Chapter Summaries

Roland used more than a hundred Type II Magic Crystal Cannons to bombard Coral Island, devastating the Terra Kingdom’s eastern camps. He gave Tobias one hour to treat the wounded and consider his terms, while Tobias learned that nearly thirty thousand soldiers had been killed.

• Roland revealed more than a hundred Type II Magic Crystal Cannons and prepared to bombard Coral Island.
• Tobias ordered Cedric and Theodore to destroy the cannons, but Roland’s Saint Domain experts deterred them from attacking.
• Reff ordered the cannons to fire ten volleys, and more than a thousand shells struck Coral Island in less than three minutes.
• Roland gave Tobias one hour to treat the wounded and consider what he had said, then returned to the captain’s cabin.
• Tobias received the casualty report and learned that nearly thirty thousand troops had been killed and many more injured.

The North Continent’s wars worsened as the Terra Kingdom’s central army surrendered to Roland, leaving Phillips desperate to seek Graham’s help. On the southern battlefield, Frederick used a Forbidden Potion to become a Legendary expert and resumed his fight against Felicia.

• The Flame Kingdom occupied five Storm Kingdom provinces, including the royal capital, while Cardina and Ribela devastated northern Autran and left it with enormous losses.
• Phillips learned that Tobias had died and the Terra Kingdom’s 700,000-man central army had surrendered after nobles and Legion Commanders seized control; he decided to return to the royal capital and seek Graham’s help.
• Cameron told Phillips that Roland’s forces had battered the Imperial Guard Legion with Magic Crystal Cannons, elite legions, and mages before the nobles’ betrayal brought about its surrender.
• Felicia urged the wounded Frederick to surrender, but he refused and drank a high-grade Forbidden Potion that healed him and raised him to the Legendary realm.
• Frederick attacked Felicia again, while she remained determined to defeat him and enter the Legendary realm herself.

After Felicia became a Legendary powerhouse by defeating Frederick, the Elf Empire considered targeting Roland but backed down after learning of Augustin’s connection to him. The Beastkin Empire weighed an invasion of the North Continent, but Durontan chose to rebuild its strength while Augustin remained alive.

• Felicia broke through to Legendary during her battle with Frederick and killed him, drawing attention from factions across the continent.
• Seraphina proposed capturing Roland to uncover his secrets, but Angest revealed that Roland bore Zarick’s aura and Augustin’s spiritual mark, so Seraphina abandoned the plan.
• Angest warned that Felicia’s breakthrough could encourage Lomona and more than a million sea demons to return to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands.
• Seraphina ordered Angest to seize control of Lomona and move the Sea Demon Clan deeper into the Elf Empire under strict watch.
• Grommash urged Durontan to invade the North Continent while human forces were weakened, but Durontan pointed out that Augustin had arrived at the City of Guardianship.
• Durontan decided the Beastkin Empire should restore its strength and wait for Augustin to die before pursuing its ambitions in the North Continent.

Roland planned the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s conquest of the Terra Kingdom and considered how to absorb its nobles and captured troops. He tested Ulysses by assigning him authority over the nobles, then ordered him to focus on recruiting the Terra Kingdom’s elite soldiers and Saint Domain experts.

• Reff reported that five hundred thousand troops would invade the Terra Kingdom in three days, and Roland ordered them to avoid unnecessary battles and preserve cities.
• Ulysses reported the Terra Kingdom’s losses and the willingness of its nobles to swear allegiance, then advised Roland to win over some nobles, suppress others, and punish those who had fought the kingdom.
• Roland gave Ulysses two months to investigate the nobles and recommend who should be retained, demoted, or removed; Ulysses refused the authority, and Roland let him return to his seat.
• Ulysses reported that noble-affiliated Saint Domain experts were willing to submit, while the Terra Kingdom’s directly controlled experts and legions resisted and other units were more open to recruitment.
• Roland ordered Ulysses to continue recruiting the surrendered troops and especially to win over the Saint Domain experts.

Roland's army conquered nearly all of the Terra Kingdom and surrounded its capital, Gram, where Phillips refused to surrender. As the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom began its assault, the Legendary dragon Gram appeared, wary of confronting Roland because Zarick protected him.

• On May 15, Roland sent O'Neal and five hundred thousand troops to invade the weakened Terra Kingdom, which fell except for its capital within a month.
• Roland arrived outside Gram and ordered Reff to protect the five Saint Domain experts inside, especially the grandmasters Trevor and Chambers.
• Roland offered Phillips a dignified end if he surrendered, but Phillips cursed him, so Roland ordered the attack on the city.
• The Storm Legion advanced toward Gram, but the arrival of the earth-element dragon Gram halted the soldiers with its overwhelming presence.
• Cassius confronted Gram in the air, shielding the soldiers from the dragon's pressure, while Roland recognized the Legendary guardian and Gram realized Zarick's protection made Roland untouchable.

Roland and Augustin maneuvered to remove Gram, the Terra Kingdom’s High Legendary protector, while Dragon King Zarick took Gram back to the Dragon clan. With the kingdom’s last defenses gone, Roland’s forces captured Gram City and destroyed the Terra Kingdom.

• Gram offered to divide the Terra Kingdom between Roland and the royal family, but Roland refused and declared that the kingdom would fall.
• Augustin appeared, accused Gram of exploiting humanity, and demanded that he join humanity under a new contract or be killed.
• Zarick arrived and persuaded Augustin to let him take Gram back to the Dragon clan, revealing their arrangement had secured Gram for Zarick and removed the Terra Kingdom’s guardian.
• Roland ordered Dylan Fikernando to capture Phillips, who vanished into darkness from the city wall.
• Roland’s forces captured Gram City in less than half a day and destroyed the Terra Kingdom.

The three great empires convened the North Continent’s rulers to mediate after the Terra Kingdom fell, as Seraphim warned that humanity could not survive endless wars. The meeting left the warring nations trading accusations, with Matthias appealing to Milo and Alexand countering with evidence against the Storm Kingdom.

• Seraphim, Augustin, and Milo Habsburg gathered the six main players in the war and warned that humanity had lost more than forty percent of its strength.
• Freddy condemned Cardina, Ribela, and the Storm Kingdom for violating the Truce Order and offered Greyson to the Human Alliance as the one responsible for Autran’s declaration of war.
• Inia accused Freddy of lying, but Freddy blamed Cardina and Ribela for betraying the Terra Kingdom and bringing about its destruction.
• Roland stayed out of the dispute, deciding that the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom should quietly absorb its gains from the war.
• Matthias asked Milo to uphold justice for the Storm Kingdom, while Alexand accused Storm troops of attacking Flame territory and offered evidence to the Human Alliance.

The Human Alliance mediation over the North Continent war ended with the kingdoms keeping the territories they controlled, while Terra Kingdom was expelled and absorbed by the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom. The resolution left humanity simmering with resentment and ambition, poised for further conflict.

• Milo Habsburg demanded that Roland withdraw from Terra Kingdom and return its spoils, but Augustin and Seraphim opposed him, and the proposal failed after the kingdoms voted.
• Seraphim announced that the war would end along current lines of control and that the Truce Order violators would be punished, but Matthias and Freddy demanded a full Human Alliance assembly.
• Half a month later, the assembly passed Seraphim’s resolution with eighty percent approval, fining Storm, Autran, Cardina, and Ribela two hundred million gold coins each and expelling Terra Kingdom from the Alliance.
• The Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom inherited Terra Kingdom’s rights and lands, while the other victors retained their gains, stirring nobles’ greed and leaving humanity on the brink of renewed war.

After the Human Alliance conference left Roland puzzled about the great empires’ intentions, he focused on consolidating the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s gains from the Terra Kingdom. He learned that his realm now had fifty-four million people and entrusted Leslie and Reff with measures to control the former Terra Kingdom’s nobles.

• Roland told Leslie, Reff, and Ulysses about the baffling Human Alliance conference, and Reff urged him to focus on building strength.
• Leslie reported that the former Terra Kingdom had about seventeen million people, though fewer than four million were young or middle-aged and many others were private slaves.
• Roland ordered the Administrative Department to encourage childbirth and directed the former nobles to surrender most of their slaves.
• Leslie proposed stripping noble titles, reducing and exchanging fiefs, and buying resources from the nobles at low prices; Roland gave him authority to carry out the plan.
• Roland warned Reff to crush any resistance without mercy, then asked Leslie to continue reporting on the former Terra Kingdom.

Roland celebrated the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s gains from conquering the Terra Kingdom, then turned to the challenge of defending its expanded borders. Reff revealed that the weakened Northern Great Plains and City of Guardianship could not hold back the Beastkin Empire, making military expansion urgent.

• Roland praised Leslie and Reff for securing the Terra Royal Family’s mature Saint Domain Magic Herb Garden, while Reff reported that Phillips’s secret vaults had been emptied.
• Roland ordered Old Nob to investigate the missing Terra treasures and commanded the administration and military to restore the former Terra Kingdom and revise its defenses.
• Reff warned that the kingdom’s current army could not protect its enlarged territory and proposed expanding the forces to two million; Leslie objected over the cost and the existing northern defenses.
• Reff showed Roland and Leslie a map of the Northern Great Plains and explained that human forces there had dwindled to fewer than a hundred thousand, leaving the region vulnerable to the Beastkin Empire.

Roland planned to build a force capable of stopping the Beastkin Empire and then turned his attention to claiming the Northern Great Plains. He revealed that Orcs could provide the manpower to develop the territory, leaving Leslie to grasp his plan.

• Reff estimated that the kingdom needed at least 1.8 million troops to repel the Beastkin Empire while defending its other borders.
• Leslie agreed to support the military expansion by incorporating Terra's elite legions, doubling the Sea of Hope's profits, and requiring Reff to prepare a five-year plan.
• Roland ordered Reff to petition the Human Alliance to make nations develop or relinquish their claims in the Northern Great Plains.
• Roland told the confused officials that Orcs could supply the manpower to develop the Northern Great Plains, and Leslie began to understand his plan.

Roland and his ministers debated using the Hidden Valley Clan to resettle Orcs while preserving the lucrative trade with the Beastkin Empire. Leslie then enforced the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s rule over the former Terra Kingdom, and O'Neal forced the Albert Family to accept its reduced status.

• Roland explained that the Hidden Valley Clan could help recruit ordinary Orcs and move them to the Northern Great Plains, while Leslie warned the Beastkin Empire would intervene if too many disappeared.
• Reff proposed using trade to obtain Orcs, but Ulysses argued for a blockade; Leslie insisted the kingdom could not stop smuggling because it funded a major share of its revenue and military expansion.
• Roland ended the discussion and scheduled a high-level kingdom meeting, while Leslie began replacing Terra officials and stripping or reducing the former nobles’ privileges and property.
• The Albert Family elders protested the kingdom’s demands, and Patriarch Charles recalled that the kingdom had offered him only a count’s title and one prefecture instead of his dukedom and Nide Province.
• O'Neal and his armored warriors entered the Albert Family meeting, subdued the elders with his aura, and pressured Charles into accepting the kingdom’s terms as Count Charles.

Alinur feared that the Solomon Family would hand her over to Roland after his conquest of the Terra Kingdom. Astron Solomon seized her and took her away to beg Roland for forgiveness, despite her desperate protests.

• Alinur read an intelligence report and worried that Junot could no longer protect her from the Solomon Family.
• Astron Solomon appeared and told Alinur that she needed to face her past mistakes and seek Roland's mercy.
• Alinur accused the family of sacrificing her for its own gain, but Astron insisted she owed the family for the benefits she had received.
• Astron seized Alinur and vanished with her as she begged him not to hand her over to Roland.

Roland inspected the former Terra Kingdom’s Saint Domain Mage Tower and Magic Herb Garden, then tried to recruit its two grandmasters. Chambers joined after Roland offered him the tower, increased compensation, and access to potion-making secrets, while Trevor reconsidered after seeing Roland’s plan to repair Sky City.

• Roland visited the Sola Mountain Range’s Mage Tower and Magic Herb Garden with Edwin, Natalie, and other mages.
• Edwin asked Roland to station him permanently at the garden, but Roland questioned whether an earth-element tower suited the water-element mage.
• Trevor refused to join the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom, citing his invitation to serve the Sacred Alliance Empire.
• Roland offered Chambers management of the Mage Tower and garden, thirty percent higher compensation, and possible access to potion-making secrets, and Chambers accepted.
• Chambers urged Trevor to reconsider, angering Trevor and ending their friendship.
• Roland showed Trevor his plan to repair Sky City, and Trevor became eager to join him.

Roland convened the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s senior officials in Gram City, where they celebrated Felicia’s rise to Legendary status before Leslie proposed abolishing the Noble Council. The proposal stunned the officials and even Roland, leaving the kingdom’s next political changes uncertain.

• Roland gathered the kingdom’s senior officials in Gram City and publicly congratulated Felicia on becoming Legendary and the kingdom’s guardian.
• Felicia accepted the officials’ congratulations and welcomed the security and support her new status would bring to the Sea God Race.
• Leslie reported that about two thousand former Terra nobles had surrendered most of their land and subjects, but warned that their ties and grievances still posed a risk.
• Leslie proposed abolishing the Noble Council and replacing it with a Noble Department that could manage nobles and convey their requests but would have no decision-making power.
• The proposal shocked the officials and Roland, who realized that it would radically strengthen the royal family while also harming Leslie, himself a powerful noble.

Leslie maneuvered to place the Noble Council under the Administrative Department, and Roland approved the arrangement after rejecting Leslie’s proposed Noble Department. Reff then presented a five-year military expansion plan that would raise the kingdom’s directly commanded forces to 1.8 million troops.

• James, Reff, O'Neal, and the other officials supported Leslie’s proposal to establish a Noble Department, with Old Nob adding the Supervision Department’s support.
• Roland rejected the Noble Department, saying it would alienate nobles and undermine the kingdom’s development and shared interests.
• Leslie proposed placing the Noble Council under the Administrative Department, revealing that he sought to prevent the former Terra Kingdom’s nobles from gaining power.
• Roland approved Leslie’s revised proposal, and Leslie assured the kingdom’s nobles that their rights would be protected.
• Reff presented a five-year plan to expand the kingdom’s navy, legions, and mage corps, increasing its directly commanded forces to 1.8 million troops.

The kingdom approved Reff’s five-year plan to expand its military to 1.8 million troops after officials debated its costs and strategic priorities. James then proposed moving the capital from Double Gate Island, arguing that the kingdom’s enlarged territory made the island unsuitable for future development.

• Reff defended the military expansion plan by pointing to captured armor, available warhorses, and the possibility of absorbing former Terra Kingdom elites.
• James objected that the plan required too many professional soldiers, while Winston challenged the proposed expansion of the Three Fleets and Green Turtle Legion.
• Ulysses agreed to revise the naval and Green Turtle expansion, and Roland announced that the military plan would be implemented as a key development project.
• James proposed choosing a new capital because Double Gate Island was remote from much of the enlarged kingdom, small, and overcrowded.

Roland and his ministers debated moving the Sacred Co-Prosperity Kingdom’s capital from Double Gate Island, rejecting several proposed cities before settling on Highland City. Leslie offered the Oroko Family’s own city, and Roland ordered preparations for the capital’s relocation.

• Roland asked his ministers to suggest a new capital after they agreed Double Gate Island was no longer suitable.
• James proposed Gram City and Leo Main City, but the ministers objected to their political, geographic, and food-supply drawbacks.
• After James’s other proposals were rejected, someone suggested Highland City, whose location, trade, defenses, and resources made it a strong candidate.
• Leslie proposed Highland City despite it being the Oroko Family’s fief, and the ministers largely endorsed the choice.
• Leslie offered Highland City to Roland, who ordered the Department of Diplomacy to announce the move in half a month and the Administrative Department to begin preparations immediately.

At a kingdom meeting, Felicia asked Roland to help bring the Sea God Race branch in the Elf Empire back to its ancestral homeland, and he promised equal rights and support. The plan was thrown into crisis when Fili revealed that the Elf Empire had seized the sea sirens and cut off contact with them.

• Roland ended the lengthy meeting, but let Felicia present her proposal to the assembled officials.
• Felicia asked Roland to help more than a million Sea God Race kin return from the Elf Empire to the Sea of Ten Thousand Islands and pledged their loyalty to him.
• Roland promised to help the Sea God Race return and to grant the Sea Elf Clan and humanity equal rights in the kingdom.
• Roland ordered Leslie to arrange talks with Morona and secretly prepare the kingdom's forces to bring Felicia's kin home.
• Fili revealed that the Elf Empire had taken control of the Sea God Race, detained Morona, and moved more than a million people deeper into its territory.
• Felicia was shocked, and Roland reaffirmed his promise to bring her people back.

After annexing the Terra Kingdom, Roland consolidated control of its territories and learned that the Sacred Alliance Empire had given political asylum to the Terra royal remnants. He escalated the confrontation with the empire, halted the costly effort to reach the Sea God Race, and left the wider conflict between the great powers unresolved.

• Reff reported that former Terra Kingdom forces and Saint Domain experts had submitted, while Roland ordered the newcomers screened and barred former Terra military leaders from commanding legions.
• Reff revealed that the Sacred Alliance Empire had accepted the escaped Terra royal family and its Earth Dragon Knights, and Roland ordered a forceful diplomatic demand for their return.
• Roland told Reff that sheltering the Terra royal remnants would make the Sacred Alliance Empire an enemy, intending to prepare his officials for a future clash with the great empires.
• Old Nob reported that the purge in Gram City had killed 656 former Terra agents, and Roland ordered it expanded across the former Terra Kingdom.
• Roland suspended the plan to rescue the Sea God Race because the Elf Empire had tightened its control and further infiltration would only cause more losses.
• Seraphim and Milo Habsburg discussed when their empires would act, with Milo warning that Roland's ambitions and potential alliance with the Sea God Race could become dangerous.