Chapter Summaries

Ang watched for the suspected mage after he entered the Ula Mountains, then discovered a black-clad intruder controlling the Tall Tower guard and searching the territory at night. After Ang’s bell alerted his family and guards, the intruder headed for the workshops, where Ang prepared to stop him.

• Ang ordered the guards to watch closely and warned Aisha to stay out of sight, but the first three nights passed without incident.
• On the fourth night, Ang sensed danger, hid beneath the Shadow Robe, and saw that the Tall Tower guard had been controlled.
• A black-clad man searched Ang’s office, avoided the protected laboratory, and then moved toward the baron’s residence.
• Ang rang a bronze bell to alert his family, prompting the intruder to turn away and hide while the guards investigated.
• The intruder used a glowing device to control the Tall Tower guard, then headed toward the workshops as Ang followed him in concealment.

Ang stopped a black-clad attacker from striking a craftsman at the workshop and pursued him into the forest, where the attacker revealed himself as a Black Mage. After defeating three summoned Lava Hounds, Ang followed the lingering Light Element mark to continue the chase.

• Ang struck the black-clad attacker with a light arrow, alerting the workshop and its guards as the attacker fled toward the Beastlands.
• Ang chased the attacker on a Magic Broom, dodging his spells and repeatedly firing light arrows until one hit the man and sent him falling into the forest.
• Ang found a dark magic array in the forest, where three Lava Hounds emerged as the Black Mage escaped deeper among the trees.
• Ang discovered that water magic weakened the Lava Hounds, extinguished their lava, and killed all three with light arrows.
• Ang sensed the lingering Light Element mark and mounted his Magic Broom to pursue the Black Mage again.

Ang confronted the injured Black Mage, Savap, in a cave, but Savap summoned a demon that devoured him and attacked Ang. Ang wounded the demon with Holy Light and magic bombs, but the battle continued amid collapsing rocks and flames.

• Ang found the badly injured Savap on a stone platform and cautiously approached him.
• Savap summoned a horned demon and pointed Ang out as its sacrifice, but the demon swallowed Savap instead.
• The demon attacked Ang, who used the narrow passage to stab its chest with the Dragon Thorn Spear.
• Ang blasted the demon's chest with Holy Light and struck its wound with a light arrow as it tried to heal.
• The demon cast a black curtain that suppressed the Holy Light, so Ang threw several magic bombs at it.
• Ang sheltered behind his North Wind Steel Shield as explosions and fire shook the cave and brought rocks crashing down.

Aida and Aisha led a rescue effort after a magic bomb collapsed the mountainside and buried Ang beneath the rubble. They found Ang alive, but severely burned, and the chapter ended as Ang prepared for a possible attack from the monster beneath the ruins.

• Aida rode with his guards to the explosion site, found evidence that someone might be buried, and ordered them to search the rubble.
• Aisha arrived with reinforcements and used Water Flow Technique to cool the scorched rocks while the soldiers cleared debris.
• The rescuers found Ang beneath the North Wind Steel Shield, and Aisha treated his burns while he drank Healing Potion and healed his throat.
• Ang ordered Aida back to the territory to watch over it, then stayed with Aisha and helped the soldiers clear the ruins while recovering his magic power.
• By midnight, the soldiers had cleared almost all the rubble, and Ang ordered everyone back as he prepared to face the danger beneath the ruins.

Ang killed the badly wounded monster, purified the ruins, and returned to North Wind Territory to recover. A month later, he knighted Bruno and named him commander of the newly established North Wind Guard Camp.

• Ang discovered the monster had survived the explosion, blocked its final horn attack, and destroyed its petrified remains with his spear and holy magic.
• Ang and Aisha sealed the monster's limbs and horn, then used a purification array to clear the dark magic from the ruins.
• Ang flooded the pit, withdrew with his soldiers, and purified the Lava Hound's corpse to prevent dark magic from corrupting the territory.
• After a month of recovery, Ang knighted Bruno, rewarded him with enchanted armor and a Green Mane Horse, and appointed him commander of the North Wind Guard Camp.
• Bruno showed off his new equipment to the other guards and urged them to become warriors like him.

Ang comforted Aida over his slow progress, then reported the Lava Hound King attack to the Mage Association and traded Demon Horn material for a steady magic ore supply from the Dax Family. With his Enchanting Workshop poised to expand, he began preparing Aisha for travel and independence by training her magic control and physical endurance.

• Ang reassured Aida that he was free to choose his own future and encouraged him to keep pursuing strength without comparing himself to Bruno.
• Ang told Aden about Savap's attack and showed him the impure Demon Horn; Aden urged him to report the signs of demonic activity to the Mage Association.
• Bayern Dax's investigation team confirmed that the remains belonged to a Lava Hound King transforming toward a demonic form, and revealed that the attacker posing as Savap was an impostor.
• Ang sold two pieces of Demon Horn material for 9,000 magic crystals and arranged regular magic ore deliveries from the Dax Family for his Enchanting Workshop.
• Ang found that Aisha had recovered and grown stronger, then began training her endurance and preparing her to travel and become an independent mage.

Ang watched North Wind Territory celebrate a strong harvest before reuniting with his family and trying to persuade his parents to move somewhere safer. He left the family dinner with his father refusing to move and Aisha facing a long journey to develop her magic.

• Ang and Aisha watched the harvest and discussed providing free carriages, buying surplus grain, and using manure to improve next year's fields.
• Ang visited his parents and reunited with Aida and Aisha for a family dinner, where he worried about his father's declining health.
• Ang urged his parents to move into residential homes, but his father firmly refused.
• Ang told Aisha to travel around the empire for at least one or two years and return after reaching Rank 1 Mage.
• Aisha resisted the plan, but their mother accepted Ang's decision and asked him to take care of her.

Ang prepared Aisha to leave North Wind Territory so she could advance her magic through travel, and she departed with Bruno in the 'Old Man's Joy.' As winter settled over the territory, Aisha had gained practical experience and reached the peak of Senior Magic Apprentice; Ang watched her vehicle disappear, hoping for her safe return and growth.

• Ang persuaded Aisha to travel beyond North Wind Territory and promised Aida he would travel around the Empire after becoming a Level 1 Warrior.
• Ang forged Aisha a water-magic staff and gave Bruno a flaming longsword to protect her on the journey.
• Ang taught Aisha wilderness survival and camping skills while guiding her as she set protective magic arrays in the territory's granaries.
• Aisha gained practical experience and reached the peak of Senior Magic Apprentice as Ang completed the preparations for her journey.
• Aisha and Bruno departed in the 'Old Man's Joy,' while Ang and their parents watched them leave.

Ang advanced North Wind Territory’s plans for three academies and organized its eligible residents into a new military unit. The academies received approval and construction began, while the North Wind Warband was incorporated into the Northern United Council with Ang retaining control.

• Ang approved Dusha’s proposals for Warrior and Mage Academies and agreed to establish a vocational skills academy with stipends and benefits for skilled-craft inheritors.
• Ang told Aida, Sanchez, and the other two captains that Warrior Academy admission would be free for local children and ordered them to compile residents who had not completed military service.
• Ang’s applications for the academies were approved, and territory craftsmen began construction with facilities planned for traditional crafts and magical craftsmanship.
• After finding nearly fifty residents eligible for military service, Ang established the North Wind Warband and applied to the Northern United Council for its incorporation.
• The Northern United Council approved the warband, leaving Ang in control while requiring the unit to meet standards for size and training.

Ang established the academies and trained the territory’s young people, then received an order to send the North Wind Warband to defend the Tarim Plane from a hellish invasion. He chose to lead the expedition himself, leaving Aida and Dusha in charge of North Wind Territory.

• Ang found two children with exceptional fire-magic talent and opened the Warrior Academy to all children without magical talent free of charge.
• The three academies opened, and Ang oversaw the students’ lessons, combat training, and meals prepared from magical beast ingredients.
• Ang received a Northern United Council dispatch ordering eligible legions to prepare to support the Tarim Plane against an invasion by hellish races.
• Ang decided to lead the North Wind Warband himself, believing his experience could better protect its young members.
• Ang appointed Aida to manage North Wind Territory with Dusha as his deputy, suspended the workshop’s enchanting work, and gave Aida a letter for Aden.

Ang led the North Wind Warband from North Wind Territory toward the Tarim Plane, stopping in River Bay City before joining Baron Wade’s force for the airship journey to Gage City. After Wade’s soldiers mocked his young troops, Ang silenced both forces, and the airship set off with the two units aboard.

• Ang said farewell to North Wind Territory’s residents and led the North Wind Warband by carriage to River Bay City.
• Ang’s troops rested at the airship port, then assembled before dawn, including thirty-two soldiers who had advanced to Junior Squires and wore North Wind Steel armor.
• Baron Wade’s larger force arrived and mocked the North Wind Warband, whose soldiers held their discipline despite their anger.
• Ang shouted down the soldiers’ bickering, and he and Baron Wade exchanged nods before their forces boarded the airship.
• The airship lifted off toward Gage City with Baron Wade’s force and the North Wind Warband aboard.

Ang led the North Wind Warband through a peaceful airship journey, training and instructing the inexperienced soldiers as they traveled toward the Plane War. As the airship prepared to arrive in Gage City, forty of the warband’s soldiers had advanced to Junior Squire.

• The North Wind Warband soldiers marveled at the scenery from the airship, and Ang allowed several of them onto the deck.
• Baron Wade told Ang that he did not want to join the Plane War but felt forced to protect his title; Ang stayed with the warband instead of taking a private cabin.
• When darkness frightened the soldiers, Ang used the Holy Light Technique to calm them, and they slept through the night.
• The soldiers trained at dawn, washed using water Ang supplied with the Water Gathering Rune Board, and listened as he explained training and battlefield strategy.
• After more than ten peaceful days, a crewman told Ang that the airship would reach Gage City that evening, and Ang ordered the soldiers to prepare.
• Ang noted that forty soldiers had reached Junior Squire while the other ten continued working to catch up.

Ang led the North Wind Warband through a plane portal to the Tarim Plane, where they were urgently assigned to a silent military camp. After noticing bloodstains in their barracks, he ordered his soldiers to settle in and rest.

• Ang reassured the North Wind Warband while they waited in line, then warned the soldiers not to stare at the portal's runes after one fainted.
• Ang presented the reception token, and he led the warband through the plane portal into the Tarim Plane.
• A receptionist escorted Ang's troops to carriages but avoided answering questions about the battle situation.
• Ang and the warband reached a quiet camp beneath a towering city wall, where the receptionist showed them their barracks.
• Ang noticed bloodstains on the barracks floor and ordered the soldiers to settle in and rest.

Ang arrived at a troubled city on the Tarim Plane and learned that hellhounds threatened its defenses while several cities had lost contact. Marquis Yaglu assigned the North Wind Warband to guard a natural barrier and Ang to scout the hellhounds, leaving Ang to prepare for a dangerous reconnaissance mission.

• Ang questioned the camp attendant about its shortages and learned that supply convoys had run into trouble and that he was expected at the command post.
• Ang discovered that the city wall bordered a deep natural barrier, then saw soldiers fighting hellhounds near the command post.
• Wade told Ang that the hellhounds attacked more fiercely at night and that many cities on the Tarim Plane had lost contact.
• Marquis Yaglu explained that the reinforcement forces had to defend the cities, eliminate hellhounds outside them, and await the Northern United Council's arrangements for returning through portals.
• Marquis Yaglu assigned the North Wind Warband to patrol a two-kilometer stretch of natural barrier and Ang to scout the hellhounds' movements.
• Ang requested two spare Magic Brooms and magical materials, and Marquis Yaglu agreed to provide them.

Ang gathered supplies from confiscated magic shops, strengthened the North Wind Warband’s defenses, and discovered that a canyon Hell Gate was sending Hellhounds toward Bahoya City. After the commanders hesitated to attack the source, Ang volunteered to lead the mission himself.

• Ang selected magical supplies and a high-grade Magic Broom from abandoned shops that Marquis Yaglu had confiscated, while the guard sealed the stores after he left.
• Ang gave the First Squad a magical horn, ordered the wall patrols to maintain constant watch, and scouted the city’s defenses as Hellhound attacks wore down the soldiers.
• Ang found a hidden canyon where nearly five hundred Hellhounds emerged from a fissure, led by Two-headed Hellhounds, and reported that the Hell Gate needed to be destroyed.
• Ang told Wade that the Temporary Portal had closed and that Bahoya City had no escape unless they destroyed the source of the Hellhounds.
• As Yaglu failed to persuade the cautious commanders to act, Ang declared that he would go himself to destroy the Hell Gate.

Ang investigated the Hell Gate alone, then led an assault with Marquis Yaglu’s elite force to destroy it. The gate collapsed, but six Enchanting Warriors died, and the survivors returned toward Bahoya City.

• Marquis Yaglu admitted he could not command the nobles to help, while Wade asked Ang about the risks and manpower needed to destroy the Hell Gate.
• Ang used potions to infiltrate the canyon, discovered the Hell Gate and thousands of Hellhounds, and damaged the gate with magic bombs and Holy Light Bullets before escaping.
• After Ang reported back, Marquis Yaglu assembled thirty Rank 1 Enchanting Warriors and sent them with Ang to the canyon aboard an airship.
• Ang set up a magic array near the Hell Gate while the warriors held off the Hellhounds, but six warriors were killed before the others escaped by rope to the airship.
• Ang detonated a magic bomb enhanced by the array, destroying the Hell Gate and setting the canyon ablaze, then signaled the airship to return to Bahoya City.

After the Hell Gate was destroyed, Marquis Yaglu honored the returning Enchanting Warriors and discussed expanding into lands abandoned by the hellhounds. Viscount Haru invited Ang to his residence, where he questioned him about the Tarim Plane and his magic bomb before proposing they cooperate in future battles.

• The airship returned to Bahoya City, where Marquis Yaglu welcomed the twenty-four surviving Enchanting Warriors as heroes and promised recognition and compensation for the fallen warriors' families.
• At the banquet, Viscount Haru argued that the warriors should claim the lands left by the hellhounds, and Marquis Yaglu agreed that expansion deserved further discussion.
• Viscount Haru invited Ang to his residence, served him Fire Lizard meat, and learned that Ang could consume its fire-element energy without difficulty.
• Haru asked Ang whether other Hell Gates existed near Bahoya City, and Ang said he believed the destroyed gate was the only one in the region.
• Haru asked about Ang's magic bomb and, after hearing its destructive cost and limitations, proposed that they cooperate to profit from battles on the Tarim Plane.

Ang agreed to help Haru scout for Hellhounds, then arranged for the North Wind Warband to leave wall duty and fight outside Bahoya City. After three days of carefully escalated battles, the fifty soldiers had killed eighty-two Hellhounds without casualties.

• Haru asked Ang to scout Hellhound movements after admitting he had only fifty men, and Ang agreed to help.
• Ang promised the North Wind Warband soldiers he would seek to transfer them from guarding the city wall to a more meaningful assignment.
• Ang learned that Haru and two other viscounts had already left Bahoya City with roughly two thousand people, then personally reconnoitered the surrounding area.
• Ang led the North Wind Warband out of the north gate in five teams of ten and gradually increased the number of Hellhounds each team faced.
• Over three days, the North Wind Warband killed eighty-two Hellhounds without losing a single soldier.

Ang trained the North Wind Warband to fight Hellhounds while learning that Marquis Yaglu was preparing to let an enchanted warband take over the battle. Haru urged Ang to stay in Bahoya City and pursue valuable resources before the situation stabilized, and Ang left worried that he was falling behind other nobles.

• Ang demonstrated how to block and kill an ordinary Hellhound, then told the North Wind Warband to prepare to hunt Hellhounds outside the city.
• Marquis Yaglu told Ang that Hellhounds had formed groups led by Two-headed Hellhounds and that Ang could arrange his army's movements, but had to await orders at Central City before leaving.
• Ang visited Viscount Haru, who explained that Yaglu's returning enchanted warband would eventually take over the fighting and that outside reinforcements would no longer be needed.
• Haru told Ang that Mais and other nobles had reclaimed mines and advised him to exchange his resources for tangible gains before the situation stabilized.
• Haru said Bahoya City's temporary Plane Portal would likely reopen once things stabilized, and Ang left feeling burdened by his limited resources and information.

Ang led the North Wind Warband to hunt a nearby pack of Hellhounds, defeating their Two-headed Hellhound leader and driving off the survivors. Afterward, the soldiers collected valuable hides and other spoils, and Ang saw how their share-based reward system encouraged them to fight hard.

• Ang decided to prepare for possible refugees as Hellhounds spread through other cities, then led the North Wind Warband to attack a pack of about two hundred nearby.
• The soldiers held their Shield Wall Formation against the charging Hellhounds while Ang waited for their Two-headed Hellhound leader to engage.
• Ang attacked the Two-headed Hellhound, killed it by piercing one head's throat and severing the other, and ordered the soldiers not to chase the fleeing pack.
• The North Wind Warband collected Hellhound hides and searched for magic cores and crystals while discussing the profits they could earn.
• Ang reflected that the warband's rule letting soldiers keep one Hellhound's spoils for every five they killed motivated them more than the rewards offered by other noble armies.