Chapter Summaries

Xiao Ran's fleet tracked a blue Steel Lion to a new planet while capturing two alien warships and obtaining a detailed galactic Star Map. He left Yuzes and Revil to secure Earth as a resource base, then led the remaining fleets to the planet, where he prepared to land and survey it.

• Xiao Ran ordered a cloaked warship to follow the blue Steel Lion and attach a reconnaissance drone to it before it entered a Jump Channel.
• Xiao Ran ordered the fleet to capture the Steel Lion's pursuer, and Burning Legion forces seized the ship and its crew, recovering a Star Map of the galaxy.
• Xiao Ran left Yuzes and Revil behind with two fleets to take Earth, agreeing to send Kane to help them keep order.
• As the other fleets jumped toward the drone's coordinates, a small group of alien warships arrived at Pluto and was quickly defeated and captured by Yuzes and Revil's forces.
• Xiao Ran's fleet reached a habitable planet, and he set out aboard the Purple Wind with Cruze, Saki, Aiba Shinyo, and the three Hana to survey it.

Xiao Ran’s forces seized an ancient castle-ship and captured the people sheltering inside, then prepared to make the planet their base. After learning the Glaive Empire would arrive in three days and confirming the locations of two more lions, Xiao Ran planned to retrieve them and set a trap for a likely rival legion.

• Xiao Ran’s Landing Force secured the castle and discovered it was an intact spaceship that had been on the planet for over ten thousand years.
• Xiao Ran introduced himself to the captured group, claimed the planet for the Burning Legion, and ordered Cruze to take charge of them and send the castle-ship to the fortress for study.
• Xiao Ran decided to establish the planet as the legion’s primary base and ordered half of its forces to conceal themselves while the rest prepared to welcome possible visitors.
• Cruze reported the locations of the green and yellow lions, and Xiao Ran ordered troops to extract them without involving the captives.
• Mwu reported that the Glaive Empire would arrive in three days, and Xiao Ran reasoned that a rival legion might come seeking the Burning Legion’s ships and forces.

Cruze pressured Princess Althea to cooperate with the Legion by promising revenge, the restoration of her kingdom, and her father’s resurrection. After she agreed to assist them, he showed her the Legion’s overwhelming power and asked whether she still believed the Five Lions mattered to them.

• Cruze told Princess Althea the Legion had secured the Five Lions and offered to return them and Lion Castle if she cooperated.
• Cruze tempted Althea with promises to defeat the Glaive Empire, restore the Kingdom of Althea, and revive her father.
• Althea said she would assist the Legion if they did not harm her people and asked whether Cruze could truly revive her father.
• Cruze had Althea watch the space display as a single machine split an arriving Glaive Empire warship in two.
• Cruze argued that the Legion’s forces far surpassed the Five Lions and asked Althea whether she believed they could fulfill her wishes.

Cruze persuaded Princess Althea to cooperate with the Burning Legion and proposed using the Five Lions’ linked mental system with their chosen pilots. He then suggested a concealed campaign of raids against the Glaive Empire, and Xiao Ran approved the plan and called a meeting to organize it.

• Cruze gradually convinced Princess Althea that the Burning Legion was powerful and necessary, and her cooperation provided intelligence about the Five Lions, Lion Castle, and the Glaive Empire.
• Xiao Ran reviewed the Legion’s intelligence and maintained his plan to keep the Burning Legion independent rather than join another faction.
• Cruze reported that the Five Lions used a mental linking system and asked Xiao Ran to let their five captured, chosen pilots test the machines; Xiao Ran agreed with safety precautions.
• Cruze proposed sending elite teams to raid Glaive Empire resource sites while hidden forces waited to ambush any response.
• Xiao Ran approved Cruze’s strategy and summoned the Staff Department and fleet commanders to a remote conference.

The Burning Legion and the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance both raided the Glaive Empire while avoiding a direct confrontation. Near a space factory, Tetsuya’s squad encountered the alliance fighting the Glaive Empire, and Zengar led Elsam to intervene.

• Xiao Ran approved Cruze’s plan and sent more than two thousand warships out in ten squads to lure enemies, gather intelligence, and raid Glaive Empire targets.
• The Anti-Burning Legion Alliance learned the Burning Legion’s location from Glaive Empire intelligence, then chose to infiltrate and exploit the empire rather than join it.
• The alliance targeted Glaive Empire factories, mines, and warships to acquire resources and refit its fleet for travel across the galaxy.
• Nearly a month later, Tetsuya’s squad discovered the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance attacking a Glaive Empire space factory.
• Zengar decided to find out whether the battle was real and led Elsam toward the bridge door to stop the attackers from achieving their objective.

Tetsuya’s forces ambushed an Anti-Burning Legion Alliance fleet, using the flagship’s cannon strike and a sortie led by Zengar to scatter the enemy. After discovering a Mythical Pilot among the opposition, Tetsuya ordered Zengar to hold him back but let him escape, hoping to lure stronger enemy forces into future battles.

• Tetsuya ordered the fleet to advance cautiously, then fired the flagship’s main cannon at a Glaive Empire factory, destroying it and revealing the Burning Legion’s presence.
• Zengar and the other pilots launched toward the enemy while Tetsuya ordered the main cannon charged again and dispatched reinforcements against the retreating fleet.
• The Anti-Burning Legion Alliance fleet sent units to intercept Zengar, then turned its thirty warships away after realizing the Burning Legion’s flagship had appeared undetected.
• Zengar told Tetsuya that one of the interceptors was piloted by a Mythical Pilot, and Tetsuya ordered him to hold the pilot down without defeating or capturing him.
• Zengar agreed to let the Mythical Pilot escape so the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance would send more forces into future traps.

Xiao Ran reviewed the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s attack and the Legion’s supply needs, then used Tetsuya’s briefing to plan a more aggressive campaign against the Glaive Empire. He ordered fleets to pressure the Empire and prepare a coordinated operation in two weeks.

• Xiao Ran dismissed the threat from the Alliance’s fleet and ordered Tetsuya to brief the Legion in a remote conference after the battle.
• Xiao Ran directed the Logistics Department to secure supplies through trade and by collecting resources, and asked Princess Althea to hire and protect Arthea’s newly emerged race.
• Xiao Ran considered Earth’s limited value, noting that its main benefits were food and manpower while its technology lagged behind the wider universe.
• Tetsuya reported that the enemy fleet had one Mythical Pilot and three Legend-class Pilots, and that several enemy ships and Pilots escaped after the battle.
• Xiao Ran ordered Revil’s fleet away from Earth, told Yuzes to deliver supplies within a week, and directed the ten action fleets to intensify attacks on Glaive Empire targets.
• Xiao Ran scheduled a coordinated operation by Revil’s, Tetsuya’s, and Jeffrey’s fleets for two weeks later.

Xiao Ran planned to use aggressive attacks on the Glaive Empire to lure out and weaken the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance before launching a decisive campaign. He recruited Hades to become a powerful public figure in the Empire, while learning that Hades could not yet recover the souls of long-dead people from Xiao Ran’s world.

• Xiao Ran ordered the ten operational fleets to intensify their attacks for two weeks while preparing three fleets to invade the Glaive Empire and destroy resources the enemy could not seize.
• Mwu questioned the risks of Xiao Ran’s plan, and Xiao Ran explained that he wanted to draw out the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance and prevent it from gaining support among the Empire’s oppressed populations.
• Xiao Ran assured Mwu that he would not deliberately sacrifice soldiers, and Mwu left to cover the defensive gaps created by Jeffrey's and Daitetsu's departing fleets.
• After reflecting on Mwu’s concerns, Xiao Ran summoned Hades and asked whether he would go to the Glaive Empire and establish himself as a powerful figure there.
• Hades agreed to take a team from the Secret Weapon Department and spread his name throughout the Empire, then told Xiao Ran he could not resurrect people who had been dead for ten thousand years or reclaim their souls from Prometheus.

Xiao Ran rejected using uncontrollable Dimensional Dam Beasts but ordered preparations for more manageable Ladam Beasts as the Burning Legion continued its campaign against the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance. At the alliance headquarters, its Black-haired Man revealed plans to exploit allied legions, rescue skilled workers, and infiltrate the Burning Legion.

• Xiao Ran asked Durandal whether the Dimensional Dam Beasts were ready, and Durandal warned that they could spread uncontrollably and become dangerous if they consumed violent mineral energy.
• Durandal proposed preparing modified Ladam Beasts instead, and Xiao Ran agreed to hold them in reserve until the alliance had territory that could be thrown into chaos.
• The Burning Legion's forces spent several days destroying and stripping resources along their routes, while the alliance grew more alarmed after its defeat and loss of a Legend-class Pilot.
• At the alliance headquarters, the Black-haired Man explained to the burly man that he planned to use the Burning Legion's attacks to pressure other legions into dependence and eventual subordination.
• The Black-haired Man ordered another operation targeting factories and mines to rescue Cosmic Laborers and technical specialists, then instructed the burly man to infiltrate the Burning Legion.

Xiao Ran investigated the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance's raids and concluded they were stripping sites for components while using expendable fleets, then ordered his teams to track the Alliance's transport ship and return to their original fleets. Meanwhile, Hades began his operation on a Glaive Empire planet, using his power to gather believers, resurrect the dead, and create an Underworld army.

• Bargyll reported that the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance had attacked more than fifteen Glaive Empire sites, while Xiao Ran ordered teams to interfere with three ongoing raids.
• The teams discovered the Alliance was violently taking equipment apart for its components and loading civilians aboard, and Xiao Ran ordered the fleets destroyed while their transport ship was tracked.
• Xiao Ran warned the Legion not to accept defectors from the Alliance and disbanded the ten operations teams, saying the enemy's main forces were occupied elsewhere.
• Hades blocked a Glaive Empire warship's cannon with one finger, destroyed the warship and Governor's Mansion, and declared himself the King of the Underworld.
• Hades used his Cosmo to make the planet's people worship him, resurrected the dead, and equipped them with Specter Cloth as he planned to build an Underworld army.

Xiao Ran sent Revil’s fleet to provoke the Glaive Empire and expose the strength of both the empire and the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance. As Revil neared a huge imperial army, the Black-haired Man prepared to attack and seize the Burning Legion’s territory and the empire’s forces.

• Xiao Ran ordered Revil to advance into the Glaive Empire while Jeffrey, Yuzes, and Xiao Ran followed covertly, ready to support him and gather intelligence.
• Revil spent nearly half a month sweeping through Glaive Empire forces, liberating several planets and provoking the empire to assemble a force of more than fifty Space Fortresses and over a hundred thousand warships.
• The Burning Legion recognized the Glaive Empire’s formidable reserves, while the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance inferred from Revil’s unified fleet that the Burning Legion had a large universe as its Faction Territory.
• The Black-haired Man revealed that he had engineered the Legion War to claim the Burning Legion’s territory and weaken rival alliances, then gathered his forces to capture the Burning Legion and the Glaive Empire’s fleet.

Xiao Ran ordered his forces to attack the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s base while Revil engaged the Glaive Empire. Revil’s fleet repelled the Empire’s opening assault, and the Alliance decided to launch a surprise attack on the Burning Legion.

• Xiao Ran ordered Jeffrey’s fleet to attack the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s base once the battle began, while Datie’s forces attacked the Glaive Empire and Revil faced its fleet.
• Xiao Ran and his companions prepared for battle in their newly enhanced mecha, with Hana, Hikari, and Homura assigned to support and control specialized units.
• Revil’s fleet opened fire on the Glaive Empire, destroying thousands of its warships before the Empire’s forces charged in close and launched a massive assault.
• Revil ordered his fleet to withdraw and countered the attack with missiles, close-range weapons, transformed vessels, and elite pilots, halting the Empire’s ambush.
• The Anti-Burning Legion Alliance questioned the Burning Legion’s strength and combat style, then its Black-haired Man ordered a surprise assault from behind using their strongest pilots.

Xiao Ran coordinated Hana and her sisters to protect the Burning Legion pilots as Revil, Mwu, and Yuzes lured the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance into a devastating crossfire. After launching with the surviving forces, Xiao Ran saw the enemy fleet badly damaged and planned to let its remnants escape so he could trap them again.

• Revil ordered his fleet to retreat and counterattack, then prepared a forced Space Jump as the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance began moving.
• Xiao Ran linked his mind with Hana and her sisters so they could coordinate the Beetles and shield the Burning Legion pilots.
• Mwu and Yuzes readied their fleets while Revil's fleet jumped away, leaving the Alliance to arrive amid the Glaive Empire forces and face a three-sided pincer.
• The commanders of Revil's, Mwu's, and Yuzes's fleets ordered a coordinated barrage that destroyed more than half of the Alliance's arriving warships.
• Xiao Ran sent the Burning Legion units through the Glaive Empire formation under Beetle cover, then launched the Dragon God Mecha with Saki and Hana's units behind him.
• Xiao Ran surveyed the battered Alliance fleet and considered allowing its survivors to escape so he could trap them again.

Xiao Ran’s Burning Legion ambushed the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance, then used its overwhelming strength to offer the survivors a way out through duels. The enemy faced the choice of fighting for the right to leave or risking further losses, while Xiao Ran planned to weaken and absorb their legions.

• The Burning Legion escaped the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s trap and struck its fleet with a coordinated wave of attacks, inflicting catastrophic losses.
• Xiao Ran ordered most of his forces to withdraw while several hundred S-class and near S-class Pilots advanced, and scouts revealed their Mythical-level strength to the enemy.
• Xiao Ran challenged the twenty-five legions to duels, offering their survivors a chance to leave in exchange for victories while threatening those who lost.
• Xiao Ran sent Graham forward in his Black Warrior to fight first and warned the Glaive Empire fleet to stay still or be destroyed.
• The Black-haired Man recognized that Xiao Ran’s duel offer was a scheme to prevent the alliance from fighting to the death and condemn its legions to defeat.

Jeffrey attacked the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s headquarters on Cindy with five Wave Cannon strikes, destroying its bases, factories, and most of its fleet while unleashing severe planetary disasters. Meanwhile, the Burning Legion won most of its staged battles, and the eleventh battle exposed that its pilots could resist the Alliance’s Time Stop device.

• Jeffrey ordered five Wave Cannon strikes on the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance’s headquarters on Cindy, destroying its bases, factories, and more than three-quarters of its fleet while triggering planet-wide disasters.
• Graham won the opening duel by breaking through his opponent’s defenses and destroying the Super Robot mecha with his twin swords.
• The Burning Legion won its next two battles, with its pilots defeating the Alliance’s teams and Basak smashing his opponent after entering a berserk state.
• Across the next seven battles, the Burning Legion won four and the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance won three, while news of the attack on Cindy drove more Alliance pilots to consider surrender.
• In the eleventh battle, the Alliance activated a Time Stop device, but it immobilized only three enemy mechas; the Burning Legion’s pilots quickly destroyed them and laughed at the failed trump card.

The Black-haired Man realized that Xiao Ran and the Burning Legion had maneuvered the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance into a battle it could no longer win, leaving its forces too frightened and demoralized to fight or flee. Xiao Ran remained amused by how readily the alliance had fallen into the trap, while the Legion War continued with the opposing side’s fate in the Burning Legion’s hands.

• The Black-haired Man recalled how he had built the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance through schemes, using his powerful retainer as its public face while he controlled it from the shadows.
• The Black-haired Man recognized that the Burning Legion’s strength and the alliance’s collapse in morale had made his plans fail, and he realized that Xiao Ran wanted to capture and break the alliance rather than destroy it outright.
• Corgi and Selucius pitied the defeated legions, while Eshe's group and W Team celebrated their place in the Burning Legion and anticipated that the alliance would be tricked further.
• The Black-haired Man concluded that his allies were too demoralized to escape or resist, and feared they would eventually be swallowed by the Burning Legion.
• Xiao Ran remarked that the alliance had entered the trap so easily that it had denied him the head-on battle he had expected, despite his offer to let half its forces leave.

Xiao Ran tried to end the battle by letting the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance win, but both sides began deliberately throwing themselves into attacks instead. He offered the enemy a chance to surrender, and nearly the entire alliance accepted as the Glaive Empire withdrew.

• Xiao Ran ordered the Burning Legion's front-line fighters to throw rounds so the Anti-Burning Legion Alliance could escape with part of its fleet.
• Eshe and W Team entered the battle, but the enemy deliberately exposed its mecha to attacks, leaving both sides baffled by the mutual acting.
• Xiao Ran stopped the fight and offered the enemy a choice between surrendering, leaving, or continuing to fight.
• More than eighty-five percent of the enemy pilots and several warships surrendered, and the Black-haired Man ordered the remaining forces from his legion to surrender as well.
• Xiao Ran warned the Glaive Empire to leave or face destruction, and it withdrew from the battlefield.
• Xiao Ran ordered Revil to take custody of the surrendering forces and told the Burning Legion to remain on alert until they returned to Artea.

After the twenty-four surviving legions surrendered, Xiao Ran assigned Cruze to negotiate their incorporation as subordinate legions while directing the fleet leaders to prepare for a campaign against the Glaive Empire. Cruze offered the defeated legions reduced or waived compensation in exchange for joining the Burning Legion, and many representatives eagerly agreed.

• Revil confirmed that all surrendered fleets had been disarmed and their leaders and pilots detained, while Cruze explained why the defeated legions had chosen surrender.
• Xiao Ran assigned Cruze to negotiate with the legions, sent Yuzes, Jeffrey, and Revil to coordinate the Glaive Empire campaign, and ordered preparations for the Homeland Fortress and a territory team.
• The surviving representatives of twenty-four legions gathered in the Homeland Fortress, where Cruze warned that defeat compensation could destroy their foundations.
• Cruze offered to reduce or waive compensation if the legions became Burning Legion subordinates, and several representatives immediately accepted.
• Cruze described the Burning Legion's equipment, bloodlines, point system, training, and benefits, then invited the legions to sign agreements.

Xiao Ran met Norn Jess, the Legion Leader of the Jess Empire, and secured the empire legion's submission to the Burning Legion. Norn revealed the Jess Empire's territory and the alliance's original plans, while the fate of three other large legions remained unresolved.

• Cruze told Xiao Ran that twenty small legions had agreed to become subordinates, while one giant legion and three large legions had not yet decided.
• Norn Jess introduced himself as a prince of the Jess Empire and asked Xiao Ran how he would have countered the empire's plans if its forces had escaped the ambush.
• Xiao Ran described the additional factions and traps he had prepared, and Norn admitted defeat and signed an agreement making the Jess Empire a subordinate legion.
• Norn explained that the Jess Empire's territory contained an ancient civilization and giant robots, and Xiao Ran ordered it linked to the Burning Legion's other territories.
• Norn revealed that three large legions had been hired allies, while his original plan had been to absorb smaller legions and fight Xiao Ran with the four strongest legions.

After defeating the alliance of twenty-five legions, Xiao Ran learned from Norn that participants and retired Mythical Pilots were known in some parts of the wider universe, raising concerns about Prometheus and the safety of his homeland. While Xiao Ran vacationed on Althea Planet, the Burning Legion conquered the Glaive Empire, Hades spread his church and restored his power, and the Legion eventually completed its preparations and left the world.

• Norn reflected on how the Burning Legion had defeated and captured the twenty-five-legion alliance, then explained that a retired Mythical Pilot from his country had recommended him to Prometheus.
• Xiao Ran discussed with Master Asia the possibility that other civilizations knew about Prometheus and that many powerful pilots might have withdrawn from missions; they agreed to focus on becoming stronger.
• Xiao Ran went to Althea Planet for a vacation while Mwu led the Burning Legion's fleet in its invasion of the Glaive Empire.
• Hades established the Underworld God Church, recruited followers and Underworld Warriors, and gathered the souls of the war dead to help restore his power.
• The Glaive Empire surrendered after months of defeats, and its former emperor died fighting the Burning Legion.
• After two years of exploration and preparation, the Burning Legion departed the world.