Chapter Summaries

Sordil prepared two hundred dragon soldiers to strike the Western Continent’s supply route and said goodbye to Irene before departing. At the Western Continent camp, Kelsu learned that Olibuk and Shideweig had begun their part of the plan and ordered the forces to prepare for the coordinated operation.

• Sordil told the assembled dragon soldiers they would ambush the Western Continent’s grain transports, and they agreed to join the expedition.
• Sordil met Irene in secret, exchanged promises with her, and left after she told him she would wait for his return.
• Diphiya confirmed the troops were assembled, then led them toward the city to use the Teleportation Array.
• Zakro reported to Kelsu that Olibuk and Shideweig had begun acting according to plan.
• Kelsu ordered Goodpes to contact Old Friend and told Delsd to gather the troops and move them to the designated location.

Western Great Dragons moved the Western Continent’s food convoy toward Ishgar while Olibuk restrained Shideweig to keep the operation on plan. Beneath the sea, Sordil’s special operations squad learned the convoy was approaching in overwhelming numbers, leaving them to face a force more than six times their own.

• Olibuk stopped Shideweig from racing ahead and ordered other Dragons to carry him until the group met the people from Ishgar.
• Grandiere teased Igneel about cooking for the squad, and Igneel promised to help Sordil resolve his marital troubles.
• Murellia returned from gathering information and reported that the Western Continent’s food convoy was nearing them.
• Yelibell revealed that the approaching enemy force was probably more than six times the squad’s size.

Sordil realized the enemy’s food escort was an open trap that could leave Ishgar vulnerable whichever response they chose. At the Western Continent camp, Kelsu, Goodpes, and Delsd confirmed their forces were positioned and ready to attack on command.

• Sordil understood that sending troops to intercept the food could expose Ishgar to an attack, while retreating would let the enemy strengthen its forces, and he began searching for a countermeasure.
• Yelibell stopped Igneel from disturbing Sordil, and the others formed a quiet barrier around him.
• Goodpes told Kelsu that an old friend had reported everything was ready, and Kelsu said they could begin once Delsd was prepared.
• Delsd arrived exhausted and covered in dust, then argued with Goodpes over the mess caused by Goodpes's troops before Kelsu redirected them to the operation.
• Delsd reported that all troops had reached their assigned positions and could attack on command, and Kelsu said they would wait for the signal.

Sordil devised a plan to wear down the enemy at sea while striking the Western Continent and forcing its grain convoy to turn back. As the opposing forces prepared their own movements, Yate learned that about three thousand people had appeared near the Ishgar camp and chose to investigate before requesting reinforcements.

• Sordil proposed dividing the dragons into eleven squads, with rotating sea raids and a strike on the Western Continent to draw back the enemy’s main force and capture its supply convoy.
• Igneel called Sordil’s plan a wicked scheme, angering the other dragon leaders, who surrounded him as he tried to explain himself.
• At the Western Continent camp, Delsd worried that Olibuk had not reported in, while Kelsu told him to wait because the troops were in position for the second plan.
• Boge dug an underground passage across the Eastern Chigengster Plains, and Zodinger and Hit led their men through it quietly.
• Maser and Phil reported signs of roughly three thousand people near the Godeswet Mountain camp, and Yate decided to investigate before asking Lord Sage Dragon for reinforcements.

Olibuk and Shideweig’s grain convoy was ambushed at sea, while Kelsu launched a coordinated plan and Phil warned the Ishgar camp that thousands of unfamiliar enemy troops had surrounded them. Yate and the others went to verify the threat as the camp prepared to seek help from the Wise Dragon.

• Shideweig apologized to Olibuk for his earlier rashness, and Olibuk assigned him to guard the convoy’s rear.
• Ambushers struck the grain convoy with three waves of breaths, scattering its escorts before withdrawing; Olibuk and Shideweig chose to hurry onward rather than pursue them.
• Kelsu ordered Goodpes to contact the underground forces and sent Delsd to carry out the second plan while he prepared to hold the opposing camp in place.
• Phil arrived bloodied at the Ishgar camp and warned Yate, Maser, Livia, and Burz that thousands of unfamiliar enemy troops had surrounded them.
• After Phil described the enemy’s four formations, Yate led Maser and Livia outside to confirm what he had seen.

Yate and the others faced an enemy force surrounding the North Camp, so Phil insisted on breaking through to ask Belserion for help. Phil reached Belserion’s camp and reported the North Camp’s danger, leaving Belserion aware that reinforcements were urgently needed.

• Yate, Maser, and Livia saw four enemy formations totaling about four thousand troops and decided that someone had to break through to report the threat.
• Phil arrived with Burz and persuaded Yate to let him carry the message despite his injuries; he vanished into the shadows and left for Belserion’s camp.
• Belserion heard reports of activity at the enemy camp, then learned that a wounded black dragon with urgent military intelligence had been captured.
• Phil burst out of the medical tent and was mistaken for an assassin until Belserion recognized him.
• Phil told Belserion that the North Camp was surrounded after the enemy followed the scouts back, and that Yate and the others remained behind to defend it.

Belserion learned that North Camp was surrounded and organized a relief force with Holy Dragon and Xizhalansa. As the reinforcements approached Godeswet Mountain, Xizhalansa recognized the site of a previous ambush and halted, while Delsd’s hidden troops waited for a way to lure them into the forest.

• Phil told Belserion that about four thousand enemy soldiers surrounded North Camp, and Belserion promised to send aid.
• Belserion summoned Holy Dragon and Xizhalansa, and they agreed to send both the First and Second Divisions while transferring three hundred soldiers to the Third Division to guard the main camp.
• Delsd learned from Kelsu that the enemy had taken the bait and ordered his troops to remain hidden until the target was fully in the net.
• Xizhalansa halted the advancing force outside Godeswet Mountain after recognizing the forest as the site of his earlier ambush.
• Xizhalansa decided to wait for Holy Dragon and the Second Division, while Delsd ordered a subordinate to leave quietly and create a commotion at North Camp to draw the troops into the forest.

Yate and Maser realized the Western Continent’s forces were using North Camp as bait to draw Wise Dragon’s reinforcements into an ambush, while Xizhalansa and Acnologia led their divisions into the ensuing battle. The Second Division rescued the trapped First Division, but the enemy withdrew into the forest, leaving Yate wary that the threat had not passed.

• Yate, Maser, Burz, and Livia realized the enemy might be attacking North Camp to force Wise Dragon’s reinforcements into an ambush, and Yate ordered the defenders to fight.
• Xizhalansa recognized the danger ahead, sent a report to Lord Holy Dragon, and ordered the First Division to advance cautiously while keeping its formation secure.
• Delsd urged Goodpes to intensify the attack on North Camp so the reinforcements would be forced toward the ambush.
• Acnologia learned from Ejifei that Xizhalansa’s First Division was under pressure and led the Second Division toward the Ambush Forest.
• Acnologia’s Second Division charged into the melee, rescued the trapped First Division, and forced Delsd to call for more troops.
• After the Western Continent’s forces retreated into the forest, Yate warned Maser that the enemy had hidden itself there again.

Yate and Livia led North Camp in a rescue of Acnologia’s trapped First and Second Divisions as they fought to break through the Western Continent army’s encirclement. The survivors escaped into the jungle, while Acnologia’s captain of the guard slipped away on a separate mission and Yate retreated after delaying Goodpes.

• Yate explained to Maser that a second batch of enemy reinforcements had surrounded the troops who ambushed the first, then sent Maser to find the two men down the mountain.
• Delsd’s reinforcements struck the Second Division with breath attacks, and Acnologia ordered his troops to mix into enemy ranks while Delsd rallied his dragons to counterattack.
• Xizhalansa tried to regroup the First Division with Acnologia’s Second Division, but Delsd pursued them and called on Goodpes to block their escape route.
• Yate led North Camp to the predicted breakout point and told Livia to open a gap while he held off an enemy unit.
• Xizhalansa turned back with a small force to delay Delsd, while Acnologia led the remaining troops toward the outskirts.
• North Camp blocked Goodpes’s soldiers and opened an escape route, allowing Acnologia and the survivors to enter the jungle; Yate threw a gray-black bead at Goodpes and retreated after Livia signaled him.

At used one of the Magic Crystals to help Acnologia and the others escape the battlefield, while Belserion realized the enemy’s attacks were part of a trap targeting the Central Camp. Belserion ordered the camp’s defenses strengthened as the attack continued.

• At detonated a Magic Crystal containing Ghost Dragon power, spreading Black Mist that incapacitated pursuers and allowed Acnologia’s group to escape.
• Livia explained that Igneel had left three Magic Crystals for emergencies, and At confirmed he had used one; the group then headed for the North Camp to recover.
• Evil Dragons from the Western Continent attacked the Ishgar Camp, and Belserion ordered Gelsi to organize a counterattack.
• Dales returned wounded and reported what had happened on the way to the North Camp with Aku.
• Belserion connected the recent events and realized the enemy’s true target was the Central Camp, then ordered Sakta to strengthen its defenses.

Prince Sordil’s bandits looted and destroyed secret realms on the Western Continent while Olibuk and Shideweig’s grain convoy came under repeated attack at sea. Ben warned them that the bandits had targeted Olibuk’s secret realm, Gryen Charles, and that their small force seemed to conceal a larger group.

• Prince Sordil learned that the ruined territory was Kelsu’s secret realm and ordered his bandits to take what they could, destroy the rest, and burn it down before moving to other realms.
• The exhausted grain convoy mistook migrating flying fish for a threat, then came under successive attacks that scattered its members and prevented Olibuk and Shideweig from organizing a counterattack.
• Shideweig nearly struck Ben when he approached, but stopped after Ben pleaded for mercy and reported that bandits were looting secret realms across the Western Continent.
• Ben told Olibuk and Shideweig that Goodpes’s Artek Kars, Glaide’s Koreita, and Kelsu’s realms had been plundered, and that the bandits had now targeted Olibuk’s Gryen Charles.
• Ben reported that the bandits appeared in groups of only one or two hundred, yet defeated their defenders quickly and left no survivors; Olibuk listened gravely as his confidence in his secret realm’s defenses faded.

Olibuk and Shideweig recognized the bandit attack as a maneuver meant to force them to choose between their grain escort mission and their holdings in the Western Continent, so they split their forces. At the Ishgar camp, the Wise Dragon discussed the attackers who had returned to their unit, while Kelsu learned that Montedoss had returned from the grain convoy badly injured and began to fear the worst.

• Olibuk persuaded Shideweig that the bandits were Ishgar's ruse to summon them back and make them abandon either the grain convoy or their Western Continent holdings.
• Olibuk ordered half their troops to keep escorting the grain to Ishgar while he and Shideweig led the rest back to the Western Continent, and he told Shideweig to report to Kelsu.
• At the Ishgar camp, the Wise Dragon told Alsman that the attackers who escaped behind the lines had returned to their own unit, and they decided to wait for Prince Sordil to investigate.
• Kelsu regretted failing to capture the enemy camp, then ordered Montedoss brought to him after hearing he had returned with important news.
• Montedoss arrived severely injured, confirmed his identity through tears, and began wailing when Kelsu asked about the grain escort.

Kelsu learned that the Western Continent’s secret realms had been looted and burned, while Montedoss’s breakdown suggested the grain convoy had also faced an attack. As the war settled into a standoff, Yelibell and the dragons planned to keep harassing the convoy until Sordil returned.

• Montedoss told Kelsu that disguised Ishgar forces had looted and burned the Western Continent’s secret realms, while Olibuk and Shideweig took three thousand soldiers back to deal with them and sent the grain convoy onward with the rest.
• Kelsu realized Montedoss’s injuries might have come from an attack on the grain convoy, but Montedoss broke down before he could explain.
• Yanimus urged Kelsu to support the convoy, but Kelsu said all available forces had already been deployed.
• Fighting across the northern, central, and southern battlefields stalled, leaving the grain convoy’s fate as the deciding factor in the war.
• With Sordil absent, Yelibell agreed with Grandiere that the group should keep delaying the convoy and eliminating its forces until Sordil returned.

Sordil and his allies prepared to raid Olibuk's Dragon Clan secret realm, whose elegant buildings surprised him. After recruiting Virgo to help them bypass the defenders, Sordil led a small team through an underground passage to infiltrate the realm while Kaldiz waited outside to attack when the fighting began.

• Sordil learned that the secret realm's buildings had been designed by Olibuk, then rallied his allies to loot the place despite its three hundred elite guards.
• Sordil recognized the garrison as the force his team had fought before and decided they needed a different way to get past its defenses.
• After Diphiya suggested sneaking behind the enemy, Sordil traveled through a spatial crack and returned with Virgo, whom he recruited to help breach the defenses.
• Virgo dug a fifty-centimeter underground passage in about fifteen minutes, giving the others some faith in Sordil's explanation.
• Sordil chose Yesveta, Lindel, and Mevajena to infiltrate with him, shrank them and their troops with Quality Magic, and left Kaldiz outside to attack once the defenders were distracted.

Sordil and his allies ambushed and defeated the guards at Gryen Charles, then destroyed the secret realm and fled when its owners returned. After three days of evading pursuit, Sordil recognized Mildian Magic Academy and discovered that Zeref had returned.

• Sordil used Ghost Dragon poison gas to incapacitate the secret realm guards, and Yesveta’s group attacked while Kaldiz’s forces closed in from outside.
• Sordil’s side won the battle, but Sordil sensed the enemy returning and ordered everyone to destroy the area and retreat.
• Olibuk arrived at Gryen Charles, saw his possessions destroyed, and fainted from rage before Shideweig rescued him and organized the response.
• Sordil and his allies evaded pursuit for three days, then reached a mountain range where Sordil recognized Mildian Magic Academy.
• Sordil flew to the academy’s library and sensed its dark aura, concluding that Zeref had returned.

Sordil decoded and answered Zeref’s message, then fled pursuers into a familiar cave and was knocked unconscious by an unknown attacker. Kaldiz later carried a captured spy back to the group, where they realized the spy looked like Yelibell, leaving Kaldiz’s mistaken attack exposed.

• Sordil deciphered Zeref’s message, erased it, and left a reply before returning to the meeting place.
• Sordil heard Olibuk’s men searching for the group and flew into Gilkunis’s old cave to transform into battle mode.
• An unknown attacker blocked Sordil’s Lightning Elbow, struck him unconscious, and carried him deeper into the cave.
• Kaldiz returned to the group carrying a spy, and Diphiya noticed the captive resembled Yelibell.
• Kaldiz admitted he might have mistaken the spy for an enemy, then turned the unconscious captive over and made the situation even more awkward.

Sordil’s group returned to the sea to reunite with Igneel and prepare to receive the grain shipment. As Glaide and Feldroka’s battered force neared Ishgar, Sordil’s allies attacked them from beneath the waves, trapping the returning soldiers in a barrage of firework-like projectiles.

• Sordil woke among Kaldiz and the others, and they agreed to Kaldiz’s cover story about rescuing him from a thief.
• Sordil’s group voted to return to the sea, then used a Teleportation Array to reach the undersea cavern where Igneel’s followers welcomed them.
• Sordil learned that Igneel had been anxiously waiting for his return and went with the group to meet him and end the war.
• Glaide and Feldroka led their scattered force toward Ishgar, hoping to escape the sea without another attack.
• Fireworks erupted from beneath the sea, and Glaide recognized the attackers’ intentions and moved toward the center of the group.
• When Glaide learned that Olibuk’s force had returned, he fled farther inward as the outer defenses collapsed and Feldroka fell into the sea.

Prince Sordil’s forces destroyed most of the grain transport convoy with Yellow Springs, then withdrew to deal with reinforcements approaching from the Western Continent. Elsewhere, a hidden master learned that Old Friend’s family had been targeted and ordered a subordinate to watch its young master closely.

• Sordil and another dragon unleashed Fusion Magic: Netherworld Domain: Yellow Springs, destroying most of the grain cargo and killing many convoy dragons.
• The surviving convoy dragons fled through a gap in the encirclement, but Ishgar Legion forces soon defeated those left behind.
• Yelibell identified approaching Western Continent reinforcements led by Shideweig, and Sordil accepted advice from Yelibell and the young master to withdraw rather than risk a battle.
• Sordil assigned the Water Dragon Squad to destroy the scattered grain while the other squads covered them, then led the remaining forces to intercept the reinforcements.
• A subordinate reported to a hidden master that Old Friend’s family had been attacked and that an important family member had been brought to the central main residence.
• The hidden master ordered the subordinate to keep the young master of Old Friend’s family under close watch.

Sordil returned to the Ishgar camp after helping destroy the Western Continent’s grain, while Goodpes secretly escorted an important prisoner toward North Camp. With his forces back, Sordil rejected Wise Dragon’s idea of trading for the captured Xizhalansa and others and prepared to reinforce North Camp instead.

• Goodpes led a small unit toward North Camp under cover of night, while Kelsu returned to the main camp and warned him to protect their trump card.
• After a signal confirmed the grain had been destroyed, Sordil and Kaldiz used Death Rhapsody to hold back Shideweig’s forces and let the Ishgar troops withdraw.
• Sordil and the others returned to the Ishgar camp through the Teleportation Array, where Igneel accidentally stepped on Metalicana before Wise Dragon arrived.
• Wise Dragon told Sordil that the enemy had captured more than four hundred soldiers, including Xizhalansa, and was holding them near North Camp.
• Sordil explained that the grain had been seized but lost, then told Wise Dragon he would reinforce North Camp rather than negotiate with the Western Continent Evil Dragons.

Sordil and the dragons arrived through a teleportation array and began preparing a rescue mission at the Western Continent camp. After learning the enemy commander had left and waiting for a dark night, Sordil ordered the attack.

• Thirteen dragons emerged from the spherical transport, and Sordil sent Igneel to scout while he went to bring the others over.
• Kelsu learned that injured soldiers had returned and hurried to the medical tents to question them about the missing grain transport unit.
• Sordil's group located the camp and learned that Xizhalansa and the First Division were held in guarded tents on its western side.
• Yelibell explained that news about the grain transport unit would draw the enemy commander away and weaken the prisoners' guards.
• After the enemy commander and two others flew toward the central camp, Sordil waited for nightfall and then ordered the dragons to attack.