Chapter Summaries

The Elves prepared to enter the war as the Half-Orc Kingdom faced collapse and the alien alliances intensified their attack on the Moxi battlefield. After Augsburg’s outer wall fell, Hudson kept his elite reinforcements concealed and planned to enter the inner city that night, hoping the defenders would hold long enough for his counterstroke.

• The Ancient Remnants Alliance argued over its siege duties until Deliger proposed drawing lots, which Priest Remo agreed to witness.
• Azevedo XVII ordered the Royal City sealed against refugees and threatened that the Half-Orc Kingdom would surrender to humanity unless it received reinforcements.
• The Forest Elf Queen ordered an early campaign against Cantrell, Usta, and Fick and sent a mage corps to stabilize the Half-Orc Kingdom.
• The Beastfolk and Ancient Remnants Alliance intensified their attacks, and the demoralized defenders along the Augsburg line retreated until the city was isolated.
• Hudson kept his reinforcements back while the enemy’s Forbidden Spell demolished Augsburg’s outer wall, then told Maxim they would enter the inner city that night.

As the Moxi Duchy reeled from defeats and the fall of the Augsburg defensive line, Hudson took command of the city’s defense and lured the Ancient Remnants coalition into a trap. He led an Alpha Kingdom cavalry force in a surprise attack on the coalition’s camp while its main army was trapped fighting inside Augsburg.

• George and his officials discussed the duchy’s collapsing fronts, limited foreign aid, and weakened troops, then George ordered refugees sent away to conserve relief grain.
• Hudson arrived at Augsburg, calmed the panicked commanders, and told Rackel to follow the existing defensive plan.
• Hudson ordered noisy cannon fire and feints from the city gates to keep the enemy awake while the expeditionary army rested.
• Hudson gave the expeditionary army stimulants for its horses and led it toward Augsburg for a surprise attack.
• The feint let the Ancient Remnants coalition break into Augsburg, where its troops became entangled in chaotic fighting.
• Hudson’s magical beast cavalry struck the coalition’s exposed main camp, killing many soldiers before they could organize a defense.

Hudson’s forces routed the Ancient Remnants Alliance at Augsburg, then surrounded Priest Remo and the Elves’ depleted mage corps. The Elves surrendered under Hudson’s prisoner-of-war guarantee as the allied armies broke apart, and the battle was nearly over by dawn.

• Hudson ordered the city defenders to counterattack as the allied forces retreated from the burning camps, and the Kingdom Army’s cavalry drove through their scattered troops.
• Priest Remo ordered the Elves to withdraw, but Beldens wounded him and the magical beast cavalry surrounded the elf force.
• Hudson realized the Elves’ mages had exhausted their mana and halted the attack, then offered them surrender under the Pact of Ten Thousand Races.
• Priest Remo accepted Hudson’s terms, and the Elves laid down their weapons as Hudson ordered his troops to call for enemy soldiers to surrender.
• The allied armies dissolved into flight while the Kingdom Army targeted those still resisting, and only scattered non-human troops remained by dawn.

After Hudson's victory at Augsburg, the Moxi Duchy and Alpha Kingdom celebrated the reversal while confronting the war's heavy casualties and the threat of the Elves. The governments debated how to guard and fund care for fifty thousand prisoners as the kingdom's strained finances offered few easy options.

• Hudson ordered the victory report sent to Dapes, recommended keeping the prisoners alive to encourage future surrenders, and promised elf captives treatment under the ancient Pact of Ten Thousand Races.
• Count Martins reported Hudson's victory at Augsburg to George, who sent him to consult Hudson about the next deployment and bolster the front's morale.
• Count Renato warned George that the Elves could join the Ancient Remnants Alliance after the three duchies of Kantru, Usta, and Fick fell.
• Caesar IV's ministers debated joint guards and anti-magic potions for the prisoners, while Marquis Delgado warned that the kingdom could not easily afford the expense.
• Marquis Delgado urged the ministers to fund the added costs through a war tax or advance commercial taxes, since the Treasury Department had run out of room to cut expenses.

Hudson halted his pursuit after routing the Ancient Remnants Alliance, while the alliance’s leaders struggled over blame and the danger of losing their conquered territories. After learning that her mage corps had vanished and Hudson had led the human victory, the Forest Elf Queen resolved to face him on the battlefield.

• Hudson’s expeditionary army captured or killed thousands of routed enemy soldiers, and he transferred a legion to guard the growing number of prisoners.
• Hudson stopped the pursuit when the scattered enemy remnants made further gains too small and risked exposing his forces to ambush.
• The Giant King demanded punishment for the races that had fled and abandoned the Elf Mage Corps, while the Macaque King resisted and the Many-Clawed King and Shadow King urged the alliance to focus on reinforcing the front.
• The Forest Elf Queen learned that Hudson’s night raid had defeated the allied army and that the Elf Mage Corps was missing after exhausting its magic.
• The Forest Elf Queen assessed Hudson’s reputation and voiced her desire to test her strength against the Dragon Bear Knight.

After Augsburg’s victory, Pope Pius VII plotted to weaken the Alpha Kingdom by subtly exaggerating Hudson’s fame. As the Elves drove refugees into the remaining duchies and threatened their ability to resist, Hudson prepared a long-range raid, but his demand for scarce sugar exposed a supply problem.

• Pope Pius VII ordered his agents to promote Hudson with grand titles so that the Alpha Kingdom’s rulers might turn against him.
• Rackel told Hudson that the Elves had captured the Duchy of Cantlu’s capital and that the Duchies of Usta and Fick were threatening to surrender without reinforcements.
• Hudson ordered intelligence gathering and learned that the Elves were driving elderly people, women, and children into neighboring duchies while killing young and middle-aged men.
• Hudson rejected an invasion of the Ice and Snow World because winter and supply risks made it too dangerous, then ordered preparations for a long-range raid.
• Rackel warned Hudson that the army could gather most supplies but would struggle to obtain sugar, which was scarce even in the Royal Capital.

Caesar IV’s ministers weighed how to respond to Usta and Fick’s threats to surrender, while Hudson prepared to maneuver against the assembled enemy forces. In the Fralant Wheel Kingdom, Philip I learned that the Bright Kingdom had fallen, leaving his country as the last of the Seven Grassland Nations still resisting the Beastfolk.

• Caesar IV heard Count Francis argue that Usta and Fick had sent their pleas in desperation and that they needed help, while Grand Duke Newfoundland rejected any promise the kingdom could not control.
• Duke Affierro proposed offering support for Usta and Fick’s restoration if they resisted, and Caesar IV approved that position while ordering the Foreign Affairs Department to contact them and the Military Affairs Department to inform Hudson.
• Tom reported that at least two hundred thousand enemy troops were gathering in Decras Province, and Jose warned Hudson that the enemy might avoid battle and wait for the Elves.
• Hudson ordered his army to pack its supplies and march the next morning, planning to threaten the enemy’s retreat route and advance toward the Duchy of Orton if necessary.
• Chancellor Delae told Philip I that the Bright Kingdom’s capital had fallen after its forces attempted a breakout, leaving the Fralant Wheel Kingdom alone to defend New Harbor.

Hudson attended a military conference about the unfinished Northern Frontier defenses and the kingdom’s limited supplies, then led his expeditionary army deep behind enemy lines. The hundred-race alliance debated how to stop him, and the chapter ended with Hudson learning that tens of thousands of enemy troops were gathering toward Dezhou Province.

• Prime Minister Grand Duke Newfoundland criticized the Northern Frontier governors for failing to complete the defense line, and Hudson ordered temporary defenses while assigning the responsible nobles to garrison strategic points.
• Hudson rejected calls for a quick decisive battle in the north, explaining that the kingdom lacked the supplies and time to fight there before the western front might collapse.
• Hudson left the Royal Capital and led the expeditionary army across the Warhammer Great Plains, where frightened nonhuman forces withdrew and the hundred-race alliance argued over whether to attack him.
• The Shadow King urged caution, and the Giant King agreed to wait for reinforcements before risking a decisive battle against Hudson.
• Hudson sent scouts and Beldens to monitor enemy movements, then learned that tens of thousands of enemy troops were gathering toward Dezhou Province about three hundred li away.

The rainy season halted Hudson’s expeditionary army and disrupted the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s forces, while the Shadow King weighed the alliance’s weaknesses and secretly pursued his own plans. After seven days of rain, a flash flood struck the enemy army in Dekras Province, and Hudson prepared to deploy his magical beast cavalry.

• The Shadow King told Allen that the alliance had committed to a decisive battle, while Allen urged him to unite its races and the king concealed his ambitions behind doubts about their strength.
• Hudson adjusted the expeditionary army’s route to draw closer to the Ancient Remnants’ reinforcements, then ordered it to camp on high ground when Kane predicted rain.
• Kavell argued with Pamela during the downpour, demanding that she send her people on patrol despite the enemy being hundreds of li away.
• Jose reported that the rainy season would prevent the expeditionary army from carrying out its original plan, and Hudson told him to wait for an opportunity.
• After seven days of rain, flash floods struck the Ancient Remnants allied army in Dekras Province, and Hudson summoned the magical beast cavalry’s officers to plan their next move.

Hudson’s monster legion caught the allied army off guard and routed its reinforcements, while Kavell’s giants accidentally disrupted both the battle and the pursuit. As the survivors fled toward the allied camp in Decras Province, the Ancient Remnants kings organized a rescue force without knowing the full situation.

• Pamela warned Kavell that the giants’ supplies were running low, but an enemy army soon attacked the camp before the allied forces could properly form up.
• Kavell led the giants away from the camp, leaving Hudson’s expeditionary army to overwhelm the disorganized defenders with Magic Crossbows, magical beasts, and Hudson’s magic bow.
• Kavell’s giants forced fleeing soldiers back into the camp, where Hudson called for surrender; many soldiers dropped their weapons, and Kavell led his troops away as Hudson pursued the retreating enemy.
• In Decras Province, the allied kings received reports that the 50,000 reinforcements had been ambushed and badly defeated, then agreed to organize a rescue force and gather more information.

The expeditionary force routed Ancient Remnants Alliance troops in the Warhammer Kingdom, and Hudson prepared to draw in enemy reinforcements while Moxi Duchy weighed sending troops to join him. As the Elves assessed humanity’s growing military strength, the Forest Elf Queen ordered a faster campaign against Moxi Duchy and the Alpha Kingdom’s expeditionary force.

• Tyler and Third Uncle hid from fleeing giants, and Third Uncle discovered tens of thousands of routed soldiers before identifying Hudson’s Dragon Bear War Banner.
• Hudson learned the enemy had mobilized its main army and ordered his troops to camp and resume pursuit the next day.
• George ordered Rackel to lead eighteen legions into the Warhammer Kingdom, but Count Martins warned that Moxi Duchy’s forces were needed against the advancing Elves, so George agreed to seek Hudson’s opinion first.
• The Forest Elf Queen explained that Alpha’s monster cavalry and human military technology posed a serious threat, then urged the Elves to strike Moxi Duchy and destroy the Alpha expeditionary force.

Hudson adjusted the expeditionary army’s plan after the Ancient Remnants Alliance advanced as a united force, while the alliance’s kings struggled to resolve the crisis caused by the rout of fifty thousand troops. As Kavell’s Giants fled hungry under pursuit, Hudson watched from above and planned to capture the deserters before turning to the alliance’s hidden loot.

• Hudson ordered the main army to attack the enemy from both front and rear and swallow the bait after the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s army advanced.
• The Shadow King demanded accountability for the rout, while the Giant King called for fairness and the Macaque King warned that the alliance might collapse if it failed to unite against humanity.
• The Many-Clawed King proposed sending all routed soldiers into a death squad, where they could earn their lives by winning three great victories, and the kings agreed.
• Kavell ordered his hungry Giants to search for food and regroup within two hours as Hudson’s forces continued to pressure the routed soldiers.
• Hudson, Beldens, and Maxim watched the pursuit from the sky, and Hudson bet that more than half of the routed soldiers would surrender.
• Maxim proposed searching for treasure looted by the alliance, and Hudson agreed to investigate after dealing with the routed troops.

Kavell’s routed army fled into a grove, where hunger and thirst left it vulnerable to Hudson’s smoke attack and surrender. After capturing the exhausted survivors, Hudson ordered the expeditionary army south to face the approaching Elven reinforcements.

• Kavell led the starving alliance troops into a small grove to escape the pursuing cavalry, where the commanders discovered they had no water or supplies.
• At the alliance camp, the Snow Eagle King and the Shadow King argued over whether to split their forces before five thousand Elves arrived as an advance force.
• The elven woman announced that ten thousand reinforcements had been sent and urged the kings to prepare for battle, while Jose warned Hudson that the Elves could change the expeditionary army’s plans.
• Hudson ordered mages to send smoke into the grove, driving Kavell and the routed soldiers out until they surrendered.
• Hudson learned that most prisoners were too exhausted or smoke-poisoned to move, then ordered rice porridge for the wounded and sent the mobile prisoners south with the army.

Hudson launched a nighttime assault on the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s logistics force, intending to draw out the Elves and destroy part of their army. The allied kings received word of the attack and began organizing a rescue, while the expeditionary army broke through the camp defenses and charged inside.

• Snow Eagle King learned that the enemy had withdrawn south and led the allied forces to the battlefield, where the kings found more than twenty thousand wounded soldiers needing care.
• The Elf woman provided diluted magic potions that could keep some wounded soldiers alive, and the allied kings faced the problem of caring for them while continuing the march.
• Hudson ordered his army to camp, studied the enemy’s logistics position, and explained that he would use a raid to lure out the Elf army rather than simply burn supplies.
• The allied kings received a dying Snow Eagle’s message that their rear troops and supplies had been ambushed, so Shadow King proposed forming a rescue vanguard and seeking the Elves’ help.
• Hudson’s forces attacked the enemy camp at night, using Holy Domain experts and monster cavalry to break through its defenses and begin slaughtering the troops inside.

Hudson’s expeditionary army ambushed the Ancient Remnants and Elven forces, using Magic Crossbows to inflict heavy losses while Delis and Hudson faced off. As the battle became a bloody contest of attrition, Jose’s harassment slowed the coalition’s reinforcements, leaving both armies locked in a fight whose outcome remained uncertain.

• After destroying the enemy camp, Hudson ordered the expeditionary army to keep ten days of rations and burn the remaining supplies before reinforcements arrived.
• Delis detected Hudson’s ambush, and the armies clashed as Hudson and Delis confronted each other; Little White refused to help her capture him and fled with her.
• The expeditionary army’s Magic Crossbows devastated the lightly equipped Ancient Remnants and Elves, while Hudson tried to persuade Delis to surrender and then undermined her troops’ confidence by claiming their reinforcements had been intercepted.
• Delis kept her army fighting despite its losses, and the exchange of casualties narrowed as the battle shifted into a costly war of attrition.
• Jose repeatedly ambushed and harassed the two-hundred-thousand-strong coalition column, slowing its advance and prompting the kings to order their troops to march faster.
• Hudson watched the continuing battle with grave attention as the expeditionary army faced its first true clash between elite forces.

Hudson withdrew after crippling the allied army, then explained how the losses, destroyed supplies, and distrust between the Elves and the Ancient Remnants Alliance could weaken their coalition further. Delis blamed the Ancient Remnants Alliance for arriving late, while its kings faced a worsening supply crisis with no clear plan.

• Delis celebrated the apparent reversal, but Hudson ordered the exhausted expeditionary army to withdraw rather than risk more losses.
• Hudson reassured Jose that his assault on the enemy camp had helped destroy supplies and widen the rift between the Elves and the Ancient Remnants Alliance.
• Delis confronted the reinforcements and blamed the Ancient Remnants Alliance for her legion's catastrophic losses after they arrived too late.
• The Shadow King explained that enemy forces had intercepted them and attacked their rear camp, killing garrison troops and wounded soldiers.
• Delis urged the allied kings to solve their supply problem, but they hesitated because their only available solution was dangerous to propose.

After the battle, Hudson abandoned Jose’s bid to command the monster legion and dealt with the expeditionary army’s reports and political constraints. He then joined the Undead Mages in a nighttime raid on the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s camp in Declass Province, where their undead assault spread across a quarter of the camp while Beldens looted valuables.

• Hudson crossed Jose off the list for legion commander after noble opposition made his appointment impossible, and Jose accepted that the king would not support his advancement.
• Delis punished the races that had eaten their comrades by assigning them to the death battalion and ordered the alliance to burn all corpses, then urged its leaders to search for food and supplies.
• Hudson, Maxim, and Beldens watched the enemy camp and planned a nighttime raid, with Hudson deciding to use the Undead Mages to create chaos.
• At midnight, Hudson directed the Undead Mages to summon an undead legion while Maxim prepared to burn supplies and Beldens prepared to loot valuables.
• Hudson repeatedly changed locations as he summoned undead beneath the Forbidden Spell Undead Sky, which covered a quarter of the camp and overwhelmed its defenders.
• Beldens split off to search the tents while Hudson and Maxim continued the assault, and Maxim questioned how Hudson could summon undead with such abundant magic power.

Hudson’s team disrupted the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s camp with undead, burned supplies, and looted coins, worsening the enemy’s food crisis. As the allied kings argued over the losses and the roaming cavalry blocked their attempts to gather provisions, Hudson called for reinforcements and supplies to secure the expeditionary army’s advantage.

• Hudson, Maxim, and Beldens escaped after the undead attack destroyed supplies and inflicted heavy losses on the enemy camp.
• Hudson questioned Beldens about the stolen haul, and Beldens explained that the cache contained only coins.
• The Giant King and the other leaders discussed the attack, while Delis rebuked the Shadow King’s suggestion that she retaliate against Hudson.
• The expeditionary army’s roaming cavalry returned and prevented the alliance from gathering provisions.
• Hudson ordered Tom to send letters requesting five to eight Moxi legions, the recovery of lost territory, and strategic supplies for the expeditionary army.

After the Elves destroyed the Duchies of Usta and Fick with a devastating Forbidden Spell offensive, Hudson’s Expeditionary Corps shifted its strategy from defeating the Ancient Remnants Alliance to weakening it and fostering division. The Alpha Kingdom prepared for negotiations while facing threats on both fronts, and Hudson suspected that an Elven air supply mission might conceal a withdrawal.

• The Elves destroyed the Duchies of Usta and Fick in a single day, casting fifteen Forbidden Spells and alarming Hudson and the Northern Continent.
• Hudson’s officers judged that the Elf army’s intervention threatened the Duchy of Orton and might force the kingdom to defend the Moxi Duchy; Hudson ordered harassment tactics aimed at dividing the Ancient Remnants Alliance.
• Caesar IV convened the kingdom’s leaders without Hudson, and Duke Affierro and Count Francis described the Elf advance, the northern threat, and plans to seek negotiations with Elven help from the Alien Race Alliance.
• Hudson used cavalry and local resistance forces to attack enemy strongholds and disrupt the Ancient Remnants Alliance’s control and supply lines across the Warhammer Great Plains.
• After learning that Elven air forces had dropped food for the enemy, Hudson ordered Tom and the Griffon Dragon Cavalry to watch for signs that the Elves were evacuating their wounded.

The Frankish Kingdom captured the Half-Orc royal capital, while the Forest Elf Queen and her allies debated the worsening war and whether to negotiate with the Alpha Kingdom. On the Warhammer Great Plains, Hudson prepared to attack the starving Ancient Remnants Allied Forces, whose exhausted leaders waited for a strike they suspected would not come.

• Frankish troops breached the Half-Orc royal capital, forcing the Half-Orc King to flee while his guards and harem members stayed behind as a rearguard.
• Chancellor Duke Bergson reported the victory to Charles III, who ordered commendations for the troops and a swift Great Purge.
• The Forest Elf Queen and the other Elf queens discussed the Half-Orc Kingdom’s collapse, the threat from the Franks, and negotiations with the Alpha Kingdom over the failing Ancient Remnants Alliance.
• Hudson received Warhammer nobles seeking military merit certificates while resistance forces recovered territory and political rivalries intensified.
• Hudson ordered his army to cook and prepare to crush the enemy that night, while the Giant King dismissed the expected attack as another exhausting feint.