Chapter Summaries

Reno prepared Lulong Fortress to face an Orc invasion while Nyx organized Flowing City's defenses and sought help. After the first fighting, Reno told Apophis Breo why he wore a blue cloak and recalled the costly battle in which he had persuaded Roland to fight.

• Reno ordered the soldiers to abandon Lulong Fortress's outer and middle walls and defend the inner wall.
• Nyx ordered warnings and beacon fires sent, mobilized cavalry to gather civilians, and called on the centaurs to shelter in Flowing City.
• Yun Feng kept the cavalry in the city to protect civilians, while Marcus organized Flowing City's defenses.
• Reno ordered the fortress arrow towers to fire on the Orcs, and the volleys disrupted their ranks as they raised shields.
• Apophis Breo reported that the wounded had been treated, then asked Reno why he wore a blue cloak.
• Reno explained that he had urged Roland to join a past battle for the nation's survival, where the Swift River Infantry died, and said he did not regret the sacrifice.

At Long Fortress, Apophis Breo committed the Junlin Knights to the fight against the Orcs as Reno struggled to hold the walls. The story then shifted to an earlier battle, where Reno watched a golden-haired commander lead five hundred thousand Swift River Infantry toward Lagrange City to buy the Northern Knights time.

• Reno warned Apophis Breo to watch for Giant Ogres while the Orcs prepared siege equipment outside Long Fortress.
• As the Orcs pressed their assault, Apophis Breo insisted on defending the outer wall and committed the Junlin Knights to battle.
• Reno urged Apophis Breo to retreat if necessary, but Apophis Breo vowed to survive and restore his family.
• In a flashback, the golden-haired commander told Reno that the Swift River Infantry had to hold the Orcs back so Reno could secure Lagrange City and protect the imperial family.
• The commander led five hundred thousand Swift River Infantry toward Lagrange City while Reno knelt and wept.

Luke Leopold sent the Swift River Infantry on a desperate charge against the Orc army, intending to exhaust it with their lives and create an opening to relieve the besieged Imperial Capital. As the infantry suffered heavy losses and the Orcs began to falter, Reno advanced with the Northern Knights, while Luke prepared for a battle he feared he would not survive.

• Nazgûl dismissed the approaching Swift River Infantry as a threat for the Orcs to handle while remaining alert to other human forces.
• Luke Leopold urged his 170 legion commanders to charge toward Lagrange City, choosing the ordinary infantry over the allied troops and Northern Knights.
• The Swift River Infantry charged the Orcs in ordered formations, taking heavy casualties as their repeated attacks drained the Orcs' strength and Battle Qi.
• Reno ordered the Northern Knights to arm and advance behind the infantry, planning to use the opening Luke had created.
• Luke wrote a final letter and tucked it into his armor as Reno silently hoped his friend would return alive.

Luke Leopold ordered his Swift River Infantry to sacrifice themselves to break through the Orc lines and clear a path for the Northern Knights to reach Lagrange City. He and his brother Merk prepared to lead more troops into the battle as the Orc formation began to falter.

• Luke Leopold sent the Swift River Infantry charging into the Orcs while Golden Egg stayed back and let his common soldiers fight.
• The legion commanders challenged Luke’s orders, but he argued that their lives had to be spent opening a path for the Knights and most returned to lead their troops.
• Merk Leopold confronted Luke, who admitted Reno would not approve but insisted the Empire had to survive; the brothers lamented their family’s likely end and prepared to fight.
• Luke celebrated the reported exchange of six ordinary soldiers for each professional Orc as nearly twenty legions had been wiped out and ten thousand Orcs killed.
• Luke ordered every unit forward to exploit the Orcs’ disordered formation and make a gap for the two thousand Knights waiting behind them.

Luke Leopold led the Swift River forces through a disastrous battle against the Orcs, suffering heavy losses and witnessing his brother Merk’s death. Grieving, Luke rallied scattered soldiers from multiple legions and charged back into the fight.

• Luke ordered his legions to keep attacking as reports arrived that dozens of units had been destroyed.
• Luke found Merk mortally wounded on a mound of corpses, and Merk died after asking his brother to take him home to Swift River.
• Luke saluted Merk’s body and led the Northern Swift River First Legion in a charge that routed the Orcs and inflicted heavy casualties on both sides.
• As the battle continued, Luke fought alongside scattered soldiers from several legions and realized he had become the commander of a makeshift combined force.

Reno led the Northern Knights toward Lagrange City, but slowed when their path ran through Swift River Infantry fighting the Orcs. The Knight Order eventually broke through, while Luke Leopold and his troops killed Golden Egg at the cost of Luke’s life; Lagrange City’s defense began, and the five hundred thousand Swift River Infantry remained dead on the battlefield.

• Luke Leopold ordered Reno to advance through the breach, and Reno rallied the Northern Knights for their charge toward Lagrange City.
• Reno slowed the Knight Order rather than ride over Swift River Infantry and Orcs locked in combat, then charged when the Orcs began closing the gap.
• Golden Egg, an ancient Orc descendant wielding the Frost Maul, attacked Luke and the Swift River Infantry as the Knight Order broke through the Orc ranks.
• Luke and the infantry surrounded and killed Golden Egg, but the dying Orc struck Luke a fatal blow before he succumbed.
• The Knight Order’s arrival turned the battle, and Lagrange City’s defense began as the five hundred thousand Swift River Infantry lay dead outside the city.

Reno kept Lulong Fortress supplied and steadfast against the Orcs while hoping Roland would return with reinforcements. Roland arrived at Deno Village and questioned its chief about the village’s dwarven-style heavy infantry armor.

• Reno woke from a disturbing dream, learned the Orcs had spent the night building siege engines, and ordered the fortress to conserve water.
• Reno and Apophis Breo hoped for reinforcements from Roland and lamented that they lacked a Knight Order to attack the Orc camp.
• Roland and his force reached the dilapidated Deno Village, where Chief Golden Egg agreed to let them stay for the night.
• Roland noticed the village’s heavy infantry wore dwarven-style armor and asked Golden Egg where it came from.
• Golden Egg explained that a traveling merchant caravan had brought the armor.

Roland discovered that Flowing City was still in danger and sent Caslo and Ajax ahead to protect his people. As Luke Leopold’s exhausted army marched toward Lulong Fortress, Reno sensed a call and vowed to defend the city.

• Golden Egg told Roland that Denor Village had fewer than five hundred people and that its residents stayed because leaving would mean losing their homes, food, and protection.
• Roland and his companions concluded that Baron Lance’s Gold Coins had paid for the village’s armor, and Roland promised to leave them more weapons and armor.
• Roland’s system awarded him two Swift River Legions and reported that his forces were at war, leading him to suspect Flowing City was under attack.
• Roland asked Caslo and Ajax to leave at once and protect his people, and they summoned their dragons and flew north.
• Luke Leopold led his exhausted Swift River Infantry toward Lulong Fortress, while Reno sensed a call and declared that he would hold the city.

Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold hurried toward Lulong Fortress after learning it might be a surviving War Fortress, while Reno and Apophis Breo fought to hold off the Orc assault. Luke’s army reached the fortress and prepared to attack.

• Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold decided to hurry to the besieged Lulong Fortress, fearing the Orcs might capture it.
• Caldo and Renoil raced through the sky with Caslo and Ajax aboard.
• Reno ordered the defenders to stay alive and sent shielded spearmen to rescue Apophis Breo’s knights from the Orcs on the outer wall.
• Apophis Breo sent a wounded knight for treatment, then moved his remaining men north after receiving word of another Orc attack.
• Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold reached Lulong Fortress, and Luke ordered the army to rest for half an hour before attacking.

Reno and Apophis Breo retreated from Lulong Fortress’s outer city as Orcs pressed the defenders, while Luke Leopold’s two Swift River Infantry units launched a surprise attack on the Orc army. The chapter ended with the Swift River Phalanx preparing to collide with the Orcs as the fortress archers covered their advance.

• Reno and Apophis Breo withdrew to the inner city after learning the Junlin Knights and spear-and-shield soldiers were too exhausted to hold the outer wall, while the Bannaria Archers remained protected.
• Luke Leopold led six thousand troops into a Swift River Phalanx and ordered them to approach the Orcs quietly before resting and checking their equipment.
• Ajax stopped to have Caslo guide the way, and Caslo flew ahead with Caldo while Ajax rode Renoil after them.
• Luke Leopold ordered the Swift River Legion to charge, striking the Orcs from behind and forcing them to turn and fight.
• Reno and Apophis Breo recognized the arriving reinforcements as two Swift River Legions and ordered the fortress archers to provide full coverage.
• Luke Leopold’s officers ordered the Swift River Infantry to level their spears as the phalanx prepared to meet the Orcs.

The Swift River Legion charged the Orcs to reach Lulong Fortress, but heavy casualties and the Orcs’ recovered formation halted its advance. As the Orcs blocked the way and awaited reinforcements, Caslo and Dragon Knight Ajax set out to relieve the besieged fortress.

• Luke Leopold led the Swift River Legion’s pike charge into the Orc rear, inflicting heavy losses before ordering the troops to maintain formation and rotate broken pikes.
• Reno and Apophis Breo prepared the fortress’s archers and gates to support the legion as it attacked toward the city.
• Luke stopped the attack after the Orcs regrouped beyond the fortress’s fire-support range and the legion lost nearly a thousand soldiers.
• Caldo arrived in Flowing City with Ajax, and Nyx sent Caslo and Ajax to rescue Reno and the others at Lulong Fortress.
• The Orcs formed a defensive line between the Swift River Legion and Lulong Fortress, blocking Luke and Merk Leopold from reaching the gate as Reno watched from the wall.

The Swift River Legions struggled to survive an Orc encirclement while Reno and Apophis Breo watched helplessly from Lulong Fortress. As the besieged soldiers braced for a long standoff, a dragon burst through the clouds, leaving its arrival to alter the desperate fight.

• Merk Leopold and Luke Leopold fought to keep the Swift River Infantry moving as the Orcs tried to encircle them, while Luke warned that they lacked the strength for a prolonged close-quarters battle.
• Apophis Breo urged Reno to send support from Lulong Fortress, but Reno refused to risk the city’s remaining soldiers against the much larger Orc force.
• Luke Leopold ordered the Swift River Infantry into a circular pike-wall formation, and he realized that a high-ranking Orc Lord was commanding the enemy.
• Caslo hurried Ajax toward Lulong Fortress on Caldo, and they lowered their dragons’ altitude as they approached the Swift River.
• As night fell, the Swift River soldiers held their defensive perimeter while Reno heard a dragon’s roar and Merk Leopold spotted a massive azure dragon plunging through the clouds.

Caslo and Caldo rescued the Swift River Infantry from the Orcs, while Reno watched in alarm as a second Dragon Rider appeared near the fortress. The newcomer attacked the Orcs alongside Caslo instead of killing him, though King Roland was still delayed by rain and muddy roads.

• Caslo ordered Caldo to save the surrounded Swift River soldiers, and Caldo dove down and devastated the Orcs with Dragon Breath and wind blades.
• Luke and Merk Leopold realized the dragon was a Dragon Knight, and the surviving infantry cheered as the Orcs fled.
• Reno saw Caslo arrive and expected Roland's army to follow, but Roland was still struggling through the rain-soaked Mirkwood with his soldiers.
• A fiery-red dragon and its rider appeared behind Caslo, and Reno feared the newcomer would kill him.
• The new Dragon Rider joined Caslo in attacking the Orcs with Dragon Breath and Draconic Magic, and Reno opened his eyes to find Caslo alive.

Caslo and Ajax helped the shattered Swift River legions retreat toward the fortress while the Nazgûl planned an assault. Khamûl led the Fallen Knight Order into motion, intending to force the Dragon Knights to fight on the ground.

• Caslo and Ajax attacked the fleeing Orcs and escorted the battered Swift River troops toward the fortress.
• Reno ordered the gates opened, and Apophis Breo directed a Junlin Knight to bring the soldiers inside.
• Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold led the surviving soldiers toward the fortress, mourning the legion’s heavy losses.
• Caslo and Ajax agreed to clear a safe path for the retreating army as the Orcs fled.
• Khamûl, Lidilias, and Sernal discussed facing the two Dragon Knights and attacking the fortress, expecting reinforcements from Mordor.
• Caslo killed a fleeing Fifth Tier Orc commander, then Khamûl led more than a hundred Fallen Knights toward the fortress.

Ajax and Caslo confronted Khamûl, Sernal, Lidilias, and their Black Knight Order, then retreated toward Lulong Fortress to draw the attackers into range of its defenses. The Swift River Legion fled ahead of them as Caslo and Ajax tried to keep it from being caught by the pursuing Nazgûl.

• Ajax sensed the approaching fallen aura, ordered Luke Leopold to keep the Swift River Infantry moving, and flew with Renoil to meet Khamûl and the other Black Knights.
• Caslo and Caldo recognized the Nazgûl and pursued them, while Ajax fought Lidilias, Sernal, and Khamûl but failed to break their barriers and nearly got struck by Sernal’s Soul Scythe.
• Caslo urged Ajax to use Lulong Fortress as cover, and Khamûl led the Nazgûl and Black Knight Order after the retreating Dragon Knights.
• Caslo warned that the Black Knight Order could overwhelm the fortress garrison, and Ajax told him to help the Swift River Legion reach safety.
• Caslo warned the Swift River Legion that the Nazgûl were close behind, and Merk Leopold ordered the soldiers to abandon their shields and spears.

The Swift River Infantry reached Lulong Fortress while Black Knights pursued them, and Reno ordered the Dragon Slaying Towers to fire on the Nazgûl. Their Demon-Breaking Arrows shattered the enemy defenses and gravely wounded Lidilias, leaving the battle unresolved.

• Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold led their troops through Lulong Fortress's gates as Reno prepared its defenses.
• Caslo and Ajax joined Reno, and Caslo revealed that three Nazgûl and at least one hundred and sixty Black Knights were approaching.
• Reno ordered the Dragon Slaying Towers to fire when the enemy came within five li.
• Sernal, Lidilias, and Khamûl raised Necromancer Barriers, but the Demon-Breaking Arrows pierced them and broke the Black Knights' Fallen State.
• A Demon-Breaking Arrow killed more than a dozen Black Knights, while two arrows struck Lidilias and one annihilated everything below his chest.

Reno’s War Fortress crippled Khamûl’s Nazgûl force, and Caslo and Ajax pursued the fleeing survivors on their dragons. As the Dragon Slaying Tower reloaded, Reno ordered another volley at Khamûl, leaving him facing eight incoming Demon-Breaking Arrows.

• Lidilias was badly wounded by the Dragon Slaying Tower, and Khamûl ordered Sernal to carry him away as the Nazgûl retreated under fire from Lulong Fortress.
• Reno sent Caslo and Ajax after the fleeing Nazgûl, and they took off on their giant dragons.
• Khamûl struck one pursuing dragon with a destructive sword beam, but Caslo and Ajax emerged from the smoke and joined forces against the Nazgûl.
• Reno and Apophis Breo watched the Nazgûl and Black Knights flee, while Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold were stunned by the War Fortress’s attack.
• After the Dragon Slaying Tower reloaded, Reno ordered it to fire at Khamûl, who saw eight Demon-Breaking Arrows coming toward him.

Uwasa, the Ninth Ringwraith, rescued Khamûl and the surviving Nazgûl, then withdrew after warning Ajax and Caslo to grow stronger. Lulong Fortress began recovering from the battle, and Roland returned to find Nyx waiting for him.

• Uwasa appeared before Khamûl and stopped Ajax and Caslo’s Demon-Breaking Arrows with a spatial barrier.
• Uwasa declared that Ajax and Caslo were too weak to fight him, then opened a spatial gate and withdrew with Lidilias, the Black Knights, and the Nazgûl.
• Uwasa explained that he spared the Dragon Knights because he had once been a knight, and urged them to grow stronger before their next meeting.
• Reno and the others discussed the threat posed by Uwasa and ordered the fallen soldiers’ bodies gathered and buried.
• Roland forced his way through Lulong Fortress’s gate, and Nyx ran into his arms, crying.

Roland rushed to reinforce besieged Lulong Fortress after learning Yun Feng had kept the city’s forces back to protect Flowing City. At the fortress, he learned the Swift River Legion had suffered severe losses, though the territory status showed 3,257 infantry still remained.

• Roland learned Lulong Fortress was still under siege and ordered the cavalry to ride south while the infantry rested.
• Roland arrived at Lulong Fortress, where Omsk confirmed the Lagrange banner still flew and Reno admitted the area remained unsafe.
• Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold greeted Roland and reported that only a little over two thousand of their six-thousand-man legion remained.
• Roland checked the territory system, which listed 3,257 Swift River Infantry and showed Lulong Fortress’s defenses and the kingdom’s current holdings.

Roland arrived at Lulong Fortress after the battle and learned that the Swift River Infantry had suffered catastrophic losses, though the fortress remained in kingdom hands. Concerned about the Nazgûl’s threat, he considered strengthening the fortress and agreed with Nyx and Yun Feng to establish villages around Flowing City.

• Roland learned from Luke Leopold and Merk Leopold that thousands of Swift River Infantry had died, and that almost no wounded soldiers had survived.
• Roland ordered the Orc corpses cleared, praised Reno and Apophis Breo for defending Lulong Fortress, and decided the surviving Swift River Infantry would stay there to recover.
• Roland told Nyx that the retreating Nazgûl, especially Uwasa and his space magic, worried him, and considered permanently stationing a Dragon Knight at Lulong Fortress.
• Nyx proposed building villages closer to the farmland, and Roland agreed that the growing population needed room to expand.
• Roland asked Yun Feng to find suitable village sites, and Yun Feng supported expanding the kingdom into the surrounding wasteland.