Chapter Summaries

Orson began his first day as a senior security officer for the Rostov family and learned that Duke Baikal was pressuring the family to abandon Chernobog. After Baikal’s guards assaulted him and tried to test him for infection, Lumen intervened, and Orson asked Andrei how the family would treat him if he were Infected.

• Orson ate breakfast in the security staff cafeteria, where Rostov bodyguards challenged him until he used Originium Arts to set one guard’s tie on fire.
• While patrolling the manor, Orson used an Anchor Spike to overhear Duke Baikal threaten Andrei and demand that the Rostovs leave Chernobog.
• Duke Baikal ordered his guards to draw Orson’s blood, and one struck him with a baton before Lumen stopped the test.
• Duke Baikal and his guards insulted Lumen, but Orson’s killing intent made one guard back down before they left.
• Lumen told Orson that Baikal was the leader of the old noble faction and had been pressuring the Rostovs to surrender their industries and leave Chernobog.
• Orson asked Andrei how he would handle it if Orson were Infected.

After Orson secretly incapacitated two guards who had threatened Lumen, her father enrolled him at Peterheim Middle School under a false age so he could protect her there. The chapter ended with Orson introducing himself to his new class while Lumen attended school nearby.

• Orson asked Lumen about Duke Baikal’s twin guards, then secretly caused them to lose their memories by giving them counterfeit vodka.
• Lumen decided to attend school despite the assassination attempt, and Orson helped her fix her hair and uniform before her father objected.
• Orson warned Lumen and her father that W could attack even at school, prompting Lumen’s father to enroll him as a sixteen-year-old student beside her.
• Talula learned by radio that Orson had gone to school, while Lumen arrived at Peterheim and drew encouragement from knowing he was nearby.
• Orson introduced himself under the name Alan to his ordinary freshman class and took a seat among the students.

Orson, posing as transfer student Alan, ran into Lumiere at Peterheim Middle School, where she recognized him as the boy who had saved her during an Originium insect riot. After recalling how he first met Talula and Reunion, Orson learned that Lumiere believed he was an ordinary student dragged to school by his older sisters, and she asked him to promise her something.

• Orson sat beside Lumiere in class, tried to hide that he recognized her, and was punished after the history teacher caught him spacing out.
• Lumiere confronted Orson after class and accused him of being the boy who had saved her from Originium insects.
• Lumiere recalled how Talula, FrostNova, and Orson had arrived during a blizzard and helped suppress the insect riot threatening her village.
• Orson remembered rescuing Lumiere and worried that she might expose his connection to Reunion.
• Lumiere told Orson she knew his supposed secret—that his older sisters had forced him to attend school—and demanded that he promise her something.

Orson tried to help Lumiere become stronger by gathering a new Bear Squad at Peterheim Middle School. Lumiere and Truth joined, but Orson’s attempt to recruit Gummy ended in a humiliating cooking defeat, leaving the team incomplete.

• Lumiere asked Orson how she could become stronger, and he suggested that they start a club and gather like-minded friends.
• Orson and Lumiere recruited Truth by offering her a chance to investigate simulated crime scenes, but Truth later tried to withdraw after Orson’s awkward pitch for a cook.
• Orson and Lumiere visited the home economics classroom to invite Gummy to join their club, but the cooking club challenged Orson to a cooking contest.
• Orson lost the contest with a poorly rated dish and had to ask Gummy to share her lunch, realizing Talula and FrostNova had made him overconfident about his cooking.

Orson gathered Gummy and Summer into Bear Squad, but the club's new harmony was disrupted when Lumen arrived and claimed him as her personal bodyguard while Lumiere confessed to him. Five days into his Chernobog mission, Orson met Isaac, learned of rising military and Sarkaz activity, and heard that the research institute tied to Crownslayer and Skullshatter's family had been abandoned.

• Orson, Truth, and Lumiere lost a cooking contest after their dark cuisine poisoned the Elite Ten, and Gummy joined Bear Squad as its food-safety safeguard.
• Summer joined Bear Squad after arriving to confront Orson over Lumiere, whom she mistakenly believed had confessed to him.
• Lumen came to the clubroom, called Orson her personal bodyguard, and tried to take him away; Lumiere then declared that she had confessed to him.
• Five days into his Chernobog infiltration, Orson met Isaac and described his work guarding Lumen and attending Peterheim Middle School.
• Isaac warned Orson about rumors of the Third Army Group's deployment near Chernobog and sightings of unfamiliar Sarkaz.
• Isaac reported that the research institute connected to Crownslayer and Skullshatter's family had been abandoned, with no records left behind.

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.