclement.
• Mansh ordered his troops to cease fire and head northwest toward Moscow to rendezvous with General Guderian.
• The Nirmaner army withdrew smoothly and in disciplined order, astonishing the livestream viewers.

Xi'er watched Mansh's forces withdraw from Volgograd and prepared Nirmaner for Moscow's expected reinforcements, confident they could win as long as Bear Country avoided nuclear weapons. When Mansh encountered the Russian Bear's faster-than-expected combined force before joining Guderian, he ordered his troops to attack first.

• Xi'er watched Mansh withdraw safely from Volgograd and concluded that Bear Country was not using nuclear weapons on its own territory.
• Xi'er ordered Mansh and Guderian to prepare V1 Missiles, Super Anti-Aircraft Guns, and Tank Killers for Moscow's reinforcements, while Rommel reported crossing the Manselke Hills.
• An hour later, Mansh's army encountered about a thousand Armata tanks and a hundred Su-57 fighters roughly three hundred kilometers southwest of Moscow.
• Because the Russian Bear's forces advanced faster than expected, Mansh had to face them before joining Guderian's army.
• Mansh ordered his forces to attack the Russian Bear's reinforcements with everything they had.

Mansh’s forces attacked the Russian Bear’s Moscow Legion, suppressing its air force and battling its Armata tanks while targeting its recovery vehicles. As the Russian forces suffered heavy losses, Guderian arrived with another 500,000 troops and prepared to join the fight.

• Mansh ordered his anti-aircraft weapons to attack the Russian Bear’s air formation, shooting down several Su-57s and using smoke shells to obscure the sky.
• Mansh sent his tanks against the Armata T14s, while his tank destroyers destroyed the T-16 Armoured Recovery Vehicles and then attacked the tanks.
• Mansh’s forces and the Russian Bear’s army fought for a quarter of an hour, with the tank destroyers improving the exchange to four Nirmaner tanks lost for each Armata disabled.
• A fresh barrage from behind the Russian Bear’s army disabled several more Armata tanks.
• Guderian arrived from Estonia with 500,000 troops, met up with Mansh’s army, and said he would hasten the Russian Bear army’s demise.

After Mansh and Guderian wiped out the Moscow reinforcements, Russian Bear mobilized its military to counterattack. Xi'er ordered the two generals to retreat into Mist Blue Country while Rommel prepared to launch the decisive assault on Saint Petersburg.

• Guderian ordered his forces to attack the Russian Bear army, and more than a hundred thousand King Tiger Tanks bombarded its armored formations.
• Mansh and Guderian’s forces destroyed the Moscow reinforcements, prompting Firmament to announce that Russian Bear’s air, naval, and ground forces were mobilizing.
• Xi'er ordered Mansh and Guderian to withdraw southwest into Mist Blue Country and draw the pursuing Russian Bear forces after them.
• Xi'er revealed that the earlier fighting had been intended to distract and tie down Russian Bear’s forces while Rommel led eight hundred thousand commanders near Saint Petersburg.
• Xi'er told Rommel to attack Saint Petersburg with everything he had.

Xi'er’s plan drew Bear Country’s forces away from Saint Petersburg, leaving Rommel’s two-million-strong army to attack the city. Rommel launched a massive air and naval bombardment, and Saint Petersburg’s harbor and buildings were engulfed in explosions and waves.

• Xi'er used the battle at Mansh and Guderian’s front to pull Bear Country’s forces away from Saint Petersburg.
• Xi'er entrusted Rommel with the decisive attack, and Rommel prepared to exploit the undefended city.
• Rommel ordered his aircraft to bomb Saint Petersburg and its ammunition struck across the city.
• Rommel ordered Daiwa’s fleet to shell the port, and explosions and surging water overwhelmed the harbor.

Rommel led the Nirmaner Army into Saint Petersburg after its forces destroyed the city, then declared it occupied and completed the Challengers’ first mission. The victory celebrations left Kim Geun-seok convinced that South Korea could now strengthen itself while Lin Ye and Great Xia would not recover.

• Rommel entered the devastated Saint Petersburg with the main force and praised the destruction of the city.
• Rommel raised his legion’s fox flag outside the government building and declared Saint Petersburg occupied.
• The Firmament announced that the surviving Challengers had completed their first mission, and the crowd celebrated their victory over Lin Ye.
• Spectators watching the Instance livestream celebrated Nirmaner’s win and argued over whether Lin Ye would die or have to hand over his technology.
• Kim Geun-seok cheered the victory in the Black House and imagined South Korea growing stronger while Lin Ye and Great Xia lost their chance to rise again.

Xiaochuan and the Great Xia officials watched Rommel capture Saint Petersburg and believed Lin Ye’s Instance had been lost, though Long Yuan suspected the battle was not over. The chapter ended with the group realizing that the Firmament had not yet calculated the results or teleported the challengers out.

• Xiaochuan watched Rommel plant his battle flag at the Saint Petersburg government building and reflected on Daiwa’s victory and the technology he might receive.
• Xiaochuan envied Xi’er and the Nirmaner Settlement’s strength, while believing Lin Ye was about to die and that Nirmaner would dominate Azure Star.
• In Great Xia, Ding Chang reassured the Instance Design Center staff that Lin Ye had performed exceptionally despite losing the defense.
• Li Yunlong praised Lin Ye’s resistance but lamented that raising the number of challengers to five million had made the Instance too risky.
• Long Yuan noted that three minutes had passed without the Firmament calculating the results or teleporting anyone out, and said the Instance was not over.

The challengers celebrated taking Saint Petersburg, but the Firmament did not settle Winter Is Coming, revealing that another stage remained. As Rommel ordered his forces back into formation, a blizzard and violent tremors struck Saint Petersburg.

• The auditorium audience realized Winter Is Coming was still active and inferred that the Instance had another mission stage.
• Long Yuan recognized the Instance as an extraordinary contest and considered how Lin Ye's success could elevate Great Xia.
• Lin Ye praised Xi'er's tactics, studied Nirmaner's military skill, and said the challengers had allowed Azure Star to witness Winter Is Coming in its complete form.
• Rommel learned that Mansh and Guderian's forces were still being pursued and warned the challengers that the Instance might not be over.
• The challengers resumed their positions and restarted their equipment as an alarm rang, the ground shook, and snow intensified across Saint Petersburg.

After the Firmament opened the final quest to capture Moscow and Volgograd, Xi'er rallied the Challengers to keep fighting and devised a plan to seize both cities before Bear Country could counterattack. The Three Great Generals accepted his orders and began preparing a half-hour blitz.

• The Firmament announced the final quest to occupy all three major cities in Bear Country and reopened surrender for three minutes.
• Rommel reacted angrily to the surrender option and asked Xi'er what they should do.
• Xi'er encouraged the Challengers to continue, and they all accepted the final quest, permanently closing the surrender option.
• Xi'er ordered Rommel to garrison Saint Petersburg and attack Moska, while Mansh and Guderian split their forces to advance on Volgograd.
• The Three Great Generals accepted Xi'er's plan and prepared to complete the operations within half an hour.

After Rommel captured Saint Petersburg, Lin Ye's Winter Is Coming phase triggered Bear Country's furious counterattack. Rommel lost contact with his allies as the Russian Bear Alliance prepared to fight back.

• Spectators debated whether Lin Ye could stop Xi'er and the Three Great Generals from capturing the remaining major cities.
• Rommel ordered three hundred thousand Army troops and Goryeo's five hundred thousand Air Force to attack Moscow.
• Bear Country's sky turned red, and the Firmament announced the Winter Has Come phase with powerful military, weather, espionage, resistance, and weapons buffs.
• The Firmament warned that Bear Country might launch a nuclear attack if it remained occupied after one hour.
• Rommel's phone and wireless device failed, cutting him off from Head of State Xi'er, General Mansh, and the Winter One Channel.

With communications cut off and an extreme winter slowing his forces, Rommel tried to prepare an assault on Moscow while defending Saint Petersburg. The city’s underground resistance activated a hidden mecha factory, forcing Rommel to abandon the Moscow plan and fight the Dog-Headed Mecha Warriors.

• Rommel divided his forces between an assault corps meant to march on Moscow and a guard army tasked with defending Saint Petersburg, despite the cold delaying their equipment.
• The Underground People's Self-Defense Army gathered in Saint Petersburg and launched surprise attacks on the Challenger forces.
• The Self-Defense Army released Dog-Headed Mecha Warriors from a massive underground factory beneath the city.
• The mecha warriors used rockets, lasers, and machine guns to damage Tiger Tanks and attack the Challenger forces.
• Rommel canceled the Moscow assault and ordered his troops into their vehicles to attack the mechas, while communications failures left him unable to contact Head of State Xi'er.

Lin Ye watched the destruction in Saint Petersburg and explained that the Dog-Headed Mecha Warrior and other advanced weapons had appeared earlier than planned because the Nirmaner Settlement had progressed too quickly. The Firmament’s Yuri’s Revenge buff then mind-controlled Kim Geun-seok and Goryeo pilots with Russian Bear’s Wrath at level three or above, turning them against their own side.

• Lin Ye watched the chaos in Saint Petersburg and described how he had equipped the Dog-Headed Mecha Warrior with future technology.
• Kim Geun-seok convulsed as Yuri’s Revenge took control of him through his level-three Russian Bear’s Wrath.
• Kim Geun-seok shot the Black House staff, boarded his Golden Bird fighter, and flew toward Saint Petersburg to fight for Bear Country.
• Mind-controlled Black Hawk pilots broke away from the Goryeo formation and attacked their fellow aircraft, triggering explosions in the sky above Saint Petersburg.

Yuri's Revenge turned tens of thousands of Goryeo fighters against their own forces, and the chaos spread to the Great He fleet at Saint Petersburg. Unable to distinguish friend from foe in the snow, the Great He people chose to fire on the fighters, leaving the battle spiraling further out of control.

• Yuri's Revenge mind-controlled more than fifty thousand Goryeo fighters, who scattered the air formation and attacked their former comrades.
• The controlled Black Hawk fighters flew toward Saint Petersburg's harbor and bombed the seven hundred thousand Great He warships.
• The remaining Goryeo fighters pursued the defectors and tried to warn the Great He fleet that the red-glowing aircraft had defected.
• The Great He people failed to hear the warning through the snowfall and, resentful of their Goryeo allies, decided the fighters were attacking them deliberately.
• The Great He fleet sounded its bugles and aimed its guns at the Black Hawk fighters.

Daiwa warships and Goryeo aircraft turned on each other in a chaotic battle off Saint Petersburg, while Lin Ye’s enhanced Caspian Sea Monsters waited nearby. The stealthy ground-effect craft prepared to strike the weakened invaders with their powerful weapons.

• Daiwa warships fired indiscriminately at Korean aircraft, destroying several and enraging the Koreans who had not been mind-controlled.
• Goryeo aircraft retaliated against the Daiwa fleet, turning the former allies’ fight against the Bear Country army into a fierce battle at sea and in the air.
• The challenger counts for Eastern Ocean Island and Stick Country fell rapidly as aircraft and warships were destroyed.
• Several thousand Caspian Sea Monsters watched the battle from low above the Gulf of Finland, hidden from airborne and sea-based detection.
• The chapter revealed that Lin Ye had recreated the ground-effect vehicles with enhanced stealth, speed, and weapons, including intercontinental and nuclear strike capabilities.

Cut off from Xi'er and facing Russia Bear’s overwhelming wartime production, Mansh and Guderian realized their mission could no longer succeed. The chapter left their 1.2 million troops confronting a seemingly endless Russian Bear tank force.

• Mansh and Guderian lost contact with Xi'er after the magnetic storm disabled their advanced communications, leaving them to decide their next move alone.
• Guderian spotted dozens of arsenals operating across Mist Blue Country, rapidly producing Russian Bear military vehicles and tanks.
• Guderian warned Mansh that a large tank formation was approaching, and the two prepared to meet the enemy.
• Mansh said the mission had lost its meaning because the Koreans’ information was wrong and the Winter Is Coming Instance could not be broken through.
• Guderian saw millions of Russian Bear tanks filling the snowy landscape and realized their army faced an overwhelming steel torrent.