Chapter Summaries

Ang returned to Tan'anster by teleportation, submitted an appeal challenging the Northern Council's summons, and then brought his companions home to North Wind Territory. After celebrating Aisha and five others becoming official mages, Ang showed Aisha the territory's recent expansion.

• Ang's group used the Magic Teleportation Array to return from Akreli to Tan'anster, where Astrologer's Guild mages teased Aisha about her complaint over the fees.
• Ang wrote and formally submitted an appeal to the Northern Council, explaining why he had refused its summons and why he suspected improper dealings.
• Ang and his companions traveled by airship to River Bay City, then flew by Magic Broom to North Wind Territory, where residents welcomed Aisha home.
• Ang held a grand ball to celebrate Aisha, Puri, Isi, Leander, Mons, and Ellis becoming official mages, and Quintina coaxed him onto the dance floor.
• Ang took Aisha on a railcar tour and explained that North Wind Territory now had two towns, including Northern Savage Town, which was still under construction.

Ang prepared Aisha to help protect North Wind Territory while strengthening his skills and supplies. After Betsy Marks reported that the Military Department still intended to send him to the Archipelago Plane, Ang resolved to prepare for battle rather than be caught unready.

• Ang told Aisha that she and Aida would need to look after North Wind Territory when he was away, then ordered Aisha to learn enchantment craft.
• Ang practiced crafting Enchanted Armaments and made potions, especially Healing Potions, for future battles.
• Betsy Marks visited Ang on behalf of the Northern Council Military Department and explained the deployment to the Archipelago Plane.
• Ang argued that he could refuse the summons and that his limited forces should not be sent to fill the gap, but Betsy left without changing his position.
• Ang told Quintina that the Military Department still expected him to fight on the Archipelago Plane, possibly a year later.
• Ang decided to prepare for both possibilities and meet the battle fully prepared if he could not avoid it.

North Wind Territory strengthened its army and economy as winter arrived, while Ang negotiated with Betsy Marks over the North Wind Warband’s role in the Northern Council’s campaign. The chapter left Ang suspicious of the Council’s intentions and unwilling to send his Private Army to the Archipelago Plane without better terms.

• North Wind Territory expanded its war readiness as its cavalry trained, Aisha advanced in rune inscription, and a harvest brought in revenue.
• Betsy Marks told Ang that the Military Department had accepted his demands if the North Wind Warband became a force directly under the Northern Council.
• Betsy offered access to recruits across the northern region and imperial funding, but Ang asked how many soldiers the Military Department would assign for the Archipelago Plane.
• Ang demanded two thousand veterans and five thousand new recruits; Betsy offered to request one thousand veterans and two thousand new recruits.
• Ang asked to join the First Legion or Seventh Legion under Duke Panston, and Betsy’s attitude turned cool before he left without accepting Ang’s invitation to a banquet.
• Ang suspected the Council was hiding something and decided he would go to the Archipelago Plane alone rather than take members of the North Wind Warband.

Ang showed Aisha the Northern Savage Lands and explained the threats posed by the Northern Barbarians and the adventurers. As trade grew unbalanced and Northern Savage Town struggled to recruit miners, Aisha proposed buying kobold slaves to develop its ore industry.

• Ang reassured Aisha that adventurers could not occupy the Northern Savage Lands and explained that Beast Mouth Fortress guarded the territory against bandits and Northern Barbarians.
• Ang and Aisha watched Northern Barbarian traders, and Ang warned that dwindling ore and magical herb supplies could drive them to attack adventurers instead of the fortress.
• Ang explained that he planned to use the adventurers’ losses to attract settlers and expand Northern Savage Town, whose core industries would be adventurer business, timber, and ore.
• Dusha told Ang that only a little over forty miners had been recruited because people refused to work in the Northern Savage Lands.
• Aisha suggested buying kobold mining slaves, and Ang assigned her and Dusha to handle the plan.

Ang welcomed Haru, Susan, and their companions to North Wind Town, where he agreed to teach Haru’s people how to make Basic Strength Armaments in exchange for a fee per set. After discussing political dangers tied to the Northern Council’s Military Department, Ang resolved to face the pressure and began preparing to train Haru’s delegation.

• Ang met Haru and his companions at Pat City and brought them to North Wind Town for a reception.
• Haru asked Ang to increase Enchanted Armament deliveries, and Ang instead offered to teach Haru’s people to produce them for fifteen magic crystals per set; Haru and his wife agreed and signed a Magic Contract.
• Ang told Haru about the Northern Council’s Military Department requisitioning him, and Haru warned that political forces might be trying to use him against Duke Panston.
• Ang decided to confront the coming pressure and told Quintina that Susan would likely stay in North Wind Territory because of the cooperation agreement.
• Haru sent fifty Senior Magic Apprentices and four Rank 1 Mages to North Wind Town, leaving them in Ang’s care to learn the armament-making skills.

Ang’s apprentices completed their training in making Basic Strength Armaments, and he directed his team toward producing elemental Enchanted Armaments to help them prepare for becoming Archmages. He demonstrated his own connection to the fire element but admitted he had not found an elemental system suited to him.

• Haru’s wife and her apprentices increased the workshop’s output and learned to engrave the runes for Basic Strength Armaments under Ang’s guidance.
• After the last apprentice successfully engraved the runes, Haru’s wife led her team away, and Ang’s workshop turned to higher-quality Enchanted Armaments.
• Ang assigned Quintina to ice-element armaments and encouraged the others to choose elemental systems suited to their strengths.
• Ang explained that making elemental armaments could build affinity with the elements and help mages form connections with Elemental Spirits on the path to becoming Archmages.
• Ang demonstrated a powerful resonance with the fire element, then told his astonished apprentices that he was still exploring because a single elemental system did not suit him.

Ang responded to escalating Northern Barbarian attacks by recalling adventurers, preparing defenses, and suspending trade, while Yaob ordered his warriors to kill Imperial adventurers. Aisha and Dusha returned with news that 1,200 kobolds had been purchased and would arrive in about a month.

• Ang received a warning that Ram had escaped during a Black Magic Society rescue, but set the matter aside to address trouble in the Northern Savage Lands.
• Quintina told Ang that Northern Barbarian attacks on adventurers had intensified, so Ang went to Northern Savage Town to assess the situation.
• Slock explained that the Northern Barbarians claimed the mountains and had reduced their trade supplies; Ang ordered adventurers to suspend their activities and prepare defenses.
• Yaob learned that outsiders were urging the tribe to fight the lord of the North Wind Territory, then ordered warriors to kill every Imperial adventurer they found.
• Slock reported that several hundred adventurers were missing or likely dead, and Ang recalled lumber workers, reinforced the fortress, and stopped trade with the Northern Barbarians.
• Aisha and Dusha returned after buying 1,000 kobolds and receiving 200 more, with delivery to the North Wind Territory expected in a month.

As Northern Barbarians drove adventurers away from the Northern Savage Lands, unrest and economic decline spread through Northern Savage Town. Ang confronted Yaob to negotiate, but after Ang left, Yaob agreed to the proposal and ordered his warriors to prepare for battle.

• Ang ordered fines, public flogging, and legal judgment for adventurers causing trouble in Northern Savage Town.
• Ang questioned Dusha about recalled lumber workers and learned that the logging sites had not encountered Northern Barbarians.
• Ang led elite soldiers to Yaob’s tribe and warned that war could endanger the small tribe, while offering restored trade and supplies.
• Yaob rejected Ang’s proposals and insisted outsiders stay out of the Northern Savage Lands, so Ang left without an agreement.
• After Ang departed, Yaob told a warrior to inform the other people that he accepted their proposal and ordered the tribe to prepare for a fight.

Ang prepared Beast Mouth Fortress and North Wind Territory for a possible attack as he suspected the Black Magic Society was spreading rumors and infiltrating his forces. After arranging defenses and treating injured civilians, he discovered that the Society had possessed a young craftsman and used him to attack.

• Ang warned Slok that the Northern Barbarians might be preparing to fight and ordered preparations at Beast Mouth Fortress.
• Quintina told Ang that rumors of an imminent attack had spread, and Ang suspected the Black Magic Society was behind them and ordered stronger patrols and Anti-Magic Fields.
• After receiving news that the Society had attacked civilians in North Wind Town, Ang sent Quintina there to help and ordered Slok to arrest rumor spreaders.
• Several days later, Ang treated injured civilians and warned them to report suspicious strangers.
• A young craftsman attacked Ang with a shadow spike, but Ang's magic shield blocked it, and he determined the craftsman had been afflicted by a Charm Spell and the Darkness Possession Technique.

Ang strengthened defenses against the Black Magic Society and prepared Beast Mouth Fortress for the approaching Northern Barbarians. The chapter ended with Ang keeping vigil beside his poisoned father after discovering that an antidote might not exist.

• Ang inspected the soldiers at Beast Mouth Fortress and found dark energy in more than thirty commanders’ personal guards, then ordered daily inspections and protected the Black Scale Horse stables with Anti-Magic Fields.
• Ang’s preparations helped Aida defeat repeated Black Magic Society attacks in North Wind Town, where fourteen captured intruders’ heads were displayed before the town briefly became peaceful.
• As the Northern Barbarians approached, Ang ordered the fortress to hold its position and arranged for kobold slave traders to deliver their goods to Northern Savage Town.
• Ang gave Dusha a lesser Life Potion, which restored Dusha’s strength and darkened his hair by the next morning.
• Aisha brought Ang their poisoned father, and Ang identified the toxin as Mandrake Wolf Root Poison after discovering that an Antidote Potion had failed.
• Ang tried various potions to save his father while Aisha and their family kept watch, but his father remained close to death.

Ang faced the Northern Barbarians as the Black Magic Society supplied them for an impending attack, but Aisha’s arrival drew him away to see his dying father. His father recognized that Ang was not the original Ang, and after Ang confessed the truth, his father died and Ang burned his body.

• Yaob rebuked a warrior who questioned the attack on the Imperials and ordered him away.
• Ang watched the Northern Barbarians provoke Beast Mouth Fortress for days and ordered his soldiers to prepare for battle after spotting Black Mages delivering supplies to the enemy.
• Aisha flew to the fortress and told Ang that their father was dying and wanted to see him.
• Ang’s father insisted that he was not the real Ang, and Ang confessed that the original Ang had died.
• Ang’s father died after hearing the truth, and Ang carried his body outside and lit the funeral pyre.

Ang sent Aisha away with their mother's ashes, then led the Cavalry Regiment out to fight the Northern Barbarians. His forty riders devastated Yaob's much larger force, and the chapter ended with Ang and Yaob charging into a duel.

• Ang gave Aisha their mother's ashes and told her to return home while he prepared to defend the fortress.
• Ang ordered Slock to ready the Cavalry Regiment, armed himself with his Enchanted Armament and Silver Greatsword, and led forty riders out of the fortress.
• Yaob learned that the Imperial cavalry had left the fortress and rallied around eight hundred Northern Barbarian warriors, many equipped with Imperial armor.
• Ang's cavalry met the Northern Barbarians on the battlefield, their enchanted formation breaking the enemy line and routing the warriors in repeated charges.
• Yaob charged Ang with his Obsidian Battle Axe, and the two clashed before charging at each other again.

Ang and Yaob fought a fierce duel, with Yaob gaining the upper hand despite Ang’s sword, magic, and recovered tower shield. The chapter left Ang under renewed attack after his Earth Spikes failed to create an opening.

• Ang used his shield and the Green Mane Horse to counter Yaob’s axe, then struck back with an Ice Sword and his Enchanted Armament’s phantom wing.
• Yaob strengthened his aura and launched a relentless assault, while the Green Mane Horse returned to the fortress and the Northern Barbarian warriors withdrew from the duel.
• Ang wounded Yaob’s back, but Yaob’s wound healed rapidly, and the two continued fighting alone on the cleared battlefield.
• Ang recovered his tower shield just before Yaob’s thrown axe struck it, then used the shield to withstand Yaob’s increasingly powerful blows.
• Ang cast Earth Spikes at Yaob’s feet, but Yaob crushed them and immediately swung his axe at Ang, who barely blocked the strike.

Ang fought Yaob as Northern Barbarians rushed to intervene, but Yaob broke through to Level 2 and gained overwhelming strength. Ang adapted, exploited Yaob’s imbalance, and beheaded him, leaving the battlefield stunned.

• Ang froze Yaob’s right foot and attacked his left leg while blocking his axe with his shield.
• Northern Barbarians charged to rescue Yaob, and Ang killed two with an Ice Sword before Yaob broke through to become a Level 2 Warrior.
• Yaob grew over four meters tall and repeatedly drove Ang back, but Ang gradually endured his attacks as a six-armed elemental phantom appeared behind him.
• Yaob shattered Ang’s shield and pinned him beneath a shockwave, but Ang redirected the axe, upset Yaob’s balance, and struck him with ice and flame swords.
• Ang kicked Yaob in the abdomen and slashed through his neck, killing him and leaving both armies in stunned silence.

After killing Yaob, Ang faced an ambush by Ram and the Black Mages, who trapped him inside a barrier and attacked with magic. Ang used an Anti-Magic Field to defeat them, killed Ram, and left the barrier collapsed.

• Ang's victory over Yaob shattered the Northern Barbarians' morale, and Slock led the cavalry in breaking up the warriors who charged to avenge their leader.
• Dozens of Black Mages flew toward Ang, while arrows from the city walls brought down several of them.
• Ram surrounded Ang with the Black Mages and sealed them inside a barrier as they bombarded Ang's magical shield.
• Ang activated an Anti-Magic Field, nullifying the mages' powers, and used his Silver Greatsword to kill them.
• Ang prevented Ram from escaping, pierced his chest with the Dragon Thorn Spear, and killed him before the barrier collapsed.

After defeating the Northern Barbarians, Ang pursued Torei and persuaded him to consider the Manto Tribe’s survival and seek leadership after Yaob’s death. Torei agreed to hear Ang’s proposal and said he would try to take control of the tribe.

• Ang ordered Slock to clear the battlefield, replenished his stamina and mana, and flew after the fleeing Northern Barbarians.
• Ang intercepted Torei, spoke to him in Northern Barbarian, and argued that the tribe could not endure its losses and the coming winter without changing course.
• Torei revealed that the Manto Tribe had left the plateau five years earlier after a priest’s mistaken judgment, and said the priest had died after failing to recover from his injuries.
• Torei explained that he had opposed Yaob’s plans to fight the Empire, but Yaob took control after the priest died and rejected Torei’s pleas to stop the war.
• Ang asked whether Torei could lead the tribe, and Torei said he would try to prevent more needless deaths and become its new leader.

Ang warned Torei that the Black Magic Society was manipulating the Manto Tribe and offered the tribe a place in North Wind Territory, then demonstrated the empire’s destructive power. Back at Beast Mouth Fortress, Ang treated the wounded and received a report that his forces had killed 129 enemies, including 31 Black Mages.

• Torei explained that the Black Magic Society had supplied the Manto Tribe in exchange for occupying imperial borderlands and driving away adventurers.
• Ang told Torei about the Black Magic Society’s atrocities and offered the Manto Tribe equal status and rights if it joined North Wind Territory.
• Ang demonstrated a High-Explosion Magic Bomb and urged Torei to choose his tribe’s future before flying back to Beast Mouth Fortress.
• Ang healed two injured cavalrymen and treated the badly wounded Black Scale Horses.
• Slock reported 129 enemy deaths, and Ang ordered the Black Mages’ belongings brought to him and their corpses burned the next day.

Ang prepared North Wind Territory to recover from the Black Magic Society’s schemes, then welcomed Torei and his Northern Barbarians as new members of the territory. He arranged their care, homes, and military integration, leaving former enemies beginning to accept one another.

• Ang found Ram’s journal on teleportation arrays and runes among the Black Mages’ belongings, then stored the recovered supplies.
• Ang ordered exploration of the Northern Savage Lands to resume, while Walder reported that people bribed to spread rumors had been arrested.
• More than half a month later, Torei arrived with an advance party and told Ang that the Northern Barbarians had chosen to join North Wind Territory.
• Ang showed Torei and his group the fortress and town, then brought them to mourn their fallen warriors and asked them to bury the bodies in their new home.
• Ang promised to treat the wounded, ordered new residences and larger doorways, and made Torei commander of a Northern Barbarian warband.
• Ang declared the Northern Barbarians equal members of North Wind Territory, and the commanders welcomed Torei as their former hostility faded.

After the Manto Tribe completed its relocation, Ang helped its people settle into Northern Savage Town, integrated them into the North Wind Territory, and formed the Charge Regiment. Back in North Wind Town, Ang reunited with his companions, recounted the battle against the Black Mages, and showed them his still-incomplete aura.

• The Manto Tribe moved into spacious, warm homes in Northern Savage Town, while townspeople gradually accepted their new neighbors.
• Ang created the Charge Regiment from Northern Barbarians and arranged education, jobs, and starting funds to help the tribe integrate into the North Wind Territory.
• After Northern Savage Town no longer needed his constant presence, Ang returned to North Wind Town and gave Quintina and Puli materials taken from the Black Mages.
• Ang recounted the battle against the thirty-one Black Mages to Quintina, Puli, and Aisha.
• Ang revealed his six-armed aura, explained that it had not fully condensed and that he was not yet a Level 2 Great Warrior, then pledged to build the North Wind Territory's strength with his companions.

Ang revealed that he had recovered the Spatial Crystal the Black Magic Society planned to use for a teleportation array to the demon plane. He proposed secretly building a Plane Teleportation Array in North Wind Territory, and the chapter ended with the group agreeing to keep the plan secret and study how to construct it.

• Ang gathered Quintina, Aisha, Puli, and the others in a sealed chamber and showed them an indestructible Spatial Crystal.
• Ang explained that he had obtained the large crystal from the Tarim Plane and that it had been intended for the Black Magic Society's teleportation array to the demon plane.
• Ang proposed building a Plane Teleportation Array in North Wind Territory, despite the legal risks of discovery.
• Quintina and the others agreed to keep the plan secret and signed Magic Contracts.
• Ang spread out Magic Runes diagrams and said he would teach the group the principles needed to build the array.