Chapter Summaries

Apophis Breo defended Junlin Fortress with the help of Lindir and 500 Elf Rangers after the Orc vanguard attacked. As Orc infantry assaulted the walls, Roland’s promised reinforcements had still not arrived, and the defenders shifted to cover and mobile tactics.

• King Elrond sent 500 Elf Rangers to support Apophis Breo, and Lindir arrived to command them at the eastern pass.
• Orc Warg Riders found Lion Territory abandoned and attacked Junlin Fortress, where Lindir’s rangers shot down more than a hundred of them.
• Apophis Breo told Lindir that reinforcements were on the way, though he intended to let the elves absorb the fighting before the kingdom’s army joined in.
• Orc infantry stormed toward the fortress with siege ladders, and Apophis Breo and Lindir answered with arrows and coordinated volleys.
• Orc Archers began killing defenders, so Apophis Breo ordered his men to take cover while Lindir spread the rangers across the fortress for mobile attacks.

Apophis Breo’s forces and Lindir’s Elves suffered heavy casualties fighting the Orcs, while Dura repeatedly healed the wounded. Roland set out to join the battle despite his companions’ objections, and they arrived to find the defenders nearly crushed by Orc heavy infantry.

• Dura healed an Elf Ranger who was struck by arrows twice in nearly the same spot, while Lindir and Apophis Breo learned the scale of their losses.
• Olaf reported that 127 Valiant Warriors, 147 militiamen, and more than thirty Elves had died, prompting Apophis Breo to request reinforcements.
• Roland insisted on joining the expedition despite Yun Feng, Omsk, and Nyx demanding that he stay and produce an heir.
• Roland rode out with Darian Nightblade, Adolf Heinrich, Caslo, and Dos Antony, and earned Honor Points when the system recorded his escape as a historical event.
• Adolf Heinrich warned that five hundred Elves were no match for tens of thousands of elite Orcs, and the group learned the defenders were nearly overwhelmed by Orc heavy infantry.

Balin led the Skullcrusher Legion in a surprise charge that broke the Orc attack on Junlin Fortress. He then halted the pursuit and returned to help defend the fortress, knowing the Orc heavy troops remained a threat.

• Lindir urged Apophis Breo to act as the defenders and Orcs remained locked in an arrow battle outside Junlin Fortress.
• Apophis Breo nearly unleashed a fire-element Grand Forbidden Spell but stopped when he heard a battle cry invoking Durin.
• Balin led three hundred Skullcrusher Legion dwarves on Argali in a charge against the Orcs attacking Junlin Fortress.
• Balin and the Skullcrusher Legion scattered the Orcs and drove them several miles from the pass.
• Balin stopped the pursuit and led his warriors back to help defend Junlin Fortress.

Balin arrived with the Dwarves to aid Apophis Breo against the Orcs and agreed to protect Lindir’s Elf Rangers. After hearing how dangerous the situation was, Balin vowed to buy time even at the cost of his men, but Apophis Breo realized the Dwarves’ armor made them far harder to kill than Balin’s words suggested.

• Balin greeted Apophis Breo and learned that Lindir and several hundred Elf Rangers had joined the defense.
• Lindir asked Balin to have the Dwarves protect the Rangers while they attacked the Orcs, and Balin agreed to help Apophis Breo.
• Balin asked Apophis Breo for a detailed account of the battle and learned that their forces faced considerable danger.
• Balin said the Dwarves would fight to buy time, even if every Dwarf fell, because they owed king Roland for his past aid.
• Apophis Breo noticed the Dwarves’ sturdy equipment and realized the Orcs would struggle to kill them.

Duke Apophis Breo, Balin, and Lindir prepared Junlin Fortress for another Orc assault while awaiting the kingdom’s reinforcements. After learning that Roland had set out despite Nyx’s warnings, they faced a huge Orc force gathering on the horizon and braced for a deadly night.

• Balin revealed that his dwarf legion wore full mithril plate armor, and Apophis Breo arranged food and rest for his soldiers while the Orcs regrouped.
• Balin noted that Lion Territory would need rebuilding, and Apophis Breo explained that he had burned it to deny the Orcs its defenses and supplies.
• Olaf delivered a message from Flowing City warning Apophis Breo to keep an eye on Roland, and Apophis Breo realized Roland was coming despite Nyx and the nobles’ instructions.
• Lindir patrolled Junlin Fortress and corrected the human soldiers’ formations and sentry discipline while the dwarves’ arrival eased the defenders’ burden.
• An Elf Ranger spotted the Orcs moving, and Lindir, Balin, and Apophis Breo warned the soldiers to prepare for a long night as the Orc army advanced beneath a heavy War Cloud.

Apophis Breo, Balin, and Lindir led the defense of Junlin Fortress against a massive Orc assault. The attackers piled their dead against the walls until the corpse heap formed a slope, leaving Lindir warning that the defenders could not hold much longer.

• Apophis Breo prepared forbidden spells as Balin and Lindir rallied the defenders and cautioned him not to waste them.
• Lindir’s rangers unleashed explosive arrows while dwarves, elves, and humans fought off Orcs and Warg Riders at the walls.
• Balin and Lindir fought back the attackers, and Apophis Breo realized Lindir had reached Tier Five.
• Lindir spotted that the Orc corpses had piled high enough to level Junlin Fortress’s seven-meter walls and warned Apophis Breo that the defenses were close to falling.

Apophis Breo’s allies repelled another Orc assault with fire oil, elven arrows, and Dura’s vines, but suffered heavy casualties. As the defenders prepared to retreat, the Witch-king of Angmar emerged from the War Clouds, and the chapter ended with Dura and Olaf readying their forces to cover the evacuation.

• Apophis Breo ordered Olaf to have the militia hurl fire oil while Lindir’s elven archers ignited it, setting Orcs ablaze.
• Dura cast a fourth-tier spell that summoned Giant Withered Vines, which cleared Orcs from the walls and strangled them.
• Lindir reported forty-seven elven casualties, Dura reported nearly two hundred Valiant Warriors and almost three hundred militiamen killed, and Balin said one dwarf had sprained an arm.
• Apophis Breo and his allies watched three black tornadoes form as the Nazgûl emerged from the War Clouds.
• The Witch-king of Angmar appeared, prompting Balin to order a retreat and Dura and Olaf to prepare to cover the evacuation.

As the Witch-king of Angmar and the Orcs pursued the retreat from Lionheart Castle, Apophis Breo chose to stay behind and fight for his people. At the fortress, Dura and Olaf faced imminent defeat until crimson flames appeared in the sky.

• Lindir, Balin, and Apophis Breo fled with the civilians while the Witch-king of Angmar pursued them.
• Apophis Breo broke away from Lindir and declared that he would stay with the Junlin militia to defend his land and cover the retreat.
• The Junlin militia rallied behind Apophis Breo and prepared to fight to the death.
• At the fortress, Dura and Olaf accepted that they might die as the Witch-king of Angmar ordered the Orcs to attack.
• Dura spotted a sea of crimson flames bursting from the dark clouds, and Olaf looked up at the blazing sky.

The Witch-king of Angmar resisted the joint Grand Forbidden Spell Spatial Annihilation and appeared to be at full strength, forcing the defenders to prepare for a Forbidden Spell battle. Olaf ordered the surviving soldiers to withdraw, while Adolf Heinrich arranged reinforcements and assigned roles for the coming clash.

• The Witch-king of Angmar used Dark Etching and War Cloud to resist Spatial Annihilation, and Roland and Darian Nightblade watched as the Grand Forbidden Spell weakened.
• Darian Nightblade said he had stabbed a Nazgûl to death, but Roland suggested that it might have survived through a resurrection ability.
• The Wyvern Knights warned the defenders to leave the fortress, and Olaf ordered the soldiers to retreat despite their concerns about their comrades' bodies.
• Dos Antony, Adolf Heinrich, Valfay, Caslo, and Ajax gathered on the city wall as Adolf Heinrich judged that Spatial Annihilation would soon fade.
• Adolf Heinrich said he had sent Yun Feng a request for reinforcements and ordered Ajax and Caslo to intervene if the Forbidden Spell battle went badly.

Adolf Heinrich unleashed the Grand Forbidden Spell Rhine Storm against the Nazgûl, devastating the battlefield and nearly destroying the city wall. Roland survived the distant shockwave with Dos’s protection, then insisted on going to the main battlefield.

• Adolf Heinrich cast Rhine Storm, forming a vast light-and-fire mushroom cloud that collapsed and erupted into a massive shockwave.
• Adolf Heinrich shielded his group as the blast shattered the city wall and swept into the valley.
• Darian Nightblade rushed Roland away from the blast, and Dos shielded them from the shockwave with his body.
• Roland recognized Rhine Storm and decided to take a detour to find the others and help.
• The system awarded Roland one Honor Point for witnessing the historical event Rhine Destroyer.

The humans and the Nazgûl fought a Forbidden Spell War as the Rhine Storm devastated the battlefield and destroyed the Lion Territory. Adolf Heinrich detected the Witch-king of Angmar’s concealed Grand Forbidden Spell and ordered Caslo and Ajax to counter it, leaving their fused magic to collide with the Rhine Storm.

• Dos Antony asked Caslo whether the Witch-king of Angmar had been killed, and Adolf Heinrich explained that the Witch-king remained unharmed inside the Rhine Storm.
• The Witch-king of Angmar recognized that the humans had forced a Forbidden Spell War and cast the Grand Forbidden Spell Yellow Springs Soul Fall.
• The Rhine Storm devastated the surrounding land and leveled the Lion Territory while the Wyvern Knights watched from above.
• Adolf Heinrich sensed the Witch-king’s concealed Grand Forbidden Spell and told Caslo and Ajax to cast their own spells before it was complete.
• Caslo and Ajax unleashed Stormbreaker Wing and Blazing Wings Scorching Plains, whose fusion produced Spatial Annihilation.
• Spatial Annihilation collided with the Rhine Storm, causing magical distortion and spatial rifts as the forbidden spells began to twist together.

Roland arrived at Junlin Fortress as the Grand Forbidden Spells of Spatial Annihilation and Yellow Springs Soul Fall clashed overhead. He left command to Adolf Heinrich while the Wyvern Knights joined the civilian evacuation, and the battle against the Nazgûl remained unresolved.

• Yellow Springs Soul Fall emerged from the War Cloud and struggled against Spatial Annihilation, prompting Adolf Heinrich to identify it as an Evil Attribute Grand Forbidden Spell.
• Ajax warned Adolf Heinrich that Amoras was a mage and Caslo explained that Holmras was a combat professional whose failed assassination had become widely known.
• Adolf Heinrich told the Wyvern Knights to withdraw, and Roland arrived with Darian Nightblade as Apophis Breo returned to the battlefield.
• Roland and Apophis Breo refused to retreat, citing their duties and the Junlin Family's honor.
• Apophis Breo said the dwarven and elven allies were helping civilians evacuate to Hidden Valley, and Adolf Heinrich assigned the Wyvern Knights to assist.
• Roland handed command to Adolf Heinrich as Spatial Annihilation and Yellow Springs Soul Fall continued battling over the battlefield.

Roland and his allies struggled to withstand the Witch-king of Angmar’s War Cloud until Adolf Heinrich unleashed a powerful light-element Grand Forbidden Spell. The spell began breaking through the War Cloud, and Roland recognized it as the Divine Word Spell, leaving him shocked by Adolf Heinrich’s hidden ability.

• Roland asked about the battlefield, and Adolf Heinrich explained that the Witch-king of Angmar had endured their attacks and remained formidable.
• Adolf Heinrich proposed risking one decisive attack, while Apophis Breo offered him Forbidden Spell scrolls that he declined.
• Adolf Heinrich began chanting a divine spell, suffered magical backlash, and collapsed after speaking its final words.
• A blinding light dispelled the darkness, washed away Yellow Springs Soul Fall, and cracked the shield formed from the War Cloud.
• Roland recognized Adolf Heinrich’s spell as the Divine Word Spell, Chant of the God of Light, and demanded to know how he could use it.

Adolf Heinrich’s Divine Word Spell wounded the Witch-king of Angmar and wiped out the Orc army, but the Nazgûl escaped. Roland discovered that Adolf had been severely injured by the spell’s backlash, then thanked Balin and learned that his Axe of Durin was a divine artifact; the elves were still unaccounted for.

• Adolf Heinrich explained that his incomplete Chant of the God of Light was a powerful Divine Word Spell, while Roland speculated about its potential to become a Divine Descent Spell.
• Valfay spotted that the Nazgûl had fled, while Apophis Breo noted that the spell had destroyed more than ten thousand Orcs and crippled Fortress of Gundabad.
• Roland privately confronted Adolf Heinrich about his severe injuries, and Adolf said a potion had stabilized him and that he needed to recuperate.
• Roland accepted Apophis Breo’s thanks and urged him to focus on resettling the people and rebuilding his territory.
• Roland found Balin below the slope, thanked him for his help, and recognized the Axe of Durin as a divine artifact.
• Roland asked Balin where the elves were, since they had gone to help evacuate the people but had not returned.

Roland thanked Lindir and Balin for their help in the victory, then the dwarves departed for Moria. Yun Feng examined the badly injured Adolf Heinrich and found that the backlash from his Divine Word Spell had reshaped his magical origin, potentially letting him use the spell safely in the future.

• Roland thanked Lindir for Rivendell’s support and learned from Balin that the elves had suffered dozens of casualties while the dwarves were largely unharmed.
• Balin declined the victory banquet and left for Moria with the dwarves, escorted by Wyvern Knights.
• Yun Feng and Omsk arrived at the ruined Lion Territory, where Dos Antony explained that the kingdom had won and the others had gone to Lionheart Castle.
• Roland hurried Yun Feng to Adolf Heinrich, who lay gravely weakened after using the Divine Word Spell: Chant of the God of Light.
• Yun Feng found that the spell’s backlash had torn apart and reshaped Adolf Heinrich’s magical origin, and Adolf Heinrich realized he might now use the spell without suffering backlash.

Yun Feng explained that Adolf Heinrich had survived the infusion of Light Divine Power but needed months to recover, forcing Roland to postpone his plans. Meanwhile, Ismir returned to Windhelm Town with food for its people and continued building up the settlement, leaving its residents better prepared for winter.

• Yun Feng told Roland that Adolf Heinrich had endured the Light Divine Power but could not be treated for his soul and origin damage, so he needed months to recover.
• Roland decided to leave Adolf Heinrich behind while he and Yun Feng went to say farewell to Duke Apophis Breo, and Yun Feng clarified that Adolf Heinrich could still travel on his own.
• Ismir and the ten Nature Guardians returned to Windhelm Town with eleven deer, and Ismir ordered most of the meat smoked and stored for winter.
• Ismir told Haro to render the deer fat for the children's meals, while Ymir reassured him that residents would wear their new clothes once the weather grew colder.
• Ismir continued copying Flowing City's sanitation practices and reminded the soldiers to secure Windhelm Town's gates.

Ismir organized night guards and distributed soup and bread to Windhelm Town’s residents while Roland reviewed the kingdom’s territory data and assessed the severe losses at the Junlin Lion Territory. Roland promised Apophis Breo some resources and equipment after returning, though the kingdom’s shortages limited his help.

• Ismir ordered Ymir to arrange night guards as Windhelm Town secured its gates against beasts and magical creatures.
• Ismir pulled a child away from the cooking fire, reassured the child’s frightened mother, and organized the distribution of hot soup and black bread.
• Roland reviewed the Territory Interface, which showed extensive casualties among Apophis Breo’s militia and core soldiers at the Junlin Lion Territory.
• Roland worried that Apophis Breo might lose confidence after the battle and noted that his remaining troops could not manage basic repairs.
• Roland told Apophis Breo he would set aside resources and provide equipment and weapons, while warning that the kingdom also faced a food shortage.

Ismir struggled to sleep in Windhelm Town’s unfinished castle because Ymir and the soldiers snored so loudly, so he moved outside. A patrol then detected suspicious movement in the dark and sounded an alarm, leaving Ismir and the town’s defenders facing an unknown threat.

• Ymir patrolled Windhelm Town’s unfinished walls before returning to the castle tents to sleep beside Ismir and the soldiers.
• Unable to endure the soldiers’ loud snoring, Ismir set up a makeshift shelter outside and finally fell asleep.
• A Nature Guardian on patrol heard a faint rustling, and his companion threw a flaming javelin toward the sound.
• The patrolmen sounded the alarm, waking Windhelm Town as Ymir directed everyone to their defensive positions.
• Ismir reached the wall and asked what had happened, and the soldier pointed into the darkness, warning that they were in trouble.

Ismir and Ymir pursued a herd of Tutu Pigs and discovered they were mounts for a band of Savage Goblin Knights. A Goblin Prophet asked to withdraw peacefully, but Ymir demanded an explanation, leaving the two sides on the brink of conflict.

• Tutu Pigs appeared near Windhelm Town and began retreating into the darkness, prompting Ymir to suspect they belonged to someone and chase them with Ismir.
• Ymir lit a branch and used the Blood Mist Set to confront the figures ahead, while Ismir followed and feared they had encountered an organized cavalry force.
• Ymir and Ismir discovered the riders were Savage Goblin Knights mounted on Tutu Pigs, not human cavalry.
• A Goblin Prophet apologized for entering human territory and proposed that both sides withdraw peacefully.
• Ymir stood between the Goblins and Ismir and demanded an explanation, prompting the Goblin Prophet to ask whether he intended to force a fight to the death.

Reno arrived in Windhelm Town after a magical distress signal and found Ismir and Ymir facing nearly a thousand Savage Goblin Knights. Reno convinced Chieftain Alista to pledge loyalty to the kingdom by offering pay and equipment, though he asked Alista to return to his defiant attitude.

• Ismir concealed what he was holding as a magical signal lit the sky, bringing Reno and two Griffon Knights to Windhelm Town.
• The Griffon Knights illuminated the scene, revealing nearly a thousand Savage Goblin Knights led by Chieftain Alista.
• Ismir explained the situation to Reno, who told Alista that the goblins had trespassed and should stay to fight for the kingdom.
• Alista and the Savage Goblin Knights prepared to resist, insisting they would never be slaves.
• Reno offered to hire the goblins with Gold Coins and provide equipment, and Alista immediately knelt to pledge loyalty.
• Reno patted Alista on the shoulder and asked him to return to his defiant look, leaving Alista confused.