Chapter Summaries

The Unicorn Ice Demon Ox killed the Level 2 Great Warrior sent by the Pioneer Alliance, deepening the gloom around Valagaju’s eastern shore. Three days later, Ang and Dana sparred at the Basic Warrior Academy, where Ang threw Dana to the ground as Norma and Yus watched.

• The Level 2 Great Warrior attacked the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox, but the beast destroyed his enchanted greatsword, trapped him in ice, and killed him.
• The Unicorn Ice Demon Ox froze the warrior’s corpse beside the Water Crocodile Turtle’s remains, and the Pioneer Alliance’s nobles and other spectators withdrew in silence.
• Three days later, Dana told Ang about the warrior’s death and asked him to spar; Ang agreed, and they went to the training grounds outside Amnath City.
• Ang and Dana began an unarmed spar before the Academy children and soldiers, trading powerful blows as the crowd watched.
• After more than ten minutes, Ang dodged Dana’s kick, twisted his arm, and slammed him onto the ground while Norma cheered and Yus watched with resolve.

Ang defeated Dana in a weapon spar and advised him to train the younger warriors, then arranged a plan for soldiers leaving the army. After Dana returned from encountering the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox, Ang conceived an idea involving the ice-element beast.

• Ang beat Dana in a training duel and told him to spar with the younger warriors as their whetstone.
• Dana asked Ang about the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox and left for Valagaju to investigate it.
• Quintina warned Ang that many soldiers planned to leave, and Ang proposed assigning willing veterans to city garrisons or offering land and housing to those who wanted to settle.
• Dana returned after the beast's icy aura trapped him until his Minotaur's Shield broke him free.
• Ang learned the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox was an ice-element magical beast and said he had an idea.

Ang modified Dana’s Minotaur’s Shield with an ice core so it could receive the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox’s soul, then led a team to battle the beast. Their coordinated attack disrupted its spellcasting, but the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox remained protected by Ice Armor as the fight continued.

• Ang proposed infusing the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox’s soul into Dana’s Minotaur’s Shield and inspected the beast with Dana before returning to Amnath City.
• Ang and the dwarf craftsmen added extended runes and an energy core array to the armor, then Ang installed a Frost Heart as a medium for Spirit Imbuement.
• Ang explained the plan to Quintina, Puri, Ellis, Georgie, and Ade, assigning roles and leading the group through tactical practice.
• The team traveled to the swamp, where Dana drew the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox into a charge while Ang prepared to attack.
• Ang struck the beast with his shield and spear, and Dana interrupted its spell with his Steel Mace, but the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox activated Ice Armor.
• Puri, Ellis, Georgie, and Ade attacked from the air to disrupt the beast’s casting while Quintina watched for chances to remove freezing effects.

Ang and his companions defeated the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox, survived its freezing final attack, and used its remains and soul to transform Dana’s Enchanted Armament. They returned to Amnath City with the new weapon sealed away, while the Pioneer Alliance found the battlefield abandoned and rumors spread about the ox’s disappearance.

• Ang, Dana, and the others attacked the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox until Dana smashed its right eye and Ang used Spatial Blade to interrupt its ultimate magic.
• The ox’s final attack froze the battlefield and Ang and Dana, but Ang broke free with his Enchanted Armament and Quintina thawed Dana.
• After the ox’s head fell off, Ang captured its soul in a Soul Stone, and the group gathered its core and materials.
• Ang performed a ritual to fuse the ox’s remains and soul into Dana’s Enchanted Armament, with Dana’s moo prompting the soul to merge into the Frost Heart.
• Quintina sealed the unstable weapon in the Demon Sealing Box, and the group returned to Amnath City days later as the Pioneer Alliance investigated the ox’s disappearance.

Dana tested his newly fused Enchanted Armament, named the Black and White Shield, while Ang studied the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox’s horn and managed his territory. After Count Austin invited Ang to join Grand Duke Donnie Serik and hinted at further expansion, rival noble alliances formed on the eastern bank, leaving Ang positioned between them and collecting fees from all who crossed his bridge.

• Dana activated the fused Enchanted Armament, channeling the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox’s power to break through the workshop’s testing wall and obstacles.
• Dana named the armament the Black and White Shield, and Ang added a Holy Light Nourishment magic array to strengthen the ox’s soul over time.
• Ang gave Quintina the ox’s ice-elemental magic core and studied its horn for clues to the penetrating beam’s power.
• The Pioneer Alliance consolidated its eastern-bank territory, and Ang continued to withhold what he knew about the vanished Level 4 Magical Beast from Elma Bird and Hard Austin.
• Count Austin told Ang that the Empire was holding its advance against the lizardmen and again invited him to join Grand Duke Donnie Serik, then suggested he speak with Pioneer Alliance nobles about expansion.
• Nobles rejected by the Pioneer Alliance formed the Lesser Pioneer Alliance and advanced south, while Ang remained between the rival groups and charged everyone crossing the Valagaju Bridge.

Ang tried to mediate the growing conflict between the Pioneer Alliance and Lesser Pioneer Alliance, but neither side accepted his proposal to cooperate in developing the dangerous south. With the dispute disrupting the eastern coast and his attempts to buy troops from its nobles failing, Ang realized that building a stable force would require cooperation with Count Austin, or Duke Donnie Serik.

• The Lesser Pioneer Alliance shifted forces north, clashing with the Pioneer Alliance and disrupting adventurers' work and the eastern coast's resource output.
• After Quintina reported that the Lord's Mansion's tax revenue had fallen by more than half, Ang decided the conflict could not continue and discussed Count Austin's suggestion to cooperate with the Pioneer Alliance's nobles.
• Elma, Hard, and Janice asked Ang to witness their dispute, but they rejected his proposal to join forces in the south, and Janice left in anger.
• The alliances' clashes intensified, the Territorial Administration Department at Fortress of Will did not respond to Ang's report, and his private attempts to ease tensions failed.
• Ang tried to buy troops from nobles in both alliances, but nearly everyone refused, leading him to recognize that he would need Count Austin's or Duke Donnie Serik's support.

Ang responded to the Pioneer Alliance and Lesser Pioneer Alliance’s blockade of Valagaju Bridge, forced their soldiers to withdraw, and confronted their leaders the next morning. Dana began fighting Janice after Ang rejected their protest, and the chapter ended with Janice’s warhorse crushed beneath Dana’s Steel Mace.

• After more than two thousand of Ang’s soldiers retired, Ang refused Count Austin’s offer and announced reduced taxes on resources gathered south of Valagaju’s eastern bank.
• Ang refused the Pioneer Alliance and Lesser Pioneer Alliance the tax reduction, then imposed new transport taxes after they ended their logistics agreements with him.
• The two alliances blockaded Valagaju Bridge and forced adventurers and Demon Hunters to surrender their resources, so Ang and Dana traveled to confront them.
• Ang ordered the alliance soldiers to withdraw, and they obeyed before Slock’s troops took over the bridge’s eastern defenses.
• The next morning, Ang rejected the leaders’ protest and ordered Dana to attack Janice; Dana knocked her from her horse and crushed the animal with his Steel Mace.

Ang and Dana defeated the Pioneer Alliance and Lesser Pioneer Alliance forces at the east bank, forcing their leaders to accept Ang’s orders. After a brief lull in the conflict, Ang returned to Amnath City, where he considered whether the Alliances could feed themselves without relying on trade.

• Dana defeated Janice, but Hard launched a magical lightning attack that left Dana badly injured.
• Ang rescued Dana from the surrounding warriors, defeated the attackers, and ordered Hard and Elma to follow his arrangements or remain trapped on the east bank.
• Ang treated Dana’s injuries at the west bank fortress while both Alliances withdrew and stopped obstructing travelers.
• The east bank entered a brief peace as the Pioneer Alliance consolidated its territory and the Lesser Pioneer Alliance cooperated with adventurers and Demon Hunters to reclaim land.
• Ang returned to Amnath City, where Quintina told him that the Alliances had given up confronting him and were accepting his rules.
• Ang said the Alliances would have to grow enough food to feed themselves because he had effectively constrained their trade.

After Had’s defeat by Ang, the Pioneer Alliance shifted toward large-scale expansion, while Count Austin worked to secure the Austin family’s foothold on Valagaju’s east bank. The chapter leaves Had expanding under Austin’s orders and the Lesser Pioneer Alliance prospering through trade rather than matching that expansion.

• Had accepted Elma’s advice to stop acting impulsively, and the Pioneer Alliance began recruiting migrants and developing its territory.
• Quintina told Ang that the Pioneer Alliance had brought in nearly a hundred and fifty thousand migrants, and Ang rejected buying slaves to increase Amnath City’s population.
• Count Austin apologized to Ang for Had’s actions, then warned Fede that Ang’s strength made him a force the Austin family could not underestimate.
• Austin met Had on the east bank, ended Had’s conflict with Ang, and ordered him to prioritize reaching Level 2 Great Warrior.
• Austin inspected the Pioneer Alliance’s fertile land and ordered Had to plant purple alfalfa and white calamus, promising to supply food from the homeland.
• Austin sent enough food to support the Pioneer Alliance for half a year, and Had accelerated expansion while the Lesser Pioneer Alliance continued profiting from magical beast trade.

Ang faced competition from the Pioneer Alliance, a shortage of troops for securing valuable mines, and an unexplained visit from a young noble named Preston. Their conversation ended with Preston listening intently as Ang defended his actions at Fortress of Will.

• Quintina told Ang that the Pioneer Alliance was expanding and planning to grow magic herbs, and Ang gave her a vial of refined Purple-winged Bee Honey.
• A mysterious noble sent Ang a calling card that would alert its sender when opened, but Ang could not identify who had sent it.
• Isi reported valuable iron, copper, and magic Red Copper deposits near Valagajudi, but Mountain Lizardmen occupied the area and Ang lacked enough troops to take the mines safely.
• After three days of frustration over the mines and slow recruitment, Ang received the visitor who had sent the calling card and learned his name was Preston.
• Preston asked whether Ang had taken advantage of the Empire, and Ang argued that the failures of five other landing points showed that his own success had not come easily.

Ange spoke with Preston about the lizardmen, rejected the idea that he had joined Grand Duke Donnie Serik’s camp, and hosted Preston in Amnath City. After showing Preston the city, Ange left him reflecting on the belief that the world belonged to everyone.

• Preston told Ange that the lizardmen had come from a shattered plane, conquered the Tasmania Continent, and still had five legendary powerhouses.
• Ange denied that he had joined Grand Duke Donnie Serik’s camp and explained that he would not risk becoming cannon fodder in a grand duke’s power struggle.
• Preston praised Ange’s steak and learned that it came from the Unicorn Ice Demon Ox, which Ange and his companions had killed.
• Preston asked to stay in Amnath City, while a hidden voice and Preston concluded that Ange had already known the lizardmen were outsiders.
• Ange recounted his conversation with Preston to Quintina, then showed Preston Amnath City and described its development.
• When Preston said the world belonged to the Empire, Ange replied that it belonged to every person, leaving Preston deep in thought.

Ang traveled with Preston to Valagajudi, where Preston saw how Ang had developed and managed the west bank. After a dinner with Ang’s trusted companions, Preston heard a mysterious voice remark that Ang knew more than they did.

• Preston asked Ang to take him to Valagajudi and hinted that he could help with Ang’s greatest concern, so they traveled together by airship.
• Preston told Ang that the Merfolk Race controlled the Archipelago Plane’s oceans and that its Mithril reserves far exceeded those of the Tasmania Continent; he offered to connect Ang with a Mithril seller.
• Ang and Preston arrived at the west bank, where Dana greeted Preston and Ang invited him to a barbecue with Isi, Slock, and the others.
• Ang ordered Isi and Slock to begin mining a newly discovered gold deposit and allowed Dana to join them before returning to oversee the west bank.
• After the gathering, Preston overheard a mysterious voice say that Ang had traveled across most of the continent and probably knew more than they did.

Ang showed Preston the western and eastern shore developments before Preston revealed that he was Prince Preston Alfred and offered people to support Ang’s expansion. The chapter ended with Ang and Quintina preparing to receive hundreds of thousands of settlers, while Ang accepted Preston’s condition to occupy the Milaginbi Mountains within a year and a half.

• Ang guided Preston on a weeklong tour of the western and eastern shores, where Preston admired the settlements and farms and questioned Ang about his plans and views on governing nonhumans.
• Preston revealed that he was Preston Alfred, a member of the Imperial royal family, and introduced Florence, his powerful teacher.
• Preston offered Ang four hundred thousand people and one hundred thousand nonhuman men, and Ang also asked to acquire kobolds for mining.
• Preston agreed to consider supplying kobolds but required Ang to occupy the Milaginbi Mountains within a year and a half.
• Preston said five hundred thousand people would be sent to the Archipelago Plane within three months, and Ang and Quintina began planning food supplies and temporary housing.

Ang prepared housing, food, and security for five hundred thousand migrants from the Ganbru Plane, then supervised their arrival through a Temporary Portal. After the reception, he ordered tighter supervision of restless young Ganbru men and began reviewing the population records and identifying influential Ganbru figures.

• Ang and Quintina finished preparations for five hundred thousand people despite having no confirmation they would arrive, spending more than twenty-three thousand magic crystals.
• Zandaya and the Astrologer's Guild mages built and activated a Temporary Portal, and a gray-robed envoy confirmed that it connected to the Ganbru Plane.
• Ang deployed soldiers and reception teams as five hundred thousand Ganbru people arrived over five days, including one hundred thousand young and able-bodied men.
• After the portal closed, Quintina told Ang that some of the young Ganbru men seemed to be planning escapes, and Ang ordered identity registration and strengthened supervision.
• Ang reviewed the completed registration records with Aisha and asked her to gather information on influential Ganbru figures so he could speak with them.

Ang organized the settlement of the Ganbru people in North Wind Territory, appointing Wynne Dort as their liaison and allowing families to choose occupations and draw lots for where they would live. Two months later, the resettlement was nearly complete, and the Ganbru people had built towns, villages, and farms across the West Bank of Valagaju.

• Pell Thompson delivered ten thousand kobolds and nine hundred pounds of Mithril Ore to Ang, who assigned the kobolds to city work and the gold mining area and invited Pell to join a future campaign in the Milaginbi Mountains.
• Ang met with more than seven hundred Ganbru people, calmed their fears, and had Dusha explain their rights and obligations as residents of North Wind Territory.
• Ang appointed Wynne Dort as the Ganbru liaison, and Wynne later founded the Ganbu Merchant Association to support trade and communication with imperial merchants.
• The Ganbru people drew lots for their settlements, received land and home-building funds, and moved to Amnath City, the West Bank of Valagaju, and areas near 47th City.
• Ang ordered Dana and Torei to begin training one hundred thousand young Ganbu people for possible army service.
• Two months later, the Ganbru resettlement was nearly complete, with more than forty towns, over two hundred villages, and vast reclaimed fields established on the West Bank of Valagaju.

Ang inspected the recruit camps, improved training and literacy instruction, and reorganized recruits to speed their progress. He then planned to ration magical rice, delegate training to veterans, and restructure the army into three regiments, while reserving news of possible military honors for later.

• Ang ordered tougher recruit training and arranged for literacy teachers in Amnath City after seeing that many recruits could not read.
• Ang learned that mixed-blood Imperial and Ganbu recruits were more educated and ambitious, then ordered transfers between the two camps to help improve training in Amnath City.
• A week after the transfers, nearly all 140,000 recruits had developed a sense of Qi force, but Quintina warned that magical rice production could not yet support full rations.
• Ang decided to give recruits half the regular soldiers’ magical rice ration and planned for retired Garrison Camp veterans to become instructors.
• Ang proposed organizing the army into three North Wind regiments and sharing future military merit, including possible Third-class Baron titles, but told Quintina to keep the news secret for now.

Eight months after the eastern shore was secured, Ang gathered a 160,000-strong army and prepared to open a route through the Milaginbi Mountains toward the Dampier Highlands. As Mountain Lizardmen forces massed to meet him, Ang’s troops stood ready for battle.

• The Pioneer Alliance and Lesser Pioneer Alliance agreed to stop expanding south, while the airship route to Valagajudi’s eastern shore opened and Ang received fifty thousand magic crystals.
• Ang marched his army toward the Milaginbi Mountains, where his recruits trained, kobold numbers passed fourteen thousand, and the kobolds became an integrated labor force under his command.
• Elma’s alliance declined to support Ang, Janice failed to persuade the seven Lesser Pioneer Alliance nobles to join him, and Preston replied that he would not interfere with Ang’s decision.
• Boer visited Ang’s camp and sold him one hundred thousand pounds of rye and several barrels of grain liquor; Ang also added three airships equipped for aerial combat and bombing.
• After Temple reported four Mountain Lizardmen tribes in the area, Ang planned to lure their forces into a valley and advance toward the Dampier Highlands by building temporary strongholds along the route.
• Lizardmen warriors gathered on three mountaintops, and Ang ordered his assembled army to draw them into its formations and carve a road through the mountains.

Ang’s army defeated the Mountain Lizardmen at Milajinbi, but the Lizardmen prepared to reinforce their forces for another battle. Ang left the explosive bombs unused while his troops gained combat experience, and the chapter ended with the Lizardmen beginning an awakening ritual for their reserve warriors.

• Ang challenged the Lizardmen to leave the Milaginbi Mountains, but their commander signaled an attack and battle began.
• Ang’s Enchanted Armament Knights charged the Lizardman vanguard twice, helping his infantry advance and drive the enemy from the valley.
• Ang received a report that his army had killed more than six thousand Lizardmen, while fifteen hundred of his soldiers were wounded.
• Ang discussed the battle’s lessons with his officers, then told Dana that he was saving explosive bombs until his recruits had more combat experience.
• Temple reported that the Lizardmen were gathering troops, and Aisha updated Ang on the wounded soldiers’ treatment.
• The Lizardman Elder ordered four tribal leaders to awaken the reserve warriors, warning that the battle was only beginning.

Ang’s army endured days of skirmishes with the growing Lizardmen forces, then fought a battle that lasted from dawn until the following morning. Afterward, Ang treated the wounded and discussed the army’s losses and spoils with Aisha.

• The Lizardmen harassed Ang’s camp with small squads for days as Ang rotated his infantry into battle so they could gain experience.
• As the Lizardmen grew to 120,000, Ang warned his officers to prepare for a major assault.
• On the seventeenth morning, Ang’s prepared troops ambushed the advancing Lizardmen with arrows, and both sides fought through the night until dawn.
• Ang praised his exhausted officers, arranged alternating command with their deputies, and learned that his army had killed 23,000 Lizardmen while suffering over 400 deaths and numerous injuries.
• Ang treated the seriously wounded with holy light and agreed with Aisha to ask Quintina to send clever kobolds to help care for them.
• Ang told Aisha that the army had collected around 25,000 magic crystals after killing nearly 30,000 Lizardmen, explaining that some crystals had not fully formed.

Aisha asked Ang for magic crystals to study the Empire’s Ring of Healing, while the lizardfolk launched a devastating night assault on the camp. After the attack, Ang examined the damage and learned that the lizardfolk’s bone blades might have been specially enhanced.

• Aisha asked Ang for magic crystals to make a Ring of Healing, and Ang approved buying one for her to study.
• The lizardfolk used heavy fog and rain to approach the camp at night, but a watchman spotted them and sounded the alarm.
• The lizardfolk attacked from the north, east, and west with arrows and fire, setting tents ablaze and starting a fierce battle.
• Ang’s soldiers drove the lizardfolk back by morning, with roughly ten thousand lizardfolk dead and nearly a thousand soldiers killed.
• Ang inspected wounded soldiers’ armor and heard that the lizardfolk’s bone blades had cut through steel and flashed with light.