Recaps

Li Ang discovered that horsepox could immunize people against Red Death and organized its rapid spread with Amy and Sarah. Goddess Eunomia rewarded Li Ang and his companions, but warned that more evil enemies were watching their territory.

• Li Ang tested Risadiran's blood on a Red Death patient, but the patient died, while Julia remained uninfected after Antonius's blood had touched her hand.
• Alice developed sores after exposure to Red Death, then began recovering, leading Li Ang to suspect that infection in a hardy animal could provide a vaccine.
• Ansen tested the theory on himself, and Jocelyn confirmed that horsepox protected people from Red Death after recovering from mild symptoms.
• Amy and Sarah helped spread horsepox vaccination across nearby territories and improved Li Ang's reputation.
• Goddess Eunomia strengthened Li Ang and several companions' skills, then warned Li Ang that evil enemies were watching their territory.

Li Ang returned to Long River Town after securing Calundru Castle and Shield Wind Fortress, while the Goddess of Order’s warning about heretics remained unresolved. As the Red Death vaccine spread, Emperor Marius faced a huge debt for horses and arranged a covert raid into Dexia to seize more.

• Li Ang appointed Ansen acting governor of Calundru Castle to contain the Red Death and tasked Amy with rebuilding Shield Wind Fortress.
• Li Ang returned to Long River Town, where order, migration, and Pande Bank lending had grown during his absence.
• Ansen sold General Clerion three hundred horses on credit for vaccine production, securing Emperor Marius’s backing for a five-hundred-thousand-denar loan.
• Emperor Marius worried that vaccine costs could bankrupt the empire and decided to obtain horses from neighboring Dexia instead.
• Emperor Marius sent illegal armed groups into Dexia under the pretext of fighting heretics, while General Sura’s Shadow Wolf Pack followed to take Dexian horses.

Emperor Marius sent Agason to reorganize Fort Lela while General Titus returned to Sava Fortress with the Phoenix Knight Order and drove off invading forces from the Lionheart Kingdom and the Duchy of Dexia. After his victories, Titus began considering how to keep the Phoenix Knights under his command and build his own power by prolonging the war.

• Emperor Marius appointed Agason marshal and sent him to Fort Lela to reorganize its garrison.
• King Ulrich secretly sent troops across the Sava River, and Brennus and Bahaman fought over Sava Fortress until both withdrew after Li Ang took Calundru Castle.
• General Titus returned from the Amara Continent with the Phoenix Knight Order after destroying Snake Worship Cult ports and destroying part of the Fear Legion's fleet at sea.
• Titus ambushed Bahaman's retreating forces and later drove Brennus from villages in his territory, taking horses and inflicting heavy losses.
• Titus began considering how to retain control of the Phoenix Knight Order, expand his territory, and turn the knights into his private force by keeping the war going.

Agason led a thousand newly reorganized soldiers in a surprise attack that captured Seven Forks Fortress, forcing King Ulrich to mobilize the Lionheart Kingdom for war. Unable to pay Agason’s demanded ransom, Ulrich appointed Li Ang marshal and tasked him with retaking the fortress.

• Titus provoked conflict with the Lionheart Kingdom and the Duchy of Dexia, while Agason feared the weakened Bacchus Empire could not withstand a prolonged three-nation war.
• Agason led his troops across the freezing Sava River at night, infiltrated Seven Forks Fortress as reinforcements, and seized it.
• Agason demanded that King Ulrich pay one million denars and sign a ceasefire in exchange for leaving the fortress.
• Ulrich, whose treasury was depleted by debts and the rebuilding of the Lion Knight Order, declared war and summoned the kingdom’s lords to retake Seven Forks Fortress.
• A royal envoy appointed Li Ang marshal of the Lionheart Kingdom and charged him with leading the campaign to reclaim the fortress.

Li Ang delayed his campaign to retake Seven Forks Fortress, but a huge merchant convoy and the danger of a financial crisis forced him to mobilize the Lion Territory’s lords and consider expanding the war. The Duchy of Dexia then captured Sava Fortress and sent troops near Lion City, giving Li Ang the pretext he needed to act.

• Li Ang recognized that King Ulrich had made him marshal without providing troops or supplies, and he delayed organizing his army while training recruits.
• Merchants flocked to Long River Town and assembled a massive convoy, expecting to profit by following Li Ang’s campaign.
• Li Ang sent Eric east with the marshal’s scepter to gather the Lion Territory’s lords and let the merchants sell their goods to their forces.
• Li Ang realized that unsold merchant stock and bank loans could trigger a financial crisis, so he considered invading another country to find a market.
• The Duchy of Dexia captured Sava Fortress and sent troops near Lion City, giving Li Ang a justification for deploying his army.

Eric’s merchant caravan was mistaken for a massive Lionheart Kingdom army, prompting Titus to flee Sava Fortress and Ryman to seize it before Dexian forces drove him out. Believing Lion City had been left undefended, Bahad Khan Kadan then decided to raid its surrounding lands, unaware that it was full of troops and capable commanders.

• Eric’s merchant caravan gathered beneath the lords’ banners and drifted toward the Sava River, making it look like the Lionheart Kingdom’s army was preparing to attack.
• Titus mistook the caravan for a vast Lionheart force and withdrew to Fort Lela, after which Ryman abandoned the bridgehead and captured the empty Sava Fortress.
• Dexian forces attacked Sava Fortress, drove Ryman out after a day and a half, and inflicted heavy casualties before he discovered that Eric’s supposed army was mostly merchants.
• Eric and Ryman persuaded the merchants to retreat east, while Kadan’s forces found little loot in Sava Fortress and sought a more profitable target.
• Kadan mistook the merchant caravan for the Lionheart Kingdom’s main army moving east and decided to cross the Sava River and raid the lands around Lion City.

Ulrich’s forces crushed Kadan’s Dexian raiders at Yalagar Village but suffered heavy losses, leaving both rulers weakened. After Ulrich declared total war on Dexia, Li Ang rapidly mobilized for an invasion, while planning to negotiate with Agason over Seven Forks Fortress.

• Ulrich stationed the rebuilt Lion Knight Order and his enlarged Royal City Guard in Lion City, while Brennus assembled a new force and northwest lords gathered there.
• Kadan’s raiding army entered Yalagar Village and unexpectedly encountered Ulrich’s concentrated forces, prompting Ulrich to lead a charge against them.
• After a day of fierce cavalry fighting, the Lion Knight Order and Royal City Guard suffered heavy casualties, while Kadan’s army retreated into Dexia with little spoils.
• Kadan returned home weakened and faced a challenge from his younger brother Emil Xixis, who used Kadan’s hereditary succession system to argue that Dexia should be divided between them.
• Ulrich declared total war on Dexia, and Li Ang quickly mobilized his troops and summoned the kingdom’s lords to Sava Fortress for an invasion.
• Li Ang planned to avoid storming Seven Forks Fortress and instead seek a peaceful settlement with Agason.

Agason, driven to exhaustion by a month of misreading troop movements, mistook Li Ang’s sincere offer of an alliance for a trap and attacked him. Li Ang survived the sword strike thanks to the Dragon Tear, while Agason was wounded in the counterattack.

• Agason spent a month believing Li Ang’s movements and the Dexian army’s actions signaled an imminent invasion, and he prepared to abandon Seven Forks Fortress for a raid on Lion Lake City.
• Li Ang met Agason at Seven Forks Fortress and proposed a ceasefire and an alliance between the Lionheart Kingdom and the Bacchus Empire against Dexia.
• Agason distrusted Li Ang’s offer and suddenly attacked him with a quick-draw sword strike.
• Li Ang was wounded when the Dragon Tear in his chest pocket stopped the sword from killing him, and his counterattack broke several of Agason’s ribs.

Wendy tried to save the gravely wounded Li Ang by drawing vitality runes on his chest with her blood. When her blood splashed onto the purple crystals in his wound, they vanished along with the injury, and Li Ang woke unharmed.

• Li Ang collapsed after Agasong stabbed him, and Wendy and Kloze carried him away while both sides withdrew to tend to their leaders.
• Wendy watched Li Ang's heartbeat and breathing slow in the carriage, but did not know how to treat the strange purple crystals embedded in his wound.
• Wendy cut her wrist and began drawing Noldo vitality runes across Li Ang's chest with her blood.
• The carriage jolted, splashing Wendy's blood onto the crystals and ruining part of the sigil; the crystals flared with gentle purple light, then the wound disappeared.
• Li Ang woke and asked Wendy why she was crying before realizing he was naked except for his pants.

After waking from a coma with his wounds miraculously healed, Li Ang learned that Wendy had used her blood to draw a rune on him and restore him. His unusually slow heartbeat still worried her, but he felt strong as the carriage stopped so he could get fresh underwear.

• Li Ang awoke to find Wendy crying and pressed against his chest, then mistook her bleeding wrist for a suicide attempt and bandaged it with his torn underwear.
• Wendy explained that Li Ang’s wound had revealed purple fragments and that she had used her blood to complete a rune, which shone with purple light before he recovered.
• Li Ang discovered that his chest wound and old shoulder scar had vanished, while his heartbeat remained unusually slow despite feeling healthy and strong.
• Wendy, exhausted from drawing the rune and losing blood, rested as Li Ang stopped the carriage and asked Kloze to bring him underwear.
• Kloze saw Wendy asleep on the bloodstained couch and Li Ang putting on underwear, then mistakenly concluded that the two had been intimate.

Li Ang recovered from his wound and shared a meal with Wendy, who imagined a future with him and grew closer to him. He recalled a dream in which a young white dragon and a woman named Althea discussed his memories, and he realized Althea was the twin sister of Avadain, the first king of the Noldo Elves.

• Li Ang dressed, told Sammer to have the men eat and return to Seven Forks Fortress, and said he would repay Agasong for stabbing him.
• Kloze shared gossip about Li Ang with the old brothers, who speculated that an officer's memoir had improved their lord's romantic prowess.
• Wendy reflected on her feelings for Li Ang and imagined becoming Noldo Queen so she would not have to wait twenty years to reach adulthood.
• Li Ang brought Wendy mare's milk and fried eggs, and they ate from the same plate as Wendy addressed him by name.
• Li Ang remembered dreaming of a young white dragon and a woman named Althea discussing his memories and seeing a crystal ball that showed his former world.
• Li Ang connected Althea's name to a game background story and recalled that she was Avadain's twin sister.

Althea’s memories revealed that Dragon Tears formed when Kualis experienced her grief, and Li Ang realized they could heal and empower those connected to her bloodline. After Wendy’s blood helped him recover, he tested her heartbeat, misunderstood the result, and was beaten onto the carriage couch.

• A thousand years earlier, Althea grieved over her isolation, and the Oracle let Kualis experience her sorrow, causing the dragon to shed sapphires called Dragon Tears.
• The Oracle told Althea to gather the tears and suggested they could prove useful, while Althea remained forgotten by the Noldo Elves she had sacrificed herself to protect.
• Li Ang recalled the scene and concluded Dragon Tears were meant to connect Althea to her people and could harm anyone who lacked her bloodline.
• Li Ang inferred that Wendy’s blood as Avadain’s direct descendant had activated the Dragon Tear and healed him, while Alaric’s human blood had only brought him suffering.
• Li Ang checked Wendy’s pulse and mistook his own slow heartbeat for illness, so he asked to lie down and Wendy beat him onto the couch.

Li Ang recovered from Agason’s assassination attempt and returned to Seven Forks Fortress to confront him, while Agason prepared for a fatal duel and offered his broken sword as an apology. The chapter ended with Li Ang declaring that he had come to stab Agason and thrusting at him.

• Agason agonized over stabbing Li Ang during negotiations and feared Li Ang had died when the Griffin banner returned to Seven Forks Fortress.
• Li Ang recovered quickly, led his army back to the fortress, and threatened to march into the Bacchus Empire unless Agason came to dinner in his camp.
• Agason broke the sword he had used against Li Ang and sent it as a funeral gift and apology, then agreed to attend the banquet that night.
• After realizing Agason intended a fight to the death, Li Ang rode to the fortress to ask him why, hoping not to kill him.
• Agason met Li Ang outside the eastern gate, and Li Ang said he had come to stab him before thrusting with his sword.

Li Ang turned Agason’s failed assassination attempt into a debt and proposed a bargain: the Bacchus Empire would help him take Aishikeman in exchange for the port and territory. After Agason burned Seven Forks Fortress, Li Ang’s army advanced toward Sava Fortress and Turdah Fortress.

• Li Ang captured Agason, fed him his terrible steak, and declared that the general owed him for the sword wound and Wendy’s blood loss.
• Agason asked whether Li Ang would attack the Bacchus Empire, and Li Ang explained that he planned to seize Aishikeman and hand it to the Empire in exchange for land and military support.
• Li Ang told Agason to bring his demands to Emperor Marius and offered to make Agason an imperial hero if he burned Seven Forks Fortress.
• Agason burned Seven Forks Fortress the next day, reducing the undefeated stronghold to ruins and alarming the citizens of Lion City.
• Li Ang reassured Lion City’s residents and then led his army toward the area south of Sava Fortress and east of Turdah Fortress.

Emperor Marius learned that Titus had detained the wounded Agason and was forcing his troops to swear loyalty, so he ordered the Empire’s forces to gather at Fort Lela and planned to meet Li Ang. Titus, stripped of his command and made a new Phoenix Knight, was escorted away from Fort Lela while vowing to reclaim Sava Fortress and Calundru Castle.

• Marius’s Senate Council discussed Titus’s demands, Agason’s position, and the threat of Li Ang’s appointment as marshal.
• Alina reported that Agason had burned Seven Forks Fortress, survived but was wounded, and had been detained by Titus at Fort Lela.
• After reading Li Ang’s letter, Marius ordered the Empire’s forces to prepare for battle and said he would meet Li Ang at Fort Lela.
• Marius sent word that Titus would join the Phoenix Knight Order and granted him lands around Sava Fortress that Li Ang’s army controlled.
• The Phoenix Knights escorted Titus east from Fort Lela, and he privately vowed to retake Sava Fortress and Calundru Castle.

The chapter explained why Emperor Marius treated Titus more harshly than Kairos and described the Phoenix Knight Order’s history and limits. In negotiations, Marius offered to use the order and Titus as leverage to place Imir under Li Ang’s practical control while keeping it imperial territory.

• The chapter explained that Marius restrained Titus because the Phoenix Knight Order followed Manius III, not Titus, while Kairos’s control of the Shadow Legion made his death dangerous to the empire.
• The Phoenix Knight Order’s origins at Fang Castle and its tradition of passing armor and duty from fathers to sons were recounted.
• After Titus withdrew the order from Sava Fortress and abandoned its civilians, the knights stopped freely obeying him, and he remained at Fort Lela seeking resources from Marius.
• Li Ang and Marius argued over territory, Aishikeman, Sava Fortress, and the destruction of Seven Forks Fortress, while Marius rejected exchanging imperial land.
• Marius proposed establishing the Phoenix Knight Order at Calundru Castle and granting it fiefs around Imir, with Li Ang funding its support and disaster relief.
• Marius said he would make Titus lord of Imir without supplying him, giving Li Ang a pretext to seize the region, and urged Li Ang to help its civilians.

Li Ang and Emperor Marius agreed to attack Aishikeman from land and sea, though Marius warned they might soon become enemies again. After their farewell over wine, Li Ang led his army toward Turdah Fortress and reunited with Ramon to revive their plan to auction off a city lord’s position—or even the throne.

• Li Ang accepted Marius’s terms, securing the land between Wolvun Fortress and Shield Wind Fortress in exchange for joining the attack on Aishikeman.
• Marius explained how Titus’s history and fief at Sava Fortress had created a pretext for conflict, then agreed to attack Aishikeman by sea while Li Ang attacked overland.
• Marius told Li Ang that he would have to recover his lost lands, and Li Ang warned him that drinking wine from a heated lead flask could poison him.
• Marius briefly switched to a ceramic flask, then returned to lead vessels and raised taxes on lead food containers tenfold.
• Three days later, Li Ang camped near Turdah Fortress and met Ramon, tossing him the die and renewing their plan to auction a city lord’s position or the throne.

Li Ang and Ramon joined forces to auction the lordship of Aishikeman and ultimately the throne of Bahad Khan, while Li Ang sent Ramon to recruit bidders and deliver a message to Turdah Fortress. Gaiwan Khan faced mounting attacks from Bacchus Empire raiders and the Inquisition as Li Ang’s army advanced, leaving him unsure whether to flee.

• Ramon welcomed Li Ang as a true brother after Li Ang understood the meaning of his loaded dice, and they agreed to work together without a contract.
• Li Ang explained how to draw customers into a gamble and proposed auctioning Aishikeman’s lordship, then Bahad Khan’s throne, with rulers and claimants as bidders.
• Li Ang tasked Ramon with organizing the auction, selling expensive tickets, recruiting major customers, and sending a message to Turdah Fortress.
• Gaiwan Khan recalled how small groups claiming to judge heretics entered Dexia before armed raiders began landing at Xiheba and stealing horses from local herdsmen.
• An elite force calling itself the Inquisition attacked Gaiwan Khan’s troops, recruited bandits, and burned people who refused to worship Astaria.
• With most of his soldiers gone and Li Ang’s army approaching, Gaiwan Khan considered fleeing Turdah Fortress.

Sarah rejoined Li Ang’s army and revealed how her father, Sharavan Sheikh, had betrayed her family and opposed Kadan. At Turdah Fortress, she persuaded Gaiwan Khan to open the gates, allowing Li Ang’s army to enter Dexia without a fight.

• Sarah and Ansen rejoined Li Ang’s force, and Ansen confirmed that Li Ang was in robust health.
• Sarah revealed that her father, Sharavan Sheikh, had led nomadic resistance against Kadan before giving Sarah and her mother to a tribal chief; Sarah killed the chief and fled Dexia at seventeen.
• Sarah met Gaiwan Khan at Turdah Fortress and offered Li Ang’s goodwill in exchange for opening the fortress and withdrawing its troops.
• Sarah warned Gaiwan Khan that Kadan had allowed the Inquisition to distract him while preparing to seize Aishikeman and eliminate potential rivals.
• Gaiwan Khan withdrew his defenders, and Li Ang’s army entered Dexia through Turdah Fortress without a fight.

Li Ang hurried south while setting the Inquisition against Bahaman’s forces to weaken Aishikeman before merchants arrived. Sarah met Bahaman and offered Li Ang’s help, leaving him to consider his options as enemies closed in.

• Li Ang persuaded Gaiwan Khan to join Bahaman and stay out of the war, then continued south toward Aishikeman.
• Li Ang and Ramon redirected Holy Judge Rasmu de Fatika toward Madhan, where the Inquisition attacked Bahaman’s tribal army.
• Ikram fled the battle at Madhan to seek help from his father, while the fighting devastated the settlement.
• Sarah arrived in Aishikeman and told Bahaman that Li Ang’s army was near and that he was the only nearby leader able to help.

Li Ang persuaded Bahaman to join a bid to overthrow Kadan by offering him a path to claim the Bahad Khan’s throne. Bahaman agreed and offered Aishikeman as his daughter Ruha’s dowry, and Li Ang accepted by promising to hold her a grand bride-selection tournament in Xingar.

• Li Ang’s army reached Madhan Village, while Rasmu’s defeated Inquisition forces fled west and the villagers gathered their spoils as merchants began trading under the army’s protection.
• Bahaman arrived at Madhan Village and discussed with Li Ang whether to oppose Kadan and claim the Bahad Khan’s throne.
• Li Ang urged Bahaman to restore tribal election traditions and promised his support, while making clear he would back whichever candidate offered him the greatest benefits.
• Bahaman agreed to cooperate with Li Ang but asked what Li Ang wanted in return.
• Bahaman offered his daughter Ruha and all of Aishikeman as her dowry; Li Ang refused to marry her himself but accepted the task of arranging a bride-selection tournament in Xingar.

After Li Ang captured Aishikeman, Ulrich learned that a Bacchus fleet threatened the port and ordered Li Ang to hold it while he prepared reinforcements. Malbert urged Ulrich to delay those reinforcements, while Kadan hurried to Xingar to secure Khalifa Tahir’s loyalty and arrived as Ramon announced Aishikeman’s lordship was up for auction.

• Montwo reported that Li Ang had seized Aishikeman, won Bahaman’s cooperation, and faced an approaching Bacchus fleet.
• Ulrich ordered Li Ang to hold Aishikeman and said he would personally lead reinforcements, while Malbert arranged for Montwo to bring back Li Ang’s signed acknowledgment.
• Malbert told Ulrich that Li Ang was probably no longer in Aishikeman and urged him to delay the reinforcements because Long River Town was more valuable than the port.
• Kadan learned that Li Ang had occupied Aishikeman and that Emil Xixis had disappeared, then summoned Dehian forces and hurried to Xingar to secure Khalifa Tahir’s loyalty.
• Kadan arrived in Xingar as Ramon spread word that Aishikeman’s lordship was being auctioned off.

Li Ang brought his forces to Fangdal to disrupt Dexia’s recruitment base before marching on Toba, while his plan relied on the great Dexian lords gathering elsewhere over the Aishikeman auction. Ikram tried to capture Li Ang to win honor and autonomy for the Gazi herders, but his rash attack met Li Ang’s armed guard.

• Li Ang led most of his forces southwest from Aishikeman to Fangdal, intending to weaken Dexia’s ability to recruit warriors and horses.
• Li Ang and Ramon’s plan used the Aishikeman auction to draw Kadan and the other Dexian lords away from Toba, leaving Li Ang room to seize the city.
• Ikram resented losing his inheritance rights to Aishikeman and felt humiliated by his role as Li Ang’s guide.
• Ikram brought Li Ang to the Gazi herders and urged them to seize him, promising them a khan of their own and self-rule under Bahaman.
• Nearly a hundred herders rushed Li Ang, who was accompanied by about twenty guards, including Kloze, Sarah, Risadiran, and Wendy.

Li Ang’s plan to deal with the nomads escalated after Ikram vanished and his people attacked, so he sent Sarah to summon Agason and Sigismund to seize the warhorses beneath Gazi Mountain. As Agason fought a growing force of Dexian worshippers at the burning temple, Li Ang reached Toba City and prepared to wait for Ramon’s men.

• Li Ang’s guards defeated the nomads’ attack, but Ikram escaped with the fleeing riders, leaving Li Ang convinced that peaceful dealings with the local Dexian nomads were no longer possible.
• Li Ang sent Sarah to tell Agason that burning the Temple of God Vata would draw the nomads away and leave their horses at the mountain’s foot; Sigismund went with her to assist.
• Three days later, Sigismund set fire to the temple, and Agason defended the mountain against the nomads who charged up to extinguish the flames while his troops gathered the horses below.
• Li Ang arrived with his army near Toba City, whose gates were shut and defenses prepared, and he ordered Forster’s knight to patrol the desert rather than scout the city.
• Li Ang’s army made camp north of Toba City, where he planned to wait for Ramon’s men.

Li Ang uncovered Ediz’s false warning about a hidden gate and learned that Brigi had captured Ramon’s spies and planned to drug Li Ang and seize control of his army. Ediz agreed to help Li Ang oppose Brigi, who had nearly two thousand followers in Toba City, and Li Ang asked how much Ediz owed him.

• Ediz arrived at Li Ang’s camp claiming Ramon had sent him to reveal a hidden gate into Toba City, but Li Ang grew suspicious and had Risadiran restrain him.
• Li Ang identified Ediz as Brigi’s associate after finding opium ointment on him, and Ediz admitted Brigi had sent him to lure Li Ang into an ambush.
• Ediz revealed that Brigi had captured Ramon’s men, who had died in Toba City, and that Brigi wanted to capture Li Ang alive and control his army with drugs.
• Ediz explained Brigi’s drug-based religion and said Brigi commanded nearly two thousand men while recruiting more followers in Toba City.
• Li Ang offered to help Ediz break free of his addiction if he helped defeat Brigi, then asked how much money Ediz owed him.