Chapter Summaries

Cecil forces relentlessly pursued the fleeing Noble Allied Army with mobile artillery, denying the nobles rest and supplies. As hunger and terror wore down the allied soldiers, they realized Gawain intended to fight until their forces were broken, but they had no choice but to keep fleeing.

• Knight Philip and Knight Wald Perich inspected the mobile artillery positions as the pursuit force prepared to attack the enemy.
• Philip ordered three artillery volleys against the fleeing army, then sent the Cecil and Konde troops forward.
• Philip reflected on Gawain's orders to harass the enemy, seize supplies, distribute excess grain to residents, and capture stragglers.
• The Cecil forces drove off counterattacking groups with Scorching Ray Guns and took prisoners as resistance dwindled.
• The Noble Allied Army lost its food and shelter under constant bombardment and realized the Cecilians would not stop to negotiate.
• The exhausted nobles continued fleeing as their strength and will sank to their lowest point.

As the Cecil Combat Corps relentlessly pursued the Noble Allied Army, the exhausted fugitives lost the will to flee or fight and began surrendering in large numbers. By the tenth day after the Battle of Gravel Ridge, Philip’s corps had reached the Western Region of the southern border, where Byron arrived with reinforcements and supplies.

• Cecil’s forces pursued the Noble Allied Army with artillery strikes while rotating their troops and replenishing supplies.
• Bartel and the scattered survivors from Crete Land hid in a pit, too exhausted to flee even as Cecil’s bombardment struck nearby.
• A Cecil recovery team found Bartel’s group sitting or sleeping among the shell craters, and the survivors surrendered their weapons in exchange for rest.
• On the eighth day after the Battle of Gravel Ridge, the Noble Allied Army began surrendering in large numbers, and Philip and Wald Perich captured groups without fighting.
• On the tenth day after the battle, the Cecil Combat Corps entered the Western Region of the southern border, and Byron arrived with a thousand reinforcements and supplies.

Knight Byron helped the Cecil forces manage the mass surrender of the Noble Allied Army by arranging for prisoners to build their own camp, while Viscountess Ropini Gellan gathered escaped nobles and led them toward Stone Fortress. The story left the surviving nobles heading north to seek Count Pompey's help and assemble more fugitives.

• Knight Byron brought supplies to Knight Philip and warned that the escaped nobles would eventually be dealt with.
• The Noble Allied Army collapsed on the twelfth day, and Cecil forces gathered tens of thousands of surrendered soldiers under Wald Perich's command.
• When the Cecil forces lacked enough guards for the prisoners, Byron borrowed five thousand axes from Viscount Andrew and arranged for the prisoners to build and occupy their own camp.
• Viscount Carrol, Viscount Consk, and Viscount Mariolan encountered Viscountess Ropini Gellan, who had gathered scattered survivors.
• Ropini Gellan persuaded the nobles not to return to their castles and led them north toward Stone Fortress to seek Count Pompey's help and gather more escaped nobles.

Gawain explained that the prolonged pursuit had exhausted the Noble Allied Army enough for Cecil’s forces to capture tens of thousands of prisoners, then announced plans to take over southern lands and relocate much of the region’s population. The officials were stunned by the migration proposal, and Heti asked why he wanted to carry it out.

• Gawain explained to Amber that Philip’s ten-day pursuit had worn down the fleeing army so Cecil’s soldiers could safely capture its survivors.
• Gawain ordered Philip and Byron to escort the captured noble lords and Supernatural Beings from the Hosman Prisoner of War Camp, and summoned Heti and the Interior Department officials.
• Heti reported that the territory remained stable and that the newspaper had helped prevent panic and meet trainee recruitment targets.
• Gawain announced a large-scale relocation that would move southern residents into Cecil Territory and four other regional centers, where secondary Administrative Halls would be established.
• After the officials sat in stunned silence, Heti asked Gawain why he wanted to relocate the population.

Gawain explained his plan to unify the Southern Region by relocating people, expanding Magical Industrialization, and replacing the old nobles’ system with a Cecil-style New Order. The plan would proceed over several years, with incentives and cooperation from captured nobles helping address resistance and staffing shortages.

• Gawain rejected moving the entire Southern Region’s population into Cecil and instead proposed relocating people in stages while building industrial belts and secondary cities across the south.
• Gawain explained that concentrating populations and redistributing land would weaken the foundations of the Old Nobles’ system while supporting industrial growth and more effective administration.
• Norris asked how Cecil would handle farmers unwilling to leave their land, and Gawain proposed gradual relocations, replacement farmland, and incentives that presented migration as an opportunity.
• Heti warned that secondary Administrative Halls would lack staff and local influence and could face sabotage from loyalists of the old lords.
• Gawain said the army would suppress resistance and revealed that Byron and Philip were bringing captured nobles and knights to Cecil so he could persuade them to cooperate and help recruit local talent.

Gawain set out plans to relocate the southern population and rebuild cities, using Hosman Territory as the first pilot site. Meanwhile, Victoria Wilde and Baldwin Franklin learned that Edmund and Silas Lauren had rebelled, and Ansu’s Second Civil War began.

• Gawain named Hosman Territory as the first site for population relocation and planned to move its serfs and slaves into Cecil Territory while founding a new city.
• Heti raised concerns about shortages of Magic Net Substrates and construction materials, but Gawain explained that existing Magic Nets and mining equipment could support the project.
• Victoria Wilde told Baldwin Franklin that Francis II had died at Longwind Fortress and that Edmund and Silas Lauren had raised troops against the Holy Spirit Plain.
• Victoria and Baldwin agreed to announce Edmund’s alleged murder of the king and Silas’s rebellion, then go to war with the eastern region.
• On the last day of the second week of Fire Month in Year 736 of Ansu, the Second Civil War officially began.

Gepril and Pierce prepared to end Cecil’s open recruitment in the increasingly tense royal capital while continuing to gather intelligence secretly. In the Consc region, Wright Aviken saw the devastation left by retreating noble forces and joined his unit in searching for survivors and recovering bodies.

• Gepril told Pierce that Cecil’s orders were to stop open recruitment after sending the final group and to maintain secret contacts and gather intelligence.
• Pierce described the royal capital’s growing unrest, including searches by castle forces and a recent fire, as they discussed how Duke Cecil’s papers had helped recruits leave legally.
• Wright Aviken and a Cecil unit passed through a village destroyed by the retreating Noble Allied Army and learned how fleeing nobles burned and looted their own territory.
• Wright prayed for the victims, and the squad commander sent soldiers to look for survivors, collect bodies, and search the ruins for useful supplies.

Light’s unit discovered seventeen starving survivors hiding beneath a village destroyed by noble deserters, and Light learned that white-robed knights and priests had been among the attackers. He arranged to escort the villagers toward the frontline camp and urged the commander to search for other communities in need.

• Light performed a purification rite among the village ruins, then found a Holy Light Badge and traces of Holy Light magic in the burned longhouse.
• Light heard a faint noise, uncovered a hidden cellar, and found seventeen living villagers; soldiers also discovered three dead people inside and dozens of bodies in a nearby pit.
• The squad commander gave the survivors food and water, and a girl said white-robed knights and priests had been with the attackers.
• A villager sobbed that they had handed over all their food, and Light understood that the villagers had been looted after supporting the army’s war effort.
• Light asked to take the survivors to Cecil, and the commander offered to leave several soldiers with him while the medical team reported to camp.
• Light urged the commander to report and search for other villages devastated by deserters, and the commander agreed.

Light reassured the village survivors about life in Cecil Territory while they rested among the ruins, but the gathering was interrupted by an attack from the defeated Noble Allied Army's remnants. The Cecil Soldiers prepared to defend the civilians as Light confronted the bandits, including former Pontiff Knights and a Holy Light Priest.

• Light told the survivors they would travel southwest to a Cecil frontline camp the next day, where they could be escorted south.
• Light learned that the girl was named Emily and described Cecil Territory's homes, farmland, work, hospitals, and schools to the villagers.
• Emily said she saw a ring of light around Light, who gave her flatbread and reassured her uncle and the other villagers.
• A Cecil Soldier spotted movement near the village ruins, and Light urged the villagers to head for the cellar.
• The Noble Allied Army's remnants attacked with crossbows, fireballs, and a charge, prompting the Cecil Soldiers to activate their shields and order the civilians to take cover.
• Light recognized Pontiff Knights and a Holy Light Priest among the starving deserters, activated his shield, and drew his Melting Cut Sword to fight them.

Light fought to protect civilians from starving attackers, including Pontiff Knights of the Holy Light Church, and questioned why they could wield the Holy Light despite their crimes. After a Pontiff Knight killed Emily, Light erupted in radiant power and vaporized him.

• Light and the Cecil Soldiers struggled to hold back a frenzied assault as the attackers overwhelmed their defensive line.
• Light disarmed and subdued a Pontiff Knight, demanding to know why a criminal could wield the Holy Light.
• Emily threw a stone to interrupt a second Pontiff Knight, but he struck her with a blade of Holy Light.
• Emily died after telling Light she could see a circle of light around him, and the second Pontiff Knight attacked Light from behind.
• Light rose covered in flowing radiance, seized the Pontiff Knight, and vaporized him with a burst of Holy Light.

After Emily’s death, Light rejected the God of Holy Light and became humanity’s first White Knight. In Cecil Territory, Gawain considered how to bring the Southern Territory under his rule and set his sights on Stone Fortress, while waiting for the right moment and a reason to attack.

• After the attackers retreated, Light realized he could embrace holy light without serving its god, then prayed over Emily’s body as rain fell.
• In Year 736 of Ansu, Light became humanity’s first White Knight, though no one yet knew what the profession would be called.
• Byron and Knight Philip returned to Cecil Territory with more than a thousand prisoners and reported that many Holy Light priests and Pontiff Knights had fled to St. Luan Cathedral.
• Gawain postponed dealing with the noble prisoners and the cathedral while considering how to preserve order and reshape the Southern Territory.
• Gawain declared that Cecil must take control of Stone Fortress, but said he would wait for new intelligence and the right pretext to attack.

Daedalus helped establish Cecil’s administration in Hosman Territory after the Noble Allied Army’s defeat. When former intelligence adviser Greenwolf tried to flee and then offered a bribe, Daedalus identified him and sent him to labor reform.

• Gawain ordered allied prisoners sent to construction zones in Konde and Cecil Territory, while a reconstruction task force took over Hosman’s castle and began setting up a secondary Administrative Hall.
• Daedalus reviewed Hosman’s crude records and helped plan the takeover of noble estates, land surveys, and population resettlement.
• Soldiers brought in Green, who claimed he was a fur merchant caught trying to escape through a tunnel.
• Daedalus revealed Green’s identity as Greenwolf, Count Hosman’s intelligence adviser, and ordered him transferred to a development zone for labor reform.
• Greenwolf tried to offer his hidden property as a bribe, so Daedalus extended his labor term by two months.

Gawain discussed the Hosman reforms with Heti and proposed building a lasting identity that could unite Cecil’s people beyond loyalty to a ruler. Their conversation ended when Camil appeared at the study window, glowing and swollen, and announced a major result.

• Heti reported that Daedalus and the working group had begun surveying Hosman Territory and taking control of the Hosman estates and farmland.
• Gawain advised Heti to win the support of influential locals and demonstrate the benefits of Cecil law to ordinary people.
• Gawain explained that people in traditional territories lacked cohesion and proposed making “Cecilians” a broader identity worth defending.
• Heti told Gawain that Godwin Orlando’s phrase “become a glorious Cecil Citizen” had become popular among the people and was used with prisoners of war.
• Gawain asked Heti to take a holiday, then Camil appeared outside the window and announced a major result.

Camil showed Gawain and Heti a new communication device that allowed clear, live audio and image transmission between the Lord's Mansion and Rebecca in the North Bank Development Zone. Gawain recognized the breakthrough's potential, and Camil prepared to answer his questions about how it worked.

• Camil invited Gawain and Heti to the Magic Technology Research Institute to see his achievement.
• Camil activated a device that projected a live image of Rebecca and transmitted her voice from the North Bank Development Zone.
• Rebecca greeted Gawain and joked with Heti about her dark circles while they tested the connection.
• Gawain realized Camil and Rebecca had overcome the long-distance transmission limits of traditional Message Spells.
• Camil explained that the device used mostly basic rune groups and could be operated through a Rune Trigger.

Gawain considered how transportation and communication could help him govern the expanding southern region as Camil demonstrated a prototype Magic Net communicator. After learning how the devices identified one another, Gawain proposed assigning each one a number so users could dial it.

• Gawain reflected on how Ansu’s history of fragmented roads and communication had strengthened noble control and left the kingdom isolated after the Mist Month Rebellion.
• Camil explained that the prototype sent signals through the standard magic fields created by Magic Obelisks and that relays could extend its range.
• Gawain asked how users could contact a specific device, and Camil described a resonance system based on rune arrangements inspired by the Ancient Gandor information network.
• Camil explained that users could assemble a target device’s rune pattern with a Rune Trigger group.
• Gawain named the process dialing and proposed assigning the runes numbers from zero to seven to give each communicator an easy-to-remember address.

Gawain approved Camil and Rebecca’s communication device and planned a communications network for Cecil and nearby regions. As he and Camil left the institute, Camil praised Gawain’s efforts to explore the unknown and revealed a prototype Prismatic Device being developed as a weapon.

• Gawain praised Camil and Rebecca’s communication device, then ordered Heti to establish stations in Cecil, the Konde Region, and later the Hosman and Leslie regions.
• Heti recorded Gawain’s plans for a Ministry of Information and Communications, while he asked Camil to arrange a trial production batch and report on manufacturing issues.
• After the acceptance testing, Heti left to study the new ministry, and Rebecca reluctantly ended her communication link.
• Camil told Gawain that he recognized him as someone advancing into unknown fields, like Camil’s former colleagues at Fortress of Defiance.
• Gawain spotted an unfinished Prismatic Device in the institute, and Camil explained that it was an energy-concentrating weapon whose heat-dissipation problem remained unsolved.

The Sleeper Cult’s bishops discussed their plans to observe the God of Holy Light again and monitor Gawain, whom they believed intended to become a monarch. In Dream City, Gawain searched the cult’s network for intelligence and eventually found Patty sitting alone in the garden district.

• The Sleeper’s bishops reported progress on reproducing Bishop Lamont’s brainwaves and discussed Gawain’s rise in Ansu’s southern border.
• The Pope ordered the cult to keep observing Gawain and avoid proceeding until they knew whether he threatened the world.
• Gawain entered Dream City, noticed Daniel’s contributions to the Mind Network, and found no information about Project Zero.
• Gawain read gossip about his campaigns, learned that The Sleeper was keeping a low profile in the southern border, and found rumors that the Children of the Storm were fighting the Naga.
• Gawain ended his network connection, followed Daniel’s tracking link through the garden district, and found Patty sitting alone on a swing.

Gawain met Patty in the Mind Network and learned that her mother, Viscountess Ropini Gellan, had led the surviving southern nobles toward Stone Fortress on a campaign of revenge. The battered noble survivors reached the fortress, where Sir Maryland realized they had arrived at his gates.

• Gawain spoke with Patty in the Mind Network and learned that Selina Gelvin had been absent because she was reportedly sick.
• Patty told Gawain that her mother had taken knights away because fighting was underway, and he reassured her while confirming that Iron Rangers and Intelligence Bureau agents were guarding the castle.
• Gawain considered the instability in Glan Territory and decided it was time for Cecil forces to take over the territory while Ropini was away.
• After more than ten days of hardship, Viscount Carrol, Viscount Consk, and the other surviving nobles reached Stone Fortress under Ropini Gellan's leadership.
• Sir Maryland heard that a huge group of people claiming to be southern nobles had arrived below the fortress and realized he no longer needed to send an expedition south.

Sir Maryland welcomed the defeated southern nobles into Stone Fortress, where Viscount Carrol warned him that Gawain Cecil threatened the south and learned that the king was dead. In Cecil Territory, Gawain oversaw the completion of a Magic Net tower before Amber announced that Light had regained the Holy Light.

• Sir Maryland admitted nearly a thousand defeated southern nobles to Stone Fortress after verifying their identities, and Viscount Consk urged him to hurry the inspection so his followers could eat.
• Viscount Carrol warned Sir Maryland that Gawain Cecil had prepared a terrifying army and would likely target Stone Fortress, but Maryland said the royal capital could offer little help.
• Sir Maryland told Carrol and the other nobles that the king was dead.
• Gawain watched Magic Industrial Technicians finish a Magic Obelisk Relay Tower in Cecil City while Rebecca explained its signal range and proposed defensive measures for wilderness towers.
• Amber arrived and told Gawain that Light had returned and regained the Holy Light.

Gawain learned how Light regained the Holy Light after witnessing the suffering caused by defeated nobles and priests, and Light questioned whether future generations would repeat their corruption. Gawain explained that his war aimed to abolish the landed nobles as a class by dismantling their control of land and people, leaving Light to consider the reforms.

• Gawain hurried to the church with Amber and found Light bearing a deep scar and wielding the Holy Light again.
• Light recounted how a destroyed village, its survivors, and a girl named Emily had led him to regain the Holy Light.
• Light asked what would prevent future generations of nobles and priests from becoming corrupt, and Amber wondered whether power would eventually corrupt Cecil's administration too.
• Gawain explained that landed nobles were structurally driven to exploit commoners because they controlled resources, laws, and power without oversight.
• Gawain told Light that the war sought to end the landed-noble class by returning land and freedom to the people, and urged him to study the Land Distribution Law and the territory's civic education.