Chapter Summaries

Red Dragon Maxim agreed to attend the continental conference after the Orc Empire offered him treasure, lending the Beastfolk mediation effort the Dragon Race’s prestige. Human Alliance representatives debated whether the invitation was genuine or a ploy, while the Alpha Kingdom remained silent because the Beastfolk held hostages.

• Maxim woke to find Beastfolk outside his cave and nearly attacked them, but the Elder Eagleman calmed him by opening chests of treasure.
• The Elder Eagleman invited Maxim to the continental conference on behalf of the Orc Empire, offering compensation and praise in exchange for his participation.
• Maxim agreed to attend as an individual and demanded a higher price if the Orc Empire wanted him to represent the Dragon Race.
• A mediation letter bearing a Dragon Race claw mark prompted the Human Alliance to announce a conference.
• Count Derrick accused the Beastfolk of forging the letter, while Bishop Montesol urged the representatives to verify that a Dragon Race mediator would attend.
• Count Nicol warned that a Giant Dragon could have been bribed to pose as a mediator, as the Alpha Kingdom stayed silent because the Beastfolk held hostages.

The Human Alliance remained deadlocked over whether to destroy the Orc Empire while the Orc rulers sought to pressure humanity and divide the alliance. Maxim appeared before Hudson’s army to demand tribute, and Hudson redirected the dragon toward the Locknerd Family’s territory.

• Charles III hesitated to commit the Frankish Kingdom to destroying the Orc Empire, while the Church delayed a decision to keep the Alpha Kingdom’s army trapped.
• The Bearman Emperor and Alex discussed rallying other races, threatening humanity’s allies, and using evidence against the Church to split the Human Alliance.
• Maxim flew to Hudson’s camp to intimidate the army and demand gold coins and princesses, but Hudson pointed out that the soldiers had nothing to give him.
• Beldens dismissed Maxim as a fake Dragon King, and Hudson avoided fighting by suggesting that the dragon seek treasure in the Orc Empire.
• Hudson directed Maxim toward the Coslo Family’s ancestral land, which now belonged to the Locknerd Family, as a way to strike at his family’s old enemy.

The Northern Expeditionary Army remained trapped as Marshal Campbell rejected Duke Pias’s request to send the kingdom’s reinforcements, while the nobles avoided openly taking sides against Hudson. At Nadersonburg, Maxim’s attempt to force the Locknerd Family into negotiations ignited a battle, which Hudson and Beldens watched from hiding before leaving.

• Duke Pias urged Marshal Campbell to send the kingdom’s reinforcements to draw pressure away from the Northern Expeditionary Army, but Campbell refused, and the other great dukes stayed silent.
• At Nadersonburg, Thorsten considered paying Maxim to avoid a fight, but Maxim attacked the city with dragonfire before they could negotiate.
• The Locknerd defenders counterattacked with weapons and magic, and Maxim’s flames spread through the city as the fighting escalated.
• A white-haired elder ordered the defenders to stop ordinary attacks and rely on powerful fighters and siege weapons after realizing the dragon was unusually weak for his size.
• Hidden nearby, Hudson and Beldens criticized Maxim’s tactics, but Hudson refused to intervene and left before anyone could spot them.

Hudson returned from the campaign content with the damage dealt to the Locknerd Family and found noble officers gravitating toward him, while Maxim abandoned robbery in favor of trying to profit from negotiations. The Orc Emperors agreed to make major concessions to the Alpha Kingdom and discussed arranging the deaths of Caesar III and Hudson, potentially with the Church’s help.

• Hudson decided against provoking Maxim into another attack and spent more than half a month resting as rumors linked him to the Locknerd Family’s losses.
• Noble officers began seeking Hudson’s favor, though he refused to lead a broad movement against the Northern Nobles.
• Exhausted after repeated failed robberies, Maxim decided to stop raiding and instead fool humans into signing an armistice before collecting the Beastfolk’s promised gold.
• The Eagle Emperor reported that Maxim had returned to his temporary lair and urged the Orc Empire to accelerate negotiations with the Alpha Kingdom.
• The Lion Emperor proposed dropping other demands and giving up the southern territories to secure the release of the Orc Empire’s people and disrupt the Human Alliance’s plans.
• The Bearman Emperor called for Caesar III and Hudson to be eliminated, and Alex suggested seeking the Church’s cooperation through a transaction.

Pius VII weighed the Church’s response to evidence that it had helped provoke the war and chose a public call to annihilate the Orc Empire that would make a ceasefire seem necessary. Meanwhile, Thorsten suspected Hudson was connected to Maxim’s attack on Nadersonburg and struggled to find a way to remove Hudson from command.

• Pius VII stopped the Church’s factions from arguing over blame and considered the Beastfolk’s demands to end the war and carry out assassinations.
• Gurei proposed that the Church demand the Beastfolk cripple the Alpha Kingdom’s Northern Expeditionary Army, and Pius VII ordered a public call for seven million troops to annihilate the Orc Empire.
• Thorsten reviewed Nadersonburg’s severe casualties and property losses, but set aside immediate revenge against Maxim for fear of provoking the Dragon Race.
• Thorsten learned that Maxim had first visited the Border Defense Army’s camp, where Hudson had persuaded him to leave, before the dragon attacked Nadersonburg.
• Thorsten suspected Hudson had directed Maxim toward the Locknerd Family but had no evidence, and he realized that replacing Hudson would require opposing the kingdom’s nobles.

Marshal Campbell ordered the Northern Expeditionary Army to ration Beastfolk meat and prepare a counterattack, while the Five Great Dukes of the North considered a secret offer that might let them escape. In Fortress of Ash, the Dwarf King wrongly assumed Bishop Solon had come to negotiate over the war and demanded greater payment from the Beastfolk envoy.

• Marshal Campbell decided to make Beastfolk meat half of the army’s supplies and planned to attack the cannon-fodder races to divide them from the Five Great Royal Families.
• Xilo delivered a secret letter to Duke Cavadia and the other northern dukes, who weighed its promise of a breakout against the danger of a trap.
• Duke Pias urged the Five Great Dukes to attempt a breakout, since the army was running short of food and reinforcements had not arrived.
• Bishop Solon visited the Dwarf King in Fortress of Ash and drank himself unconscious to escape the king’s relentless hospitality.
• The Dwarf King told an aide to demand greater concessions from the Beastfolk envoy for the Dwarves’ help with mediation.

Hudson refused to lead a risky relief force, while the besieged Northern Expeditionary Army prepared a breakout under Marshal Campbell’s lottery-based assignments. As the breakout began, the Church’s mediation campaign shifted the Alliance Council toward war, leaving Bishop Montesol realizing Charles III had been maneuvered into backing it.

• Hudson rejected the order to support the Northern Expeditionary Army unless its breakout force came within a hundred li, and suggested seeking Human Alliance reinforcements instead.
• Duke Pias reported that attacks and letters had spread news of unrest among the Beastfolk, and Marshal Campbell assigned breakout duties and directions by drawing lots.
• The Northern Expeditionary Army launched its brutal breakout after Marshal Campbell told the troops they must either escape or die on the grasslands.
• The Church’s mediation campaign persuaded other races to call for negotiations, increasing pressure on the Human Alliance, while the Church urged the council to destroy the Orc Empire.
• Bishop Montesol argued that the Alliance should reject mediation, but Charles III supported the war faction and dismissed the Red Dragon’s authority to represent the Dragon Race.
• Bishop Montesol realized Charles III had changed sides after being offered terms he could not refuse, and that the Alpha Kingdom had manipulated the debate.

The human armies fought their way southeast and west through Beastfolk interception while tribal chiefs joined the Resistance Alliance to break from the Five Great Royal Families. On the western front, Alex targeted Marshal Campbell, who was confronted by a Behemoth Warrior from his past.

• Duke Agalon and Count Pierce led their forces against Agustin's Beastfolk army as the humans began their breakout.
• Marshal Campbell's order to burn the camp slowed the Beastfolk cannon fodder, while tribal chiefs agreed to join the Resistance Alliance and signed Leopard Head's Bloodline Contract.
• Marshal Campbell led the western army into battle, and Alex ordered his forces to kill the marshal because of his strategic importance.
• A Behemoth Warrior challenged Marshal Campbell, revealed that Campbell had once ruined his military career, and attacked him.

After the Northern Expeditionary Army broke through the Beastfolk blockade at terrible cost, Caesar III learned that Marshal Campbell had fallen and faced weakened royal influence in the military. Hudson then heard that a third of the Beastfolk army had split away, leaving him to wonder whether their division could become an opportunity.

• Count Francis reported that the Human Alliance had approved a second expeditionary force of one million troops, to be dispatched over the coming months.
• A messenger reported that the Northern Expeditionary Army had broken through the first blockade but suffered severe losses, including Marshal Campbell’s death, before collapsing from his wounds.
• Archbishop Tyron stabilized the messenger, while Caesar III considered the consequences of Campbell’s death for his authority over the army.
• Hudson prepared to receive surviving Kingdom Army troops and asked Beldens about unrest among the Beastfolk.
• Beldens told Hudson that tribes comprising about a third of the Beastfolk army had split away, though the two sides had not yet fought.

After Hudson prepared to meet the scattered Northern Expeditionary Army, the Beastfolk emperors split their forces to pursue the survivors and suppress rebels at home. Duke Cavadia’s exhausted column crossed into Ocoro Province, where Ciss and Xilo argued over whether Hudson would send help.

• Hudson ordered his army to rest for two days, then planned to lead troops out to meet the Northern Expeditionary Army’s survivors and sent the Royal Capital a report through Tom.
• Alex and the Beastfolk emperors discussed the Orc Empire’s internal rebellion, the Human Alliance’s growing support for war, and the need to kill Caesar III and stabilize their rear.
• The Beastfolk emperors agreed to split their forces, sending infantry home against the rebels while cavalry hunted the routed Northern Expeditionary Army, and the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor warned them to beware Hudson.
• Duke Cavadia’s battered column reached Ocoro Province, where Ciss said relief might arrive the next day, but Xilo argued that Hudson would prioritize his own allies.
• Duke Cavadia rebuked Xilo for speaking divisively, while Xilo’s resentment of Ciss grew and he began considering using someone else to kill him.

Hudson dispatched three cavalry regiments to draw the Beastfolk away from the Northern Expeditionary Army, explaining the plan to Jose. The Beastfolk commanders noticed the new force, and Clark advised Prince Butzwig to avoid taking charge or confronting it.

• Hudson requisitioned noble officers' warhorses, sending those who refused to lend them along on the relief mission.
• Jose worried that the conspicuous march would alert the enemy, and Hudson said drawing enemy forces away would help the Northern Expeditionary Army escape.
• Eaglemen scouts reported the Border Defense Army's movement, and Prince Butzwig questioned how it had gathered another twenty thousand cavalry.
• Clark urged Prince Butzwig to avoid the human cavalry and let other Beastfolk forces engage them, warning that independent action could bring blame.
• Prince Butzwig hesitated to put the danger on his allies, and Clark suggested letting the human army miss the enemy's relief force instead.

Hudson suspected that Marshal Campbell had been betrayed, but rejected the July Association’s request to use the accusation against the Five Great Northern Families. Meanwhile, Count Pierce’s battered forces learned Hudson’s troops were nearby, but continued fleeing without contacting them as another battle approached.

• Hudson suspected that someone had exposed Marshal Campbell’s whereabouts and wondered whether the July Association had been involved.
• Kate delivered Longxi’s secret letter urging Hudson to attack the Five Great Northern Families, but Hudson dismissed the evidence and refused to participate.
• Count Pierce’s Noble Allied Forces of the Southeast Province continued to suffer heavy losses while fleeing the Beastfolk, and the surviving nobles resented Hudson’s rise and their own misfortunes.
• A scout reported that Hudson’s cavalry was fifty miles ahead, but Count Pierce’s forces had not made contact with them.
• Count Pierce ordered his troops to rest briefly and then continue onward, telling the nobles that fresh reinforcements would soon help them face the pursuers.

Hudson ordered a rescue for the Noble Allied Forces of the Southeast Province, explaining to Nelson and Evola why the Coslo Family could not afford to abandon them or seize their territory. Count Pierce distrusted Hudson’s promise and changed course to meet him, but after Hudson’s army finally set out, his forces learned that Pierce’s army had disappeared.

• Hudson ordered his army to rest for two hours before setting out to rescue the Noble Allied Forces of the Southeast Province.
• Hudson told Nelson and Evola that the Coslo Family lacked the strength and connections to exploit the Dalton Family’s possible collapse, and that refusing to help would invite political consequences.
• Count Pierce questioned Hudson’s messengers, learned the rescue force would depart in two hours, and ordered his army to march along a slightly altered route toward the reinforcements.
• Hudson’s army set out on packhorses after resting, conserving its warhorses for battle.
• A messenger reported that the Noble Allied Forces of the Southeast Province had disappeared.

Hudson delayed searching for Count Pierce’s missing Southeast Province Noble Allied Forces while gathering more troops, and Duke Daniel weighed a risky plan to strike the Human Alliance relief force. Count Pierce’s battered army remained isolated, leaving him to choose between seeking Hudson’s help and risking annihilation.

• Hudson ordered his exhausted army to camp after finding the footprints of the Southeast Province Noble Allied Forces but no sign of the force itself.
• Hudson’s officers complained about the wasted march, while he let their resentment slow the search and continued assembling more than thirty thousand soldiers.
• Duke Daniel learned that the Behemoth Cavalry was avoiding Hudson’s reinforcements and proposed joining Marquis Usuhu and Prince Butzwig to destroy the relief force and invade the Alpha Kingdom.
• The Southeast Province Noble Allied Forces dwindled to just over five thousand men, and Count Pierce regretted missing Hudson’s reinforcements after ordering his army away.
• Count Pierce debated whether to approach Hudson, knowing that joining him would damage his standing while remaining alone could lead to the army’s destruction.

Hudson dealt with the Human Alliance’s uncoordinated reinforcements while Duke Daniel urged the Beastfolk commanders to attack the Alpha Kingdom. As Count Pierce’s battered force finally sought Hudson’s help, Viscount Oran agreed to mediate despite his resentment.

• Hudson received documents from more than a hundred independent reinforcement forces and summoned senior noble officers to help prepare tailored replies.
• Prince Butzwig rejected Duke Daniel’s proposal to destroy the Alpha Kingdom, saying he needed the Behemoth Emperor’s approval to avoid political risk.
• Marquis Usuhu refused to take part in Duke Daniel’s campaign plan and told the messenger to find someone else.
• Count Pierce yielded to pressure from his dwindling force and decided to join Hudson’s reinforcements.
• Viscount Oran agreed to contact Hudson on Count Pierce’s behalf, though he resented being asked to use his family connection after the nobles had slighted Hudson.

Duke Daniel abandoned hopes of stopping the human reinforcements and ordered his forces to regroup as the Orc Empire’s internal divisions threatened its survival. Meanwhile, Hudson welcomed the battered Southeast Province nobles and heard how their failed breakout had left them devastated, while the Northern families preserved much more of their strength.

• Duke Daniel learned that the Human Alliance and Moxi Duchy had arrived at Purple Thistle Pass, then ordered his units to watch the pass, pursue the Northern Expeditionary Army, and consolidate their forces.
• Duke Daniel reflected that humanity could exploit the Orc Empire’s internal divisions, which had repeatedly been kept in check through purges and suppression.
• Hudson reunited with the arriving armies and found that only a little over a thousand of the Southeast Province Noble Allied Forces remained, along with routed soldiers he had gathered along the way.
• Hudson welcomed the exhausted nobles and considered withdrawing from the kingdom’s central politics after the war rather than competing for power at court.
• Viscount Oran told Hudson that pressure from the Five Great Families of the North had prompted the nobles to break out, and that Count Pierce later forced them to flee instead of joining Hudson sooner.
• Hudson recognized that the southern nobles had suffered far greater losses than the Northern families, whose surviving private forces were still numerous.

After the Beastfolk withdrew, Hudson assessed the Alpha Kingdom’s weakened military and sent confidential recommendations while keeping the army in camp. He warned his brothers against exploiting Count Pierce’s apparent collapse or treating the Dalton Family as an enemy, leaving the Coslo Family’s ambitions restrained for now.

• Hudson learned that the Beastfolk had withdrawn, assessed the Kingdom’s remaining forces, and sent a confidential report with his recommendations.
• Count Pierce collapsed after hearing the news, and Hudson visited him while Priest Debang claimed he was merely resting from overwork.
• Hudson let the rumors about Pierce spread without pursuing them and kept the army in camp rather than chasing the Beastfolk.
• Evola asked whether Pierce was dying, and Nelson suggested the rumor might come true, hoping the Dalton Family would be weakened.
• Hudson scolded his brothers, told them to gather information on the Southeast Province’s extinct noble families, and warned them that the Dalton Family was only a competitor, not an irreconcilable enemy.

After the war left the Alpha Kingdom with catastrophic casualties and an empty treasury, Caesar III's court debated rebuilding defenses, raising money, and preparing a counteroffensive. The council then considered candidates to replace Marshal Campbell, but Caesar III rejected the northern nobles as a threat to royal control of the military.

• Caesar III ordered the army to withdraw after Duke Affierro warned that the kingdom could not risk further losses.
• Grand Duke Newfoundland proposed rebuilding defenses across the seven recovered northern provinces, but Delgado objected that the kingdom could not afford the work.
• Count Francis suggested issuing war bonds, and Caesar III approved using Moxi Duchy interest rates as a guide while limiting borrowing to what the kingdom could repay.
• Duke Affierro presented six candidates to replace Marshal Campbell, including Count Hudson and four members of the Five Great Families of the north.
• Caesar III ruled out the first four candidates because appointing another northern noble could let that faction dominate the army.

Caesar III secured Count Hudson’s appointment as commander-in-chief by balancing him with Duke Cavadia and Marquis James as deputies. At Purple Thistle Pass, Hudson began coordinating the fractious allied forces and planning a northern defensive line that could expand the Alpha Kingdom’s territory.

• Caesar III held a Noble Council vote that made Count Hudson commander-in-chief, with Duke Cavadia and Marquis James as deputy commanders.
• Hudson struggled to manage the Human Alliance reinforcements, whose factions repeatedly clashed and lacked a coalition commander.
• Hudson decided to station rival forces in separate areas while the reclaimed homeland’s defenses were rebuilt.
• Hudson assigned Marquis James to negotiate with the allied reinforcements and Duke Cavadia to oversee the defensive line.
• Hudson asked Duke Cavadia to identify suitable borders and estimate how much northern land the kingdom could claim; Duke Cavadia said the kingdom might gain one or two provinces.

Hudson used his wartime idleness to teach his family the customs of great nobles and explained why he deliberately let rumors undermine his reputation as commander. Meanwhile, the Orc Emperors debated the human defenses and their own domestic unrest, leaving a major battle looming.

• Hudson gave Nelson and Evola lessons on dealing with great nobles and asked them to pass the knowledge on to the family.
• Nelson warned Hudson about rumors that he was all reputation and no substance, and Hudson revealed that he had deliberately spread them to conceal his hold on the army and reassure Caesar III and the nobles.
• The Bearman Emperor demanded retaliation against the humans, while Alex argued that their fortifications reflected unease and urged the emperors to stay calm.
• The Silver Moon Wolf Emperor called for the Orcs to crush the Rebel Army and focus on pacifying domestic unrest.
• The Eagle Emperor warned that human reinforcements were arriving and urged the emperors to prepare for an inevitable battle.