Chapter Summaries

Roland celebrated the capture of Blood Hell City after Reff reported enormous spoils and the capture of an Alchemy Grandmaster. After learning that the demon Totorichi was a true-name descendant of the Lord of Balrogs, Roland demanded answers from the Human Alliance, but the conference was interrupted by Seraphim’s sudden arrival.

• Reff reported Blood Hell City’s vast stockpiles, including powerful Ghost Towers, nearly 600 million gold coins’ worth of spoils, and valuable adamantine and Mithril.
• Reff revealed that the army had captured nearly three thousand Hell dwarves, including an Alchemy Grandmaster who had been brought to the front by Totorichi.
• Reff explained that Totorichi was a true-name descendant of the Lord of Balrogs, prompting Roland to realize the danger and demand that the Human Alliance answer for withholding the information.
• An old man named Seraphim appeared in the conference room, made the gathered powerhouses’ attacks vanish, and was recognized by Roland.

Roland refused Seraphim’s demand to rescue the Autran Kingdom unless he received substantial concessions, while Seraphim argued that Autran’s defeat could endanger the human war effort. Roland left Seraphim with a new ultimatum: Autran must also surrender Grandmaster Borslan and his family and students, or Roland would not send aid.

• Roland rejected Seraphim’s request to send troops to aid Autran, accusing Autran and Storm of conspiring with the demons against the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom.
• Seraphim promised an investigation and offered the Arcane Empire’s lightning-element Perfect Meditation Method and wood-element Perfect Breathing Technique, but Roland refused.
• Seraphim warned that refusing aid could isolate Roland and provoke retaliation; Roland reconsidered because Storm might absorb a weakened Autran Kingdom.
• Roland demanded that Autran share its advanced knowledge, waive transit taxes for three years, and pay twenty million gold coins, but he still refused to agree to send aid.
• Roland demanded that Autran surrender Grandmaster Borslan, his family, and his students, and have Borslan swear loyalty to Roland; Seraphim then left through a Spatial Rift.

Totorichi chose to keep the demon assault focused on Despair Castle despite the arrival of the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and Storm Kingdom’s elite forces, giving himself three days to capture it. Roland confronted Freddy at a pre-battle meeting, but Totorichi’s challenge interrupted them before they could resolve their suspicions.

• A Dark Angel reported that the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and Storm Kingdom had sent nearly all their elite forces to Despair Castle, including sixty Saint Domain experts and nearly ten thousand mages.
• Semen urged Totorichi to attack the ordinary human legions instead, but Totorichi insisted that capturing Despair Castle and eliminating the kingdoms’ elite forces was the only way to reverse the war.
• Semen agreed to give Totorichi three days to take Despair Castle before changing the plan, and Totorichi said he would lead the vanguard and begin the Battle of Legends.
• Roland sent the arriving troops to help Autran Kingdom’s defensive line and went to Freddy’s pre-battle meeting, where Yulia restored Freddy’s strength with a Light Element spell.
• Roland accused Freddy of harming him and said the Human Alliance would investigate after the war, while Freddy denied the accusation and suspected Matthias had betrayed him.
• Totorichi announced himself as a descendant of the Hellfire Monarch and demanded that the humans surrender in exchange for eternal life and wealth.

Roland and the other human leaders denied Totorichi’s genuine evidence that Raven Polk had colluded with demons, and the confrontation escalated into a battle for Despair Castle. As the human line buckled against the demon assault, Roland and Matthias sent elite troops to reinforce Freddy, but Totorichi kept committing more demons to the fight.

• Totorichi showed an image of Raven Polk arranging with demons to attack the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom, but Roland, Freddy, and Matthias dismissed it as a frame-up.
• Totorichi attacked the human Legendaries, and the ensuing clash drew the six Legendaries and nearly two hundred Saint Domain experts into battle above Despair Castle.
• Tens of thousands of Mid-tier Demons attacked the castle’s broken northern wall, inflicting heavy casualties as Minotaur Demons broke through the human defenses.
• Freddy warned Roland and Matthias that the Autran Kingdom could not hold until reinforcements arrived, so Roland sent three Dark Angel Brigades and Matthias sent three Storm Guard brigades.
• The six thousand elite reinforcements stabilized the defensive line, but Totorichi sent more Mid-tier Demons into the battle and continued the assault.

After the Three Great Kingdoms held Despair Castle at enormous cost, Roland learned that the demons had ambushed the Elf Empire and Holy Alliance with overwhelming forces, inflicting catastrophic losses on both fronts. The demon war had turned against the continent’s major powers, leaving Roland fearing that Hell would eventually threaten his own kingdom.

• The Three Great Kingdoms held Despair Castle for three days, but Autran, Storm, and Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdoms suffered devastating casualties, while the demons lost most of their Kukull Basin forces.
• Freddy fainted after learning Autran Kingdom had suffered more than eight hundred thousand casualties, and its Noble Council began demanding that he be removed from the throne.
• Roland worried over Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s losses, including Dylan Fikernando’s severe wounds and more than thirty thousand dead soldiers.
• Reff told Roland that over two million Mid-tier Demon elites had ambushed the Elf Empire and Holy Alliance, killing hundreds of thousands and destroying several legions.
• Reff revealed that more than a hundred Legendary Great Demons had joined the attack and that the Elf Empire and Holy Alliance had also lost the Battle of Legends.

Sixteen experts from Saint Nor Continent’s races confronted thirty demon experts in a battle that threatened to decide the continent’s fate. As the defenders began to falter, Seraphim persuaded Seraphina to awaken Gaia World Tree, who restrained the demons but warned she could not defeat them outright.

• Mephisto offered the gathered experts power and status if they submitted to Hell, but Seraphim and the others refused and attacked.
• The demons’ greater numbers overwhelmed the defenders, while the clash of divine kingdoms tore open Saint Nor Continent’s spatial barrier.
• Seraphim asked Seraphina to awaken Gaia World Tree’s will, and Seraphina agreed to let Gaia act for five minutes.
• Gaia appeared and said she could not defeat the thirty demons, but she could restrain them and weaken their divine kingdoms.
• Gaia’s vines and branches ensnared the demons’ divine kingdom phantoms, forcing Mephisto to order them to regroup and defend themselves.

Augustin appeared with the Church of Dawn’s three divine artifacts, announced that he would inherit Rodriguez’s legacy, and invoked the Lord of Dawn’s power to destroy the demon commanders. After the allied races defeated the remaining demons and plundered their divine kingdoms, Augustin reminded Seraphim of his promise and vanished.

• Augustin appeared before the gathered armies, revealed his identity, and declared the Church of Dawn’s revival.
• Augustin opened his divine kingdom and invoked the Lord of Dawn’s power, then killed Mephisto and Hell Dragon Theodore with the Great Prophecy Technique.
• Augustin used the Great Edict Technique to restrain fleeing demons while the allied powerhouses attacked them.
• Durontan and the other powerhouses helped kill seven God-Kingdom Level Demons and plunder their divine kingdoms.
• Augustin asked Seraphim to remember his promise, received a serious nod, and vanished into specks of light.

Roland learned that the allied God Kingdom experts had defeated the Demons, making the Demons’ defeat certain, and began seizing their castles and supplies. As Totorichi learned that the Demon commanders had fallen and the God Kingdom Demons had withdrawn, he abandoned his army and fled toward the Spatial Rift.

• Alredo told Roland that the allied God Kingdom experts had killed nine God Kingdom Demons, including Mephisto and Theodore, without suffering casualties, and that Lich King Augustine had become the Dawn Pope.
• Roland confirmed the intelligence with Zarick and ordered Reff and Ulysses to seize Demon castles and transport their supplies to Blood Hell City.
• Roland learned from Junot that Dylan Fikernando was recovering, and Dylan said he could control the non-Legendary Dark Angels once the Legendary Great Demons fled.
• Ricardo told Totorichi that Mephisto, Theodore, and seven other God Kingdom Demons had fallen and that the remaining God Kingdom Demons had withdrawn from Saint Nor Continent.
• Totorichi abandoned his army and fled toward the Spatial Rift in the Elf Empire.

The demons’ defeat sparked chaos as they fought to escape through the Spatial Rifts, while the races of Saint Nor turned against one another over the spoils. In Despair Castle, Freddy collapsed after learning that the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom had disarmed Autran troops, while Roland arranged to transport captured supplies and received news that Lich King Augustine was with Yulia.

• After the God Kingdom demons fled, Saint Nor’s experts hunted down Legendary Great Demons, and the demon armies collapsed into disorder and infighting over access to the Spatial Rifts.
• The Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and the Storm Kingdom withdrew from Despair Castle and began taking spoils from nearby demon castles, leaving Autran with little to show for its heavy losses.
• Caius told Freddy that the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s forces had disarmed several Autran corps and seized their supplies, and Freddy fainted after hearing the news.
• Roland asked James to tally and quickly ship the captured supplies, especially fine gold and Mithril, and James said he had arranged over a thousand merchant ships in the Mysterious Sea.
• Yulia told Roland that Lich King Augustine was in her room.

Augustin asked Roland to establish the Church of Dawn as the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s state religion, but Roland refused. Augustin revealed that he had less than ten years to live, leaving Roland to consider other ways they might cooperate.

• Augustin visited Yulia, who rejected him because she did not trust the former Lich King.
• Roland arrived to protect Yulia, and Augustin proposed making the Church of Dawn the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s state religion.
• Roland refused, unwilling to let the Church of Dawn gain control over his kingdom.
• Augustin admitted that he had less than ten years to live and argued that his support would bring the kingdom great benefits.
• Roland suspected Augustin’s short lifespan was connected to his transformation into the Dawn Pope and began considering other arrangements.

Roland tried to recruit Augustin by offering the Church of Dawn support and showing him the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s secrets and expansion plan. Augustin remained unwilling to accept the Church’s place under Roland’s power, but he reconsidered after Roland promised that Ares would become the Dawn Pope and bind their sides together.

• Augustin rejected Roland’s generous promises and insisted that he wanted the Church of Dawn made the state religion.
• Roland laid the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s confidential records before Augustin to demonstrate its strength and plans.
• Augustin learned of Roland’s kingdom’s wealth, forces, alliances, and strategy to conquer the Terra Kingdom, Cardina, and Ribela, and recognized the opportunity to restore the Church of Dawn.
• Augustin said the offer still did not give him what he wanted, and Roland revealed that Ares, his son with Yulia, would become the Dawn Pope.
• Augustin stopped arguing and sank into thought about Roland’s promise of a lasting alliance between the Church of Dawn and the kingdom.

Roland accepted Augustin’s conditional offer of support for the Church of Dawn but postponed deciding on the alliance. Months later, as the demon spoils were being transported from Blood Hell City, Roland dealt with escalating covert attacks in the Elf Empire and ordered an investigation into Freddy’s sudden death.

• Augustin offered Roland divine artifacts, Yulia’s eventual succession, and protection if the Church of Dawn met increasingly difficult goals, while Roland decided to consult the kingdom’s leaders before accepting.
• Over three months, the demons’ defeat left the races fighting over spoils, and Roland retaliated after attacks on his convoys sparked covert battles in the Elf Empire.
• Reff reported that an Elf Empire force had killed a Dark Angel Brigade and a Thunderbird Knight brigade, but Roland refused to launch an open counterattack and prioritized transporting the war spoils out of Blood Hell City.
• James reported that nearly twenty percent of the spoils remained to be moved, and Roland ordered him to accelerate the shipments and discard low-value supplies if necessary.
• A messenger reported that Freddy had died after falling ill in Despair Castle, and Roland ordered spies in the Autran Kingdom to investigate because the death seemed suspicious.

Roland confirmed that the body presented as Freddy was dead but remained suspicious that it might be a double, while Matthias hoped Freddy's apparent death would benefit the Storm Kingdom. As the armies withdrew and tensions rose between humans and nonhumans, Augustin restored the Holy Light Empire, leaving it weak and isolated.

• Matthias learned that Freddy had died and decided to visit the Autran Kingdom to pay his respects.
• Roland inspected Freddy's body in Despair Castle and told Matthias that the corpse was dead, though he could not confirm it was truly Freddy.
• Roland returned to Blood Hell City and agreed with Ulysses to act as though Freddy might be faking his death while avoiding interference in the Autran Kingdom.
• James told Roland that the Human Alliance had summoned him to a postwar conference and that the Elf Empire required his army to leave by the end of February; Roland ordered the army to prepare to withdraw.
• After the demon threat diminished, human and nonhuman armies faced one another warily as tensions mounted across Saint Nor Continent.
• On February 18, Augustin restored the Holy Light Empire under a collateral descendant of the Herasval Family, but the empire had little land, few people, and almost no military strength.

Phillips gathered the rulers of Terra, Storm, Autran, Cardina, and Ribela and persuaded them to form an alliance against Roland’s Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom. He secured their agreement by promising support from the Sacred Alliance Empire and the Northern Kingdom to counter Roland’s powerful backers.

• Matthias told the rulers that Roland’s kingdom had grown stronger during the Demon Extermination War and gained spoils worth at least one billion gold coins.
• Phillips urged Greyson to join forces against Roland, and Greyson agreed, blaming Roland for Autran’s losses.
• Phillips proposed attacking the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom, but Sigmund questioned the risks of breaking the Truce Order and facing the Arcane Empire and dragon clan.
• Phillips revealed that the Sacred Alliance Empire and Northern Kingdom would support them and block Roland’s allies.
• Matthias, Greyson, Inia, and Sigmund agreed to join Phillips’s Five Nations Alliance against Roland.

Roland reviewed the five kingdoms’ invasion plans and ordered the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom to prepare for war despite the coalition’s internal divisions. Grandmaster Borslan arrived in the territory, furious at Seraphim for forcing him to honor his agreement with Roland.

• Matthias gave Roland the Five Kings’ plans to invade the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands with three million troops and destroy Double Gate Island.
• Roland, Leslie, Reff, and Ulysses discussed the coalition’s strength and the risk that its members might still cooperate despite their conflicting interests.
• Roland ordered the kingdom to replenish its legions, mobilize nobles and academy students, prepare a strategic deployment plan, and move its golem and cannon-turret puppet legions to the Azure Sea Region.
• Leslie reported that the kingdom had built more than four thousand Boulder Golems and one thousand Giant Magic Cannon Turrets.
• Roland hurried to Olivia’s Mage Tower after learning that Borslan had arrived and found the grandmaster cursing Seraphim for forcing him to come.

Roland tried to recruit the arrogant Grandmaster Magic Pattern Master Borslan and won him over by revealing plans to repair Sky City. Borslan eagerly joined the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and pressed Roland to let him begin work.

• Borslan demanded a luxurious ship and lavish treatment, so Roland ordered O'Neal and Monk to beat him into behaving.
• Roland showed Borslan top floating city construction plans, captivating him with the chance to study Legendary magic arrays.
• Roland warned Borslan that learning the kingdom’s secret would keep him in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands for twenty years, and Borslan agreed to hear it.
• Roland revealed Bruno’s assessment that repairing Sky City would cost about 320 million gold coins and take around three and a half years.
• After Roland confirmed Sky City was the damaged former Allison Kingdom floating city, Borslan pledged to serve Roland and eagerly asked to see it.

Roland prepared the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom for war as the five-nation coalition gathered to invade, while Leslie urged him and other leaders to evacuate Double Gate Island. After the five kingdoms declared war and entered the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, the Human Alliance erupted in dispute, but the Three Great Empires remained silent.

• Roland welcomed Burslan, then received military reports as the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom withdrew forces and prepared its defenses against the five-nation coalition.
• Leslie urged Roland to leave Double Gate Island with Elizabeth, Caesar, Ares, and Eve, and Roland ordered Leslie and the Administrative Department’s higher-ups to evacuate too.
• Phillips ordered Frederic to lead 300,000 troops against Beast Slaying Island and rallied Terra’s commanders for war.
• Terra tore up the Human Alliance’s Ten-Year Truce Order on March 30, and Cardina, Ribela, Autran, and Storm joined its declaration of war against the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom.
• The Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and its allies appealed to the Human Alliance, whose members argued over the invasion while the Three Great Empires stayed silent.

The five kingdoms abandoned their plan to unite against the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom and turned on one another, while its forces encircled Terra's army in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands. The Storm Kingdom faced a Flame Kingdom invasion and withdrew from Autran, leaving Freddy to send troops north against Cardina and Ribela.

• Cardina and Ribela invaded Autran to plunder its coastal provinces, while Storm attacked from the sea and across Autran's northern border.
• Autran's prepared defenses halted Storm's advance, and the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom surrounded more than 800,000 Terra troops in the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands, causing Phillips to collapse.
• Matthias learned that Flame had invaded Storm's western provinces and ordered his armies to withdraw to defend the royal capital.
• Freddy revealed that he had faked his death and secretly worked with Flame to counter Matthias's plans against Autran.
• After Caius reported that Storm had withdrawn, Freddy ordered him to lead the noble coalition troops north to stop Cardina and Ribela.

As the Five Nations Alliance collapsed into internal wars, Roland learned that Reff had trapped over a million Terra Kingdom troops in the Azure Sea Region. Roland ordered an attack on the Terra Kingdom's central army within three days and gave Reff instructions for changing how it would be carried out.

• Cardina and Ribela invaded the Autran Kingdom, the Flame Kingdom attacked the Storm Kingdom, and the Terra Kingdom was left fighting the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom alone.
• Reff's fleets and ground forces encircled the Terra Kingdom's 700,000-strong central army and 300,000-strong northern force.
• Reff told Roland that Tobias had fortified Coral Island while Frederic's troops were surrounded on Beast Slaying Island.
• Reff proposed besieging Tobias's army until its supplies ran low, but Roland rejected the delay and ordered a full-scale attack in three days.
• Roland gave Reff new instructions for the attack, and Reff reacted with excitement.

On Coral Island, Tobias's stranded army faced food shortages and a naval blockade as Roland arrived to demand its surrender. Roland withdrew after provoking doubts among Terra's commanders, while his forces prepared a massive deployment of Type II Magic Crystal Cannons.

• Tobias learned that Coral Island had no supplies and that the central army had only ten days of food, while Governor Eli could not promise to break the naval blockade.
• Tobias met Roland at the shore, where Roland offered to preserve the Terra commanders' status if they surrendered and argued that betraying Phillips did not mean betraying the kingdom.
• Tobias threatened his officers over divided loyalties and challenged Roland to fight on the battlefield, and Roland withdrew aboard the Enlightenment.
• More than ten thousand Dark Angels carried huge covered objects over the sea as Ice Elf priests froze a vast area of water.
• The Dark Angels dropped the objects onto the ice, revealing Type II Magic Crystal Cannons.