Chapter Summaries

Apophis Breo’s column spotted a blood moon and braced for a werewolf attack in the forest. Meanwhile, Caslo returned to Flowing City and assured Roland that Apophis Breo’s men were safe, unaware of the danger they had just encountered.

• Apophis Breo recognized the blood moon as a warning, ordered the soldiers into a defensive circle, and told the Knights to prepare their lances in case werewolves attacked.
• Apophis Breo confirmed the threat when werewolves howled nearby and divided his tired soldiers into groups to sleep, rest, and keep watch.
• Apophis Breo refused to rest in a shelter and lay down on a sled beneath a blanket.
• Caslo returned to Flowing City and told Roland that Apophis Breo’s men had only encountered a few Dark Demon Spiders.
• Roland teased Caslo and told him to arrange his time as he wished, unaware that Apophis Breo was facing serious trouble.

Caslo showed Roland a memory crystal of a massive herd of Horned Bulls, and Roland decided to capture their calves for breeding. Roland, Omsk, and Caslo prepared to join the hunt with the Knight Order and two Dragon Knights.

• Caslo showed Roland footage of a huge herd of Horned Bulls crossing snowy fields.
• Roland summoned Omsk, and they agreed to capture the herd and keep its young for breeding.
• Omsk proposed using the Knight Order to hunt the adults and secure food for the kingdom.
• Roland decided to join the hunt, while Omsk gathered the Knight Order and Caslo went to get Ajax.

Roland joined Omsk and the Lagrange Knights on a winter hunt, only to discover they had found a huge herd of Horned Bulls. Omsk ordered the Knights to capture them while keeping the calves alive, leaving Roland with little chance to hunt for himself.

• Omsk assembled 110 Lagrange Empire Vanguard Knights, and rumors spread among the Kingdom's civilians that Roland planned an eastern campaign to restore the Empire.
• Roland asked Caslo about the dwarves' defenses, learned that the Iron Hills dwarves were reinforcing the mountains, and worried about his past damage to Dáin's home.
• Omsk led Roland and the Knights to a herd of Horned Bulls, and Roland marveled at the enormous beasts.
• Omsk asked Caslo and Ajax to help gather the herd and ordered the Knights to keep the calves alive.
• Roland lowered his bow as the Knights closed in, realizing their capture operation would leave him little to do.

Roland and Omsk led the Knights in a hunt for Horned Bulls, which yielded a large haul but went badly when the herd scattered and injured several knights. Roland chastised Omsk for his arrogance, then cheered up the embarrassed soldiers by promising them a roast-beef feast.

• Omsk led the Knights in attacking the Horned Bull herd while Roland assigned Ajax and Caslo to help keep the beasts contained.
• The Knights killed many bulls, but the panicked herd broke through the encirclement and tossed several knights, including Omsk, from their horses.
• Roland sent his Dragon Knights to drive the scattered herd together and end the disorder.
• Omsk reported that the hunt had killed nearly three hundred Horned Bulls and captured over forty calves, while admitting that several knights had suffered sprains.
• Roland rebuked Omsk for getting cocky and ordered the soldiers to butcher and pack the beef and preserve the hides.
• On the way back, Roland lifted the Knights' spirits by promising them a roast-beef feast, and they cheered for him.

Apophis Breo’s exhausted force stopped to camp while werewolves tracked them through Mirkwood. He lured the attackers into an underground ambush, drove them off, and left the survivors with a warning as his army prepared to continue toward the Beornings’ territory.

• Apophis Breo agreed to halt the march and ordered his force to camp on high ground, despite knowing the werewolves were still following them.
• Apophis Breo planned to travel south along the Anduin River toward Karlok, the Beornings’ town, and decided to let the werewolves come to him.
• Apophis Breo and his soldiers hid in covered trenches, then sprang an ambush when the werewolves attacked at night.
• The Junlin Knights and Valiant Warriors killed dozens of werewolves, while the survivors fled into the forest; Apophis Breo ordered his men not to pursue.
• The Great Knight reported few casualties, and Olaf said the werewolf corpses had been hung on the chevaux-de-frise as a warning.

Apophis Breo’s company survived a werewolf attack in the night by cutting apart the corpses, then prepared to continue through the winter woods. Meanwhile, King Roland returned to Flowing City with more than three hundred Horned Bulls and distributed their meat to the residents.

• A Valiant Warrior was attacked by a werewolf corpse, and the Great Knight ordered the soldiers to destroy the corpses with Lagrange Style Iaido.
• Apophis Breo woke after a peaceful night and learned that thirty-four werewolves had attacked the camp.
• Apophis Breo explained that the starving werewolves had attacked the armed soldiers because winter had left them without food.
• The Great Knight warned that dangerous magical beasts could still appear as the company continued through the woods.
• King Roland returned to Flowing City with more than three hundred Horned Bulls and distributed the meat among the residents.

Roland watched the people eagerly adopt Horned Bull calves and collect the meat they had forgotten, then reflected on the burdens of ruling Lagrange. Checking the system later, he saw that Caslo’s group had encountered trouble and many Valiant Warriors were injured, though the Junlin Knights remained unharmed.

• The people claimed the Horned Bull calves for their households, and Roland discovered they had returned only to retrieve the meat they had left behind.
• Nyx comforted Roland as he reflected on how his choices had helped save Lagrange and on his wish to ease his subjects’ suffering.
• Roland checked the system and saw that Caslo’s group had run into trouble, with several Valiant Warriors badly injured but no reported deaths.
• Roland worried about the group’s condition and complained that being king brought exhaustion and responsibility rather than an easy life.

Roland reviewed Lagrange Kingdom’s territory and troop strength, lamenting its slow growth and the human cost of relying on ordinary soldiers. Priest Ivy then reported that an epidemic seemed to have broken out in Flowing City.

• Roland inspected the Territory Panel and found that population had increased, but the kingdom still lacked professional soldier training and needed more land and people.
• Roland rejected victories bought with soldiers’ lives and said he wanted to defeat enemies with professional troops instead.
• Roland worried that completing his main quest to become an Emperor would be difficult, though its rewards tempted him.
• Priest Ivy told Roland that an epidemic seemed to have broken out in the city, and he sprang to his feet in shock.

Roland learned that a plague was spreading through the city despite its sanitation and the Priests’ purification spells. Suspecting deliberate poisoning, he ordered measures to contain the outbreak and left the source unknown.

• Ivy told Roland that citizens were developing headaches and fevers and that the number of infected people kept growing despite purification spells.
• Yun Feng confirmed that the illness was a plague, and Omsk suggested it might have been deliberately caused.
• Roland suspected an enemy had poisoned the city and considered Saruman and other possible culprits, but could not identify the source.
• Roland ordered Yun Feng to spread quicklime and warn citizens against drinking untreated water.
• Roland told Ivy and the other Priests to treat infected people with dispelling, purification, and healing magic.

Queen Nyx joined Roland’s council as illness spread through Flowing City, including among soldiers and officials, but they could not identify its source. Roland learned that the sickness had spread across the Northern Territory kingdoms, while Reno warned that the outbreak threatened spring planting and the kingdom’s food supply.

• Nyx hurried to Roland’s council hall, where Omsk and Yun Feng reported that the sick were increasing and city defense officer Lance had fallen ill.
• Roland and his advisers suspected poisoning or a curse, but they had no clues about the source, and Nyx learned that Priest Ivy had first noticed the growing number of patients.
• Nyx visited the infirmary, where Ivy warned her away and escorted her outside after treating her with a Purification spell.
• Roland showed Nyx a letter reporting that the plague had spread to other Northern Territory kingdoms, with people dying in Dale while dwarves and elves suffered less severely.
• Reno rushed in and warned Roland and Nyx that the kingdom could face starvation if infected people could not work and spring plowing was delayed.

Reno and Omsk searched for a plague source in Flowing City but found no way to identify or stop the spreading affliction. Roland asked his system for help and learned that a powerful cleansing spell cost twice his available Wealth Points.

• Roland told Reno that Flowing City lacked the people and specialists needed to locate the plague's source, so Reno went to search himself.
• Reno consulted Omsk, who said the Dragon Knights had failed to find the source and that they could not even tell whether the affliction was a plague or a curse.
• Omsk explained that Aquavia Kingdom had controlled its outbreak with Shamans but could not spare help for Flowing City, where Priests struggled to keep pace with new infections.
• Roland pleaded with his system for a solution, and it offered the Divine Forbidden Spell—Holy Dawn Cleansing for 1,000,000 Wealth Points.
• Roland realized he had only 500,000 Wealth Points, and the system urged him to earn more before falling silent.

Reno and Omsk realized that the plague’s vast reach but limited severity pointed to a spreading medium, and they identified a likely location on the map. Meanwhile, Apophis Breo arranged to cross the Anduin River through Beorn’s territory, and the chapter ended with Reno revealing the discovery to Roland.

• Reno reasoned that the plague’s range and weak effects did not fit a forbidden spell, so it must be spreading through a medium.
• Omsk examined a map with Reno, and they pointed to the same location as the likely source of the plague.
• Beorn welcomed Apophis Breo and agreed to help his party cross the river and replenish supplies.
• Beorn warned Apophis Breo that the Misty Mountains were dangerous because wandering Orcs, Giant Ogres, and scattered Orc soldiers filled the region.
• Apophis Breo arranged supplies and rest for his soldiers before planning their route beyond the Anduin River.
• Roland was shocked when Omsk announced that Reno had found the source of the plague.

Reno concluded that the plague’s source was probably Long Lake, whose waters connected several kingdoms, and Roland authorized an expedition to find and purify it. The search party headed north while Caslo went to recruit the Star Elves, leaving the group to rendezvous by Long Lake.

• Reno told Roland that Long Lake was the most likely source of the plague because its waters could spread the infection across kingdoms.
• Roland prepared to go himself, but Reno, Omsk, and Caslo persuaded him to stay behind and protect the kingdom.
• Omsk assembled a force of knights, priests, heroes, and other experts, while Ajax remained to guard the home front.
• The expedition found no evidence of the plague in Flowing City, and Reno warned that they would be helpless if Long Lake was not the source.
• Caslo proposed recruiting Eowyn and Peter Gro, whose mental powers could help search the lake, and Omsk agreed they should meet near Long Lake.
• Caslo flew south to find the Star Elves while the rest of the expedition continued north.

Caslo sought help from the Star Elves after a plague devastated the Northern Territory, and Eowyn agreed to join the search for the curse’s source at Long Lake. Yun Feng and the others began searching the vast lake, though the knights stayed behind to protect the searchers.

• Caslo struck the Star Elves’ barrier to summon Peter Gro and told him the dark faction had unleashed a plague across the Northern Territory.
• Peter Gro brought Caslo to Eowyn, who agreed to help after hearing that Dale had fallen and the Aquavia Kingdom and Lagrange Kingdom were struggling to hold on.
• Caslo said they believed the curse’s source was at Long Lake, so Eowyn and Peter Gro set out with him.
• At Long Lake, Omsk assigned Ladyl to search the shore and sent Ivy and the other spellcasters across the water by boat.
• Yun Feng arranged for knights to row the spellcasters, then left to search the far northern area while Omsk stayed to protect the others.

Yun Feng’s search for the curse source revealed a Spatial Displacement Curse Source that escaped through space. He opened a spatial rift for Eowyn to investigate, but the chapter ended before they retrieved it.

• Caslo and Peter Gro joined Omsk and Eowyn in searching Long Lake for the hidden curse source.
• Yun Feng’s Mental Power met resistance underwater, and he forced the curse source to reveal itself before it teleported away.
• Yun Feng identified the source as a Spatial Displacement Curse Source and admitted he could no longer track its location.
• When Eowyn arrived, Yun Feng used Thought Severance to cut open a spatial rift and asked Eowyn to find the curse source.

Eowyn opened a rift into the unstable void, and the group searched for the spatial anchor point tied to the Spatial Displacement Curse Source. Sky pulled out the source, but the void began collapsing around them.

• Eowyn tore open a spatial rift and entered with Yun Feng, who was protected by Eowyn's spatial Battle Qi.
• Peter Gro and Star Dragon Sky joined Eowyn and Yun Feng inside the rift, while Caslo and Caldo stayed outside.
• Omsk entered the void, and Gais protected him with a Dragon Power Shield.
• The group found that the spatial anchor point kept moving, and Sky warned them not to disturb the unstable space.
• Spatial fragments pierced their shields, but Sky's Dragon Power Shield protected everyone as he pulled out the source and warned that the void was collapsing.

Yun Feng and the others escaped a collapsing spatial rift with the curse’s source, then argued over how to handle it. The chapter left Caldo and the Star Dragon locked in a hostile staring match as Ivy arrived.

• Omsk, Yun Feng, Eowyn, Skye, and the dragons escaped through the spatial rift before it collapsed, leaving the group to witness space repair itself.
• Yun Feng warned Caslo against physically roaming the void before reaching the sixth tier, while the Star Dragon showed everyone the captured curse’s source.
• The Star Dragon mocked Caldo, and the enraged Wind Dragon confronted him until Peter Gro and Caslo tried to intervene.
• Yun Feng and Eowyn redirected the dragons toward dealing with the curse, but Caldo and the Star Dragon kept staring each other down.
• Ivy arrived with a priest and found the two dragons still engaged in their silent standoff.

Yun Feng and the others gathered the Priests and General Reno to destroy the curse source behind the Northern Territory plague. Reno’s Holy Sword Judgment purified it, ending the threat, while the exhausted hero was overlooked amid the celebrations.

• Yun Feng showed Ivy the curse source imprisoned in the Star Dragon’s claw, and Caldo explained that Dragon Flame could not destroy its law-based power.
• Caslo found Reno after he arrived, and Reno prepared to strike the curse source until Yun Feng and Caldo warned him that his sword would hit the Star Dragon’s claw.
• Eowyn called the Priests to use their purification spells, but their efforts barely affected the curse source.
• Omsk engulfed the curse source in Light Power, and Reno used Holy Sword Judgment to crack and gradually dissolve it.
• The Star Dragon confirmed the curse source was purified, and the Knight Order celebrated while Reno collapsed from exhaustion and complained that no one noticed his efforts.

Apophis Breo’s exhausted expedition reached the approach to Old Pass, where he and his officers planned how to seize the Orc-held route and establish a foothold for the Junlin Family. They decided to rest before marching into the Misty Mountains the next morning, despite the risk of being discovered.

• Apophis Breo complained about the lingering sensation of being at sea, then ordered the troops to shelter from the rain and camp before entering the Misty Mountains.
• Olaf reprimanded officers for gossiping while the soldiers worked, then recognized that the expedition’s harsh conditions had left both soldiers and officers near their breaking point.
• Apophis Breo told Olaf and the Great Knight that losing at Old Pass would end the expedition and leave the Junlin Family without another chance to rebuild its strength.
• Apophis Breo and his officers ruled out a frontal assault and planned to capture Old Pass by surprise before the Orcs noticed them.
• Apophis Breo decided the soldiers needed rest and postponed the march until morning, despite the danger of delaying.

Apophis Breo led the Valiant Warriors toward Old Pass, hoping to capture it as a stronghold for his family’s revival. After reaching the mountain approach, he prepared the force for an assault before dusk and ordered them to kill every Orc they encountered.

• Apophis Breo ordered the soldiers to eat, abandon nonessential supplies, and march toward the pass.
• Apophis Breo studied the map with the Great Knight and Olaf and concluded that the Orc garrison was probably still weakened from the Lonely Mountain Expedition.
• Apophis Breo rejected a reckless frontal charge and ordered the Knights to dismount, lead the attack, and keep advancing even if he fell.
• Apophis Breo set the assault for before dusk and ordered his soldiers to leave no Orc survivors.
• Olaf reassured the Great Knight that he would protect Apophis Breo, then awkwardly pretended to be saddened by the prospect of having no Orc captives to question.