Chapter Summaries

As Winter Season brought famine and hardship to the Maple Leaf Kingdom, Joni prepared to send troops against the Dragon Roar Kingdom despite the worsening crisis. Punk and Benraji nearly came to blows over the kingdom’s suffering, but Oakes summoned them to the royal palace to discuss the campaign.

• Winter descended across the Faerun World, and Joni continued preparing a military campaign despite the freezing conditions and the suffering of the poor.
• Punk returned to the inn after spreading Gray Bone Virus serum throughout the Maple Leaf Kingdom’s streams.
• Benraji complained that Joni’s honor and revenge mattered more to him than the kingdom and its people.
• Punk dismissed Benraji’s concerns and said he would help Joni suppress any revolt, prompting Benraji to confront him.
• Oakes arrived with Joni’s request for Punk and Benraji to discuss sending troops to the Dragon Roar Kingdom, and the two left the inn without fighting.

At the final war council, Jiao Ni announced a mass levy and a new campaign against the Dragon Roar Kingdom, but the nobles refused to follow his orders. The chapter ended with all 136 nobles rising to oppose him.

• Punk and Benraji arrived at the palace, where Jiao Ni began the final meeting before the expedition.
• Jiao Ni declared the 427th Dragon Slaying campaign and ordered the nobles to conscript people, provide equipment, and lead troops to Mohuaike Valley in three days.
• After Jiao Ni called for the nobles' support, Lord Buns objected, and Jiao Ni threatened him with execution.
• The nobles exchanged glances and raised their hands in opposition until all 136 had objected.

Jonny Zordas demanded that the nobles commit their forces and subjects to the coming war, but they resisted by threatening to surrender their titles and leave the Maple Leaf Kingdom. As Jonny struggled to respond, an unidentified speaker asked whether they wanted to stop the war.

• An elderly noble representing the Fadran family and Northwind Territory warned Jonny Zordas that the kingdom could not endure another war and that nobles and commoners were already suffering.
• Jonny shouted down the elderly noble, ordered the nobles to send their private soldiers and subjects to fight, and threatened them in the king’s name.
• The Fadran family and nobles from several other territories threatened to relinquish their titles unless Jonny withdrew his order.
• Jonny recognized that the nobles controlled vital wealth, armies, and food trade routes, but his lawful principles prevented him from attacking them.
• An unidentified speaker interrupted the hall and asked whether the nobles wanted to stop the war.

Punk rejected the nobles’ attempt to stop the war and annihilated them with a concealed spell in the royal hall. He left Johnny Zordas, Benraji, and the old king alive amid the palace ruins, insisting that violence was the best solution.

• The nobles told Punk that the Maple Leaf Kingdom could no longer afford to wage war, and Punk interrupted the old noble before he could finish.
• Punk concealed his magic and used Any Door to send a Dual-Cast Kinetic Burst into the nobles’ seats.
• The blast killed the old noble and all 132 high nobles, while Johnny failed to stop the attack as he protected the king.
• Punk stood in the ruined hall with Johnny, Benraji, and the old king, then told Johnny that violence was the best way to solve problems.

Punk killed the nobles who had fled, then urged Joni to use the resulting famine to drive the people toward war with the Dragon Roar Kingdom. As Joni considered the consequences, a report arrived that an unprecedented plague had broken out across the kingdom.

• Joni charged at Punk in fury, but Punk escaped through an Any Door spell and appeared across the palace hall.
• Punk argued that the dead nobles had committed treason by fleeing and mocked Joni for railing at an irreversible act.
• Joni restrained himself because fighting Punk would jeopardize the Glory War and leave the Maple Leaf Kingdom facing powerful enemies.
• Joni warned that the nobles controlled wealth, troops, and food-trade networks, but Punk urged him to seize their assets and exploit hunger to spur the commoners into war.
• A messenger reported that temples across the kingdom had sent urgent messages about an unprecedented plague.

After a plague rapidly infected nearly the entire Maple Leaf Kingdom, Punk urged Joni to turn it into a weapon against the Dragon Roar Kingdom. Joni resisted Punk’s brutal arguments but began to consider the terrifying possibility that they made sense.

• A messenger reported that a plague had infected nearly ninety percent of the kingdom’s towns and cities within three hours, and that no quarantine officers remained because Joni had executed their family years earlier.
• Joni suspected Punk had caused the outbreak, while Punk concealed that he had poisoned the kingdom’s rivers with the Gray Bone Virus.
• Punk argued that the plague could help Joni defeat Ovakain and the Dragon Roar Kingdom.
• Punk urged Joni to recruit the impoverished, use the disease and plunder as weapons, and delay controlling the outbreak until after the war.
• Joni questioned the cost to civilians and the morality of plunder, but Punk’s arguments left him considering the idea.

Punk secured Joni’s silent acquiescence to his plan and warned Benraji not to interfere. After Punk left, Benraji met Princess Livachi among the palace ruins and agreed to help her take the old king somewhere warm, becoming her friend.

• Punk reminded Joni that reclaiming his honor required going along with the plan, and Joni left without objecting.
• Punk warned Benraji that they had different aims and left to monitor the Gray Bone Virus.
• Benraji surveyed the wreckage and lamented the kingdom’s tragedy as the old king sat unattended in the cold.
• Princess Livachi asked Benraji to help bring the old king to a warm bedroom, and Benraji agreed.
• Livachi asked Benraji to become her friend, and the two touched fingertips.

During Mika’s experiment, Anya relived her childhood poverty and humiliation in a dream as a strange voice stirred jealousy and rage within her. When Mika probed her mind, the dark force struck back and flooded him with Anya’s fury, leaving him determined to continue.

• Mika connected Anya to an enchanted spell array and used a hypnotic potion to send her consciousness deep into her mind.
• Anya found herself as a young child in the alley where she had once begged, wearing her old, filthy clothes.
• Three wealthy girls mocked Anya’s appearance and poverty, stirring memories of hunger and humiliation.
• A strange voice urged Anya to embrace jealousy, greed, and violence as red and purple runes appeared in her eye.
• Mika’s mental probe encountered dark energy that resisted his attempt to sever the connection and flooded his mind with rage.
• Mika endured the invading fury and poured his magic power into the spell array.

After the royal family announced the execution of the Twelve Families, Oakes Zordas proclaimed a war against the Dragon Roar Kingdom to desperate, famine-stricken commoners. He falsely promised that the enemy held abundant food and medicine, and the crowd began to respond to the prospect of taking them.

• The royal family announced that Johnny Zordas had executed the Twelve Families and their subordinate nobles, stripping them of their titles, property, and armies.
• The Zordas family's paladin army took control of the nobles' wealth and troops while the remaining nobles and merchants stayed silent.
• Oakes Zordas addressed thousands of starving commoners in Maple Blossom City and announced that famine and plague had struck the kingdom.
• Oakes read the Glory War mobilization proclamation, blaming the Dragon Roar Kingdom and promising soldiers food, medicine, wealth, and tax-free land taken there.
• When a commoner asked whether the Dragon Roar Kingdom had food and medicine, Oakes repeated Punk's false claims, and the crowd's eyes turned green as he declared the war had begun.

On the day the War of Glory began, millions of starving, plague-ridden refugees gathered at the border to face the disciplined Mad Dragon Legion. As Punk and Johnny waited for Ovakain-Sourthroat to appear, Benraji arrived with news that the king was gravely ill, but Johnny put it aside and focused on his vengeance.

• Seven million refugees assembled on the Maple Leaf Kingdom’s border, carrying the Gray Bone Virus and facing the Mad Dragon Legion.
• Punk questioned Johnny about whether his paladin army could stop the Dragon Roar Kingdom’s professionals, and Johnny vowed they would not retreat.
• Punk and Johnny held back until Ovakain-Sourthroat arrived, while Punk hoped the battle would draw the black dragon from hiding.
• Benraji arrived late and told Johnny that the king was gravely ill and near death.
• Johnny postponed discussing the king and declared that the moment had come to settle matters with Ovakain-Sourthroat.

Joni Zordas and the Maple Leaf Kingdom launched their assault on the Dragon Roar Kingdom, beginning the War of Glory as starving civilians charged the Mad Dragon Legion. The battle left the defenders holding their line amid horrific losses, until Ovakain arrived in fury and threatened Joni, Punk, and Benraji.

• Punk sensed Ovakain racing toward the battlefield and warned the others, while Joni took his position and rallied the Maple Leaf Kingdom’s forces.
• Oakes ordered six hundred paladins to charge, and they collided with the Dragon Roar Kingdom’s professionals in a devastating clash.
• Driven by hunger and promises of food, the Maple Leaf Kingdom’s starving civilians rushed toward the Mad Dragon Legion.
• The Mad Dragon Legion formed a disciplined defensive line and fought the overwhelming attackers to protect their homeland.
• As the battle reached its fiercest point, Ovakain’s roar swept soldiers away, and he vowed that Joni Zordas, Punk Sai’an, and Benraji Nokani would pay.

Ovakain—Sourthroat arrived on the battlefield and overwhelmed the ordinary fighters with its Dragon Might, forcing Punk, Benraji, and Joni to confront the black dragon together. As the battle began, Ovakain targeted Punk and pursued him through space.

• Ovakain—Sourthroat descended onto the battlefield, and its Dragon Might forced nearly everyone to the ground.
• Benraji cursed Joni for concealing Ovakain’s strength, while Punk demanded an explanation and threatened him.
• Joni refused to retreat and warned Punk and Benraji that he would stop them if they tried to flee.
• Punk agreed to fight Ovakain for now, but threatened Joni with consequences if they survived.
• Ovakain recognized Punk as an old enemy, and Punk used Any Door to evade its attack.
• Ovakain roared that no one would escape and pursued Punk as the battle began.

Ovakain attacked Punk with overwhelming speed and corrosive breath, destroying his escape portal and nearly killing him. As Ovakain pursued Punk, Joni seized the opening and launched a full-strength strike at the black dragon’s neck.

• Ovakain used a dragon-modified Rapid Teleportation to rush Punk and prepare a breath attack.
• Ovakain’s Spatial Anchor shattered Punk’s Any Door, forcing Punk to evade with Kinetic Propulsion and a summoned Shield Beast.
• Ovakain’s corrosive breath dissolved the Shield Beast and grazed Punk, tearing through his defenses.
• Ovakain pursued Punk and lunged to bite him, but Joni attacked Ovakain’s neck with Leaping Slash and Charge.

Punk, Joni, and Benraji attacked Ovakain, but the black dragon’s seventeen layers of protective magic shrugged off their blows and let him batter Joni aside. Punk ordered Benraji to use Rain of Fire to drain Ovakain’s defenses, and the chapter ended as Ovakain prepared another breath attack while enduring the flames.

• Joni charged Ovakain as Benraji cast Scorching Fireball, but Ovakain blocked both attacks with protective spells.
• Ovakain struck Joni with a claw and sent him crashing through three earthen mounds.
• Punk used Detect Magic and discovered that Ovakain had seventeen layers of protective magic, likely sustained by legendary equipment.
• Punk told Benraji to cast Rain of Fire to exhaust Ovakain’s defenses, and Benraji filled the area with fiery rain.
• Punk shielded Joni with Fire Elemental Protection Wall as Ovakain endured the rain and began building pressure for another breath attack.

Punk disrupted Ovakain's defenses just as the black dragon prepared to blast Joni with dragon breath, giving Joni a chance to launch a desperate attack. Ovakain evaded the strike with Rapid Teleportation, and its breath missed both men but carved a devastating trail through the landscape.

• Ovakain aimed its dragon breath at Joni, but Punk accelerated a Great Dispel that tore through seven layers of the dragon's protective spells.
• Joni poured all his fighting energy into a thrust at the breach in Ovakain's head, abandoning defense to try to kill the dragon.
• Ovakain recognized that Joni's strike could gravely wound it and cast its modified Rapid Teleportation to escape.
• Ovakain's dragon breath missed Joni and carved a black trail through the sky, slicing away nearly half the summit of a distant hill.

Joni’s relentless assault stripped away Ovakain’s protective spells while Punk stopped the dragon’s escape with Kinetic Energy Siphon. With his defenses exhausted, Ovakain revealed five mysterious scrolls and prepared to use a trump card.

• Joni charged back into close range and hammered Ovakain’s magical defenses with Frenzied Consecutive Slashes, breaking three protective spells.
• Punk told Joni to target Ovakain’s head and ordered Benraji to keep casting Rain of Fire.
• Punk intercepted Ovakain’s Rapid Teleportation with Kinetic Energy Siphon, leaving the dragon off balance.
• Joni evaded Ovakain’s claw and tore away three more layers of protective magic, leaving Ovakain without his remaining defenses.
• Ovakain declared himself the protector of the Dragon Roar Kingdom and released five mysterious scrolls from his storage gem.

Ovakain unleashed five mana-compressed Bigby's Forceful Hand scrolls and its full-powered Acid Throat at Punk, setting a trap while Joni wounded the dragon. Punk survived the initial blows by using Haitzita's magic box and Ovakain's Improved Ruby Shield, leaving Ovakain stunned as its breath closed in.

• Punk recognized the danger of Ovakain's five mana-compressed Master Level scrolls and used Any Door to evade.
• Ovakain fired five Bigby's Forceful Hands at Punk and ignored Joni as she broke through its final shield and wounded its foreclaw.
• Ovakain followed the hands with its Acid Throat, trapping Punk between the attacks.
• Punk used Haitzita's magic box and Ovakain's Improved Ruby Shield as the Forceful Hands smashed through most of his defenses and injured him.
• Ovakain expected its dragon breath to kill Punk, but its victorious smile turned to alarm when it saw him survive.

Punk reflected Ovakain’s Dragon Breath with Ovakain’s Improved Ruby Shield, then accelerated it toward the unprotected dragon. Benraji’s Chains of Flame stopped Ovakain from dodging, and the blast badly wounded him, but Ovakain survived and remained in the fight.

• Ovakain’s Dragon Breath struck Punk’s Improved Ruby Shield, which reflected the attack back at the dragon.
• Punk used Magic Acceleration to speed up the reflected Dragon Breath as Ovakain tried to evade it.
• Benraji cast Chains of Flame, briefly restraining Ovakain and preventing him from dodging the incoming blast.
• Ovakain’s own Dragon Breath struck his shoulder, corroding his scales and flesh and sending him crashing to the ground.
• Punk taunted the badly wounded Ovakain, who insisted that the attack had not defeated him.
• Ovakain swept Joni aside with his tail and reappeared through the smoke, severely injured but still fighting.

Joni launched a suicidal final attack on the wounded Ovakain while Punk and Benraji prevented the black dragon from defending itself or escaping. Joni pierced Ovakain’s wound and, as his life ended, admitted that he had once feared death but now faced it without fear.

• Ovakain, gravely injured by its reflected Dragon Breath, threatened to retreat, but Joni vowed to kill it.
• Joni used a paladin secret art that drove his battle aura beyond his body’s limits, then charged into Ovakain’s wound.
• Punk spent his remaining mana preparing spells, while Benraji’s fireballs repeatedly destroyed Ovakain’s defenses and blocked its escape attempts.
• Joni plunged into Ovakain’s wound, and his soul shattered as he asked whether Ovakain feared death.
• Joni remembered his master asking whether he was afraid to die and admitted that he had lied then, but now faced death without fear.

Joni’s suicidal Paladin secret art appeared to finish Ovakain, but the black dragon had survived by hiding and escaping with a Legendary spell. Ovakain struck Punk and Benraji with Soul Mark, leaving Punk to recognize that their troubles had only begun.

• Joni unleashed a devastating Paladin secret art that transformed the battlefield and seemingly destroyed Ovakain.
• The blast’s aftermath left the plateau in ruins and wiped out nearly all the ordinary soldiers.
• Benraji relaxed as the energy and dust cleared, but Ovakain suddenly attacked Punk and Benraji with Soul Mark spells.
• Punk recognized that Ovakain had concealed himself and escaped the Dragon Breath using a Legendary Equipment spell.
• Punk saw that Ovakain was severely wounded by the corrosive Dragon Breath but realized the Soul Mark had brought immense trouble.