Chapter Summaries

Russell accepted the Shadowflame Dragon’s decree naming him Grand Duke and traveled to Redcastle for his coronation. As the ceremony approached, he discussed the preparations and his family’s future roles with Roland and Mel.

• Lord Kunbei delivered the Shadowflame Dragon’s decree at Cigar Castle, and Russell accepted the call to inherit the Grand Duchy.
• Russell mounted Black Oil Dragon Rosai and led the delegation toward Redcastle, where nobles joined his procession along the way.
• Russell arrived in Redcastle on July 4 and prepared at the Small Castle for the coronation scheduled for July 8.
• Roland and Mel told Russell that the coronation arrangements were complete, and Russell promised Mel a three-month honeymoon before he joined the new government.
• Roland reflected that they would become sovereign and subjects, and Russell reassured him that they would remain brothers.

Russell Fluorite Mushroom was crowned Grand Duke of the Shadowflame Grand Duchy in a ceremony at Red Castle. As the realm hailed him, the Shadowflame Dragon flew from its volcano toward the castle.

• Russell rode into Red Castle as nobles and crowds gathered to witness his coronation.
• Lord Kunbei read the succession decree, and Princess Anxia performed the coronation rites.
• Russell received the Grand Duke’s regalia and ceremonial items, embodying the eight virtues of the Knight’s Path.
• Russell declared himself Grand Duke, ascended the throne, and received the realm’s kneeling acclamation.
• The Shadowflame Dragon emerged from Shadowflame Volcano and glided toward Red Castle.

After Russell’s coronation, the Shadowflame Dragon honored him with a Dragon’s Congratulatory Visit and pledged to join his quest to conquer the frost and snow. Russell received its origin dragonflame and gave it to Harpe, while the Shadowflame Dragon awaited the Little Dream Dragon’s awakening before their eventual contract.

• The Shadowflame Dragon invited Russell to the Dragon Platform, where Lord Kunbei recognized the invitation as a Dragon’s Congratulatory Visit.
• Russell met the Shadowflame Dragon and declared that he would conquer the world’s endless frost and snow; the dragon agreed to join him.
• The Shadowflame Dragon bestowed origin dragonflame on Russell, who gave it to Harpe to fuse with.
• The Shadowflame Dragon urged Russell not to make it wait too long, and Russell said their contract would follow the Little Dream Dragon’s awakening.

After his coronation, Russell handled the Dragon Blood Knights’ and nobles’ oaths of fealty and settled matters concerning the Inner Castle, Yunmeng Marsh Oasis, and the Elder Council. He persuaded Count Merlin to remain and form the cabinet by granting him the title of marquis in his first Golden Seal edict.

• Russell received the Dragon Blood Knights’ oath of fealty, followed by the nobles’ pledges, concluding the coronation ceremony.
• Russell decided to live in Cigar Castle, elevate it to Cigar Palace, and let Princess Anxia and her mother remain in the Inner Castle until Kunlaya came of age.
• Russell kept his surname, abolished or reserved Earl Thunderflame’s title for a future heir, and divided Yunmeng Marsh Oasis into three provinces to join Volcanic Oasis.
• Lord Kunbei told Russell that the Elder Council would dissolve in a week and that he needed to establish a cabinet.
• Count Merlin announced his retirement, but Russell issued his first Golden Seal edict to make him a marquis and asked him to form the cabinet.

Russell discussed Princess Anxia’s plans to leave the Red Castle and explained his views on the responsibilities that came with power. At Mel’s wedding, Mel became the new Manganese Steel Dragon Knight, while Marquis Merlin prepared to pursue the 5th Rank.

• Russell told Princess Anxia she could remain in charge of the Red Castle until Princess Kunlaya came of age, and she said she would instead spend most of her time at Red Oriole Castle.
• Russell explained to Princess Anxia that people who benefited from power had to accept its responsibilities, and she hoped his rule would bring the country prosperity.
• Russell offered Uncle Rosen the position of governor of Torrent Province and urged him to learn about industrialization in the Blackfire Land.
• In mid-July, Mel Monochoria married Annie Xuánfùhuā at Bluebird Castle and took over Mercedes’s contract to become the new Manganese Steel Dragon Knight.
• Marquis Merlin dismissed Russell’s concern about severing his contract with Mercedes and said he intended to advance to 5th Rank.

Russell and Marquis Merlin arranged the new Grand Duchy’s government and military leadership while debating whether to grant Princess Kunlaya a hereditary title. The chapter ended with Russell accepting that he and King Ares would have to confront the growing threat from the Snowfield.

• Marquis Merlin bypassed Meijie and gave the title of Earl Fuqiang directly to Mel, who planned to help Russell after his honeymoon.
• Russell appointed Marquis Merlin to lead government affairs and planned to make his father chairman of a Wyvern Military Advisory Group focused on the Snowfield invasion.
• Marquis Merlin recommended Kunbei as Chief Steward and Kunqiao as Keeper of the Seal, and Russell agreed.
• Russell proposed making Princess Kunlaya the Grand Duchy’s first female baron, but Marquis Merlin argued against granting her a hereditary title without military merit.
• Marquis Merlin reminded Russell that the Snowfield threat was growing, and Russell resolved that he and King Ares would have to step forward in dangerous times.

Russell established the Shadowflame Grand Duchy’s cabinet, military command, provincial administration, and Red Castle staff. Harpie then left to train on her own, determined to grow stronger beyond her current limits.

• Russell formed a seven-member cabinet and created the Wyvern Regiment under Baron Roman to command the Grand Duchy’s Wyverns.
• The cabinet divided the Grand Duchy into seven enclave provinces and eleven oasis provinces, and Russell approved acting governors for the oasis provinces.
• Russell appointed Katie to lead Red Castle’s palace guards, made Jerry its Rat Official, and assigned Leona to train as housekeeper after Morris returned to Cigar Palace.
• Harpie told Russell she wanted to venture out and gain experience after digesting Shadowflame’s source dragonflame, and Russell agreed to let her go alone.
• Harpie flew away from Red Castle, vowing to become as strong as Princess Polly.

Russell received foreign envoys, including Viscount Fred, whose gifts and interest in the Industrial Age brought him into the Shadowflame Grand Duchy’s orbit. At Shadowflame Volcano, the Shadowflame Dragon and Scorching argued over the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method and vowed to thwart each other’s plans.

• Russell welcomed Viscount Fred Moltenfire, who revealed that his Pseudo-Griffon Dragon was trying to comprehend its ancestor’s claw and asked Russell for guidance on advancing to Dragon Domain Lord.
• Fred gave the Shadowflame Grand Duchy lavish gemstones, and Russell arranged for him to stay near Furious Wind City.
• Princess Anxia invited Fred to her Good Morning Salon, where she introduced the Industrial Age and encouraged him to visit Blackfire Land Province.
• King Ares arrived at Red Castle to congratulate Russell while the Scorching Dragon went to Shadowflame Volcano to confront the Shadowflame Dragon.
• The Scorching Dragon urged the Shadowflame Dragon to accept the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method, but the Shadowflame Dragon vowed to reclaim its hope from Torrent and stop Scorching from returning to antiquity.

Russell learned that Frost Star’s unstable orbit suggested an unseen celestial body was pulling it, and King Ares warned that Frost Giants might descend when Frost Star approached Dragon Star. Russell then went to Dagger Mountain Observatory to examine its records and investigate the anomaly himself.

• Russell served King Ares green tea and told him he was developing cocktails.
• King Ares said astronomers had detected an unknown body affecting Frost Star’s orbit and warned that Frost Giants might descend as Frost Star neared Dragon Star.
• King Ares insisted that the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method proceed, but Russell said Shadowflame would not agree; they also arranged to build Scale Towers to protect the trade route.
• After King Ares departed, Russell and Shadowflame exchanged a distant glance, then Russell went to Dagger Mountain Observatory.
• Russell questioned Sullivan, who showed him records indicating Frost Star followed a fluctuating, wave-shaped path disturbed by a massive body the astronomers could not locate.

Russell learned that Frost Star appeared to enter the Solar System intermittently and could be tied to the Frost Troll invasion and his own transmigration. He left its investigation to Sullivan and discussed his family’s move to Red Keep, while his grandmother chose to remain at Fluorite Castle.

• Sullivan told Russell that Frost Star’s intermittent appearances disrupted planetary orbits and predicted another transit between December and January, which could cause massive earthquakes on Dragon Star.
• Russell connected Frost Star’s arrival with the appearance of Frost Trolls and speculated that the same power might have caused his transmigration.
• Russell ordered Sullivan to continue observing Frost Star and prepare for an Astronomical Scholars delegation from the Scorching Torrent Kingdom.
• Russell invited his family to live at Red Keep, but Old Madam Ingrid chose to remain at Fluorite Castle with Aunt Roby while Baron Roman and Madam Meryl agreed to move.
• Russell promised Old Madam Ingrid that Samer would eventually be enfeoffed as a nobleman, then departed to return to Red Keep.

Russell pushed industrialization and a Thunder Sound Machine research project while his forces reopened a trade route through the snowfields. After two months, the Black Horse Snow Forest garrison saw a flickering black dot above the sun just as an earthquake shook the area.

• Russell ordered railways, roads, and other infrastructure built, then inspired scholars to develop a Thunder Sound Machine using lightning magic to transmit voices over long distances.
• Russell funded the Thunder Sound Machine project and assigned lightning-affiliated Phantom Beast Knights to help the scholars research it.
• Baron Roman led Knight Orders into the snowfields to clear a trade route, and they built a Shadowflame Scale Tower in the Black Horse Snow Forest.
• Harpy Harpie trained in the forest for a chance to advance into a Phantom Dragon and hunted Snow Demons, delivering Ice Soul Beads to the garrison.
• After the Dragon Birth Festival, the garrison spotted a flickering black dot above the setting sun, and an earthquake shook the Black Horse Snow Forest.

During Frost Star’s second transit across the sun, Russell and the Shadowflame Dragon realized that Frost Star was nearing its arrival and that the freezing force was growing stronger. That night, earthquakes, blizzards, and Snow Ghost invasions spread across the Shadowflame Grand Duchy.

• Russell observed the second Frost Star transit and sensed its influence over the Yunmeng Marsh Oasis.
• Russell visited the Shadowflame Dragon, who confirmed that the freezing force across the snowfields and Volcanic Oasis had intensified.
• Russell warned the Shadowflame Dragon that Frost Star was about to pass through the Gate of Another World and bring the Frost Trolls to Dragon Sleep Continent.
• Russell and the Shadowflame Dragon watched a meteor shower and suspected the meteors might carry Frost Trolls or other threats.
• Earthquakes and blizzards struck the Warm Lands, Snow Ghosts invaded, and Baron Roman led knights on border patrols.

Frost Da recruited Frost Warrior Luo to gather the support legion and help reclaim the Extreme Ice Sacred Artifact, while King Ares and Russell discussed the danger posed by Frost Star and the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method. The chapter ended with Ares planning to use the dragons’ hopes as kindling to return to antiquity.

• Frost Warrior Luo emerged from a meteor crater and learned that Frost Ge had died, so Frost Da ordered him to gather the support legion for an attack on Scorching's bat nest.
• Luo rode a growing Snow Beast across the snowy plains, feeding it power by killing summoned Snow Demons as he searched for his companions.
• Frost Da worried about Russell Fluorite Mushroom but resolved that the arriving Frost Warriors would overwhelm the human nations and help it advance into a Frost Giant.
• At the Golden Palace, King Ares and Russell discussed the Frost Troll threat and the Three-Dragon Sacrifice Method before Russell departed.
• Ares and Scorching Dragon discussed Russell's plans and the delayed sacrifice, and Ares intended to use the hopes of Shadowflame Dragon and Torrent as kindling for Scorching's return to antiquity.

Russell pushed ahead with railway construction and forced the reluctant warm-enclave lords to contribute, then moved against Count Oscro after the Water Willow Family resisted his authority. His decree exiled Oscro and Augustus to the snowfields, confined Kunli, and divided Gravel Territory between Auden and the state.

• Russell opened construction on the railway from Furious Wind City to Ze City and ordered the warm-enclave lords to fund the wider network.
• Russell compelled Curis Zi Cao and the Sunflower Family to pay, while Count Oscro sought allies after hearing Russell might strip his family of its title.
• Dai Wen brought Russell records of the Water Willow Family’s resentment and asked him to preserve her son Auden’s title.
• After the cabinet proposed what Russell considered too light a punishment, he issued a Golden Seal decree exiling Oscro and Augustus for life and confining Kunli in Gravel Castle.
• Russell demoted the Earl of Gravel title to a barony for Auden upon adulthood, divided Gravel Territory between Auden and the state, and reclaimed two dragons.

Russell defended his harsh punishment of Oskro as a demand for absolute loyalty, prompting Marquis Merlin to resign rather than accept the Golden Seal edict. He replaced Merlin’s Cabinet leadership and told Baron Roman that the Grand Duchy had to unite under his will before the Frost Trolls invaded through the Gate of Another World.

• Russell told Marquis Merlin that Oskro’s punishment was meant to enforce reverence and absolute loyalty, not to match the severity of his crimes.
• Marquis Merlin objected to Russell’s edict, resigned as Chief Executive of the Cabinet, and received Russell’s approval.
• Russell appointed Baron Gevidas Baimai Gen as Chief Executive and Sir Dante as Minister of Finance, and Gevidas began carrying out the exile of Oskro and his son.
• Baron Roman asked Russell why Marquis Merlin had resigned, and Russell explained that he would not tolerate his vassals bargaining with or disregarding his will.
• Russell warned Baron Roman that Froststar’s approach meant the Frost Trolls would soon invade through the Gate of Another World, then asked his parents to help Marquis Merlin adjust to leaving Red Keep.

Dai Wen accepted Gravel Territory’s reduced fief and title for her infant son Auden after Osklo and Augustus were exiled, then persuaded the vassal lords to swear loyalty to him. As the Water Willow Family began rallying under Auden, Dyson resolved to request a railway linking the Golden Plains and Yunmeng Marsh Oasis.

• Lord Welch announced Osklo and Augustus’s exile and named Auden the future Gravel Baron, while Dai Wen accepted the division of the territory.
• The Dragon Blood Knights took Osklo and Augustus east, and Baron Roman led the Sponge Dragon and Fire-Stealing Dragon back to Red Castle.
• After the soldiers left, Madam Kunli confronted Dai Wen, who ordered the guards to return her to the castle and challenged the vassal lords for questioning her.
• Dai Wen admitted that she had reported Osklo and Augustus, arguing that her actions saved the Water Willow Family and its vassals from destruction.
• Bosku swore loyalty to Auden, and the other vassal lords followed.
• Dyson praised his family’s loyalty to the Grand Duke and said Kingtop Castle would request a railway between the Golden Plains and Yunmeng Marsh Oasis.

Russell oversaw the successful invention of the Thunder Sound Machine and arranged for its production and expansion across the Shadowflame Grand Duchy. After King Ares received one and exchanged messages with Russell, he praised the invention and declared that the future would be Russell’s era.

• Russell ordered Minister of Industry Roland to mass-produce Thunder Sound Machines and build Thunderclap Stations throughout the provinces, then sent Mel to present one to King Ares.
• Russell asked Princess Anxia and Marquis Arno to fund radio research in exchange for operating a future broadcast station, and they agreed.
• Russell achieved Perfect Synchronization with Sembra after a battle, then returned to the Cigar Palace using Dream Recall.
• Russell sent greetings to King Ares through the Thunderclap Station, while Mel taught Ares how to use the machine and decipher its codebook.
• King Ares replied to Russell and praised the Thunder Sound Machine, then said the future would be Russell’s era.

Russell ordered the Suluo series to end and expanded Thunder Sound’s reach while the Shadowflame Grand Duchy’s industries grew. Grand Scholar Placido revealed that the Demon Seeking Tower could detect Snow Giants and Frost Trolls, and a new Snow Giant trace appeared near Black Horse Snow Forest.

• Russell read Old Madam Ingrid’s criticism of Nicholas’s latest play and ordered Nicholas to end the Suluo series.
• Russell authorized Marquis Arno and Viscount Fred to manufacture Thunder Sound Machines in their territories for a licensing fee.
• Viscount Fred praised Russell’s industrial plans and promised to send Grand Scholars to the Shadowflame Grand Duchy for study and exchange.
• Grand Scholar Placido showed Russell a prototype Demon Seeking Tower that used magical fluctuations to detect Snow Giants and Frost Trolls across a radius of five hundred kilometers.
• Russell ordered Demon Seeking Towers built in every enclave province, and the map registered a Snow Giant near Black Horse Snow Forest.

Russell investigated the Demon Seeking Tower’s signals and discovered Frost Da leading an army of Snow Trolls across the snowfields. He ambushed and killed one of the Snow Trolls, then escaped with its corpse while Frost Da watched.

• Russell ordered the kingdom to prepare for battle after the Demon Seeking Tower’s signals persisted, then flew toward Black Horse Snow Forest with Polly.
• Russell sent Harpie away from the area and found Frost Da leading more than a dozen Snow Trolls across the snowfield.
• Russell and Polly watched Frost Da’s troop from the Dark Dreamscape, but Frost Da sensed their presence and used an escape technique to vanish with his followers.
• Russell and Polly attacked a Snow Troll that had not escaped, piercing it with the Meteor Butterfly Sword and destroying its body.
• Frost Da returned too late to stop Russell from taking the Snow Troll’s corpse and fleeing on lightning.

Russell brought a Snow Troll corpse to the scholars, confirmed the Demon Seeking Tower had detected a group of Snow Trolls, and discovered that their power could be condensed into Frost Star Beads. As he hurried to find Harpie, Shadowflame felt a new surge of power, and a Warm Enclave opened on the western snowfields with a newborn Wyvern.

• Russell delivered the Snow Troll corpse to the Demon Seeking Tower and confirmed that its signals accurately marked a group of Snow Trolls.
• Russell warned King Ares about Frost Da's reinforcements, arranged for the king's visit, and learned that Snow Trolls had bodies capable of bearing Extraordinary Power.
• Russell took half the Snow Troll corpse to Shadowflame, which condensed it into a Frost Star Bead and devoured it.
• Russell sensed that Snowcake was close to awakening as the M-shaped Mark on his palm dimmed, then received a frantic mental message from Harpie.
• Shadowflame felt a surge of power and connected it to a new Warm Enclave opening, while Russell found Harpie above the western snowfields as the Ice Cap melted and a newborn Wyvern flew free.