Chapter Summaries

Russell traveled with Mel and the Xuanfuhua relatives toward the Shadowflame Grand Duchy for Mel and Annie’s wedding. On the way, Frost Da ambushed Russell with a Snow Giant, but Russell escaped and fought back as the convoy retreated.

• King Ares attended Mel and Annie’s engagement banquet, and the families prepared to travel to the Shadowflame Grand Duchy for their wedding.
• Russell rode with Mel and Welim as the convoy left Summer Chrysanthemum Castle, training with Sembra during the journey.
• Near Black Horse Snow Forest, Russell rode ahead to scout beyond the protection of dragon power while Mel and the convoy followed.
• Frost Da sent a Snow Giant to seize Russell, but Russell used Sembra’s Dream Recall to escape and appeared atop the giant in his Wind-Thunder Form.
• Russell attacked the Snow Giant while a Frost Troll summoned a blizzard, and Earl Ade led Mel and the convoy away from the battlefield.

Russell battled Snow Da and Frost Da, using Thorn's Prosperity and Polly's Dream Escape Technique to withstand their domains. As Frost Da's crushing strike neared, Russell vanished, having found the breakthrough he sought.

• Russell used Thorn's Prosperity to bind Snow Da and attacked while Polly watched for Frost Da's ambush.
• Frost Da emerged from the Ice Cap and attacked Russell with his wooden club and Blizzard Domain.
• Russell resisted Frost Da's spatial attacks, restrained him with thorns, and continued fighting alongside Polly as Harpie withdrew.
• Russell and Frost Da's weapons collided, shattering Russell's sword and knocking him out of Lord of Thunder Form.
• As Frost Da's club descended, Russell thanked him and vanished, leaving Frost Da bewildered.

Within the Dark Dreamscape, Russell witnessed Polly’s memories and learned that she had a mother who died fighting Snow Demons. Russell helped Polly face her grief, and they emerged from the dream resolved to defeat the cold and its monsters; Frost Da and Snow Giant Da then pursued a fleeing convoy.

• Snow Giant Da and Frost Troll Da lamented their failure to reclaim the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact or defeat Russell.
• Russell traveled through visions of the past, witnessing the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact’s arrival and the evolution of horses into Pseudo-Unicorn Dragons.
• Russell recognized newborn Polly in the river of time and learned that her mother had charged into battle against a Snow Demon and Snow Ghosts.
• Russell reassured Polly that her mother would watch over her, and they vowed to defeat the Snow Demons, Snow Giants, and Frost Trolls.
• Lightning enveloped Russell and Polly as they left the dream, while Frost Da and Snow Giant Da caught up with a fleeing convoy.

As the Snow Giant and Frost Troll overwhelmed the convoy, Russell and Polly reappeared in colossal forms made of golden lightning. Russell confronted Snow Giant Da, offering the first sign that the fleeing survivors might be saved.

• The convoy fell into chaos as the blizzard and pursuing monsters blocked escape, while Mel rescued Annie and Welim chose to face the danger with Lily.
• Earl Ade tried to flee on his Wyvern but could not find his son Avi, while Welim and the others braced for death.
• The blizzard suddenly froze, and countless lights and lightning illuminated the snowfield.
• Russell and Polly emerged from the Dark Dreamscape as a gigantic Lightning Knight and Golden Lightning Unicorn.
• Russell addressed Snow Giant Da and declared that he was its opponent.

Russell transformed into a lightning giant and revealed power on the level of a Dragon Knight, then fought Frost Da and Snow Da. After his lightning attack left Snow Da damaged but Frost Da unharmed, Frost Da fled into the snowfield and Russell pursued him.

• Russell and Unicorn Polly assumed Elemental Body Casting forms, and their golden lightning dispelled the Blizzard Domain’s effects.
• The convoy’s knights and Earl Ade watched in astonishment as Russell’s power appeared to push the Knight’s Path beyond the Dragon Domain Lord’s peak.
• Russell bound Frost Da and Snow Da with Thorn’s Prosperity while Polly charged and Russell struck them with his Meteor Butterfly Sword.
• Russell’s lightning attack charred Snow Da, but Frost Da remained unharmed as Thorn’s Prosperity collapsed.
• Frost Da fled with the damaged Snow Da, and Russell pursued them on Polly.

Russell and Polly drove Frost Da away after breaking through the limits of a Dragon Domain Lord and becoming Phantom Dragon Knights. The convoy resumed its journey southeast, with Russell now recognized as a knight who wielded a dragon's authority.

• Russell stopped chasing Frost Da, and Polly suggested the dragons' attention had prompted his retreat.
• Russell named Polly a Sacred Unicorn after she returned to her ordinary warhorse size with her power greatly increased.
• Russell told Mel and the gathered knights that he and Polly had advanced to Phantom Dragon Knights and explained their Elemental Body Casting.
• Earl Ade thanked Russell for saving the convoy and decided to continue to the Shadowflame Grand Duchy.
• The convoy crossed the shattered battlefield and continued southeast with Russell riding at its front.

Russell reflected on Polly’s transformation into a Phantom Dragon and devised a new ranking system for knight cultivation. After entering the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, he examined the giant dragon’s elemental power and saw Polly’s new mark: a double-bend lightning bolt.

• Sembra greeted Polly with reverence, and Polly said she no longer disliked the scent of black horses after breaking through her ancestral bloodline ceiling.
• Russell sensed that his power now had a four-layer structure and concluded that knight cultivation ranks should be redefined around Phantom Beasts, pseudo-dragons, and Phantom Dragons.
• Russell organized a new Knight’s Path ranking system, placing Phantom Dragon Knights in the Dragon Flame Tier below or alongside Dragon Knights.
• After entering the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, Russell sensed the Shadowflame Dragon’s mixed elemental power, while Polly explained that giant dragons could adapt to complex environments because of it.
• Polly transformed into a double-bend lightning mark on Russell’s forehead, which he compared to the Flash’s emblem.

The Shadowflame Dragon regained his strength and flew to meet Russell on the snowfield, eager to learn how Russell and Polly had gained their new power. After Russell explained that they had become a Phantom Dragon Knight, the dragon departed, and the convoy continued toward Fire Ant Swamp.

• The Shadowflame Dragon felt his strength return, roared, and flew from Shadowflame Volcano, prompting Count Merlin to send Wyvern Knights after him.
• Russell told Mel he would return to Thunder Marsh after escorting the convoy to Fire Ant Swamp, since Polly's advancement might have changed the marsh.
• Polly sensed the Shadowflame Dragon approaching, and Russell stopped the convoy to greet him as the dragon descended onto the snowfield.
• The Shadowflame Dragon asked Russell about Thunder Marsh's power and the unicorn, and Russell explained that he and Polly had become a Phantom Dragon Knight.
• The Shadowflame Dragon praised Russell and flew away, while Mel teased him about the dragon coming to welcome him.
• Russell led the convoy onward, and Earl Ade reflected that Russell was far beyond what his daughter Annie could hope to marry.

Russell and Polly discovered that their advancement as Phantom Dragon Knights had expanded Thunder Marsh into a new oasis. After naming it Yunmeng Marsh Oasis, Russell left to visit Shadowflame Volcano.

• Russell rode Polly to Blackfire Land and saw that Roland had continued developing the territory in his absence.
• Russell and Polly surveyed the snowfields around Thunder Marsh, where Polly's bloodline power had melted a vast area and formed a new oasis.
• Russell named the new territory Yunmeng Marsh Oasis after Polly pointed out that Rosai, Ross, and Harpie had also helped found it.
• Polly told Russell that her bloodline power still affected only white horses, while Russell wondered whether Sembra's evolution might affect black horses.
• Raphael reported the territory's sudden changes, and Russell explained that he and Polly had reached the realm of Phantom Dragon Knight before flying toward Shadowflame Volcano.

Russell met with the Shadowflame Dragon, agreed to govern the Shadowflame Grand Duchy as a marquis, and openly offered to contract the dragon after Ice Cream. He left the volcano unharmed and went to the Elder Council, where Count Merlin welcomed him as the continent’s only Phantom Dragon Knight.

• Russell summoned Polly, and the Shadowflame Dragon praised her power and said Shadowflame had fully recovered.
• The Shadowflame Dragon asked Russell to govern the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, and Russell accepted a hereditary marquis title after realizing he needed governing experience.
• As Russell left, the Shadowflame Dragon offered another chance at cooperation, and Russell said Ice Cream would be his first contracted dragon while Shadowflame could consider becoming his second.
• The Shadowflame Dragon let Russell leave without attacking, and Lord Welch explained that the elder ministers wanted to know Russell’s relationship with Shadowflame and whether he could rival a Dragon Knight.
• At the Elder Council, Count Merlin and the ministers applauded Russell, and Count Merlin congratulated him on behalf of the Grand Duchy.

Russell attended the Elder Council as a newly recognized Phantom Dragon Knight and said he had not yet agreed to a deeper partnership with the Shadowflame Dragon. The Shadowflame Dragon dissolved the Elder Council and named Russell the new Grand Duke of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy.

• Count Merlin welcomed Russell to the Elder Council, where Wyvern Knights had replaced several former ruling elders.
• Russell explained that he and Polly could fight the Shadowflame Dragon at a four-to-six ratio and said he was still considering the dragon’s proposal for deeper cooperation.
• Russell promised the Shadowflame Grand Duchy would grow stronger whether or not he and the Shadowflame Dragon cooperated, then left the meeting.
• The Elder Council went to Shadowflame Volcano and asked the Shadowflame Dragon how Russell should be rewarded.
• The Shadowflame Dragon ordered the Elder Council dissolved and declared Russell the new Grand Duke of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy.

Russell was chosen as the new Grand Duke of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy, while the Elder Council prepared to end the Selecting the Young Masters system and arrange his coronation. Count Merlin accepted that his own time in power was ending and turned to Mercedes to prepare a wedding gift for Mel.

• Mel and Annie Xuanfuhua traveled toward Volcanic Oasis as Dark Chronicles entertained serfs and audiences in the cities.
• Marquis Arno urged Nicholas to write about Russell’s latest achievements, including his battle with the Frost Troll Da and his rise as a Phantom Dragon Knight.
• Count Merlin told the Elder Council that Russell had been chosen as Grand Duke and that they needed only to prepare his coronation.
• Count Merlin ordered the abolition of the Selecting the Young Master system and the removal of Kunsley, Mel, and Augustus from their titles.
• Count Merlin reflected on the end of the Shadowflame Dragonblood Family’s rule and told Mercedes he wanted to give Mel a wedding gift.

Count Merlin told Russell that the Shadowflame Dragon had chosen him as the new grand duke, despite Russell not yet agreeing to form a contract. Russell said he would rather establish his own country elsewhere, leaving Count Merlin to wonder whether he knew another dragon.

• Count Merlin returned to his Small Castle after the Shadowflame Dragon disbanded the Elder Council and backed Russell's rise to power.
• Count Merlin met Russell in the rear garden, where they compared their Amber Bugs and discussed how fortune and effort had shaped their strength.
• Count Merlin told Russell that the Shadowflame Dragon had decided to appoint him grand duke.
• Russell questioned the appointment because he had not agreed to a contract with the Shadowflame Dragon and said he had no interest in becoming grand duke.
• Russell said he would rather establish a country elsewhere, and Count Merlin mistakenly concluded that he knew an unclaimed dragon or a dragon from another kingdom.

Russell accepted the Shadowflame Dragon’s choice and agreed to inherit the title of Grand Duke, despite preferring to establish a separate nation. He returned to Fluorite Castle at extraordinary speed, where his family welcomed him as the first Phantom Dragon Knight.

• Count Merlin warned Russell that King Ares was ambitious and urged him to inherit the Grand Duchy to prevent further upheaval.
• Russell agreed to become Grand Duke, and Count Merlin said Mel’s wedding would be postponed.
• Russell flew away so quickly that Mercedes marveled at his speed and reassured Count Merlin that Russell would lead the duchy into a new era.
• At Fluorite Castle, Baron Roman and the family discussed Russell’s advancement and learned that he had already returned from Red Castle.
• Russell waited outside with Sacred Unicorn Polly, and his family welcomed him and admired the powerful aura he had gained.

Russell returned to the Fluorite Mushroom Family with Sacred Unicorn Polly and announced that he would inherit the Shadowflame Grand Duchy. His family celebrated and prepared to help him rule, while Russell planned to establish a separate residence and care for Princess Anxia and Princess Kunlaya.

• Polly impressed the Fluorite Mushroom Family before transforming into a streak of lightning and imprinting herself on Russell's forehead.
• Russell met his newborn nephew Roger, and his family welcomed the infant while Russell reflected on his place as the family's second son.
• Russell arranged for Royal to follow him before his accession, and Uncle Rosen agreed to notify Royal.
• Russell told his family that he had reached an agreement with the Shadowflame Dragon and would soon be crowned Grand Duke.
• Russell explained that he would stay out of the Inner Castle until the young princess married, reorganize the cabinet, and bring Roland and Rosen to help him govern.
• The family toasted Russell's coming accession, and he raised his cup toward Red Castle, wishing for the wind and snow to cease.

Lord Kunbei informed Princess Anxia that Russell would inherit the Grand Duke’s throne and asked her to present the family’s regalia and insignia at his enthronement. Anxia accepted the succession but, uncertain how Russell would treat her and Kunlaya, decided to prepare a quiet home outside Red Castle.

• Lord Kunbei visited Princess Anxia and told her that Russell had become a Phantom Dragon Knight.
• Lord Kunbei explained that Russell would inherit the Grand Duke’s position and that the Elder Council was preparing his enthronement.
• Princess Anxia accepted Russell’s succession and agreed to present the scepter, crown, seal, ring, sword, and court robes.
• Princess Anxia asked what would happen to her and Kunlaya, and Lord Kunbei said they should receive courtesy but had no assurances from Shadowflame.
• Princess Anxia instructed a maid to pack their necessities and rent a small castle near Furious Wind City.

Red Castle’s delegation and wyvern knights departed to welcome Russell before his coronation as Grand Duke. As people celebrated his rise across the duchy, Mel told Count Merlin that Russell was the best choice for the throne, and Merlin agreed.

• Red Castle’s court gazette announced that Russell would become Grand Duke, and the coronation was set for July 8.
• Eight wyvern knights and a Dragon Blood Knights escort left Red Castle for Cigar Castle as crowds cheered for Russell.
• Grand Duchy nobles discussed Russell’s Phantom Dragon Knight status, the new path it represented, and how they would serve him as Grand Duke.
• Unaffiliated knights in a Furious Wind City tavern toasted Russell and hoped his rule would bring campaigns against the Snow Demons, while a one-eyed knight collected payment for helping the owner draw customers.
• Mel told Count Merlin that Earl Ade’s family had temporary lodging and that he was happy Russell would become Grand Duke; Count Merlin agreed Russell was the best choice.

Russell welcomed Sembra home, introduced her to his Phantom Beasts, and helped her settle near Polly. He reflected on his companions’ ambitions and on Ice Cream’s prolonged hibernation as he awaited his coronation.

• Russell met Rosai and Sembra at Red Bat Cave, then rode Sembra to Fluorite Castle and showed her to Baron Roman.
• Russell brought Sembra to Cigar Castle, where she chose to live near Polly in the bamboo forest.
• Polly agreed to let Sembra live in the bamboo forest, and Ouroboros welcomed Sembra and invited her to join future snowfield battles.
• Sembra agreed to fight alongside Ouroboros and said she wanted to become as strong as Polly.
• Russell saw that the M-shaped Mark was still burning and wondered when Ice Cream would wake from hibernation.

Count Oskro Willow and his family reacted with rage and fear to the edict ordering them to attend Russell Fluorite Mushroom’s coronation. Dai Wen secretly recorded their grievances and hoped Russell would punish the Water Willow Family after taking the throne.

• Shadow Guard knights delivered the coronation edict to Gravel Castle, and Count Oskro threw it down in anger.
• Madam Kunli urged Oskro to avoid the ceremony, but he insisted the family could not risk defying Russell’s order.
• Madam Kunli cursed Russell, the Shadowflame Dragon, and Merlin while Dai Wen silently remembered her words.
• Augustus returned drunk, and when Oskro tried to strike him, Augustus pulled Dai Wen in front of himself as a shield.
• Dai Wen returned to her room, wrote down the family’s curses and resentment, and wished for Russell to ascend the throne so she could testify against them.

After Russell’s succession as Grand Duke became certain, the Sunflower family prepared to submit to him while Russell oversaw a steam train test and arranged the future administration of Yunmeng Marsh Oasis. The chapter ended with Russell’s followers celebrating his coming ascension at Cigar Castle.

• Kunsley told Kunspe to accept Russell’s succession, while Baron Kunbif ordered Kunsley to accompany him to Red Castle and win the new Grand Duke’s favor.
• Russell watched the Steam Train complete a trial run at Black Oil Mine and announced plans to build a full train and railway across Yunmeng Marsh Oasis.
• Russell divided Yunmeng Marsh Oasis into Blackfire, Thunder Marsh, and Green Hill provinces and provisionally appointed Eric, Gelontan, and Grove as their governors.
• Charles and Katie chose to accompany Russell to Red Castle, and Katie joked that Jerry could help him clean out the castle’s rats.
• Russell ordered a followers’ banquet at Cigar Castle, where he and his followers celebrated his imminent ascension.