Chapter Summaries

After the Eaglemen’s raid was trapped and repelled, Hudson clashed with Church commander Blake, whose attempt to expose Hudson as an Undead Mage backfired when Beldens forced him to retreat. The allies counted their aerial victory, while Hudson considered the possibility of forming a drake cavalry force.

• Eaglemen stone-throwers attacked the construction site, but the allied air forces counterattacked and killed nearly a thousand Eaglemen.
• Blake mocked the Alpha Kingdom’s troops, and Hudson retorted that more than 1.07 million Alpha soldiers had died defending humanity.
• Blake tried to expose Hudson as an Undead Mage, but Beldens appeared and made Blake stagger back under the Earth Bear’s pressure.
• Sunil and Hudson mocked Blake over his supposed late-night drinking and exertions, and Blake pretended to faint as the gathered nobles laughed.
• The allies reviewed the Eaglemen’s losses and discussed how anti-air weapons could threaten a larger aerial force.
• Hudson praised drake cavalry and admitted he would form one if he had the opportunity, though taming the beasts would be difficult.

Hudson realized the Church’s attack was likely meant to remove him as commander-in-chief and grew increasingly wary while the alliance stayed peaceful for half a year. Human air forces armed with Magic Crossbows inflicted heavy losses on the Eaglemen, prompting the Orc Empire’s leaders to consider how to endure the war and obtain the weapons.

• Hudson concluded that someone inside the kingdom was colluding with the Church to strip him of military authority, but he had no leads and became more cautious.
• Over the following half year, the front lines and alliance remained mostly peaceful, while human air forces repeatedly defeated Eaglemen raiders with Magic Crossbows.
• The Eagle Emperor reported that seven thousand Eaglemen had died in six months and warned that the Orc Empire could not keep fighting without producing Magic Crossbows.
• Alex urged the Orc Empire to trade space for time, arguing that humanity remained divided and other races would eventually pressure it to end the war.
• The Lion Emperor proposed building relations with the Dwarves and developing sea trade to acquire Magic Crossbow components despite the Alpha Kingdom’s blockade.

Hudson received word that the Royal Capital wanted a full-scale counterattack against the Orc Empire, despite the allied forces’ unresolved command dispute. He prepared to discuss the order with Marquis James and Duke Cavadia, while keeping his own role in the political deadlock limited.

• Caesar III heard that Hudson considered the assembled reinforcements sufficient for an offensive, and the court debated how to coordinate the allied forces.
• Count Francis and Duke Newfoundland argued that the allied nations would not surrender command authority and proposed settling battle plans by consensus or arbitration.
• Hudson received an urgent letter from the Royal Capital while inspecting construction near Blood Moon Castle, where more than 1.7 million troops had gathered.
• Hudson invited Marquis James to discuss the letter and showed it to Duke Cavadia, who warned that the Royal Capital wanted a counterattack despite the unresolved command issue.
• Hudson said the three of them would discuss the matter and resolve it after Marquis James arrived.

Hudson, Marquis James, and Duke Cavadia discussed the coming counteroffensive, the kingdom’s goal of crippling the Orc Empire, and the burdens of coordinating the coalition and sustaining the war. James discovered that Hudson had secretly prepared for the campaign months in advance and left the meeting questioning his own military judgment, while Hudson faced the approaching decisive battle alone.

• Hudson told Marquis James that winning over the coalition reinforcements was essential to an early counteroffensive, while explaining why annihilating the Orc Empire could create future dangers.
• James warned that the coalition would be difficult to coordinate and that the kingdom’s military expenses threatened its finances.
• Duke Cavadia revealed that Hudson’s army had stockpiled dried meat for half a year and planned to attack before the Beastfolk’s autumn harvest.
• James realized he had overlooked the preparations and suspected that Hudson had tested his military awareness, leaving him doubting his suitability for command.
• Hudson watched James and Cavadia leave, then stood alone on the city wall and contemplated the approaching decisive battle.

The allied army began its expedition against the Beastfolk, but its leaders remained divided over strategy. Hudson accepted responsibility for coordinating the army’s supply convoys, while warning the factions to keep their forces close and carry a month of provisions.

• A Church ceremony filled the sky with golden light, boosting the soldiers’ morale and attracting new believers to the Lord of Dawn.
• The allied force marched beyond the city walls, while its council continued arguing over battle plans and routes.
• Hudson proposed that the army organize its logistics first, but Blake rudely assigned Alpha Kingdom to handle supply transport.
• Hudson accepted the logistics task and warned the factions that convoys might not keep pace with scattered armies, so they should carry a month of provisions.
• Marquis Olavell supported Hudson’s warning, and Marquis Sunil formally assigned Alpha Kingdom’s army to lead supply transport with Warhammer Kingdom and Moxi Duchy assisting.

Hudson took charge of the allied forces’ logistics and planned their advance through the Orc Empire with Duke Cavadia, who proposed capturing Fengyue Port to support supply shipments. Meanwhile, the Five Great Royal Families learned the human army was advancing and struggled to relocate tribes away from the southern plains, leaving the Orc Empire bracing for invasion.

• Hudson was appointed commander-in-chief of allied logistics and convened a meeting to plan supply routes through the Orc Empire.
• Duke Cavadia described the empire’s regions and explained how Betelune Port had made the human counteroffensive possible.
• Marshal Borg asked whether the Alpha Kingdom had helped build Fengyue Port, but Hudson denied any involvement and Cavadia proposed seizing the port for supplies.
• The Five Great Royal Families received news that the allied army had crossed the pass and gathered to discuss their response.
• The Silver Moon Wolf Emperor warned that tribal relocations were failing and urged the rulers to move more Beastfolk onto the plains to delay the human advance.

Hudson assigned the allied army’s duties and sent Duke Pias to escort provisions, provoking Pias to accuse him of private revenge. Hudson then offered him a dangerous vanguard role at Fengyue Port, leaving Pias unable to refuse without damaging his standing.

• Hudson assigned Marquis James to distribute provisions, several nobles to escort them, and other dukes to capture Fengyue Port while he coordinated the army.
• Duke Pias protested that he had been assigned to escort provisions instead of earning merit in the attack.
• Hudson defended the assignment as vital work, and Duke Pias accused him of abusing his authority for private revenge.
• Hudson denied any personal grudge, and Duke Cavadia persuaded Pias to apologize for his careless accusation.
• Hudson offered Pias the vanguard mission of provoking the enemy at Fengyue Port, and Pias realized he had been set up but could not refuse.

Hudson established his authority in the army while the Human Alliance began its campaign against the Orc Empire, with Caesar III prioritizing supplies for the front. Hudson reached Snow Moon Lake and ordered it turned into a temporary supply station as the army prepared to advance.

• Hudson used a half-year campaign of pressure to make Duke Pias lose his composure, though he lacked grounds to charge him with colluding with the Beastfolk.
• Caesar III asked about the army's supplies, and Grand Duke Newfoundland assured him that the front had provisions stockpiled for half a year.
• Caesar III ordered strategic supplies prioritized for the front and announced cuts to royal palace provisions, while the nobles pledged to endure hardship.
• Hudson ordered his army to establish a temporary camp and build granaries at Snow Moon Lake, one of the planned transfer stations.
• Hudson noted that the relocated Beastfolk tribes around Snow Moon Lake had been struck by the allied army, though he arrived too late to witness the battle.

Hudson investigated the warnings about Snow Moon Lake and moved his army away from its shore. Meanwhile, Bishop Simon persuaded Duke Pias to consider helping the Church assassinate Caesar III, and Pias agreed to cooperate first in taking Fengyue Port.

• Baron Keterai warned Hudson that Beastfolk tribes avoided Snow Moon Lake because of its curse and deadly legends.
• Baron Reno described dust-covered corpses found near the lake, and Hudson suspected it might be volcanic before ordering the camp moved thirty li upstream.
• Duke Pias received Bishop Simon, who claimed Caesar III planned to destroy the Locknerd Family and urged Pias to join the Church's scheme.
• Duke Pias worried that regicide would bring ruin to his family and proposed that the Church help seize Fengyue Port first.
• Bishop Simon agreed, explaining that the Church needed an insider's help to reach Caesar III.

Duke Pias weighed the Church’s plot against Caesar III while pursuing a chance to weaken Hudson, and Hudson explored the ancient underground palace beneath Snow Moon Lake. After absorbing the imprisoned Lord of Light, Hudson encountered another phantom that said it had been waiting for him.

• Duke Pias sent a secret letter to Duke Cavadia and stalled the Church’s assassination plan while hoping Hudson would be removed from command.
• Hudson learned that Snow Moon Lake concealed an underground palace, then flew to its island with Beldens to investigate.
• Hudson found altars, murals, and Prehistoric Script describing a war in which Demons and angels joined forces against the continent’s races.
• Beldens recognized the inscriptions as Prehistoric Script and recalled that Earth Bears had taken part in an ancient war, though their inherited memories held few details.
• Hudson released the Compass and absorbed the entity claiming to be the Lord of Light after it offered him power in exchange for smashing its statue.
• A phantom emerged from the divine statue and told Hudson, “You have finally come!”

Hudson learned that the Great Purge was approaching, then returned to managing the war as the Human Alliance advanced against the Beastfolk. The chapter left the Orc emperors planning riskier resistance while Caesar III sought mage support and new funds to keep the campaign going.

• A phantom warned Hudson about the approaching Great Purge before the underground palace sank, and Beldens's inherited memories offered only a brief warning about the calamity.
• Hudson saw that the Beastfolk were retreating strategically, stretching the allied army's supply lines while avoiding decisive battles.
• Duke Pias's surprise attack on Fengyue Port failed, and the enemy burned the port, leaving him fearing that the Church had betrayed him and that his family would be blamed.
• The five Orc emperors discussed sending small units into the Alpha Kingdom to disrupt supplies, while acknowledging that they might have to fight a decisive battle or retreat to prolong the war.
• At the Emerald Palace, Caesar III assigned Francis to seek mage support, then ordered him to persuade the alliance to fund the war or buy bonds by promising it the conquered lands.

Hudson received reports of allied victories and continued building his staff while serving as commander-in-chief. After spotting a merchant caravan, he arranged to establish a secure trading platform for disposing of the war’s spoils and negotiated its terms with Xavier of the Cartesia Merchant Guild.

• Hudson ordered Jose to draft congratulatory documents for the forces reporting victories, while Jose remained frustrated at his lack of chances to earn military merit.
• Hudson considered his difficulty recruiting top talent and used his command position to train his own people through Kingdom resources.
• Hudson spotted a merchant caravan and told Tom to find out which guild it represented and why it had entered the Orc Great Plains.
• Tom brought Xavier, a steward of the Cartesia Merchant Guild, to meet Hudson, who proposed a safe commodity trading platform for the allied forces.
• Hudson told Xavier that participating guilds would need security deposits, noble guarantees, and sales networks, while smaller caravans could trade with cash and risk warnings.

Hudson prepared a trading platform as allied armies struggled to sell their spoils, while the Sacred Merchant Guild chose to join despite Commander Blake’s objections. Prince Butzwig decided to lead a mission behind enemy lines to escape political danger, then revealed that the Orc Empire had agreed to act as someone else’s blade in an assassination plot against Caesar III.

• Hudson invited merchants and nobles to his trading platform and ordered temporary warehouses built as nobles sent in their spoils.
• Commander Blake demanded that the Sacred Merchant Guild support the Order of Judgment Knights, but Bishop Simon explained that the guild would join Hudson’s platform for profit and safety.
• Prince Butzwig told Clark he would lead a mission behind enemy lines to avoid becoming a target of Emperor Alex’s political purge.
• Butzwig and Clark discussed the Orc Empire’s losses and feared that Caesar III and Hudson would keep the Beastfolk embroiled in conflict.
• Butzwig revealed that the Orc Empire was bound by contract to claim responsibility for an assassination attempt on Caesar III, while concealing its collaborator.
• Butzwig told Clark to prepare his family in case they did not return alive.

Hudson investigated the disappearance of patrol soldiers while the Human Alliance Council debated how to support the Alpha Kingdom’s war effort. The alliance agreed to subsidize the kingdom and buy its war bonds, leaving Bishop Montesol publicly isolated after other powers waived their interest.

• Claire reported seeing two figures vanish near the camp, and the bearded captain reported her sighting after his patrol returned safely.
• After two patrol squads failed to return, Hudson ordered the Second Legion and the Venerable Council to search the area within thirty miles.
• In Lutetia, Count Predrag told the Human Alliance Council that the Alpha Kingdom could no longer sell its war bonds and could not sustain its military expenses alone.
• Bishop Montesol refused to help, while Charles III proposed selling land on the Orc Great Plains and Count Georgievich suggested alliance subsidies and bond purchases.
• The major powers agreed to buy the Alpha Kingdom’s bonds, and Charles III and Count Georgievich waived interest on their countries’ subscriptions.
• Bishop Montesol realized the other representatives had used the bond decision to damage the Church’s prestige.

Hudson dealt with Beastfolk infiltration while the July Association considered arranging Caesar III’s assassination and framing the Northern Nobles. At the trading platform, Hudson negotiated to sell his Moxi Duchy war bonds, leaving the kingdom’s underworld plotting against the king as he tried to offload risky debt.

• Hudson ordered the grass and brush around the camp cleared after soldiers returned with only the missing men’s bones.
• Prince Butzwig delayed his assassination mission by ordering his squad to take a long route through the Ice and Snow World.
• The July Association’s leaders rejected assassinating Caesar III themselves, then agreed to use people they controlled within the Five Great Families to place the contract and frame the Northern Nobles.
• Several cult organizations received mysterious sponsorship, and the underworld’s plots began to converge on Caesar III.
• Hudson explained the Moxi Duchy’s debt risks to merchant representatives and proposed selling his war bonds to them at an agreed average price.

Hudson secured favorable terms for selling Moxi Duchy bonds, kept the Alpha Kingdom’s war bonds, and restored a sea route that eased the allied army’s supply problems. At a diplomatic banquet, assassins struck Caesar III, leaving him gravely wounded and exposing a deeper conspiracy.

• Hudson arranged for commerce chambers to buy his Moxi Duchy bonds at a premium while retaining his Alpha Kingdom bonds.
• Hudson ordered supplies moved through Fengyue Port and reserved a dock for authorized merchant ships after mages cleared the sea lanes.
• Assassins caused chaos at Caesar III’s banquet, and five disguised Beastfolk experts launched a direct attack on the king.
• A maid who had served Caesar III for years stabbed him with a poisoned dagger and then died from poison herself.
• Archbishop Tyron used Water of Life to stabilize Caesar III, while Crown Prince Caesar went to retrieve more from the royal treasury.
• Assassins fled as the court realized several groups had infiltrated the banquet and suspected domestic forces had helped them.

Hudson and Viscount Oran discussed the suspicious assassination attempt on Caesar III, while Pope Pius VII exploited the turmoil to deepen divisions in the Alpha Kingdom. As the investigation stalled and the Orc Empire claimed responsibility, Hudson kept angry officers from abandoning their logistics duties and violating the king’s orders.

• Hudson and Viscount Oran suspected that the assassination involved several forces and that outside powers had exploited security failures at the royal banquet.
• Pope Pius VII praised Sacred Hand for the attack and ordered Ulise to tell the Beastfolk to stage a convincing next act.
• Crown Prince Caesar learned that multiple assassin groups had been hired, twenty-eight Royal Guard personnel had killed themselves, and powerful noble families were implicated, but the kingdom could not risk exposing them.
• Hudson received word that the Orc Empire had claimed responsibility for the assassination, prompting noble officers to demand that they go to the front line.
• Hudson threatened to send the officers who wanted revenge to the vanguard and accused Duke Pias of opposing Caesar III’s orders, forcing the officers to remain focused on logistics.

Hudson persuaded the Human Alliance to recruit surrendering Beastfolk and use them to divide the Orc Empire, accelerating the allied advance. The Orc emperors resolved to preserve their strength and wait for human divisions and logistical strain to weaken the alliance.

• Hudson proposed abandoning the extermination campaign and accepting Beastfolk tribes that would fight under the Human Alliance, with Marquis Sunil and Marquis Olavell supporting the plan.
• Blake opposed the proposal, but Olavell argued that the allies could divide the Orc Empire into many smaller states and grant them to cooperating Beastfolk.
• As the allied army offered surrender and promises of land, numerous Beastfolk tribes switched sides and joined its vanguard, while resistance weakened and the alliance advanced toward the Orc court.
• The Bearman Emperor reacted angrily to the defections, while the Eagle Emperor and Silver Moon Wolf Emperor urged restraint and argued that the Five Great Royal Families could survive by evacuating and preserving their strength.
• Alex argued that Caesar III’s assassination would deepen the Alpha Kingdom’s internal conflict and that the Human Alliance’s wavering resolve and logistical burden could eventually force it to withdraw.

After recovering from the assassination, Caesar III ordered Hudson to keep striking the Beastfolk but spoke only of teaching them a lesson, leaving the court uncertain about his war aims. Hudson sensed the court’s tensions affecting the army and discussed the approaching struggle over the kingdom’s wartime gains with Viscount Oran, while choosing to preserve his forces.

• Caesar III returned to public life, ended the investigation without holding anyone accountable, and ordered Hudson to continue giving the Beastfolk a harsh lesson.
• Duke Affierro praised Hudson’s strategy of using Beastfolk against Beastfolk, while the court read Caesar III’s wording as a sign that he had wavered on annihilating the Orc Empire.
• Hudson noticed unusual tensions in the army and asked his father-in-law, Viscount Oran, whether the political struggle in the Royal Capital had begun.
• Viscount Oran said nobles were preparing to fight over the kingdom’s gains from the war and described the Hollisir Family’s losses and weakened position.
• Hudson reassured Viscount Oran that the Hollisir Family could regain its status and chose to carry out the king’s order selectively, prioritizing the preservation of his forces.
• Viscount Oran said the Hollisir Family lacked military merit and began asking Hudson to create an opportunity for them.

Hudson and Viscount Oran discussed the Coslo and Hollisir families’ postwar prospects as the beastfolk retreated and struggled to settle in the barren north and west. The Five Great Royal Families debated how to survive the war and weaken the human alliance, while the Sea Tribe remained a possible but uncertain ally.

• Hudson rejected Viscount Oran’s suggestion to seek more battlefield merit, warning that the Hollisir Family lacked the strength to seize opportunities safely.
• Hudson said the Coslo Family would remain in Southeast Province because it lacked the population and resources to develop the Northern Frontier, while Viscount Oran warned that the Dalton Family and other nobles would try to restrain Hudson.
• Viscount Oran said the Locknerd Family would be unlikely to return the Coslo ancestral lands, and Hudson answered that the Dalton Family could cause political trouble but would not risk provoking a military conflict.
• The Five Great Royal Families of the beastfolk withdrew into the Nikola Plateau and Salal Hills, where scarce supplies, unsuitable settlements, and disputes among tribes deepened unrest.
• Alex argued that the human alliance would eventually struggle to fund its army, but the Silver Moon Wolf Emperor warned that the beastfolk were still losing and would need to lure the humans into difficult terrain.
• The Eagle Emperor said a dragon could help contact the Sea Tribe, though the beastfolk would have to persuade it to disrupt human maritime supply routes.