Recaps

Orson met with Isaac, who decided to remain in Chernobog and help Reunion after losing his home and family. W visited Orson to warn him about Garson and question why he spared Sarkaz mercenaries, then left after revealing that Baikal had placed agents among his guards.

• Orson gave Isaac an advance payment from the Rostov family, and Isaac said he would stay in Chernobog to help Infected people.
• W approached Orson at a restaurant, where he apologized for injuring her and persuaded her to call off the traps she had set.
• W warned Orson that Garson, the Sarkaz mercenary leader hired by Duke Baikal, might come after him, but Orson fell asleep after drinking his cocktail.
• W woke Orson with ice cubes and asked why he spared many Sarkaz mercenaries, and Orson said everyone had the right to live except truly awful people.
• W told Orson that some of the guards around him were working for Baikal, then prepared to leave.

Orson tried to stop Lumen’s father from leaving on a dangerous mission to meet the Emperor, knocking him unconscious with a vase when he refused to listen. Lumen defended Orson, but the Rostov guards pinned him down and accused him of being Duke Baikal’s agent.

• Orson returned to the Rostov estate after spending the evening with W and spoke with Lumen about school and Sonia.
• Lumen’s father asked Orson about the Rossa heir’s memory loss and explained that the Rostov family lacked the forces to resist Duke Baikal.
• Lumen’s father announced that he would travel to Saint Gallant Castle to seek an audience with the Emperor and asked Orson to protect Natasha if he did not return.
• Lumen tried to stop her father and called on Orson for help, so Orson knocked him unconscious with a vase.
• The Rostov guards restrained Orson and accused him of being Duke Baikal’s undercover agent while Lumen insisted she had ordered him to stop her father.

Orson exposed a Baikal faction mole in the Rostov security force and stopped the Head of the Rostov Family from sacrificing himself, then offered to seek Reunion’s help if the family proved it would work for the people of the northern territories. The next day, Orson took Lumen and the Bear Squad out in Chernobog, hoping to give Lumen friends she could trust before her life changed.

• Orson revealed that the security captain was the Baikal faction mole and forced him to confess to betraying the Rostov family.
• Orson explained that the Head of the Rostov Family’s attempted escape would not save Lumen, then offered to ask Reunion for help if the family committed to aiding the people of the northern territories.
• The Head of the Rostov Family offered Natalia’s hand to Orson during his call with Talula, startling Lumen and Orson.
• The next day, Orson met Lumiere, Truth, and Lumen at a beverage shop and described the outing as the Bear Squad’s first extracurricular activity.
• Orson took the group shopping around Chernobog partly to help Lumen find friends she could be herself around.

Orson took Truth, Lumiere, and Lumen around Chernobyl to survey locations while keeping Duke Baikal’s surveillance forces occupied, and Reunion quietly began its operation in the city. The outing ended at Chernobyl Hotel, with Orson still unaware of Lumen’s anger and his companions misunderstanding his lack of modern conveniences.

• Orson used the club outing to survey Chernobyl Central Park and the shopping district as potential military positions while Truth, Lumiere, and Lumen accompanied him.
• Lumen explained the park’s war memorials to Truth, but Orson fell asleep, angering Lumen when he failed to listen.
• FrostNova stayed behind to guard Reunion’s base while Talula and Alina secretly went to Chernobyl, leaving her furious at being left out.
• At the shopping center, Orson marveled at modern goods, prompting Lumen, Lumiere, and Truth to pity him and buy him gifts based on their mistaken assumptions about his life.
• The group reached Chernobyl Hotel, where Truth, Lumiere, and Lumen commented on the building before Orson wondered why they were looking at him.

Orson joined Lumen, Lumiere, and Truth for a day of club activities, then sought out General Hegre at the Azazel Clinic. He gained entry by revealing his Oripathy and saw the desperate conditions of Chernobog’s infected, leaving him to consider how to help them.

• Lumen persuaded Lumiere to enter the Elegant Service Cup, but Orson unexpectedly won the competition while dressed in a suit.
• After the group’s activities ended, Lumen returned to the estate while Orson followed a note to a flower shop to find the Azazel Clinic.
• Orson met Hegre and proved he was infected, so Hegre took him into the clinic and directed him to Doctor Ziegler in Area 1B.
• Orson saw the infected gathered in the clinic’s basement and recognized the neglect and isolation they endured in Chernobog.

Orson entertained the Infected at Azazel Clinic with crosstalk, then asked Hegre to support Reunion’s efforts to improve their lives. Hegre refused, and after Orson collapsed from exhaustion and severe Oripathy, he woke to find Talula watching him.

• Orson handed out flowers and performed crosstalk for the Infected, giving them a rare moment of laughter and a reason to look forward to seeing him again.
• Orson met Nayin, bonded with her by complaining about her guardian, and discovered that the old man was Hegre.
• Orson asked Hegre to help Reunion, but Hegre refused and said he only wanted to protect Nayin and the people within his reach.
• Orson left Azazel Clinic, collapsed from severe mental exhaustion, and was diagnosed with advanced Oripathy; Hegre arranged for him to be sent back to the Rostov family.
• Orson woke to find Talula beside him and tried closing his eyes before she told him to stop pretending to sleep.

Orson woke in the Rostov family infirmary, where Talula reunited with him and joined the Rostovs against Duke Baikal. As the group prepared for Baikal’s retaliation, W received a sabotage mission and clashed with a fellow Sarkaz mercenary over her hopes for their people.

• Talula explained that Orson had been unconscious for ten hours and made him promise to stop pushing himself beyond his limits.
• Talula met Lumen, challenged her over her promise to Orson, and demanded that the engagement be canceled.
• Talula asked Marquis Rostov to swear that he would protect and aid the Northern Territory’s civilians and infected, and he agreed; the Reunion Movement then joined his side.
• Lumen found Orson and Talula asleep beside each other, blushed, and fled, while Koschei later discovered the Volkswagen Golf 2 disc Orson had left for him.
• W prepared for an infiltration and sabotage mission against the Rostov family’s interests and questioned a fellow mercenary about wreaking havoc in Chernobyl.
• The mercenary called W idealistic for wanting Sarkaz to be treated as people with names, and W laughed at the label.

W was betrayed by Garson and nearly killed in an ambush, but Orson found and rescued her. After recovering at the Rostov family home, W questioned why he had saved her, and Orson said he could not leave her there.

• Garson attacked W at the safehouse, revealing that Count Baikal had ordered her killed and that her mercenary team had been sent on a disposable mission.
• W fought back, protected a young Ursus girl from Garson, and escaped after triggering another bomb, though a crossbow bolt wounded her.
• W collapsed in an alley, where Orson found her and took her to the Rostov family home for treatment.
• After waking, W encountered Lumen and noticed that the young noble had become more composed.
• W asked Orson why he had saved her, and he replied that leaving her there had not felt right.

Orson invited W to join Reunion, and she joined the Rostov camp as Talula and the others assessed Duke Baikal’s looming attack. W predicted that her former squad would stage a terrorist incident at Peterheim Middle School, where Orson and W went to stop the mercenaries while the Bear Squad tried to rescue the students.

• Orson told W that Reunion would welcome her, but she blasted him with Liquid Explosive after he asked her to undress so he could change her bandages.
• Talula, Lumen, and W discussed how Duke Baikal might justify sending troops into Chernobyl, and W predicted he would manufacture an enemy.
• A news report announced that terrorists had occupied Peterheim Middle School, and W recognized the attack as an operation by her former squad.
• Lumiere led the Bear Squad out of their club room after realizing the school was in danger, while Orson and W formed a team to stop the mercenaries.
• Orson located the mercenaries and the students with his Arts, then discovered the Bear Squad was moving toward the gymnasium to help the students escape.
• Lumiere drew attention at the gymnasium entrance by challenging the mercenaries and throwing a Molotov Cocktail at the fire alarm.

W, Orson, and Lumiere stopped Garson's staged terrorist attack at Peterheim Middle School and learned that the Sarkaz mercenaries had attacked to avenge W. As police closed in, Orson prepared to escape while Talula confronted nobles, and a new order suspended Enforcement Team operations in the northern borderlands.

• Lumiere, Orson, and W defeated the Sarkaz mercenaries who stormed the gymnasium, then discovered they had been manipulated into seeking revenge for W.
• W and Orson realized Garson had faked W's death to provoke the mercenaries and give the Third Army Group a reason to enter Kazimierz City.
• Truth told Orson she had overheard Marquis Boris preparing to leave Kazimierz City, suggesting he had made a deal with Baikal.
• As police arrived at Peterheim Middle School, Orson refused to surrender and planned to escape with W's help.
• Talula warned nobles and wealthy merchants that their children and status were at risk if they chose the wrong side.
• An order jointly approved by fifteen noble families suspended northern borderland Enforcement Team operations and required Infected and civilians to be allowed through checkpoints.

Talula and Koschei prepared to oppose Duke Baikal’s forces in Chernobog while the Reunion Movement assembled an operation to support them. FrostNova watched the northern frontier’s Infected and residents rally in overwhelming numbers, then Patriot addressed them before their march to war.

• Talula revealed that Koschei had persuaded nobles to support the Infected, then left the meeting to track Duke Baikal’s forces and the Emperor’s Blades.
• Talula recalled that Orson had forced Koschei to accept their deal by making him endure a barrage of bizarre videos in the realm of consciousness.
• FrostNova, Patriot, and the Reunion Movement prepared separate forces to reinforce Talula in Chernobog and move toward the Third Army Group.
• Big Bear, Petrova, Ino, and Sasha departed for Chernobog, while FrostNova and Patriot waited for villagers to join their march.
• Residents of the northern frontier arrived in a vast crowd, joining the Infected to fight for their return and their future.
• Patriot urged the assembled fighters to face the battlefield with their heads held high, declaring that history would change because of them.

Patriot rallied the Infected to march on Chernobyl while Alina infiltrated Duke Baikal’s castle and rescued Lyudmila. They escaped with Alina’s help, and she set out to reunite with Talula and Orson.

• Patriot rallied the Infected and announced Chernobyl as their target.
• Duke Baikal ordered Lyudmila’s tongue cut out and her tendons severed after she killed Sergei.
• Alina revealed herself to Lyudmila, calmed her, and promised to help her escape.
• Alina retrieved a key, freed Lyudmila, and carried her through the castle using memorized routes and patrol schedules.
• Alina and Lyudmila escaped through the vineyard, and Alina planned to take her to meet Talula and Orson.
• Lyudmila admitted she had been captured after accidentally falling into a pit while fleeing, then cried out as they continued on.

After the police released Orson and W, Alina returned with Lyudmila, whom Orson immediately overwhelmed with unwanted cuddling. The group learned that Baikal’s forces and their allies planned to use Chernobyl to provoke a war with Lungmen, and Orson volunteered to confront Viscount Kerk and the Third Army Group.

• Police detective Loban recognized W as the mercenary who had saved his daughter, then secretly released her and Orson while the Sarkaz mercenaries remained under W’s influence.
• Orson reunited with Alina and met Lyudmila, then pounced on her to rub her ears and tail as Talula explained that Baikal’s forces were mobilizing.
• Alina reported that Baikal’s faction had obtained plans for Chernobyl’s propulsion equipment, leading Orson and the others to conclude that the conspirators intended to drive Chernobyl into Lungmen and ignite a war.
• Talula, W, and Alina identified Grand Duke Baikal, Viscount Kerk, and Garson’s Sarkaz allies as participants in the plot, while Alina noted that many soldiers likely opposed the war.
• Orson agreed to join FrostNova and Patriot and confront Viscount Kerk and the Third Army Group, and the Head of the Rostov Family stopped him to offer him a gift.

Talula assigned Lumen the mission of reaching Chernobyl’s signal tower to report the battle, while the others moved to confront their targets. Lumen escaped the Rostov villa with Faust and reached a Reunion ambush in Central Park, but Baikal’s forces were still pursuing her as they headed for the next rendezvous point.

• Talula ordered Lumen to reach the signal tower and tell the Emperor what had happened, while warning that Baikal’s forces would pursue her.
• Baikal’s soldiers attacked the Rostov villa, and Lumen fought back with a steam-powered siege lance as her father urged her to escape.
• An Imperial Guard entered the villa, and Lumen’s father held him off while Faust led Lumen through the smoke and out of the hall.
• Faust guided Lumen through Chernobyl, where she used her siege lance to block pursuing soldiers before they reached Central Park.
• Reunion’s Shield Guards ambushed Baikal’s troops in Central Park, giving Lumen and Faust a chance to continue toward their next rendezvous point.

Lumen fought her way to Chernobyl’s signal tower to warn Saint Gallant Castle and Lungmen about Duke Baikal and Viscount Kerk’s attempted political kidnapping, but the Emperor’s Guard confronted her before she could send the message. General Hegre intervened, while Reunion’s group continued marching toward the Third Army Group.

• Faust and Lumen stole a car and evaded Baikal’s pursuers with help from Reunion fighters, though Lumen destroyed a road and toppled a statue to block them.
• Ino treated Lumen’s wound and, with Sasha, led Reunion’s crossbowmen and casters to hold off the pursuing forces.
• Isaac gave Lumen an access card that let her bypass security at the signal tower, while his engineers stayed behind to fight the mercenaries.
• Lumen reached the tower’s control room and prepared to warn Saint Gallant Castle and Lungmen about Duke Baikal and Viscount Kerk’s plans.
• The Emperor’s Guard attacked Lumen, but Hegre blocked his spear and stood between them.
• Reunion’s marching group fell quiet as the Third Army Group came into view across the wasteland.

Reunion’s defensive battle against the Third Army Group shifted into an assault after Talula ordered Viscount Kerk’s assassination, and Orson disabled the army’s heavy artillery to create an opening. Elsewhere, FrostNova was trapped in a mine and nearly executed by an Imperial Guard, but Orson reached her and attacked it.

• Talula ordered FrostNova, Patriot, and Orson to attack Viscount Kerk’s command post after the mission changed, and Patriot’s Shield Guards withstood the Third Army Group’s opening barrage.
• Kerk dismissed warnings about Patriot and FrostNova, then ordered heavy artillery to fire on Reunion despite the danger to his own soldiers.
• Orson stopped the artillery from firing, sabotaged it into an explosion, and silently signaled FrostNova that Reunion should launch an all-out attack.
• FrostNova recalled being trapped in a mine ambush where explosives killed most of her Abyssal Hunters, and an Imperial Guard prepared to execute her.
• Orson broke into the room, fought the Imperial Guard, disrupted its mist, and stabbed it in the head.

Orson and FrostNova helped Reunion defeat the Ursus army group, with Orson’s silence and Curtain Call disrupting the enemy while Patriot led the assault. Patriot then hurled Orson into Viscount Kerk’s command tent, where Orson confronted him, as Duke Baikal spoke with a hidden figure elsewhere.

• Orson protected FrostNova from the Internal Guard’s final attack, and Ino later saved his life at the cost of leaving him unable to speak.
• FrostNova learned to understand Orson’s lip movements and relayed his orders during the battle near the Chernobog wilderness.
• Orson used Curtain Call to disrupt the Ursus army group’s Originium Arts while Patriot and the Abyssal Hunters broke through its defenses.
• Viscount Kerk’s soldiers questioned his orders, and Kerk claimed Chernobog had betrayed Ursus before refusing to retreat.
• Patriot carried out Protocol Three by throwing Orson into Kerk’s command tent, where Orson stepped out and greeted the vice commander.
• Duke Baikal chatted with a person hidden in the shadows inside a villa on his territory.

Talula infiltrated Grand Duke Baikal’s villa and defeated the Emperor’s Guard with a hand cannon before heading for Chernobyl’s command tower. Baikal fled there, but W had already killed Garson and won over the surviving Sarkaz mercenaries.

• Baikal dismissed reports of nobles supporting the Rostov family and insisted his plan to provoke war would succeed, until Talula confronted him in his villa.
• JunJun infiltrated the villa while Alina guided her through the surveillance system, clearing Talula’s route without raising alarms.
• Talula attacked Baikal, but an Emperor’s Guard blocked her flames; she then used Orson’s single-shot Dragon Strike Gun to kill the Guard and headed for the command tower.
• Baikal fled toward the command tower after discovering Reunion had tied down his forces, and he ordered Garson to activate Chernobyl.
• W answered Baikal’s radio call and told him Garson was dead, then persuaded the surviving Sarkaz mercenaries to follow her and seek names of their own.

Orson’s improvised claims helped turn the Third Army Group against Viscount Kerk, while Talula defeated Grand Duke Baikal and ended the rebellion. The city celebrated the victory, but Hegre warned Lumen that the upheaval was only beginning, and Orson ended up captured and badly injured.

• Grand Duke Baikal ordered Viscount Kerk to send troops and find Misha, but Orson killed Kerk and persuaded the Third Army Group’s soldiers that their commander and Baikal were traitors.
• Talula confronted Baikal atop the command tower, defeated him, and severed his hands rather than kill him before his trial.
• Lumen announced that the rebellion had been thwarted as Chernobyl’s fighting stopped and the survivors tended to the wounded.
• Hegre told Lumen that the rebellion’s consequences could spread beyond Chernobyl, then credited Nayin’s insistence with bringing him into the conflict.
• The Third Army Group’s soldiers arrested Orson, who later lay bandaged in a hospital ward as someone offered him Yan Country-style rice porridge.

After recovering from his injuries, Orson escaped the people trying to care for him while Kazimierz City struggled with the aftermath of Boris’s death and the infected’s uncertain future. At a meeting to choose a new City Lord, Lumen accepted the position, then used her authority to claim Orson for the day.

• Orson endured overbearing attempts to feed and entertain him in the hospital, then fled when he was discharged because he distrusted everyone’s medical skills.
• The chapter described Kazimierz City’s uneasy aftermath: Boris was dead, the city could not shelter all the infected, and public attitudes toward them had only begun to shift.
• Lumen’s Father arranged trade routes and repairs for Northern Territory villages, while the Emperor quietly refrained from condemning Reunion’s actions.
• Talula called a meeting to settle who would become City Lord of Kazimierz City, but Reunion’s leaders avoided the responsibility and Lumen’s Father was away.
• Talula explained that she would not take the office because it would bind Reunion to Ursus, and she persuaded Lumen to accept the position.
• After signing the appointment, Lumen ordered Orson to belong to her for the entire day.

Lumen took Orson on a tour of Kazimierz City’s recovering districts, where he reunited with Bear Squad and learned how Peterheim Middle School was changing. The chapter then revealed Ino performing on a commercial street and recalled Orson helping him confront his guilt over past violence.

• Lumen dragged Orson from the Rostov villa and asked him to serve as her guard while she inspected areas affected by the Kazimierz City Incident.
• At Peterheim Middle School, Lumiere chased and beat Orson for disappearing, then Bear Squad reunited over Gummy’s meal and heard that Lumen had become mayor and Orson was nearly twenty.
• Lumen told Orson that Peterheim planned to place noble and ordinary students in the same classes, and they left as winter began to give way to spring.
• Orson and Lumen found Ino performing onstage for a lively crowd in the repaired commercial district.
• In a past conversation, Ino told Orson he felt happy after killing someone who had bullied him and causing Sasha to become Infected.
• Orson acknowledged Ino’s feelings but told him that taking pleasure in killing was wrong and that he should seek other ways to solve problems when he had the strength.

Orson encouraged Ino to seek peace by saving lives, and Ino became a medical worker and a wildly popular singer known as Angel. As Orson prepared to leave Chernobyl with the Reunion Movement, Lumen promised to find him again after she made the city safe and its people smile.

• Orson comforted Ino and urged him to use his power to save others, while promising that he and Sasha would stay by him as he chose his path.
• Ino began learning first aid and found purpose after saving an infected warrior, then decided he wanted to sing onstage.
• A video of Ino rescuing injured civilians went viral, and he quickly became Chernobyl's popular idol Angel while Sasha helped run his show.
• Ino told the audience that he loved Orson most, prompting his fans to arm themselves and chase Orson and Lumen from the venue.
• Lumen asked Orson to stay in Chernobyl, but he explained that the Reunion Movement would eventually move on to other city-states.
• Lumen declared that she would work to protect Chernobyl and its people, then promised to find Orson after the city was safe as she embraced her role as its youngest City Lord.

Orson recruited W and JunJun into the Reunion Movement after sparring with them, then returned to the Rostov family's branch residence and considered how to contact Rhodes Island. Talula appeared before him as he sat outside at night.

• Orson met W at a condemned building, survived her bomb-filled ambush, and agreed that she and her mercenaries could join the Reunion Movement.
• W demolished the building with Orson still inside, but Orson protected himself with Rest Note and walked out of the rubble unharmed.
• JunJun challenged Orson from within a fog, but Rest Note found and captured her, and Orson explained why her Arts had failed.
• JunJun said she wanted to stay, and Orson welcomed her into the Reunion Movement.
• Orson chose not to recruit Skullshatterer because Misha and Alex were living with a foster family and were not fighters.
• Orson returned to the Rostov family's branch residence, pondered how to contact Rhodes Island, and heard Talula caution him against catching a chill.

Talula confessed her feelings to Orson after fearing she had lost him, and they spent the night together before FrostNova, Alina, and Lumen confronted him. The chapter then shifted to Rhodes Island members secretly infiltrating Chernobyl for an operation.

• Talula invited Orson to play chess, then confessed how terrified she had been when he collapsed and asked him to see her as a woman rather than as Reunion’s leader.
• Talula and Orson kissed and embraced, but she stopped him after realizing he had used tuning on himself; they then awkwardly agreed to proceed without it.
• The next morning, FrostNova, Alina, and Lumen questioned Orson about his burns while Talula appeared pleased with the night they had shared.
• A Rhodes Island scout reported that the area was clear, and the infiltrators began moving toward a hub in Chernobyl’s underground power district.

Rhodes Island operators entered Chernobyl’s underground core seeking the Doctor, but found the sarcophagus empty and clashed with Orson and his allies. Orson’s touch identified him as “Doctor Orson,” and he invited the wary group to meet with Chernobyl’s City Lord.

• Amiya, Nearl, and ACE reached Chernobyl’s sarcophagus without encountering resistance, where Kingslayer, FrostNova, and Orson confronted them.
• The sarcophagus opened to reveal it was empty, and the panicked Amiya attacked Orson’s group before Orson stopped the fight with Curtain Call.
• Orson touched the sarcophagus, which announced that genetic verification had passed and welcomed “Doctor Orson.”
• Amiya and Orson exchanged remarks about their heights, easing the tension enough for both groups to introduce themselves.
• Orson proposed moving elsewhere to talk, and after ACE rejected the invitation as potentially dangerous, Orson offered a meeting with Chernobyl’s City Lord.