Chapter Summaries

Samael rescued Spartan Queen Gogo and her companions from a bandit ambush, only to discover that the golden-haired passenger was Helen, a high priestess of Artemis. Helen greeted him as the chapter ended.

• Bandits ambushed Gogo’s carriage, and she fought back after revealing that she was the Queen of Sparta and offering them gold to let her pass.
• The bandit leader rejected Gogo’s offer, attacked her with the strength of a Divine Blood Warrior, and brought out a Soul Eater Beast.
• Samael killed the Soul Eater Beast with a throwing dagger, then swiftly slaughtered the bandits and killed their leader.
• Gogo warily approached Samael, but a voice from the carriage assured her that he meant no harm and that an oracle had guided him to them.
• Helen lifted the carriage curtain, introduced herself as a high priestess of Artemis in Sparta, and greeted Samael.

Samael, disguised as the hunter Ezio Auditore da Firenze, agreed to escort Queen Gog and High Priestess Helen to Athens after rescuing them from bandits. As the party prepared to leave, a swarm of bats drained the pursuing bandits and raised them as bloodthirsty creatures around the carriage.

• Samael recognized Helen, introduced himself as Ezio Auditore da Firenze, and offered to escort her and Queen Gog to Athens for a greatly increased fee.
• Helen paid Samael a gold bracelet deposit and urged him to clear the rubble blocking their route.
• Queen Gog warned Helen that hiring an unknown foreigner was risky, but Helen said they had little choice after he saved them from the bandits.
• Bandits rushed back toward the carriage, crying for help as monsters pursued them.
• A swarm of bats drained the bandits of their blood, then the corpses rose and surrounded the carriage.

Samael defended Queen Gogo and Helen from the bat swarm pursuing them from Sparta, then fought the black-haired vampire who had been hunting them. He killed the attacker with a devastating sword strike but suffered a wound when the vampire invoked Eternal Divine Punishment.

• Samael burned and cut down the bats surrounding the carriage while Gogo and Helen explained that the monsters had been pursuing them since they left Sparta.
• The bats gathered into a black-haired young man, and blood-drained corpses charged the carriage; Samael gave Gogo and Helen protective wooden chips and ordered them to flee up the mountain.
• Gogo and Helen escaped as the young man mocked Samael, claiming he was sacrificing himself to buy them time.
• Samael trapped the young man with his Cross Star Pupils and split him apart with a massive hellfire sword strike.
• The dying pursuer used his blood to unleash Eternal Divine Punishment, and Samael emerged from a deep crater bleeding as red-black flame-like patterns spread across his chest.

Samael and Gog rescued the captives from a mountain stronghold and prepared to travel toward Athens, while Gog discovered how badly the Greek city-states were wavering. Before they left, Samael found a mysterious pink-haired girl named Xiao Yu in the woodshed, who offered to serve him as her benefactor.

• Samael recovered from his battle, suspected the Israelites had entered the Iliad War, and headed to the stronghold where Gog and Helen had subdued the bandits.
• Gog learned that the bandit leader was a displaced officer who planned to ally with the Persians, deepening her fears about Greece's defenses and loyalty.
• Samael took Helen to find transport, where they repaired two carriages and found several horses; meanwhile, Gog led the rescued women in dealing with the bandits.
• Samael divided the bandits' treasure, keeping five of seven chests and arranging to take the women to a nearby city-state.
• Samael opened the woodshed after the women remembered another captive, and Xiao Yu embraced him, called herself his benefactor's servant, and offered to repay his kindness.

Samael pieced together the Persian invasion of Greece and learned that Karna, Rama, and Jinako were fighting for Xerxes. As Gogo and Helen traveled to Athens to seek reinforcements for Hot Spring Pass, Samael recognized the danger facing Greece and suspected the Indian gods’ involvement.

• Gogo and Helen discussed the war in their carriage while Samael listened and questioned the women traveling with him.
• Samael reconstructed how Persia’s invasion, the Battle of Salamis, and the fighting at Tempe Gorge had brought Greece to its current crisis.
• Samael identified the three foreign heroes in the Persian army as Karna, Rama, and Jinako, and wondered what the Indian gods intended.
• The Greek allied army withdrew after Caesar’s feint helped it escape the Persian breakthrough at Tempe Gorge, and Thessaly fell.
• Leonidas sent Gogo to Athens with Helen to seek reinforcements for Hot Spring Pass after his messengers to Mount of the God of War disappeared.
• Samael recalled that both Tempe Gorge and Hot Spring Pass could be outflanked by mountain paths.

Samael, Gog, and Helen headed toward Mount of the God of War after identifying Theron as the suspected traitor, while Samael doubted that one man explained the coalition’s failures. At Hot Spring Pass, Leonidas, Caesar, and Alexander prepared to defend the three gates as the Persian vanguard approached.

• Samael learned from Gog and Helen that Theron was a Spartan representative at Mount of the God of War who may have leaked their plans to the Persians.
• Gog and Helen planned to present Leonidas’s battle reports and military intelligence to expose Theron, while Samael suspected the corruption reached beyond him.
• Greek city-state soldiers gathered at Hot Spring Pass, where Caesar, Leonidas, and Alexander defended the West, Middle, and East Gates.
• Leonidas received Xerxes’s offer to surrender and become King of Greece, and Caesar and Alexander mocked the offer and argued over its promises.
• Leonidas prepared to burn the Persian message and seize its Ironfeather Eagle, but Caesar urged him to send a reply instead.

Samael’s convoy was forced to stop after a warhorse broke its leg, and Helen healed it while the travelers rested. As Samael went into the forest with Gogo to gather firewood, he was abducted.

• Samael used the Branch of Ruin to destroy the magic wolves pursuing the convoy.
• A warhorse fell into a pit, and Samael lifted the carriage with aether resonance to prevent a crash.
• Helen soothed the injured horse while Ancient Serpent set its broken leg, and Helen healed its wounds.
• Helen urged the exhausted travelers to rest, while Gogo worried about the battle at Hot Spring Pass.
• Samael went into the forest with Gogo to gather firewood and was abducted.

Samael and Xiao Yu traveled through the forest toward Athens, where he worried about the growing number of magical beasts and the safety of their companions. After he realized Xiao Yu had charmed him while trying to lure him away, he recognized her as the infamous Nine-tailed Fox, but rushed to her aid when an explosion erupted in the bushes.

• Xiao Yu urged Samael to elope and leave their companions behind, while Samael insisted they should consider the others' safety and reach Athens together.
• Xiao Yu warned Samael against helping Helen, but he defended Helen and argued that beauty itself was not a sin.
• Xiao Yu used seduction and a curse to make Samael touch her buttocks, then fled toward the bushes after he confronted her.
• Samael realized Xiao Yu had charmed him and identified her as the legendary Nine-tailed Fox, known for bringing down rulers and dynasties.
• An explosion and surge of aether burst from the bushes where Xiao Yu had gone, and Samael hurried to investigate.

Samael fought a beast in the forest before reuniting with Quetzalcoatl and the Leopard Person, who had come to Greece from Uruk. He invited the two hungry goddesses to his nearby camp so they could eat while explaining why they had come.

• Samael unleashed Laevateinn at a beastly shadow, but Quetzalcoatl caught his wrist and threw him through the trees.
• Quetzalcoatl and the Leopard Person rushed to join the fight, but Quetzalcoatl knocked both them and Tamamo no Mae aside before greeting Samael as Ezio.
• Quetzalcoatl concealed Samael's identity from the nearby girl and embraced him, while the Leopard Person also tried to hug him and accidentally let his real name slip.
• Samael asked Quetzalcoatl and the Leopard Person why they had come to Greece, but their hunger interrupted her explanation.
• Samael pointed out his nearby camp and invited the two goddesses to eat while they talked.

Samael explained the danger facing Hot Spring Pass to Quetzalcoatl and asked her to go aid Leonidas by restoring his memories of Uruk. Quetzalcoatl set off with the drunken leopard woman while Samael stayed behind to deal with Athens.

• The leopard woman celebrated around the campfire, then tried to drink with Tamamo no Mae.
• Samael and Quetzalcoatl compared their experiences and discussed the Persian threat to Greece.
• Samael explained that losing Hot Spring Pass could doom the Pan-Hellenic Alliance, and that he could not spare troops in time.
• Samael decided to send Quetzalcoatl to Leonidas with a rune-marked scale that could awaken his memories of Uruk.
• Samael warned Quetzalcoatl to tell Leonidas to watch for Persian forces using nearby mountain paths and to play along if he discovered them.
• Quetzalcoatl left with the drunken leopard woman to join Leonidas, while Samael planned to handle Athens.

Samael assessed the overwhelming forces gathering in Greece and struggled to find reinforcements, while Helen and Gogo watched the mysterious Xiao Yu. At Hot Spring Pass, Alexander and Leonidas learned that the Persians had begun their assault earlier than expected, leaving them with little time to wait for Caesar.

• Samael reviewed the forces tied up across Greece and found he could not spare troops from Rome or Britain.
• Samael surveyed the many legendary figures converging on Greece, cursed his misfortune, and then sneezed with an ominous feeling about Hot Spring Pass.
• Helen and Gogo watched Xiao Yu sleep-drink wine, chew pottery, and murmur flirtatiously, growing more wary of their companions.
• Leonidas received Xerxes's latest surrender demand and handed it to Alexander, who estimated the defenders had only about two days before the Persians advanced.
• A heavy Persian horn sounded at Hot Spring Pass, and the defenders realized the attack had started ahead of schedule.

At the Persian camp, Cain reported failing to stop Sparta’s messenger and was ordered by the Lord to undergo purification by Holy Flame. As the Persian army prepared to march on Greece, Martha volunteered to attack Hot Spring Pass, and Tarasque eagerly offered to join her.

• Cain admitted that a powerful opponent had let Sparta’s messenger reach Athens, and the Lord sent him away to be cleansed by Holy Flame.
• David assured the Lord that the planned miracle would be ready within three days and pledged his loyalty.
• Martha warned that attacking before the miracle was complete could cost many lives, but the Lord insisted that bloodshed would make salvation and mercy precious.
• Martha asked permission to lead the assault on Hot Spring Pass and clear the way for the Lord.
• Tarasque stepped forward, eager to leave the camp and join the fighting.

Cyrus the Great ordered his six Servants to prepare for the final battle while Vritra declined to join the fighting. At the Hot Spring Pass, Leonidas and Alexander’s Greek forces repelled the first Persian assault, but Persian kings, the Immortals, and Karna soon appeared, threatening a much larger battle.

• Martha stopped Vritra from leaving to prey on humans, but Cyrus the Great calmed the confrontation and invited Vritra to join the battle alongside Karna, Jinako, and Rama.
• Cyrus the Great told the six Servants to guard a secret object and await the final battle, and they pledged obedience to him.
• Leonidas formed the Greek defenses at the Hot Spring Pass as Persian archers showered the shield wall with arrows.
• Leonidas’s Spartan Royal Guard and Alexander’s Greek phalanx counterattacked, inflicting heavy losses on the Persian vanguard and forcing it to retreat.
• Leonidas and Alexander saw the Persian kings, the Immortals, and Karna advancing toward the pass, and realized the battle was escalating.

Samael traveled toward Athens with Tamamo no Mae, who pampered him before secretly giving him tea laced with a love potion. She claimed the potion would protect him from rival Fox Spirits, while privately anticipating the uncertain fate that awaited him.

• Samael and Gogo and Helen sent the rescued women to towns along the road so they could start new lives without drawing attention in Athens.
• Tamamo no Mae massaged Samael as he drove, and he nearly steered the carriage into a tree before handing her the reins.
• Samael drank Tamamo no Mae's sweet, rose-scented tea and discovered she had added a secret love potion.
• Tamamo no Mae claimed the potion would keep Samael clear-headed around other Fox Spirits and declared that she would defend his chastity.
• Tamamo no Mae privately resolved to stay with Samael and watch where his unpredictable fate led.

Samael brought Gog and Helen safely into Athens, gave them protective spells, and set out with Tamamo no Mae to collect a debt. At a hidden residence, he was ambushed by a robust old man who mistook him for an agent of the Mount of the God of War.

• Samael drove the carriage into Athens and noticed the city's prosperity contrasted sharply with the poverty outside its gates.
• Samael gave Gog and Helen protective spells, then left them to handle their affairs while he planned to collect the remaining balance later.
• Samael and Tamamo no Mae were confronted by armed delinquents in an alley, and Samael beat them while Tamamo crushed the hands of those who grabbed her.
• Samael found the door to a hidden residence shut, vaulted over its wall, and dodged a bronze dagger before knocking his attacker through a stone table and porch.
• The robust old man accused Samael of being a lackey of the Mount of the God of War, and Samael asked who he was.

Samael returned to Athens and reunited with Scathach, Hildr, Thrud, Ortlinde, and Horo, then discussed Greece’s situation with Themistocles. Themistocles proposed evacuating Athens and fighting Persia at sea, even if the Spartans at Hot Spring Pass had to bear the danger.

• Samael mistook Themistocles for an intruder in his house before they realized they had each mistaken whose residence they were in.
• Scathach attacked Samael to test his reflexes, then noticed that his injuries had slowed him down.
• Hildr rushed into Samael’s arms, and Thrud stunned her and Ortlinde before greeting him respectfully.
• Samael stole food from Horo’s basket until she leaped onto his back and bit him.
• Samael explained that the Greeks’ victory at Salamis had not destroyed the Persian Fleet and that Athens needed to reinforce Hot Spring Pass.
• Themistocles proposed evacuating Athens by sea, contacting Egypt, and making another decisive naval battle while the Spartans held the Persians at Hot Spring Pass.

After hearing Themistocles explain Athens’s political calculations, Samael learned that the city’s leaders were unlikely to help Sparta defend Hot Spring Pass. Themistocles’s description of Athena’s sacred snake stirred Samael’s memories, and a sudden signal from Mount of the God of War sent him toward the mountain.

• Samael decided not to restore Themistocles to his former position, judging him better suited as a military adviser.
• Themistocles warned Scathach and the Valkyries that Sparta’s forces at Hot Spring Pass could hold out for only five to seven days without help.
• Samael said Gogo and Helen had already arrived in Athens to seek aid, but Themistocles doubted the Athenian aristocrats would help them.
• Themistocles said the Athenian leaders might listen only if Athena’s sacred snake, revered as the Athenian Saint King, appeared before them.
• Samael asked about the snake’s appearance, recognized it as possibly one he knew, and saw two pillars of Rune light rise from Mount of the God of War.
• Samael concluded the negotiations had failed and set out for the mountain with his companions.

Spartan Queen Gogo urged the Divine Blood Aristocrats of Mount of the God of War to send troops to Hot Spring Pass, but Athens’s elders refused, divided over strategy and distrustful of Sparta. Theron presented a report claiming the pass was not close to falling, turning the council against Gogo’s appeal.

• Queen Gogo asked Mount of the God of War to muster troops and defend Hot Spring Pass, where Leonidas faced a Persian army of three hundred thousand.
• The Divine Blood Aristocrats rejected her request, arguing that Sparta had defied their plan and that Athens should not risk its citizens for Hot Spring Pass.
• Queen Gogo warned that Persia’s renewed invasion threatened all Greece and that the current war differed from the previous two Iliad Wars.
• Theron appeared to support Gogo by acknowledging Sparta’s sacrifices, then argued that sending Athenians to fight would cause needless deaths.
• Theron shared intelligence that Hot Spring Pass was nowhere near falling, and the report cooled the elders’ support for Gogo.

Gogo and Helen failed to persuade Athens' Divine Blood Aristocrats to support Sparta against Persia, and Gogo killed the traitor who had betrayed them. As the council's guards moved to capture the women, a powerful figure surrounded by six women shattered the Mount of the God of War's defenses and approached the hall, identified by an ancient foundation stone as Athens' City Builder of the Pandion Family.

• A bearded traitor convinced the Divine Blood Aristocrats that Athens should reject Sparta's warnings and ally with Egypt against Persia.
• Helen invoked a Delphic Oracle and reminded the council of Sparta's long history of defending Greece, but the elders dismissed her appeals and ordered the women expelled.
• Gogo stabbed the bearded traitor with a short sword, prompting the Divine Blood guards to attack her and Helen.
• Runic Glyphs shielded Gogo and Helen from the guards' weapons and spells, but reinforcements began breaking down their protection.
• Red-black Aether Tides tore through the mountain's defenses, destroying the first six zodiac palaces and silencing the eighty-eight constellations.
• A mysterious figure accompanied by six women and soot-covered Sacred Fighters reached the plaza, where an ancient foundation stone identified him as Athens' City Builder from the Pandion Family.

Samael entered the Mount of the God of War council hall and proved the Gorgon and Olive Branch emblem was genuine. He revealed himself as Theseus, the ancient founder and king of Athens, leaving the Divine Blood Aristocrats stunned by his return.

• Samael arrived in the council hall and asked Gogo and Helen whether they were safe.
• The Head of the Pandion Family accused Samael of forging the family emblem and ordered the guards to seize him.
• Samael kicked the cornerstone, causing the Sanctuary's constellations to illuminate and confirm the emblem was authentic.
• The Pandion family head threatened to disown Samael, but Samael questioned whether the emblem meant he was a blood descendant.
• Samael removed his hood and introduced himself as Theseus, prompting the councilors, Gogo, and Helen to recognize his return.