Chapter Summaries

The Imperial Mage Association's Enforcement Team arrived at Fortress of Will to investigate the Black Magic Society, prompting its members to evacuate. The team reached Amnath City, where Ang confirmed they were not Black Mages and sent them by railcar toward the Milaginbi Mountains.

• The Enforcement Team's commander dispatched fifty combat mages to the Archipelago Plane, and they flew north from Fortress of Will toward the Milaginbi Mountains.
• A Black Mage in Fortress of Will recognized the Enforcement Team and ordered the Black Magic Society to scatter and evacuate.
• The Enforcement Team learned Amnath City's railcar could shorten their journey and requested permission to use it.
• Ang and his allies met the approaching mages, checked that they carried no dark magic, and escorted them to the station.
• The Enforcement Team boarded the railcar, and Ang told Ade that they could attribute the raids on two Black Magic strongholds to the team.
• The commander identified Ang as the founder of Amnath City and said the team might contact him after completing its mission.

The Enforcement Team arrested Steven Brill for colluding with the Black Magic Society, and the resulting purge cleared the way for Ang and Quintina to advance plans in the Dampier Highlands. Ang began establishing an ore-mining settlement and activated its teleportation array, then joined Quintina to set up a Guardian Magic Array.

• The Enforcement Team raided Steven Brill's castle, arrested him on evidence of collusion with the Black Magic Society, and escorted him to Fortress of Will for trial.
• The Imperial Council stripped Steven Brill of his title and reduced him to an ordinary knight; he later hanged himself, while the Fortress of Will Mage Association underwent a purge.
• Ang chose a two-way Magic Teleportation Array over a rail line for the initial development of Ore Vein Town and led the Magic Corps to the mithril mine.
• Ang's team cleared and surveyed the mine site, blasted a ravine into a basin, and established a temporary camp there.
• Ang completed and activated a Magic Teleportation Array, and Quintina arrived to help him set up a Guardian Magic Array.

Ang weighed the safety of the basin against the transport advantages of building near the gorge, then established both settlements on the Dampier Highlands. Three months later, Dampier Town and Mithril Town were nearing completion, and the Magic Corps had grown as mining and trade supplied it with resources.

• Quintina helped Ang complete a protective array, and they discussed the towns’ locations, the God-Demon Battlefield, and the possibility that long-lived races knew more about it.
• Ang tested Holy Light Blessing and Light’s Radiance, discovering that he could cast both forms of Light Magic and that Light’s Radiance harmed the Nightmare King.
• Ang announced that two Ore Vein Towns would be built: Isi would lead construction at the gorge, while Ang oversaw the basin town with Yasi and Black Claw’s help.
• Ang organized beast-hunting patrols and brought kobold miners and human craftsmen to the basin, where construction began on a large scale.
• Over three months, Dampier Town and Mithril Town took shape, rail lines and smelting workshops were completed, and the Magic Corps grew to more than fifty formal mages.
• Ang surveyed Dampier Town from a Flying Mount as the kobold miners worked the ore veins in the gorge.

Ang’s territories prospered from the Giant Horned Ram harvest, while his mages gained new armor and advanced in strength. Natiya arrived after traveling from the Elf Forest, and after reuniting with Ang, she recognized his power as a Tier 2 Great Warrior and discovered his unusual ability to wield both light and darkness.

• Ang’s forces captured more than two hundred thousand Giant Horned Rams, sold the meat across the Empire, and secured the Dampier Highlands as winter blizzards closed in.
• Ang, Pri, Isi, and other core members developed Magic Amplifying Leather Armor, helping the Magic Corps grow to seventy official mages, including twelve Late Rank 1 Mages.
• Quintina brought Natiya to Ang, and the two reunited, embraced, and spent the night together.
• Ang told Natiya about his trouble and showed her his fighting spirit at the training ground, revealing that he had become a Tier 2 Great Warrior.
• Natiya identified fire, earth, wind, water, light, and darkness within Ang’s power and warned that his constitution was extraordinary.

Ang demonstrated his unusual mastery of light and darkness to Natiya, who explained the God-Demon Battlefield and the danger awaiting newly promoted Tier 2 fighters. After Ang and Natiya swore love oaths to each other, Quintina interrupted their kiss and pulled Natiya away.

• Ang showed Natiya his aura and his natural ability to use both light and darkness, prompting her to question whether he was human.
• Natiya explained that Tier 2 fighters were summoned to the God-Demon Battlefield, where they fought Abyssal races and faced near-certain death.
• Ang told Natiya he was confident in his strength and asked her about the battlefield’s squads, supplies, and enemies.
• Ang told Natiya how he and Quintina had become teammates, then swore by Themis to love Natiya forever, and Natiya made a matching vow.
• Ang kissed Natiya, but Quintina burst into the room and dragged Natiya away, warning her not to be fooled by him.

Ang agreed to rescue Margherita Hall and the missing Enchanted Armament Women's Warband from the fallen Litchfield Plains. He led more than three thousand soldiers there, and Cox Levy guided them toward the warband’s last known location.

• Ang trained Dana, sparred with the Minotaur chieftain, and reassured Slok and Seren that the Enchanted Armament Knights would have a chance to prove themselves on suitable battlefields.
• Preston asked Ang to rescue his fiancée, Margherita Hall, who had gone missing with Janice Gibao's Enchanted Armament Women's Warband after the lizardmen retook the Litchfield Plains.
• Ang accepted the dangerous mission, and he and Quintina shared a sincere exchange before he began preparing his forces.
• Ang gathered the Flame Swordsman Regiment, the Enchanted Armament Knights, and the Black Scale Horses, then led them by airship toward the front line.
• At the Litchfield Plains, Cox Levy presented the Battle Pass and offered to guide Ang's force to the River Valley Area, where the missing warband had last sent a message.

Ang led his army to the river valley to find Janice’s missing warband and discovered more than fifty thousand lizardmen there, but no sign of her or her soldiers. He sent Cox to contact His Highness and investigate who had ordered Janice into the valley, leaving Ang facing the growing threat on the frontline.

• Ang’s force rested outside Brandon Morgan’s fortress, where Cox explained that the lizardmen had retaken several fortresses and that the nobles’ armies were left to defend the Litchfield Plains.
• Ang studied maps of the river valley after learning that Janice Gibao’s warband had gone there under unexplained orders and had not been heard from since.
• Brandon Morgan invited Ang into the fortress, but Ang declined and continued north; Brandon then ordered his own force to withdraw to Fortress of Will.
• After five days and four nights of marching, Ang reached the river valley and saw more than fifty thousand lizardmen, but his aerial search found no trace of Janice’s warband.
• Ang sent Cox and five attendants to contact His Highness through a Battlefield Communication Device and discover who had ordered Janice to the valley.

Ang’s army repelled repeated Lizardman raids, then advanced through the river valley to drive back a force of fifty thousand. After finding no trace of Janice’s team, Ang reached the unoccupied Gurbane Wilderness and considered the threat posed by the Cave Lizardmen in the nearby Fett Mountains.

• Dana urged Ang to take the initiative, and Ang said they should find Janice and the others before deciding whether to pursue the fertile Litchfield Plains.
• The Lizardmen launched four night raids over three days, but Ang’s forces defeated them, while Nightmare devoured the corpses they left behind.
• Cox returned and reported that His Highness could not trace the order that sent Janice and the others, and Ang ordered his army to advance into Lizardman territory.
• Ang’s Enchanted Armament Knights and Flame Swordsmen defeated the Lizardman forces in the river valley, with Dana crushing their warriors and Ang supporting his troops with spells.
• Ang illuminated the valley and searched for Janice’s team but found no clues, then drove the remaining Lizardmen to the edge of the Gurbane Wilderness.
• Cox explained that no noble had occupied the fertile wilderness because it lay close to the Fett Mountains, and Ang identified the nearby threat as Cave Lizardmen.

Ang tracked Janice and her surviving soldiers to a hill where lizardmen had them surrounded, then led a force to rescue them. After healing and evacuating the wounded, he and Janice withdrew with the survivors as the lizardmen returned to find the hill empty.

• Ang found human blood and magical traces, used a Magic Tracking Compass to follow them northwest, and discovered Janice's group besieged atop a hill.
• Ang led the Enchanted Armament Knights and Flame Swordsmen into battle, routing the lizardmen after a three-hour fight.
• Janice recognized Ang's reinforcements, and Ang used Holy Light Blessing, food, and water to revive the exhausted survivors.
• Ang treated the unconscious wounded with Healing Potions and blessings, then ordered Flame Swordsmen to carry them down the hill.
• Ang and Janice led the rescued group away under cover of night, and the lizardmen returned to find the summit empty.

Ang led his party to a camp near Volgograd and spent the night treating the rescued female warriors, ensuring none died. The next day, as they recovered, Margherita rejected the claim that she had a fiancé and demanded a duel with Ang, who left her to recover first.

• Ang confirmed that his troops had only minor injuries and ordered the party to camp near Volgograd until the female warriors could travel.
• Ang treated the wounded women, beginning with a badly poisoned warrior who later identified herself as Maya Rudolph, and worked through the night to save them all.
• Ang learned from Cox that the camp was on the flank defense line, less than a day's journey from Volgograd, and arranged food for the recovering women.
• The next morning, Ang told the treated warriors to pay twelve magic crystals each for supplies and magic, but exempted Margherita because rescuing her was his mission.
• Margherita insisted she had no fiancé and demanded an immediate duel with Ang, who refused until she had recovered and left the tent.

Ang learned that Janice and Maya had not been deliberately sent to the front, gave them qi force cultivation potions, and continued leading the recovering female warriors toward safety. As the women grew curious about Dana and traded stories about Ang, he overheard Maya call him a hero sent by the gods.

• Janice and Maya told Ang that they had been conducting field training when the Lizardmen attacked, and that a noble commander had died covering their retreat.
• Ang warned the women not to reveal the dead commander's name, then praised Maya's talent and sold her and Janice bottles of his cultivation potion.
• Ang slowed the group's march so the recovering female warriors could regain their strength, while the women whispered about Dana and the other non-Imperial warriors.
• Dana approached the women to ask why they were whispering, and Janice explained that they were curious about him and told them he had forced back a Lizardman Great Warrior.
• Maya and the other women teased one another about Ang before Janice described his battlefield achievements, prompting them to recognize him as the famous Ang from Amnath City.
• Ang overheard Maya say she had thought he was a hero sent by the gods and smiled faintly as he continued leading the group.

Ang's party reached Fortress of Will, where the rescued female warriors reunited with their families. As Ang prepared to return to Amnath City, Maya's Tier 2 parents recognized that he had heard something connected to higher-grade Enchanted Armaments, hinting that he was unusually perceptive.

• Ang explained that Brandon Morgan had likely abandoned the isolated fortress because he could not risk defending it against the lizardmen.
• Ang stopped the exhausted female warriors from sparring and sent Cox ahead to announce their approach to Fortress of Will.
• The female warriors reunited with their families, and Preston thanked Ang for bringing them back safely.
• Maya introduced Ang to her parents, who revealed they wore Tier 2 Enchanted Armaments and hinted that he could obtain similar equipment through merit on the God-Demon Battlefield.
• Maya's parents realized Ang had heard what they were discussing, then remarked that he might be more talented than Maya.
• Ang declined invitations to join the families at Fortress of Will and prepared to return to Amnath City with the Flame Swordsmen.

After returning from the campaign, Ang spent time with Natiya and then appeased Quintina after she resented being left behind. He refused Duke Pensington’s request to send his forces to the Volgograd front, citing the Black Mages in the Milaginbi Mountains, but promised to reinforce the Empire after dealing with them.

• Ang returned to Amnath City, granted his soldiers leave, and urged the Flame Swordsman Regiment and Slock to review how their forces had coordinated.
• Ang taught himself archery with Natiya, then took her to Mithril Town, North Wind Territory, and the Purple-winged Bees’ hollow.
• Quintina confronted Ang for visiting those places with Natiya without her, so Ang took her to North Wind Territory and the Purple-winged Bees’ hollow to make amends.
• Peter Dako arrived on Duke Pensington’s behalf and asked Ang to voluntarily send his forces to the Volgograd front line.
• Ang rejected the request for now, citing Black Mages in the Milaginbi Mountains, and said he would reinforce Volgograd after eliminating the Black Magic Society.

Ang refused the Northern Council’s forced conscription order by citing Imperial law and began an operation against Black Mages in the Milaginbi Mountains. As the Council schemed to force him to Volgograd, Amnath City’s nobles drew him into a series of social events, beginning with a lavish ball he attended with Natiya and Quintina.

• Ang received the Northern Council’s order to lead his troops to the Volgograd front, but he refused and argued that his territory remained within the Empire’s lawful borders.
• At Fortress of Will, the red-robed officer’s attempt to pressure Ang using Duke Pensington’s name backfired, and the elderly nobleman warned him not to cause further trouble.
• Ang took Natiya to the Dampier Highlands, offered to bring Linya to Amnath City as an archer commander, and sent her a letter through the Mage Association.
• Janice answered the Northern Council’s questions about her battle and the Volgograd front without giving the officers grounds to use against her.
• The red-robed officer ordered agents to track Ang and find a way to lure him to Volgograd, while Amnath City’s nobles began inviting him to frequent gatherings.
• Ang attended a ball at Glimmering Water Hall with Natiya and Quintina, where they sampled maple honey wine together.

At Viscount Paramount Pend’s ball, Ang learned that the Northern Council was gathering information to force him to the Volgograd Frontline, while he remained determined to refuse. Preston later revealed that the First Highness directed the Archipelago Plane strategy and that the transfer had been proposed by the commander of the Rudolf Warband, leaving Ang to wonder whether Maya’s father had uncovered something about him.

• At Paramount Pend’s ball, Jennings warned Ang that investigators had demanded his warband’s operation reports, and Ang said the Council was seeking leverage to force him to Volgograd.
• Ang encouraged Jennings to pursue his dream of building an Enchanted Armament warband, then told Quintina and Natiya that no one could make him accept the transfer.
• Ang declined later ball invitations and focused on his affairs, magical experiments, warband, and Enchanted Armament while Quintina and Natiya attended smaller gatherings.
• Preston and Margherita visited Ang, and Preston arranged for Quintina and Natiya to show Margherita around Amnath City.
• Preston told Ang that the First Highness directed the Archipelago Plane strategy and had punished nobles who misused Duke Pensington’s name to investigate him.
• Preston revealed that the commander of the Rudolf Warband had proposed sending Ang to Volgograd, and Ang wondered whether Maya’s father had discovered something about him.

Ang discussed imperial succession and political alliances with Preston, then learned more about Margherita’s objections to court life and her engagement. After Preston and Margherita left, Ang comforted Natiya and Quintina, and the three returned to a warm mood at the Governor’s Mansion.

• Ang asked Preston how the Wilderland Empire chose its next emperor, and Preston explained that succession favored whoever survived the empire’s political and military struggles with enough strength to control the nobles and legions.
• Ang told Preston he did not want to support his eldest brother, while Preston revealed he was a first-tier mage and his eldest brother was a Level 2 Great Warrior.
• Preston told Ang that Margherita had never wanted their engagement and explained that her family ties to House Hall made the match politically important.
• Ang told Preston that Natiya was his partner, then noticed tension between Margherita and the two women when they returned from touring the city.
• Preston took Margherita away before she could confront Ang, and Ang returned to the mansion with Natiya and Quintina.
• Natiya and Quintina complained about Margherita’s criticism of the city and their clothes, and Ang explained the misunderstanding before calming them.

Ang weighed Preston’s request to join the Volgograd Frontline against his plans for the God-Demon Battlefield, while researching a possible breakthrough in Tier 2 enchantment. After Preston brought the Empire’s offer to Ang, a military officer arrived to negotiate, but left without learning Ang’s conditions.

• Margherita demanded that Preston make Viscount Ange apologize and kneel, while Preston secretly planned to send her back to House Hall.
• Ang told Quintina and Natiya that he did not want to go to the Volgograd Frontline unless the Empire offered terms worth accepting.
• Ang transferred the flamingo soul into the Flame Armament, causing its soul fluctuations to rise to the peak of Level 4 and suggesting a possible path toward Tier 2 enchantment.
• Preston returned and said his eldest brother wanted Ang at the frontline in exchange for magic crystals, but Preston now advised against sending him there.
• Ang entertained Preston, gave him Magic Amplifying Leather Armor, and later received a letter praising the armor.
• A noble military officer came to negotiate Ang’s frontline service, but their cautious exchange ended without either side revealing its terms.

Ang accepted a deal to join the Volgograd campaign in exchange for restricted Tier 2 enchantment knowledge, then led his elite forces to the front and established a powerful defensive zone. After routing repeated lizardman attacks, his troops became so feared that the enemy avoided his garrison.

• Ang accepted the mage’s Magic Books under restrictions and agreed to bring no more than 2,500 elite troops to the battlefield.
• Ang told Natiya and Quintina about the deal, then prepared his forces and reached the Volgograd Frontline with 1,000 Flame Swordsmen and 1,200 Enchanted Armament Knights.
• Ang’s troops routed a lizardman surprise attack and secured the northern section of the front line.
• Ang rejected a request to advance west and questioned whether the empire meant to grant him hills containing Mithril Ore veins, then studied the Tier 2 enchantment formulas.
• Ang’s forces repelled repeated attacks and defeated a two-pronged lizardman assault, causing enemy troops to avoid his garrison, which soldiers called the Flame Bastion.

Volgograd Frontline nobles debated the cost of continuing west, while Ang was invited to a meeting where they hoped to press him into taking on more responsibility. At a headquarters gathering, Ang met a young baron and offered to sell him the Hurricane Armament he had designed.

• Volgograd Frontline officers complained that their exhausted forces could not keep advancing, but their commander refused to pause the campaign.
• The nobles’ factions and growing expectation that Ang should support the frontline became clear, and headquarters summoned him to a strategic discussion.
• Ang accepted the invitation after hearing that some nobles wanted a temporary rest, then flew to headquarters and shot several lizardmen attacking Imperial scouts along the way.
• At the headquarters gathering, nobles approached Ang, and a young baron told him his troops lacked equipment and that he had waited months for enchanted armor.
• Ang showed the baron his Hurricane Armament and explained its design, then offered to sell it at the right price.

Ang sold Enchanted Armaments to nobles at a ball, then met Hal Sparks to learn about the worsening war on the Maple Sugar Plane. Hal told him that Donna Marcellus commanded Wolf City, leaving Ang to consider his old connections to the front.

• Ang sold all fourteen Hurricane and Flame Armament sets, then gave Hal Sparks three reserved sets in exchange for magic crystals, including fifteen Black Magic Crystals from the Maple Sugar Plane.
• Ang invited Hal to breakfast the next morning and learned that Hal had earned his baronial title in the Plane War and fought on the Maple Sugar Plane.
• Hal described the plane’s long war against the Demons, the forces tied down there, and the near-destruction of its native inhabitants.
• Ang and Hal discussed their shared time at the Tan'anster Warrior Academy and the Latvia front, where Ang had led senior students.
• Ang asked about Donna Marcellus, and Hal said she was alive and in command of Wolf City’s eastern defenses.