Chapter Summaries

The Magic Council agreed to send forces to capture King Erus and rescue Leo in Milantes, while Philiers and the Milantes command prepared for possible reinforcements from the Council and allied guilds. Yelibell proposed speeding up the offensive, but the group paused to consider her plan before acting.

• Crawford agreed to dispatch the Restraining Force to capture King Erus after the Council condemned his actions.
• Crawford redirected the Council's immediate priority to rescuing Leo, and Ogg and Leizhi agreed to lead separate forces toward Erus and Milantes using an ancient formation.
• Old Suo warned Philiers's leaders that the Magic Council might attack, and they agreed to divide the kingdom into defense zones.
• Yelibell told the Milantes leaders that the Council had learned of recent events and might send Council members and regional guilds as reinforcements.
• Yelibell said Sordil wanted them to accelerate their offensive, but Hadessta, Woodman, and Wattster stopped Gilkunis from rushing off, and Yelibell began explaining her plan.

Yelibell and Hadessta agreed on a plan to respond to the crisis, while Ogg led a Magic Council force into Philiers to capture King Erus. Ogg’s group was lured toward the Training Brigade, and the officer who deceived them waited for the right moment to act.

• Yelibell stopped Gilkunis and the others from arguing about Hadessta’s borrowing habit and sent them to carry out the plan.
• Ogg arrived in the eastern outskirts of Philiers and ordered Robert to infiltrate the city with a small group while the rest waited outside.
• Sordil told Queen Irene that he had discovered the Magic Council’s gathering and explained the countermeasures he had devised.
• Ogg’s men knocked out two guards at the east gate and disguised themselves, then hid when an officer and his group approached.
• The officer tricked Ogg into believing King Erus was with the Training Brigade, and Ogg led his men toward it.
• The officer and his black-clad companions stayed hidden and waited before moving against the two guards at the gate.

Sordil lured Ogg and his forces into a trap at the Disciplinary Department, captured Ogg, and proposed peace between the Magic Council and the Erus Kingdom. Diphiya also arrived with the captured Council members, while Sordil left to check on Yelibell's operation.

• Sordil sent Charlie away and waited alone at the Disciplinary Department as Ogg's group approached.
• Ogg's men heard a captive being interrogated, then broke through the wall and rushed into the room, where Sordil's Sleep spell incapacitated them.
• Ogg recognized the ambush and fled, but Sordil confronted him and proposed that the Magic Council withdraw to the Kingdom of Fiore in exchange for peace.
• A Silver-White Light transported Ogg away, and Charlie confirmed that the captives in the room were secured.
• Diphiya arrived with the remaining Council members, and Sordil left to check on Yelibell's side.

Leizhi led the Fourth Restraint Force in pursuit of the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard, which had taken captured Magic Council members east through Milantes. After finding the enemy and its prison wagons, Leizhi’s force waited for an opening to rescue their companions.

• Ogg realized that he and the others had been transported near the Magic Council headquarters by a supposedly lost ancient formation, then saw a long white line approaching.
• Leizhi ordered Zat to scout Haru City, and the intelligence revealed that the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard had already departed east.
• Zat persuaded Leizhi to pursue the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard, and the Fourth Restraint Force set out while a black line followed behind them.
• Leizhi and his troops caught up with the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard, found captured Magic Council members in prison wagons, and began discussing a rescue.
• Sing and Mate left the prison wagons to argue, giving Zat the chance to order his hidden subordinates to act.

Zat and Leizhi rescued Magic Council members from the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard, but their escape turned out to be a trap. After Zat was killed and Leizhi was nearly slain, Sordil arrived and captured the survivors.

• Leizhi and Zat led the rescued Magic Council members into the forest after the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard's formation was disrupted by a flash attack.
• At Haru City, Old Suo learned that Yelibell and the others had gone east, sensed the battle, and entered a spatial rift.
• Leizhi refused to let the exhausted group rest, but scouts reported an ambush ahead and the enemy closing in from behind.
• Several rescued members revealed themselves as Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard and attacked the Fourth Restraint Force with Demonic Barrier Particles.
• Gilkunis killed Zat, and Hadessta cut through Leizhi's light whip before two Ice Blades attacked him.
• Sordil pulled Leizhi into a spatial rift, then returned and ordered his people to bind and take away Leizhi and the other survivors.

Sordil joined the campaign despite the elders’ objections, then was pressured into staying with the army as it advanced on Milantes. The Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard surrounded Kaipel Sand, where King Milantes learned the Magic Council could offer no further reinforcements and was called on to surrender.

• Sordil admitted he had come both to save Leizhi and to fight alongside the elders, while Yelibell and the Six Heavenly Kings criticized his neglect of his royal duties.
• Wattster and the other elders plotted to assault Yelibell Highlands, prompting Sordil to try to leave before Yelibell could discover their plan.
• Wattster reminded Sordil of his promise to the elders, and Sordil agreed to stay while the Marshal went to repair Yelibell Highlands.
• On September 7, X766, the Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard resumed its advance and marched toward Milantes’s capital, Kaipel Sand.
• King Milantes learned from Councilor Leo that the Fourth Restraint Force had been destroyed and that the Magic Council could send no more reinforcements.
• The Thirteenth Heavenly King Guard surrounded Kaipel Sand and demanded the city’s surrender, warning King Milantes that his family could share the Posco Royal Family’s fate.

King Zaka Milantes’s disappearance left the queen and court to decide whether Kaipel Sand would surrender to the Erus army before its deadline. Zaka rejoined them at the west gate, and King Sordil Ornn accepted their surrender.

• The Erus army gave Kaipel Sand a quarter of an hour to surrender before attacking.
• The queen revealed that King Zaka had gone missing after visiting the Magic Council, and Princess Shirley reported that a crowd had swept him away.
• With Zaka absent and citizens demanding an answer, the queen and court decided to surrender.
• The queen, Shirley, and officials found Zaka near the west gate, where he put on his crown and prepared to surrender.
• Zaka led the royal party out of Kaipel Sand and formally offered surrender to the Heavenly King Guard.
• King Sordil Ornn emerged from the formation and announced that the Kingdom of Erus accepted the surrender.

After Zaka surrendered Milantes to King Erus, Sordil led his forces into Kaipel Sand to crush the Magic Council branch. He defeated the Council’s defenses and captured its members, then killed Leo after the councilor identified himself.

• Zaka handed King Erus the scepter, military seal, and crown, and Sordil promised to honor the surrender terms.
• Sordil ordered his guards to secure Kaipel Sand and led the Seventh Heavenly King Guard toward the Magic Council branch.
• Leo’s forces activated four rotating gun turrets that damaged the city, prompting Sordil to teleport into the control room and destroy their console.
• Sordil used Death Rhapsody: Soul Urge against the Council members, then fought and subdued a red-haired old man before the Six Heavenly Kings captured the surface forces.
• Sordil healed and shackled the red-haired man, identified him as Leo, and killed him with a wind blade after Leo confirmed his identity.

King Sordil offered Zaka and his family a choice between becoming Erus nobles under Master-Servant Contracts or living as ordinary citizens, and they chose nobility. At the Magic Council, Leizhi returned with a severed head as King Erus’s warning, and the Council began voting on whether to pursue peace talks or fight.

• King Sordil offered Zaka and his family the choice of becoming Erus nobles under binding contracts or ordinary citizens, and they chose to become nobles.
• King Sordil visited the detained Leizhi, sent him back to the Magic Council with a brocade box, and warned that the Council would receive similar gifts if it rejected his proposal.
• At the Magic Council, Ogg and the peace faction argued for talks with Erus while Micahlo and the hawks pushed for war.
• Leizhi delivered King Sordil’s warning, and Crawford opened the box to reveal a severed head.
• Crawford ended the Councilors’ argument and called for a show-of-hands vote on peace talks.

Ogg and Leizhi traveled to Philiers to negotiate peace with the Erus Kingdom while Sordil returned in triumph with his army. After the king ordered a reward ceremony, ministers prepared for it and worried about the challenges of governing the conquered kingdom and defending Milantes.

• Crawford abstained from the council vote, which ended with the Magic Council choosing peace negotiations, and Ogg and Leizhi were assigned as envoys.
• Sordil and his victorious army returned to Philiers, where Irene and Diphiya prepared to welcome him after Diphiya accidentally crashed into Charlie.
• Old Suo ordered the troops to gather at Central Plaza in three days for a reward ceremony, then dismissed them after their return procession.
• Charlie and the ministers complained about preparing the ceremony, while Dalitz and Red worried about Erus's failing economy and Milantes's exposed defenses.

King Suo oversaw an awards ceremony honoring Milantes’ surrendered royal family and Erus’s war heroes, then began peace negotiations with Ogg and Leizhi. News of Milantes’s incorporation alarmed Ishgar’s rulers and prompted the Balam Alliance to bar dark guilds from entering Erus.

• King Suo and Queen Irene ended their chess game before meeting the Chancellor and heading to the awards ceremony.
• An attendant escorted Zaka, Shirley, Mary, and the other Milantes representatives to the awards platform, where Charlie announced that Zaka had received the title of Duke.
• King Suo honored the Milantes royal family and ministers, then began awarding the Erus war heroes for their service in the Battle of Haru City.
• Queen Irene woke King Suo the next morning, and he met peace envoys Ogg and Leizhi in the Council Hall to begin secret negotiations.
• After news of Milantes’s conquest spread across Ishgar, its royal families strengthened their defenses and the Balam Alliance prohibited dark guilds from entering Erus.

King Sordil persuaded the Magic Council to sign a peaceful coexistence treaty and reorganized Erus’s territories and military. After months of peaceful development, he summoned the kingdom’s leaders to Philiers, where Raleigh and Dalitz suspected he had another map-based plan, but a royal order interrupted their explanation.

• Sordil told Ogg and Leizhi that Ishgar faced threats from the Albares Empire and another danger, and said he intended to unify the continent.
• Crawford and the Magic Council approved a treaty of peaceful coexistence, and Ogg and Leizhi returned with it to headquarters.
• From September to November X766, Erus reorganized its provinces, officials, guards, and legions, beginning a second period of peaceful development.
• On March 13th, X767, Sordil summoned the kingdom’s military and political leaders to Philiers.
• Raleigh and Dalitz guessed that Sordil had placed a map in the Council Hall, while Zack and Shirley asked what they knew.
• A royal messenger ordered everyone to proceed to the Council Hall before Dalitz could explain.

King Sordil summoned Erus’s officials and military leaders to announce a campaign to expand the kingdom southward by attacking Cushen and Stellara, then assigned defensive and offensive missions. Three days later, Crawford ordered the Magic Council’s contacts in both countries to withdraw secretly, while vowing to deal with the silver-haired king later.

• Zaka realized that the map and talk of moving up or down concerned a war and the direction of Erus’s expansion.
• King Sordil revealed that Erus would extend its territory southward and confirmed that the campaign would target both Cushen and Stellara.
• King Sordil assigned forces to defend Erus’s borders, attack from the southeast and southwest, and protect the capital while the Queen governed in his absence.
• The Erus forces were ordered to rest for three days before setting out, and the officials and military leaders declared their support for the campaign.
• At Magic Council Headquarters, Crawford told Ogg to secretly withdraw the people in Cushen and Stellara, then headed toward the Archives while resenting the silver-haired king.

As the Erus Kingdom prepared to move against neighboring nations, King Toma of Fiore debated whether to abandon neutrality, then received a letter from King Erus. Erus forces prepared to face the advancing armies of Cushen and Milantes, while Diphiya organized an ambush at Snow Dragon City.

• Minister Darton urged King Toma to prepare for war, while Arcadius argued that Fiore should preserve its neutrality.
• Lord Ogg arrived at Toma's council chamber with a letter from King Erus.
• Auriel and Kushen mobilized their elite legions toward the front lines after receiving news of Erus's movements.
• Sordil learned that Cushen's Jia Guang Heavy Cavalry Regiment was nearing the border and agreed to meet it in a head-on battle.
• Diphiya rejected a direct assault at Snow Dragon City and assigned Kaldiz, Lindel, Murellia, and herself positions in an ambush for the approaching Snow Leopard Heavy Armor Regiment.

Lindel lured Longmeier's Kushen army into a hidden trap outside Snow Dragon City, while Old Suo's forces reported heavy enemy losses after the battle at Cold Wind City. At Silver Snow City, Hadessta assigned Gilkunis to ambush the Flying Perch Corps and capture them alive.

• Lindel and the Heavenly King Guard feigned defeat, drawing Longmeier's pursuing force toward the eastern plains outside Snow Dragon City.
• Kaldiz's Black Mist incapacitated Longmeier and the Kushen soldiers in the grass, and Marshal Di led Kaldiz and the others back to Snow Dragon City after ordering the bodies collected.
• Heradi reported thirty lightly wounded and no deaths among Old Suo's forces at Cold Wind City, as well as twenty thousand enemy dead and thirty thousand captured; Old Suo berated him, then punished him in the tent.
• Woodman identified the enemy outside Silver Snow City as the Flying Perch Corps of the Kingdom of Auriel.
• Hadessta ordered Gilkunis to ambush the Flying Perch Corps and capture them alive after Woodman lured them over.

Yelibell, Wattster, and Radel prepared to attack Auriel’s camp while Hadessta’s forces trapped and captured the Flying Perch Corps in a canyon. After both Auriel units were incapacitated, Cushen’s King Ralori learned that two regiments had been annihilated and sought help from an unnamed group.

• Yelibell planned to weaken Auriel’s camp with poisonous mist before launching an attack, while Wattster teased her and Radel.
• Hadessta ordered Woodman and Gilkunis to spring their ambush on the Flying Perch Corps trapped in the canyon.
• Woodman and Gilkunis sealed the canyon, released pink and blue-violet mists, and incapacitated the Flying Perch Corps before Heavenly King Guard members collected the soldiers.
• Yelibell’s forces sent dark-purple poisonous mist into Auriel’s camp, incapacitating its defenders ahead of the planned assault.
• King Ralori learned that the Snow Leopard Heavy Armor Regiment and Jia Guang Heavy Cavalry Regiment had been wiped out and that Erus’s forces were advancing on the royal city.
• Ralori and his chancellor concluded that Auriel’s reinforcements might also have been defeated, then Ralori hurried to seek help from an unnamed group.

King Pallet and King Ralori sought ways to protect their kingdoms from the Erus Kingdom, while Irene received Fiore’s envoy to negotiate an alliance. The Skull Society agreed to help Ralori, and Irene began reviewing Fiore’s proposed treaty.

• Pallet learned that the Flying Perch Corps and the Snow Pattern Corps had been wiped out, then decided to form an alliance against the Erus Kingdom after noticing a map.
• Ralori visited the Skull Guild and asked Icarus to help defend Cushen from the Erus Kingdom.
• Icarus accepted Ralori’s offer of royal privileges for the Skull Society and immediately departed with Owl and another companion.
• Irene received Fiore’s envoy Arcadius, who offered an alliance on the condition that Fiore’s permanent neutrality be respected.
• Arcadius presented Fiore’s alliance treaty to Irene for review.

Irene arranged for King Sordil to sign the peace treaty with the Kingdom of Fiore remotely, and Arcadius returned home with advice to keep the agreement secret to preserve neutrality. Meanwhile, Old Suo prepared to set out in the Kingdom of Cushen as soldiers discussed the brutal selection standards of the Erus Legion.

• Irene told Arcadius that she had reviewed the treaty and could sign for King Sordil, then explained their bet about her managing the government while he traveled.
• Irene contacted King Sordil and used a teleportation disk to send him the treaty, which he signed and returned.
• King Sordil advised Arcadius to have Fiore declare neutrality without revealing the treaty, warning that other countries might interpret it as an alliance.
• Irene escorted Arcadius from the palace after he accepted the signed treaty and promised to pass on the king's advice.
• In a city in northwest Cushen, Old Suo ordered his men to set out after learning they were ready.
• On the Cabria Plains, a captain reassured his worried soldiers that the Erus Legion faced even harsher selection standards, which he described as 'purgatory.'

A cherry-haired girl ambushed the Heavenly King Guard, leaving its captain maimed while Harry fled to seek reinforcements. As Yesveta and Lorez hurried to help, Sordil realized that the emergencies and the name Cabria on a scroll pointed to a danger he had overlooked.

• The cherry-haired girl severed the captain’s hand, and the guard fought to protect Harry as he escaped to summon help.
• Harry pushed his lightning speed beyond its limits and raced toward the main force, even as his body began to fail.
• Lorez halted the march after spotting Harry’s approaching light, and Yesveta recognized its aura and rushed ahead to aid Tabor and the others.
• Lorez tried to contact Sordil but found the communication line busy, then reported the vanguard’s distress once he got through.
• Sordil ordered Lorez to rendezvous with Yesveta, then picked up a scroll whose unfurling revealed the word Cabria.

Old Suo learned that the next destination was the Cabria Plains and ordered his troops to prepare for attacks while Yesveta rushed to confront the pink-haired girl who had defeated his guards. After the girl escaped and Icarus returned badly wounded, she and her companions concluded that King Erus would conquer Ishgar and decided they had to flee to the Western Continent.

• Old Suo confirmed that his forces were heading to Michel City on the Cabria Plains and ordered them to heighten their vigilance against attacks.
• Yesveta sped toward the site of the attack, leaving the unconscious Harry behind as he confronted the pink-haired girl who had badly injured the Heavenly King Guard.
• The pink-haired girl and Yesveta fought with sword and lightning attacks, until Yesveta wounded her and she escaped after unleashing a final blood-red strike.
• Icarus reached a gray building in Cabria badly wounded, where Owl and Vidalus helped her inside and learned that all of them had failed.
• Icarus, Owl, and Vidalus discussed King Erus's power and the likely conquest of Ishgar, then chose to leave the continent for the Western Continent.