Chapter Summaries

Ang and Quintina surveyed the volcano, discovering resources and hazards before returning to camp to contact North Wind Territory. Ang left for the territory and arranged for Aisha to obtain steel pipes and a portable magic furnace.

• Ang and Quintina fled a swarm of Fire Lizards near the crater, then Ang trapped and killed a smaller one and gave its hide to Quintina for a vest.
• Ang recognized the volcanic ash as a resource for cement and discovered sulfur crystals that could strengthen magic bombs, but Quintina’s discomfort from the heat forced them to leave the caves.
• Ang and Quintina found a hot spring before returning to camp, where Ang reactivated the Magic Teleportation Array and sent Aisha a coded message.
• Ang traveled to North Wind Territory, asked Aisha to order ten thousand hollow steel pipes, and explained that he and Quintina were still surveying Rosso Island.
• Ang instructed Aisha to find Aden in Pat City and order a magic furnace made in portable parts.

Ang returned to Rosso Island, shut down the teleportation array, and organized the soldiers to rebuild the port with cement made from Volcanic Ash, sand, and gravel. After the new structures proved durable and survived a storm, he worried about dwindling magic crystal reserves and considered how to obtain resources from the elusive Fire Lizards.

• Ang shut down the teleportation array to North Wind Territory, secured it, and told the commanders that Rosso Island would become their main base.
• Ang proposed rebuilding the port with cement made from Volcanic Ash, sand, and gravel, then demonstrated the material by making a pillar that resisted sword and axe strikes.
• The soldiers rebuilt the port with reinforced cement and constructed bathhouses supplied by Hot Spring water.
• A violent storm nearly destroyed the old wooden buildings, while the cement structures stood firm and strengthened the soldiers' trust in Ang.
• Ang and Quintina discussed their dwindling magic crystal reserves, and Ang wondered how they could catch the Fire Lizards that fled into the magma.

Ang developed a way to lure Fire Lizards from the lava and led the Charge Regiment in capturing one. The Fire Lizard was frozen and subdued, though Quintina had to save a soldier from its flames.

• Ang secretly entered the crater, collected three pieces of obsidian, and returned exhausted, prompting Quintina to treat him and scold him for taking such a risk alone.
• Ang made durable obsidian hooks and fire-resistant ropes, then ordered Torei to gather the Charge Regiment for a Fire Lizard capture.
• Ang and the soldiers used fire-beast magic cores as bait, and more than a hundred soldiers hauled a Fire Lizard from the crater.
• Quintina froze the struggling Fire Lizard, and Ang pierced its head with the Dragon Thorn Spear when it began breaking free.
• The Fire Lizard’s flames threatened a soldier, but Quintina blocked them with an Ice Wall, and Ang was relieved that they had captured the beast.

Ang harvested Fire Lizards with the Charge Regiment, processed their valuable remains, and used their bones to make a strengthening soup for Quintina. The next day, a mage arrived by ship, and Ang suspected the visitor came from the Military Department.

• Ang showed Quintina the Fire Lizard’s fiery crystal and meat, then let the Charge Regiment soldiers taste the meat despite its intense heat.
• Ang and the soldiers caught Fire Lizards until evening, then processed their hides, meat, teeth, and claws for sale and use.
• Ang sent most of the Fire Lizard resources to North Wind Territory and instructed Aisha to sell the meat and all but eight hides.
• Ang simmered a Fire Lizard skull into soup for Quintina, who felt her strength improve after drinking it; he warned her to wait a month before having more because fire and water elements could clash dangerously.
• Georgie told Ang that a mage had arrived by ship to see him, and Ang suspected the visitor was from the Military Department.

Ang confronted and subdued Walker David, a mage who had attacked him at the harbor, then learned Walker had come aboard the Wind Breaker to collect island commanders. Walker stood down after Ang treated his injuries, and the two prepared to proceed together.

• Ang met a disdainful mage at the Wind Breaker, and the man attacked him with wind magic.
• Ang evaded the wind blades, boarded the ship, and seized the mage despite the gale; Quintina told Georgie that Ang could handle the fight.
• Ang released the mage after learning he was a messenger for the wartime council on the Archipelago Plane, then slapped him and demanded he speak properly.
• The mage handed Ang a document and explained that he had come to collect commanders from the various islands.
• Ang learned the mage's name was Walker David, from the direct line of the David mage family, and healed his swollen face with holy light.
• Walker stood up and realized his arrogant treatment of Ang had been a mistake.

Ang traveled to Wally Island with the other commanders for a combat deployment gathering, then explored the Empire’s enormous island stronghold and handled supply reimbursement. He bought a magical map of the Archipelago Plane and left a dwarf’s weapons shop without making a purchase.

• Ang sent Quintina back to guard Rosso Island and told her to continue the sulfur mine and Volcanic Ash operations while he attended the commanders’ gathering.
• Walker piloted the Wind Breaker west, picking up several commanders before bringing them to Wally Island, whose vast harbor and size astonished Ang.
• At the Third Legion’s garrison, Ang reimbursed the costs of supplies transported from North Wind Territory to Rosso Island without difficulty.
• Ang explored Wally Island’s streets, saw people of many races, and bought a magical map that showed his location in real time for seventy magic crystals.
• Ang visited a dwarf’s weapons shop, but after the dwarf grew impatient, Ang left without buying anything.

Ang questioned the commanders’ relaxed attitude toward Point 5 and secured approval to scout it before the invasion. After a dangerous seven-day voyage, he reached the river mouth and began surveying the area.

• At a military meeting, Ang questioned the plan to attack Point 5 and privately urged its commanders to study the enemy’s defenses.
• Ang learned that Point 1 was the main attack while the other six points would draw enemy forces away from it.
• Three days later, Ang obtained Marquis Hubert Gonzalez’s approval to scout Point 5 ahead of the offensive planned for half a year later.
• Ang accepted a small rune-enhanced ship from logistics and set sail, arranging for the troop transports to meet him at Rosso Island afterward.
• Ang battled storms and treacherous waters for seven days and seven nights before reaching Point 5 and surveying its river mouth.

Ang scouted Point 5 and the mainland, finding a concealed landing site, magical herbs, horse herds, and nearly a thousand hidden Wetland Lizardmen. After completing his reconnaissance, he returned to Rosso Island.

• Ang flew toward Point 5, escaped a pursuing magical beast, and searched the red mangrove forest and surrounding terrain for signs of Lizardmen.
• Ang spent a week mapping Point 5, recording its hazards and resources, and identifying a concealed slope suitable for landing troops.
• Ang flew inland for five days, spotted horse herds on a grassland, and crossed the mountains to find numerous Lizardmen tribes.
• Ang followed the Wetland Lizardmen to their swamp settlement and discovered that their nocturnal habits helped them remain hidden.
• Ang confirmed that nearly a thousand Wetland Lizardmen lived at Point 5, then sailed back to Rosso Island after weeks of reconnaissance.

Ang returned to Rosso Island, then pushed to attack Point 5 ahead of schedule despite the Military Department's plan to wait four months and the other mercenary regiments' refusal to join. Commander Marquis Hubery approved the early attack, leaving Ang responsible for the outcome, and Ang and Quintina set sail for Point 5 alone.

• Ang reunited with Quintina and the officers at Rosso Island, then presented his Point 5 scouting records and proposed an early attack with an initial force of about four thousand.
• Ang and Quintina visited Marquis Hubery on Wally Island, where Hubery told Ang that Point 1 was the main battlefield and asked him to return after consulting the other regiment commanders.
• Ang argued with Quintina that taking Point 5 could let them build a city and establish a foothold with less resistance, then sent the other commanders invitations to join the early campaign.
• Ang failed to recruit the Crimson Flame Regiment or other mercenary regiments, and only two of the nine commanders replied, advising him to follow Military Department orders.
• Ang returned to Hubery, who approved the early attack and promised ten thousand more troops if Ang established a foothold at Point 5.
• Ang and Quintina departed Wally Island by small boat, intending to attack Point 5 without the other regiments.

Ang returned to the North Wind Territory, recruited Puri and Isi, and brought them to the Archipelago Plane as he prepared a landing operation. After reaching Point Five, his forces quietly built a route through the mudflats and mangroves, leaving them ready to attack the lizardmen the next day.

• Ang learned from Aisha that Northern Savage Town had expanded and that Mesa and Meyers had welcomed a boy and a girl.
• Ang brought Puri and Isi through the portal to the Archipelago Plane, where they explored the harbor while he and Quintina refined the landing plan.
• Ang led the fleet to Point Five and ordered the ships to remain at a safe distance from the coastline and its mudflats.
• Ang and Isi used Earth Magic to harden the ground while soldiers felled mangroves and laid the logs into a route through the swamp.
• Quintina and Puri surveyed the area from the air and reported that the lizardmen had not noticed the force.
• Ang ordered the soldiers to remain quiet overnight and prepare to attack the lizardmen the following day.

Ang and his troops cleared Point 5, destroyed the nearby lizardmen, and built North Wind Port into a fortified supply base. After burning the forest across the river to deprive the remaining lizardmen of cover, Ang prepared to strengthen the defenses while awaiting their return and the Empire's attack.

• Ang and his troops cleared mangroves and began building docks and facilities for North Wind Port.
• Ang bombed the lizardmen's hiding place, and the 47th Regiment ambushed and eliminated the fleeing survivors.
• Ang and Isi blasted the cliffs into rubble to fill the marsh, transforming Point 5 into a port and camp for four thousand soldiers.
• After scouts reported lizardmen across the river, Ang ordered soldiers to hide behind the fortifications and build catapults.
• Ang's soldiers launched nearly a hundred magic bombs into the forest, setting it ablaze and destroying the lizardmen's cover.
• Ang patrolled the burned forest and ordered the troops to strengthen their defenses, warning that the lizardmen would return.

Ang and his allies built a fortified stronghold at North Wind Port, diverted the river, and prepared for the lizardmen's counterattack. The fortress was completed just before a massive lizardman force advanced, and Ang ordered the defenders to bombard them with magic bombs and fire oil.

• Quintina proposed diverting the river and blasting a canyon beside North Wind Port, and Ang approved the plan alongside fortress construction.
• Ang traveled to North Wind Territory, asked Aisha to increase steel bar and magic bomb production, then returned to the Archipelago Plane with more bombs.
• Ang and Isi cleared the mangroves, redirected the river, and worked with the soldiers to build a massive roofed fortress while Puri distributed Stamina Potions.
• After half a month, the fortress was complete, and Slok praised its defenses as the soldiers finally rested.
• A soldier reported a lizardman advance, and Ang ordered the catapults to bombard the approaching horde with magic bombs and fire oil.
• As the lizardmen burned and suffered heavy losses but continued advancing, Ang ordered the defenders to keep firing until they scattered.

Ang and the 47th Regiment held off the lizardmen with magic bombs while he investigated their camp and discovered their numbers had grown to nearly a hundred thousand. He led an aerial bombing attack that reduced their forces by nearly half, but warned that the victory was only temporary.

• Ang and Quintina discussed the lizardmen’s huge numbers and the possibility that some had been bred quickly, while Ang’s attempt to scout their camp through smoke was driven back by sharp-eyed archers.
• As attacks continued, Slok reported that the lizardmen had changed their assault pattern and stopped outside catapult range, so Ang ordered his forces to conserve magic bombs.
• Ang flew over the camp and estimated that nearly a hundred thousand lizardmen surrounded the 47th Regiment, then told Quintina, Puri, and Isi that they needed to hold out for imperial reinforcements.
• Ang equipped the four of them with delayed-explosion magic bombs, and they flew over the lizardmen camp to bombard it from the air.
• The bombs ignited the mucus on the wetland lizardmen, and the resulting fires killed nearly half their force before Ang returned to camp and called the victory temporary.

Ang’s forces fought off repeated lizardman attacks while learning that the Swamp Scale Tribe and Mountain Lizardmen posed different threats. After the Mountain Lizardmen were repelled from the fortress walls, Ang remained wary of further assaults.

• Ang replenished his magic bombs, then met Saiyan of the Swamp Scale Tribe, who demanded that the invaders leave; Ang refused, and Saiyan departed after saying they would settle the dispute with their fists.
• The lizardmen launched a nighttime assault, but Ang and the others bombarded their ranks until the attack ended at daybreak, leaving the soldiers exhausted and the fortress surrounded by corpses.
• Slock reported that the lizardmen had dwindled to around ten thousand and that yellow Mountain Lizardmen were approaching, so Ang ordered the reconnaissance battalion to withdraw.
• Nearly a thousand Mountain Lizardmen attacked from all directions and climbed the fortress walls, where the 47th Regiment fought them in close combat.
• After nearly a morning of fighting, Ang’s soldiers repelled the Mountain Lizardmen, who suffered nearly seven hundred casualties.

Ang adapted the 47th Regiment’s defenses to counter the Mountain Lizardmen, then learned that the Empire had attacked Point 1 and the lizardmen were retreating there. With the other regiments unwilling to commit until the Empire’s results were clear, Ang continued strengthening North Wind Port’s defenses.

• Ang studied the Mountain Lizardmen’s scales and weak points, switched the 47th Regiment to North Wind Steel Spears, and used the scales to create shields that Earth Power strengthened with Qi force.
• Ang collected more than seven hundred magic crystals from the lizardman corpses before the soldiers burned the remains.
• Ang observed the retreating lizardmen from the sky and determined they were heading toward Point 1, where the Empire had launched an attack.
• The commanders of the 40th through 50th Regiments arrived at North Wind Port, praised Ang’s fortress, and said they would wait for the battle at Point 1 to clarify before advancing.
• Ang moved the camp forward and ordered new defensive lines built, remaining vigilant as the Empire’s attack continued.

Ang worried that the Empire’s focus on Point 1 would leave North Wind Port without support, so he asked Hubery for reinforcements while strengthening his defenses. As he waited for a reply, he surveyed Arnhem Land and proposed connecting the walls into a city that would anchor the Empire’s presence on the Tasmania Continent.

• After the Empire concentrated its forces at Point 1, Ang feared North Wind Port would be left to fight alone, and Quintina urged him to write to Hubery.
• Ang sent Hubery a letter requesting troops and explaining the value of a multi-front campaign, then waited for a reply while inspecting the defenses.
• Ang received a map showing the Empire’s new Fortress of Will and the terrain of the Tasmania Continent, but Hubery had not replied after nearly three weeks.
• Ang and Quintina surveyed the area by Magic Broom, and Ang completed a detailed terrain sand table of Arnhem Land.
• Ang told the officers to connect the defensive walls into a city that would secure their position and serve as a base for future expansion.

Ang developed the Anam region, accepted thousands of untrained recruits, and assigned them to mining, training, and city construction. He planned to strengthen the region’s defenses and use mercenaries and adventurers to investigate the source of the lizardmen’s growing numbers.

• Ang oversaw the clearing of forests and wetlands around the developing city, while scattered lizardmen retreated from the area.
• After receiving Hubery’s letter, Ang accepted a transport of mostly untrained recruits and tasked the 47th Regiment with training them.
• Ang ordered four thousand recruits to mine sulfur ore on Rosso Island and split the remaining twenty-six thousand between training and city construction.
• Ang told Quintina that he would first secure the Anam region, then use mercenaries and adventurers to investigate why the lizardmen were increasing.
• Ang said the region needed more talent, including people who could provide intelligence and resources.

Ang oversaw the 47th Regiment's recruit training and the construction of a new city in Amnath, which he named 47th City. As military leaders debated its strategic value and rumors questioned the regiment's achievements, Ang reassured Quintina that they would keep building the city regardless of outside criticism.

• Ang ordered Slock to teach the recruits Imperial writing and explain the 47th Regiment so they could begin Qi force cultivation and integrate into the unit.
• Quintina told Ang that the city walls and residential area were finished, and Ang named the city 47th City after the regiment.
• At Fortress of Will, Commander Hubery confirmed the city's location to the Military Department, whose members debated whether Amna Region could serve as a strategic route for the Empire.
• Residents of Fortress of Will praised or criticized the 47th Regiment, with some claiming it had built the city only because the lizardmen were occupied near Fortress of Will.
• Ang comforted an angry Quintina and said they would ignore the criticism and continue turning 47th City into their home.

After the Empire approved 47th City, Ang faced skepticism from an inspection team but rallied the 47th Regiment around its goal of conquering Amnath. As recruits, adventurers, mercenaries, and merchants flowed into the city, Ang focused on building military strength and economic stability while seeking clues to the lizardmen’s movements.

• The Military Department approved 47th City and sent supplies and mages, whose inspection praised the walls but judged the city’s resources and strategic value poorly.
• The 47th Regiment’s officers angrily complained about the inspection team until Ang calmed them and urged them to bring all of Amnath into the Empire.
• Ang told Quintina that twenty thousand recruits would soon reinforce the regiment, then organized the growing force into squads led by veteran captains for practical training.
• Adventurers and mercenaries flocked to 47th City after groups returned with magical herbs and beast spoils, bringing merchants and business taxes that helped repay construction costs.
• Ang and Quintina discussed the city’s growing commercial activity and the lack of clues about lizardman movements, and Ang decided to postpone expanding the commercial district until the area was more stable.

The Wind Wolf Adventurer Group investigated a lake after suspecting it was a lizardman breeding ground. After confirming lizardmen continued to emerge there, the group reported the discovery to Ang, who ordered further confirmation at Eucalyptus Forest Lake.

• The Wind Wolf Adventurer Group's captain connected the persistent lizardmen at a lake to 47th City's mission and led the group there.
• The group observed lizardmen emerging from the lake, killed those nearby, and watched the area overnight.
• The next day, more lizardmen appeared, so the group sent a rider to report the discovery to 47th City.
• Quintina brought a Wind Wolf Adventurer Group member to Ang, who identified the lake on the sand table as Eucalyptus Forest Lake.
• Ang ordered further investigation and confirmation of the lizardmen breeding at the lake.