Chapter Summaries

Cody revealed William’s ties to the Wizards and shared intelligence about their stronghold, leadership, and plans. After verifying Cody’s memories, Antioch offered William a chance to atone in exchange for help locating the Land of Wizards, angering North and the other Church leaders.

• Cody told Antioch that William had warned him about Hattar’s attempted seizure of the throne and the danger facing the Wizards in the Land of Wizards.
• Cody revealed that the mist over the Sea of Mists was dispersing and that Lynn, ruler of Iyetar, led the Wizards; he also said Anthony had appeared on the battlefield.
• Antioch showed Cody a Church record about Carl, and Cody identified him as the Wizard Lord of Iyetar despite the mismatch in names.
• Antioch probed Cody’s memories and confirmed that William had lost access to the compass locating the Land of Wizards, while the Wizards used a flying alchemical device to transport ore.
• Antioch told Cody to urge William to prove his repentance by helping the Church, and North and the others resented the possibility that William would be forgiven.

Cody revealed real information about the wizards to Cardinal Bishop Antioch, prompting the Church to prepare to use its sacred artifact against them. William was furious at Cody, but Lynn praised Doral for using the truth as bait, leaving the Church to act on intelligence Lynn had deliberately arranged to expose.

• Antioch dismissed North’s concerns about William and decided the Church had to deal with the wizards before Hattar’s planned bid for the throne.
• Cody returned to William’s castle and told Multer he had revealed more than intended, including William’s decades of help transporting supplies for the wizards.
• William accused Cody of failing at what he had called a foolproof task, then ordered his attendants to take Cody away.
• After Cody left, Doral and Multer knelt before Lynn, who praised Doral for carrying out the plan.
• Laud explained that Lynn had used a confidant to tell Antioch true but carefully limited information, avoiding lies that divine arts might expose.

Lynn explained how Cody’s genuine memories had been used to convince Antioch of false information, and ordered Cody punished but kept in service. In the Royal Capital, King Basel moved against Harold and appeared to favor Hattar, while Anthony warned Hattar that the invitation to the palace was a trap.

• Lynn told Doral and Multer that Cody’s memories made him a convincing messenger and that the Church already knew much of the information he carried.
• Lynn decided Cody would be severely punished and then allowed to continue handling Church affairs to atone through service.
• King Basel placed Harold under house arrest and blamed Duke Rickman for the military defeat.
• Word spread that King Basel intended to name Hattar as crown prince, and Hattar wondered whether he still needed to seize the throne.
• Anthony warned Hattar that the palace invitation meant King Basel planned to kill him, so Hattar refused it and claimed to be seriously ill.

Lynn prepared to use artificial rainfall as cover for an attack on the Cardinal Bishop in Hadratta, while Antioch launched a surprise assault on Prince Hattar’s residence to capture the wizards gathered there. The chapter ended with Antioch waiting for the two Great Wizards to reveal themselves.

• Lynn told Lydia and the others to scatter rainmaking catalysts from an airship when he gave the signal, and instructed Redell to prepare an attack once the rain began.
• Antioch gathered more than a thousand Imperial Guard troops outside Hattar’s residence, planning to crush the wizards before the Mine Slaves reached the capital.
• The Imperial Guard stormed the residence after its guards challenged them, while Bishops and Priests empowered the soldiers with divine arts.
• Wizards inside the residence used fireballs to resist, then retreated deeper into the estate, prompting Bishop North to suspect they were buying time for Hattar to escape through secret passages.
• Antioch searched the bloodied manor and waited for the two Great Wizards to come forward.

North’s forces attacked Anthony’s residence but were driven back until Antioch intervened, while Lydia’s team brought rain that let Redell’s hidden troops launch their assault on the Royal Capital. The gates were opened, and Redell’s forces seized a third of the city.

• North led the Imperial Guards in repeated attacks on the main house, but Fula, Joanne, and the other wizards repelled them with magic.
• Antioch cast Heavenly Judgment at the house, but Anthony blocked it and faced Antioch as lightning struck.
• Lydia and Daren scattered rain catalysts from invisible airships, and a storm formed over the Royal Capital.
• Redell led hunters up the city walls, opened the gates, and let Ham and the waiting troops charge into the Royal Capital.
• Redell’s forces used flintlock guns to take control of a third of the city while residents woke to the gunfire.

Redell’s forces fought through the Royal Capital toward the royal palace while Lynn’s trap sprung against Cardinal Bishop Antioch at the estate. Fula and the others survived inside a Faraday cage, but Joanne warned that the lightning-driven buildup of hydrogen and oxygen was about to cause an explosion.

• Redell led his troops through the Royal Capital’s defenses despite rain disabling some of their guns and advanced toward the royal palace.
• Antioch bound Anthony with Divine Punishment Lock, then discovered that Anthony was only a magical projection.
• Lightning stones and runes activated an electric field across the estate, trapping Antioch and the others in a devastating storm of electricity.
• Fula and the others were unharmed inside a Faraday cage while lightning electrolyzed the rain and filled the air with hydrogen and oxygen.
• Joanne urged everyone to reach the bunker before the gases ignited, as Lynn’s Legendary Magic threatened to trigger a chain of explosions.

Hattar gathered the kingdom’s nobles and challenged the church’s growing influence over worldly affairs, arguing that its authority over Hadratta was illegitimate. When he openly declared his willingness to oppose the Holy See and the Secas Empire, Marquis Moltan resolved to have Hattar removed as heir.

• Hattar summoned the nobles outside Harold’s faction to a guarded tower and asked whether the kingdom belonged to its rulers or the church’s Bishops.
• Hattar exposed Count Bel’s secret alliance with a Bishop and accused church leaders of interfering in kingdom affairs and consolidating power.
• Marquis Moltan defended the church’s divine authority, and several nobles agreed that their right to rule came from God.
• Hattar questioned the Bible’s account of history and pointed out that Hadratta had once followed the Spirit of Elements before its conquest.
• Hattar accepted that he would become an enemy of the Holy See and the Secas Empire, alarming the assembled nobles.
• Marquis Moltan resolved to persuade King Basel to strip Hattar of his position as heir apparent.

Hattar revealed his plan to drive the church from the kingdom, with Lynn and Anthony as allies, and called on the nobles to choose whether to support the uprising. When Cardinal Bishop Antioch arrived with Imperial Guards to attack the estate, Lynn led the nobles to the tower summit to watch the battle.

• Hattar announced that he intended to free the kingdom from the church and establish a new nation ruled by its nobles.
• Hattar introduced Anthony and Lynn, and admitted the mine slaves' uprising had been part of the plan.
• Bell called on the nobles to kill the two wizards, but Anthony's magic suppressed the crowd and stopped Bell from acting.
• Lynn offered the nobles a choice, while Marquis Mortan rejected the wizards and other nobles hesitated.
• Attendants reported that Antioch had surrounded the estate with Imperial Guards, and Lynn led the nobles to the tower summit to see the assault.

Lynn revealed that his lightning formation was meant to work with rain, then summoned a storm over Hattar’s estate. The nobles watched in shock as the downpour began, while Anthony believed Lynn’s gesture might be the opening move of legendary magic.

• Marquis Moltan warned Hattar to abandon the evil god worshippers as Antioch’s forces approached.
• Lynn explained that the estate’s lightning runes would create a weak electric field and contain lightning.
• Anthony admitted that Antioch was stronger and more experienced, and Lynn said they needed help from the sky.
• Lynn pointed upward and shouted, “Let it rain!”
• Thick clouds covered the starry sky, and a torrential downpour fell over the estate, stunning Hattar, Bell, and Marquis Moltan.

Lynn unleashed a chained lightning spell that devastated the estate and annihilated the Imperial Guards and Church forces there. After a massive explosion reduced the estate to ruins, Hattar agreed he did not mind the destruction.

• Lynn summoned lightning that struck the tower and spread through the estate via copper wires, killing the Imperial Guards and others caught in its arcs.
• Anthony marveled at the power of Lynn's Legendary Magic, while Lynn realized the storm's effects were stronger than he had expected.
• Lynn warned Anthony that a larger blast was coming, and Anthony raised multiple layers of defensive magic around the tower.
• A lightning strike ignited hydrogen and oxygen in the air, triggering an explosion that shook the Royal Capital and destroyed the estate.
• Lynn apologized to Hattar for the unexpected damage, and Hattar reluctantly said he did not mind.

Lynn’s group destroyed Hattar’s estate with Legendary Magic, apparently killing Antioch and wiping out the Imperial Guards’ resistance. After revealing that William had been working with him all along, Lynn focused on securing the surrendered troops and moving against King Basel before he could escape.

• Hattar surveyed his ruined estate and accepted that the wizards’ Legendary Magic surpassed his own forces.
• Lynn doubted that Antioch had died and used magic to form a path down through the rubble while Anthony brought the frightened nobles along.
• Ham and the Firearm Team secured the estate, and the surviving Imperial Guards surrendered after being stunned by the lightning.
• Lynn reassured Cody that William had always been his man and praised Cody for helping lure Antioch into the trap.
• Hattar revealed that he was the crown prince and won over the Imperial Guards, while Lynn ordered Ham to surround the estate and prepared to pursue King Basel.

Redell’s rebels overcame the palace guards after his specially made Short Gun killed Simmons, while Hattar, Lynn, and Anthony reached King Basel. Basel confronted Hattar about arriving with companions and left the question of succession hanging.

• Redell’s troops exhausted their ammunition, and the Imperial Guard charged them in close combat.
• Simmons attacked Redell, but Redell shot him with a Short Gun that scattered a cone of bullets and killed him.
• Redell displayed Simmons’s body on a sword, breaking the Imperial Guard’s resolve.
• King Bazer stayed on his throne as the attackers entered the royal palace, intending to judge whether his son could govern.
• Hattar entered the throne room with Lynn and Anthony behind him, and King Basel said he would have been pleased if Hattar had come alone.

Hattar challenged King Bazer over the throne and fought him in the palace, where Bazer warned that Hattar’s ambition and uncontrolled power would endanger Hadratta. Hattar killed his father with a dagger, and Bazer died warning that destroying the Church had broken the kingdom’s balance.

• Hattar accused Bazer of favoring Harold and declared that he would become Hadratta’s new king.
• Bazer drew his sword and challenged Hattar to settle the succession through a duel.
• Hattar and Bazer fought while Lynn watched, and Bazer warned Hattar against letting anger and uncontrolled power guide him.
• Bazer disarmed Hattar, but Hattar stabbed him in the heart with a dagger.
• Bazer urged Hattar to remember the cost of taking the throne and warned that destroying the Church had broken Hadratta’s balance before he died.

After Hattar took the throne by killing Bazer, Lynn urged him to secure the capital and hunt down Harold. Meanwhile, Ap was struck by a mysterious badge and disappeared after attacking the Firearm Team, prompting them to signal Lynn.

• Lynn congratulated Hattar on taking the throne and warned him that the capital remained unstable and Harold was still at large.
• Hattar ordered Anthony to kill the palace attendants who had witnessed Bazer's death, then ordered his guards to put Harold on a citywide wanted list.
• Anthony sensed a powerful divine spell, and Lynn saw a crimson signal flare rise from outside the hall.
• Ap found a crystalline badge in the rubble, but it flew at him and struck his forehead, leaving him unconscious.
• Ap rose under someone's control, attacked Old York and the Firearm Team, blinded them with a flash of light, and escaped.
• Ham arrived with reinforcements and fired a warning flare so the team could alert Lynn.

Antioch gathered the Royal Capital’s believers to summon a divine projection of the Goddess, forcing Lynn and his allies to consider retreating. Lynn revealed that he had prepared something to counter the unexpected threat.

• After escaping in Ap’s body, Antioch used the Holy Emblem to call the Royal Capital’s believers to the central square.
• Redell and the Firearm Teams were unable to stop the believers from gathering, while Antioch prepared to invoke the Divine Descent Technique.
• Antioch summoned a projection of the Goddess, causing the believers to kneel and leaving Redell and the Firearm Teams stunned.
• Lynn identified Antioch as the force behind Ap’s actions and asked Anthony whether he could counter the projection, but Anthony said they would need to withdraw.
• Hattar proposed using the Firearm Teams and his crossbowmen to shoot down the projection, but Lynn said he had prepared something to deal with it.

Lynn and the wizards prepared Electromagnetic Cannons to fight the Goddess projection descending over the Royal Capital. As Anthony’s defenses failed and the Goddess’s palm pressed down, Lynn’s central cannon finished charging and fired.

• Lynn welcomed the returned group and revealed the Electromagnetic Cannons they had brought to the street.
• Lynn and more than a hundred wizards powered the central cannon with Chain Lightning as the Goddess projection turned toward them.
• Antioch used the Holy Emblem to locate Anthony, Hattar, and Lynn, then called on the Goddess to punish them.
• Anthony raised a Serpent Scales barrier against the Goddess’s descending finger, but it cracked and burst.
• Philip and Orlando fired two Electromagnetic Cannons, piercing the Goddess’s finger before it healed and became a crushing palm.
• Lynn’s fully charged central cannon launched its projectile toward the Goddess’s palm.

Lynn destroyed the Divine Projection with an Electromagnetic Railgun after Antioch’s divine light warped space and time to slow the first shot. With the Royal Capital’s believers subdued, Lynn ordered them detained for interrogation and later decisions about their fate.

• Lynn fired a magically reinforced railgun projectile that pierced the Divine Projection but missed its brow when warped spacetime let it shift aside.
• Lynn’s two calibrated railguns struck and shattered the Holy Emblem, causing the Divine Projection and Antioch’s soul body to collapse.
• The projection’s destruction shattered the believers’ faith, while Lynn and Anthony discussed the Electromagnetic Railgun’s principle.
• Redell’s Firearm Team brought the square under control, and Lynn confirmed that the missing Ap had died after being controlled.
• Lynn ordered the believers detained for interrogation, considering reform for some and labor for the unrepentant fanatics.

After Hattar took the throne, Lynn celebrated the victory with the Firearm Team, miners, and civilians in the Royal Capital. He declared the workers free and urged them to prepare to resist the Empire and the Church, while fireworks lit up the plaza.

• Hattar crushed the remaining chaos, captured and executed the clerics, and Harold was killed while fleeing; Hattar then ascended the throne and rewarded his supporters.
• Hattar made Lynn and Anthony Dukes, granted Redell the title of Count, and elevated the Firearm Team member who killed Harold to Viscount.
• Lynn told Redell that he could visit Iyetar to find answers about their cause.
• Lynn arranged a celebration in the Royal Capital plaza and invited civilians his people had helped rebuild their homes.
• Lynn warned the crowd that the Empire and the Church still threatened them, and the people vowed to overthrow them.
• Lynn declared the miners and others free, and Lydia lit fireworks over the celebrating crowd.

Lynn celebrated the victory with fireworks and a drinking party before advising King Hattar on how to remove the Church’s influence from the kingdom. The council rejected keeping the former king’s death secret, and Lynn warned that the Church likely already knew the kingdom had fallen.

• Lynn explained to Joanne that black powder and magic could be used for peaceful purposes as well as war.
• Lynn joined Elock, Lydia, and the others at the bonfire and secretly broke down the wine he pretended to drink.
• Redell woke at dawn, roused Ham and the others, and helped clean the wine-stained square.
• Lynn proposed using airships, wizards, and Firearm Teams to eliminate churches across the kingdom, while Anthony suggested luring Bishops to the Royal Capital.
• The council planned to combine direct strikes with deception to remove the Church’s influence from the kingdom.
• A noble proposed concealing King Basel’s death, but Lynn rejected the idea, saying the Church had likely learned of the kingdom’s fall.

Lynn prepared to break through to Great Wizard at the Screaming Tower, using Dennis’s Elemental Vision formation to support him. The formation drained its hundred Magic Crystal Stones without stopping, leaving Dennis and the gathered wizards concerned as Lynn’s breakthrough continued.

• Airships carried soldiers and wizards to monitor the border and begin missions, while Redell, Ham, Anthony, and others headed to Iyetar.
• Lynn decided to pursue his long-awaited breakthrough before Anthony’s arrival, and Kevin warned him about the risks.
• Lynn brought Kevin and the others to the Screaming Tower, where Dennis prepared the Elemental Vision formation to assist the breakthrough.
• Lynn entered the formation, which began drawing magic power from the stored Magic Crystal Stones.
• Dennis noticed that the formation had drained all hundred prepared stones but still showed no sign of stopping.