Chapter Summaries

Hudson took command of the Standing Army and moved to tighten discipline, improve the soldiers’ rations, and curb military supply corruption as the kingdom prepared for war. Meanwhile, the Church struggled to confirm whether the Alpha Kingdom possessed the missing Scepter of Glory and Holy Sword of Light, and Ulise ordered Kevin to investigate.

• Hudson used his new authority to demand unconditional obedience from the army’s officers and warned that military law would be enforced without regard to status.
• After inspecting the soldiers’ meals, Hudson ordered an additional five pounds of meat per soldier each day and set a one-month deadline for preparing the troops for field training.
• Hudson assigned Marquis James to oversee the ration changes and threatened severe punishment for anyone who obstructed the order or embezzled supplies.
• Ulise learned that the Church’s search team had likely perished on Poison Dragon Island without finding any divine artifacts and questioned whether the Alpha Kingdom held the missing relics.
• Kevin explained that the reports were unverified rumors, so Ulise ordered him to investigate as soon as the Dalton Family fleet returned.

Hudson reclaimed control of the Ghost Ship, then returned to the Mountain Territory, where a brief insight into the Law of Destiny hinted at his potential to reach the Holy Domain. He went back to the Royal Capital as the kingdom’s great nobles gathered and began building alliances for the coming war.

• Hudson used ghost spies to ambush the Ghost Kings, forced all three to sign Slave Contracts with Beldens and Maxim, and sent the Ghost Ship into the Misty Sea.
• Hudson told Melissa that she and Franz should remain in the Mountain Territory because the Royal Capital would be dangerous as war approached.
• Hudson briefly comprehended a trace of the Law of Destiny, and Beldens and Maxim argued over what he had experienced and what they knew about laws.
• Hudson returned to the Royal Capital after three days and met with the assembled regional powerholders, including the five great dukes of the Northlands.

As the war worsened on several fronts and the Elves rejected a non-aggression pact, the Alpha Kingdom’s leaders debated how to protect the Northern Continent and absorb retreating forces and refugees. Hudson used a proposed food rationing system to push for military spending reform, ending with a suggested upper limit on army provisions awaiting Caesar IV’s response.

• Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland proposed reinforcing the Warhammer Kingdom, preparing for an Elf invasion, and persuading the Seven Grassland Nations to retreat into the Alpha Kingdom, while Count Francis warned that other nations might refuse to cooperate.
• Count Albert and Count Oran urged the kingdom to steer the Seven Grassland Nations’ armies and refugees toward the Alpha Kingdom, and Hudson proposed accepting their forces and refugees under plans for eventual restoration.
• Marquis Delgado warned that the kingdom could not afford widespread refugee relief, so Hudson proposed distributing refugees among the provinces and introducing food rationing as wartime pressure increased.
• Caesar IV set a personal food standard and ordered military provisions to meet a minimum, while Hudson proposed ration limits for different social classes and called for an upper limit on army meals.
• Duke Affierro supported flexible military food standards and eliminating hard-to-obtain ingredients, as Hudson suggested setting the army’s upper limit at two to three times the standard.

Hudson overhauled the Standing Army’s supplies and training while persuading Duke Newfoundland that his limited-force strategy could defeat the Orc Empire. Meanwhile, the Alpha Kingdom’s pressure over the sea route pushed Fralant Wheel and the other plains countries to seek concessions and outside support, leaving tensions across the continent rising.

• Hudson audited the Standing Army’s recent accounts, punished military officials involved in corruption, and assigned the implicated nobles to dangerous missions in the Warrior Camp.
• Hudson improved soldiers’ rations and training, and he told Duke Newfoundland that redirected spending could cover the costs while the kingdom prepared a smaller army for war.
• Hudson argued that the weakened Orc Empire could be defeated with the Standing Army and 250,000 elite noble troops, then shifted the main army to the western front.
• Doni warned Philip I that the Alpha Kingdom’s fleet and moving pirate bands threatened New Harbor’s sea route if Fralant Wheel rejected its conditions.
• Gottel urged Philip I to negotiate with the Alpha Kingdom and offer refugees in exchange for safe passage and time to evacuate noble families.
• Philip I agreed to send negotiators, while other plains countries sought aid and prepared to pressure the Alpha Kingdom to protect their nobles during evacuation.

Duke Thorsten, Duke Xilo, and Duke Rodriguez observed Hudson’s troop training and discussed their weakened political position. At the Human Alliance Council, the five grassland nations accused the Alpha Kingdom, but Count Predrag turned the accusations against them, and Duke Bergson ordered a fleet to retrieve Bulent I and Baird I.

• Great nobles watched Hudson’s soldiers train daily and learned that veteran troops, steady supplies, and improved food helped make the drills effective.
• Duke Xilo, Duke Thorsten, and Duke Rodriguez discussed copying Hudson’s methods and the northern dukes’ diminished authority and influence.
• Duke Bergson opened the eighteenth Human Alliance Council session, where Count Predrag denied the five grassland nations’ accusations and branded them deserters.
• Count Predrag cited the grassland nations’ returning citizens and their treatment of the Xilong Duchy and Omega Duchy, prompting Count Carlis and Count Houston to accuse them of confining their kings.
• Duke Bergson interrupted the dispute and proposed sending an Alliance fleet to retrieve Bulent I and Baird I, leaving the five grassland nations defending themselves.

Charles III tried to contain the Fralant Wheel Kingdom’s political crisis, while Pope Pius VII blamed the Alpha Kingdom for the Church’s missing treasure-hunting team and ordered a fleet to pressure it. In Canglan City, Hudson reassured the kingdom’s nobles about the war and promoted expansion into the grasslands, leaving them doubtful but committed to fighting.

• Charles III rebuked the Fralant Wheel representatives, ordered them to stop their evacuation plan, and warned them not to endanger Baird I or Bulent I.
• Ulise told Pope Pius VII that Yosip and Yelachich’s team was likely lost after the Alpha Kingdom attacked their fleet and seized the divine artifact.
• Pope Pius VII ordered the Church’s fleet north under the pretext of suppressing pirates and threatened to help hunt the Ghost Ship.
• Hudson told Count Oran that the army’s intensive physical training would continue for another two or three months, despite its heavy supply demands.
• Hudson urged the great nobles to expect victory and promised them possible land in the Great Plains, while they remained privately uncertain but continued to support the war.

Hudson negotiated with Marquis Landry over refugees and the armies of the five prairie states, then joined the royal court as it considered the Church fleet’s planned voyage north. He encouraged the kingdom to hold firm and lure the Church fleet into the dangerous Misty Sea, where the Ghost Ships could attack it.

• Hudson told Marquis Landry that the Alpha Kingdom would accept refugees but proposed moving civilians from the five prairie states to the rear before their front lines collapsed.
• Hudson said mid- and high-ranking officers could evacuate with their families, while ordinary soldiers should remain to serve in the Continental War.
• Hudson learned that the Church planned to send its fleet north under the pretext of clearing the Ghost Ships from the Misty Sea.
• Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland urged Caesar IV not to yield to the Church, and Hudson proposed raising demands on the Bright Kingdom while letting the Church fleet search the Misty Sea.
• Grand Duke Affierro explained the Misty Sea’s navigational dangers, and Count Pierce warned that three Ghost Ships were lurking inside it.
• Caesar IV accepted Hudson’s proposal to let the Church fleet enter the Misty Sea.

Hudson trained the Kingdom Army’s officers in complex formations while the Church debated sending a fleet into the dangerous Misty Sea. On the Western Front, Marshal Borg ordered a retreat after enemy forces began casting two Forbidden Spells and the Elves appeared to join the war.

• Hudson drilled the noble officers in flexible formations, and he explained to Count Oran why ordinary soldiers and private armies could not easily reproduce them.
• Pope Pius VII ordered the First, Second, and Fourth Fleets north to investigate the treasure-seeking team’s disappearance, protect shipping, and confront the Ghost Ship if encountered.
• Marshal Borg’s forces failed to interrupt an enemy Forbidden Spell, and Master Jesse warned that the Elves might have joined the fighting.
• After Master Jesse detected a second Forbidden Spell gathering, Marshal Borg ordered the army to withdraw to the next defensive line.
• The Ancient Remnants Allied Forces could not pursue the retreating Northern Continent human allied forces without risking their own troops to the Forbidden Spells.

Hudson assessed the Elves’ entry into the war, proposed sending aid to the western front, and warned that the Church fleet faced grave danger in the Misty Sea. Meanwhile, Philip I sought to evacuate refugees from the grassland nations and approved concessions to speed negotiations with the Alpha Kingdom, unaware that Doni had secretly arranged cooperation with Hudson.

• Hudson argued that the Elves and Ancient Remnants might pursue competing goals, urged the kingdom to send reinforcements west, and emphasized divisions within the Ancient Remnants Alliance.
• Hudson warned that the Church fleet could suffer devastating losses from the Ghost Ships in the Misty Sea and said the kingdom should intervene only if the fleet escaped major damage.
• On the grasslands, Philip I complained that the Beastfolk were intensifying their attacks and demanded faster negotiations with the Alpha Kingdom to evacuate more people.
• Philip I rejected the idea of trusting the Church fleet, warning that the Church considered him and his followers heretics and could arrange their deaths at sea.
• Doni proposed sending refugees to the Alpha fleet as a gesture to advance negotiations, and Philip I approved while leaving the details to the Foreign Affairs Department.

After the western front collapsed under the Elves’ intervention, Hudson weighed whether the Alpha Kingdom should aid the Moxi Duchy or risk a surprise strike against the Ancient Remnants allied forces. He won support for a cavalry operation and promoted his force-maturing potion as a way to assemble the needed mounts, leaving the kingdom preparing to gamble on his plan.

• Viscount Racquel told Hudson that panic after the Elves entered the war had led to breaches in the first three defensive lines, and that East Warhammer Kingdom could not hold out without reinforcements.
• Hudson learned that the Elves had sent only a mage corps and part of their guard, but their forces had killed several eighth-rank experts who tried to attack them.
• Hudson proposed secretly committing fifty thousand elite troops to strike the Ancient Remnants allied forces, and Caesar IV, Duke Newfoundland, and other leaders questioned the plan’s risks and feasibility.
• Marquis Delgado backed Hudson’s plan by warning that the kingdom lacked the funds and supplies to fight on two fronts, prompting the leaders to accept that they had to gamble.
• Hudson said the operation would rely on cavalry and offered his Dragon Descendant Exclusive Potion to force-mature magical beasts, persuading the nobles to consider using it to equip their forces.

Hudson assessed the risks of his land-development plans after selling the Lizard Beast corpses, while Baron Cayo left Mountain Territory convinced Hudson was a dangerous rival and ordered him watched. In Maple Leaf Territory, Keterai’s creditors forced him to arrange a major deal with Hudson, revealing that they intended to use him as an intermediary.

• Hudson decided to stop using Swamp Brand fertilizer on the plains but continue using limited amounts on newly reclaimed mountain land, and he resolved to conceal Mountain Territory’s steelmaking technology.
• Baron Cayo told his steward to raise Mountain Territory’s threat level to the highest rank, watch Hudson closely, and plant spies there, while his steward said the count’s plans would eventually force Hudson to fight Baron Ciss.
• Baron Keterai’s creditors demanded repayment for the Beastfolk slaves and threatened him when he pleaded poverty.
• Keterai offered ironware as payment and proposed smuggling it into the Orc Empire, but Knight Roman and the Eagle-Eyed Elder mocked him and demanded that he make the trip himself.
• Lord Longxi offered to accept the goods if Keterai introduced him to Hudson and helped secure a major deal, then warned Keterai not to obstruct the transaction.
• Longxi revealed that Keterai’s greed had made him a convenient intermediary in a larger effort to reach Hudson, whom their previous schemes had failed to ensnare.

The Church fleet entered the Misty Sea to hunt Ghost Ships and investigate the missing divine artifact, while Hudson prepared a covert strike after the fleet split its forces. As a storm struck, Hudson sent Ghost Ships to secretly scatter poisonous insects over the Church warships.

• The Church commanders Moxis and Hamody received an unhelpful sea chart from an Alpha Kingdom envoy and continued into the Misty Sea to search for Ghost Ships and Poison Dragon Island.
• Hudson learned the Church fleet had entered the kingdom's waters and left the Royal Capital, then watched the fleet use Spirit Luring Lamps to try to attract Ghost Ships.
• Hudson recognized the Spirit Luring Lamps, ordered three Ghost Kings to take their ships to Poison Dragon Island, and told them to gather poisonous creatures.
• Moxis split the Church forces after the Spirit Luring Lamps failed to lure Ghost Ships, leaving warships and ordinary soldiers behind while experts entered the mist.
• As a storm battered the fleet, Hudson ordered three returning Ghost Ships to remain out of boarding range and secretly throw poisonous insects onto the Church warships.

Hudson’s ambush devastated the Church fleet during a storm, while the search party led by Hamody lost its way in the Misty Sea. By dawn, the Church’s main warships had been destroyed, but Hudson left the survivors alone and waited for another opportunity to deal with the forces still inside the Misty Sea.

• Moxis’s fleet came under attack from ghosts and venomous insects during the storm, and its warships began sinking as the Church’s soldiers struggled to fight back.
• Hamody’s search party became lost in the Misty Sea while trying to return to the fleet, and Hamody used cannon fire as a guide rather than risk sending scouts away from the ships.
• Moxis ordered the fleet to break out separately, prompting Hudson to have the Ghost King hold the main warships and send Beldens to attack them in secret.
• Beldens infiltrated the flagship, killed Moxis, and destroyed its Magic Array before sinking it; he then used the same tactic against other warships.
• At dawn, Hudson watched the wreckage and survivors from a distance, leaving the Ghost Ship to hunt while he postponed dealing with the Church forces still in the Misty Sea.

Hudson exploited the Church fleet’s destruction in the Misty Sea, directing the kingdom’s forces to attack isolated survivors while concealing his role behind pirate raids and Ghost Ship rumors. As Church forces remained trapped inside the sea, Hudson went to investigate Poison Dragon Island, where three Church warships had appeared, while Caesar IV considered the dangers posed by the Ghost Ships.

• Hudson ordered reconnaissance and a rescue for the scattered Church ships, while arranging for pirates to target isolated survivors without implicating the kingdom.
• Alpha and Black Forest Kingdom forces disguised as pirates destroyed Church warships, and Powell was captured and hanged after Black Forest sailors falsely branded him a pirate.
• After news spread that the Church’s three great fleets had been annihilated, Pope Pius VII demanded answers, while the prairie kingdoms quickly reached an agreement with Alpha Kingdom.
• Hudson’s fleet blockaded the Misty Sea as Hamody’s Church force fought the Ghosts, lost sailors, and eventually found Poison Dragon Island, where Hamody ordered a two-day search.
• Hudson entered the Misty Sea, found three Church warships near Poison Dragon Island, and told Beldens to check whether their experts had gone ashore before involving the Ghost Ships.
• Caesar IV celebrated the Church’s defeat but warned that the Ghost Ships could threaten the coast and its supply of dried fish.

Five days after destroying the Church fleet, Hudson prepared an elite army for an expedition while attending a royal meeting about the Human Alliance investigation. On the Holy Mountain, Pope Pius VII accepted the Ghost Ship as the cause of the fleet’s destruction, then revealed his breakthrough to the Holy Domain and ended calls to investigate further.

• Hudson returned to the Royal Capital after destroying the Church ships and began training thirty-five thousand elite soldiers for the coming expedition.
• Hudson attended Caesar IV’s meeting, where the king announced that the Kingdom would cooperate with the Human Alliance investigation and asked about preparations to aid Moxi Duchy.
• Pope Pius VII learned that the Alpha Kingdom’s navy remained intact, while Ulise argued that the Ghost Ship had destroyed the Church fleet and that the Alpha Kingdom may have lured it north.
• Pope Pius VII released an immense aura and revealed his breakthrough to the Holy Domain, prompting his followers to congratulate him.
• Pope Pius VII postponed settling accounts with the Alpha Kingdom and ordered the Church to care for the fallen soldiers’ families.

Pius VII’s breakthrough to the Holy Domain shook the continent’s power balance, prompting kingdoms to reassess the Church’s weakness and their own plans. The Alpha Kingdom gathered its eighth-rank powerhouses to discuss cultivation, while the Frankish and Black Forest kingdoms moved to exploit the Church’s setbacks.

• News of Pius VII’s breakthrough stirred eighth-rank powerhouses across the continent, and the Alpha Kingdom convened a meeting to help its experts pursue the Holy Domain.
• Caesar IV invited the kingdom’s powerhouses to exchange cultivation insights, while Morrison and Robert warned dark-element cultivators against seeking the Ghost Ship core.
• Charles III and Duke Bergson decided to intensify the war against the Half-Orc Kingdom, ordering its defeat within three months and destruction within a year.
• Alexander V and Duke Milton reasoned that Pius VII was avoiding retaliation because a mission against the Ghost Ships could expose his divine artifacts to attack.
• Alexander V chose to withhold the Black Forest Kingdom’s tithes during the war and wait for other nations’ negotiations before seeking a reduction.

As the allied alien forces advanced into the Moxi Duchy, Hudson negotiated with Caesar IV to send Alpha reinforcements early and secure refugees for the Mountain Territory. Hudson agreed to march within five days, leaving the kingdom’s army poised to intervene in the western war.

• King George received reports that the Moxi Duchy faced a growing invasion and that Hudson was preparing one hundred thousand Alpha reinforcements.
• Hudson inspected the assembled army, then received a message that the alien forces had launched a full offensive along the Augsburg line.
• Caesar IV showed Hudson George’s private request for earlier aid, and Hudson agreed to discuss the terms with the king privately.
• Hudson asked the royal family to help resettle refugees in the Mountain Territory, and Caesar IV agreed that Hudson could take between eight hundred thousand and one and a half million people.
• Hudson told Caesar IV that the reinforcements would depart within five days and enter the Moxi Duchy before the month ended.

Hudson sent the expeditionary army toward the Moxi Duchy under the guise of march training while the Three Ghost Kings disrupted maritime trade and refugee transport. After learning that Mountain Territory’s fleets had stopped sailing, Hudson considered using his reputation to negotiate with the Ghost Ships, leaving him to prepare for both the campaign and the coastal nobles’ demands.

• Hudson ordered the expeditionary army to march the next day under a Long-Distance March Training Plan, positioning it to aid the Moxi Duchy if needed.
• The Three Ghost Kings’ reputation frightened sailors and disrupted refugee transport, while Orc scouts hunted refugees fleeing across the grasslands.
• Jose tried to persuade Captain Gur to continue transporting immigrants, then proposed gathering shipowners and asking Hudson to escort them.
• Hudson received Jose’s letter after the army had departed and decided negotiation with the Ghost Ships could solve Mountain Territory’s shipping problem.
• Hudson anticipated that coastal nobles would seek his help once Mountain Territory’s ships sailed safely, and he prepared to make the trip himself.

Hudson secured free navigation through the Misty Sea by negotiating with the Ghost Ship, and he prepared his territory and coastal nobles to meet the Ghost Ship’s demands. Meanwhile, Racquel struggled to organize the allied defenders at Augsburg and ordered the routed troops reorganized under stricter control.

• Howell reported a fierce battle in the Misty Sea, and Hudson emerged with Maxim and a bear after making a show of his strength.
• Governor Pierce and his advisers concluded that Hudson might have negotiated with the Three Ghost Kings, so Pierce moved to contact other coastal nobles and prepare a gift.
• Hudson sent the Dragon Bear Banner fleet out from Bear Port and instructed Jacob to give visiting nobles the Ghost Ship’s supply list and contract without making promises.
• Hudson left his private army behind to guard the Mountain Territory and flew with members of his staff toward the military camp.
• At Augsburg, Racquel complained about unruly routed troops and ordered them divided into twelve armies, their noble officers summoned, and the Supervision Team assigned to enforce discipline.

Rackel’s defenders repelled a giant and Many-Clawed Tribe vanguard at Augsburg, but he requested allied support as the larger threat loomed. Hudson learned of the Moxi Duchy’s appeal and accelerated his forced march, anticipating an opportunity to strike when Augsburg fell.

• Rackel ordered the Magic Crystal Cannons to fire, and the giants answered with boulders and uprooted trees, killing defenders and prompting Rackel to execute deserters.
• Holt stopped Katem from continuing the attack and ordered the vanguard to withdraw until the main force arrived.
• After the enemy retreated, Rackel ordered heightened vigilance and asked the Royal Capital for allied reinforcements and Marshal Hudson’s command.
• Hudson told Jose to reassure Jacob about the leaked peace treaties, post a mission against the Three Ghost Kings if needed, and increase grain production to prepare for arriving refugees.
• Jose informed Hudson that the Moxi Duchy had requested his help commanding its army, and Hudson ordered the expeditionary force to double its daily marching distance toward Augsburg.