Chapter Summaries

As Frozen Earth Territory faced an overwhelming orc invasion, Ryan used the Dusk Divinity stored on his Spirituality Panel to summon Surtr and make the divine power descend into his own body. With his vision transformed and his power awakening, Ryan discovered the werewolves’ bloodlust and lineage could be turned against them.

• Ryan learned from Grand Mage Macken that a mortal might wield divine power through a strong enough soul, but warned that contact with a deity could invite its lasting attention.
• Ryan rejected retreat and led the Stag Legion toward the fortress line as the orc army pressed the defenders.
• Ryan performed a blood-marked sacrifice and used the Spirituality Panel to intercept Surtr’s descent, channeling Dusk Divinity into himself.
• Ryan saw the world as flames and recognized the connection between the werewolves’ power and their bloodline.
• Ryan commanded the werewolves’ blood to serve him, and one werewolf dropped to its knees before a murky flame ignited within it.

Ryan used Dusk’s power to turn tens of thousands of Werewolves against the Orcs, breaking the invasion of Frozen Earth Territory. As the province’s defenses fell back to Cold Mountain City County, Shaya and Rosalind looked to Ryan as Northwind Province’s last hope.

• Ryan’s Dusk power transformed Werewolves into bone-armored believers who attacked the Orcs, throwing the invading army into chaos.
• Ryan ended his divine descent and led the Stag Legion’s counterattack, while the Dusk believers continued slaughtering Orcs until death.
• Knight Mulan pursued the retreating Legendary Werewolf leaders as Ryan learned they had become Legends through a drop of God’s blood.
• After two days of fighting and cleanup, Ryan received news that Fragrant Mountain Plains Fortress had fallen and Rosalind had been gravely wounded while helping its defenders retreat.
• Shaya told Rosalind that Ryan was Northwind Province’s only chance to defeat the Orcs.

Ryan negotiated with Rosalind over saving Northwind Province, agreeing to command its war against the beastmen in exchange for money, food, and a chance to govern Northwind City. Rosalind promised to provide extraordinary power through a costly method, and Ryan agreed to join the battlefield once preparations were complete.

• At a meeting with only Rosalind and an infant present, Shaya argued that Ryan should command Northwind's army because Frozen Earth Territory had defeated the Werewolves while Fragrant Mountain Plains Fortress had fallen.
• Ryan told Rosalind that Northwind Province lacked both a fortress and enough knights, and warned that he would not risk commanding an army unable to stop the Silvermoon Royal Court's wolf riders.
• Rosalind said he could turn every human on the battlefield into a knight, and Ryan realized the Mayers Family had a costly way to create extraordinary power.
• Ryan agreed to command the war in return for five million Gold Coins, an annual million jin of food, and a request to become Northwind City's nominal city lord, which Rosalind agreed to raise with the Grand Duke.
• After Rosalind explained that his method required time and expensive materials, Ryan said he would appear on the battlefield once the preparations were complete.
• At Rhino Horn Mountain, Ryan and Avril wondered why humans held the most fertile lands and whether dragons might rule somewhere beyond their knowledge.

Parker and the Northlands adventurer Downs crossed paths in Frozen Earth Territory, where Downs saw the citizens’ resolve and learned that Baron Ryan was preparing to fight the Werewolves. Before he could carry that hope home, Werewolves killed him and captured refugees, but Mikael and Parker led Frozen Earth Territory’s forces against the attackers and ordered the surrounding area cleared.

• Parker stopped Downs and his fellow adventurers on the road, then let them continue after hearing they were returning home to protect their families from the Orcs.
• Downs and the adventurers saw the graves at Grave Mountain and the busy, cheerful citizens of Frozen Earth Territory, then heard in Zero Crossing City that Baron Ryan would lead an army against the Werewolf Legion.
• Werewolves captured Downs and other humans; after a Garg Clan Werewolf explained that humans would be kept as a source of blood and labor, a young man attacked, prompting the captives to fight back and die.
• Mikael, Parker, and Frozen Earth Territory’s cavalry arrived after the battle, killed the Werewolves, and decided to cremate the fallen humans and bury them at Grave Mountain.
• Mikael rallied a group of fleeing soldiers to fight beside his knights, routed another pack of Werewolves, and ordered the area cleared to protect Zero Crossing City.

Ryan gathered a large army of starving refugees and slaves, then chose Northwind County as the battlefield and bait to draw the Werewolves into a decisive fight. His plan required control of Northwind City, but Grand Duke Mayers and Emperor Columbus III argued over who should administer it.

• Ryan gathered fifty thousand emaciated soldiers outside Zero Crossing City, and Rosalind supplied Demon Lord blood potions to transform some of them into Demon Kin.
• Ryan ordered nobles to provide food for the army and reasoned that the Werewolves had to be drawn into one battlefield with suitable bait.
• After weighing the counties, Ryan chose Northwind County and Northwind City as the battlefield and bait, then demanded that Grand Duke Mayers arrange the city’s transfer.
• Rosalind left to contact Shaya and Grand Duke Mayers, while Ryan halted the army and waited for a decision about Northwind City.
• In the Imperial Capital, Grand Duke Mayers pressed Emperor Columbus III to appoint Ryan to administer Northwind City, arguing that Ryan had exceptional military talent.

Ryan laid out a plan to defend Northwind Province from the Werewolves, but knew his weakened troops could not mount a real offensive. At the border of Thundercloud County, he sought the God of Light’s help to make his army hold against the coming attack.

• Ryan learned that Orcs had breached fortresses in four Northlands Border Provinces, while the Empire deployed its legions and Legendary Mages to contain them.
• Ryan accepted his appointment as Northwind Province’s administrator for thirty years, despite having to return Northwind City when the Marquis came of age and serve under Count Winter.
• Ryan told Lord Horla that armies from three counties would form a defensive line, then advance against the Werewolves, and warned that Rosalind’s trump card could cost every soldier involved his life.
• Lord Horla relayed Ryan’s plan to Count Winter, who recognized the appointment as an opportunity for the Winter Family to regain influence in Northwind Province.
• Ryan admitted to himself that his soldiers could not attack the Werewolves and reframed the plan as defense followed by a decisive battle in Count Winter Territory.
• Ryan reached the border of Thundercloud County, removed his boots, and walked barefoot onto its soil as he called on the God of Light to help his army hold.

Ryan used a promise of warmth and food beyond Thundercloud Mountain to inspire the starving slaves and help them endure a sudden cold wind. As his army entered Thundercloud County, Werewolves attacked, and Ryan led the frightened soldiers into battle toward the mountain.

• Ryan approached the slaves, fed Nino porridge, learned his name, and told the crowd that the sunlight beyond Thundercloud Mountain would keep them warm and fed.
• A freezing wind struck overnight, and Ryan told Ross that his promise had given the slaves hope to survive the cold.
• The army advanced through Thundercloud County toward Thundercloud Mountain, where Werewolves were concentrated.
• When Werewolves surrounded the army, Ryan rode to the front and urged the slaves to fight rather than retreat.
• The slave soldiers charged the Werewolves as Stag Legion knights shot them with arrows, and the soldiers began to understand that reaching the mountain would not be easy.

Ryan led the Stag Legion and tens of thousands of slave soldiers to Thundercloud Mountain, where his trenches and night tactics helped them resist a major Werewolf assault. After the costly battle, Ryan joined Shaya on the mountain and continued preparing the defenses while the nobles awaited a chance to counterattack.

• Shaya held Thundercloud Mountain against repeated Werewolf attacks while Ryan delayed his arrival to train his army and build its confidence through victories.
• After reaching the ravaged camp below the mountain, Ryan ordered his soldiers to dig pits and trenches, then used fire, hidden pits, shields, and cavalry to meet the Werewolves’ night assault.
• When Mikaela and Harrington’s cavalry could not break through the Werewolf army, Ryan and his retainers reinforced the Stag Legion, helping it break through and hold a defensive formation until dawn.
• Mikaela led a renewed cavalry charge at daybreak, and the exhausted Werewolves finally retreated, leaving thousands of human soldiers dead and only about 3,000 Werewolves killed below the mountain.
• Ryan climbed Thundercloud Mountain with the casualty report, told Shaya that Count Winter’s orders called for the counties to hold their positions, and insisted that the army keep digging trenches.
• Viscount Hogg of Silver Stream County arrived after Ryan reached Thundercloud Mountain.

Ryan organized Northwind Province’s defenses against the Werewolves with trenches, reinforcements, and the Stag Legion’s knights, while Ross helped defeat a powerful Saint Realm Werewolf. As the defensive line weakened, Hati ordered the Werewolves to gather and target Ryan, while prayers from the human soldiers reached the gods.

• Ryan forced Viscount Hogg to request more troops from Silver Stream County and assigned its soldiers to dig trenches.
• Ryan explained that the Werewolves sought to conquer Northwind Province and replace its human nobles, while the Rampaging Elephants and Wyvern Legion remained at Winged Gorge.
• Ross, Brandt, and the Crystal Python helped kill a Saint Realm Werewolf that attacked Thundercloud Mountain.
• Ryan sent the knights into the daytime battle, where the Stag Legion proved far more effective against Werewolves than ordinary knights.
• After the Werewolves withdrew at dusk, Egil warned Ryan that they were Orcs capable of becoming frenzied, and Hati ordered all Werewolves to gather and attack Ryan, the human king.
• Hati sensed the gods’ call as the praying soldiers’ faith drifted toward an unknown heaven and the sunlight grew hotter.

Ryan watched the God of Light empower the slave soldiers with sunlight, allowing them to fight Werewolves at the cost of rapidly burning through their future vitality. After Ryan stopped their advance and the Werewolves retreated, he believed the battle had achieved its aim and that Thundercloud County would likely be spared.

• Lance and Gerard led the slaves out of the ravine, where Lance killed a Werewolf with a spear as the sunlight strengthened the believers.
• The God of Light’s miracle gave the slave soldiers the strength to battle Werewolves, and Ryan rode in to take command when the fighting escalated.
• Ross told Ryan that the soldiers were burning their future vitality, while powerful Werewolves with ascended bloodlines appeared on the battlefield.
• Ryan sent his knights to kill the transformed Werewolves and blocked the soldiers from pursuing the retreating pack.
• The sunlight’s blessing faded as the soldiers withdrew, and Ryan saw that some had aged decades in the fighting.
• Ryan ordered his troops to prepare defenses and concluded that the Werewolves would probably not attack Thundercloud County.

Count Winter’s forces fought the Silvermoon Royal Court’s Wolf Riders in the western mountains while more than two hundred thousand humans and Werewolves clashed at Winter Canyon. The western battle remained costly and unresolved as the Magic Crystal Cannons helped drive back the Werewolves at the canyon, and Northwind County sent pleas for aid.

• Count Winter learned that Wolf Riders and Black Goat Orcs had crossed the western mountains, and he ordered Horace to return and throw them from the cliffs.
• Count Winter’s Unicorn Flying Wolves attacked the Wolf Riders along the cliffs, but the Wargs and Werewolf warriors fought back fiercely and many fighters fell into the ravine.
• Hati watched from the mountain while Count Winter guarded the forest entrance and Countess Winter held back from casting against the Silvermoon Werewolf King.
• Horace ordered the Flying Wolf Cavalry to retreat and fight behind the line as Wolf Riders pushed into the Mountain Forest and inflicted heavy losses.
• At Winter Canyon, human forces struggled against the Werewolves until eight Magic Crystal Cannons and crossbow bolts struck the advancing ranks.
• Northwind County sent pleas for aid to other parts of Northwind Province as the battle continued.

Ryan advanced toward Northwind County to gather spirituality and prepare for a decisive battle against the Werewolves, while Count Winter’s forces suffered crushing defeats. The chapter ended with the armies of Northwind Province attacking the Werewolves at dawn, relying on the Dragonblood Warrior Legion and Rosalind’s plan to hold the front.

• Ryan let the orcs spread through three counties so the nobles could defend their castles, then ordered his army to advance.
• Ryan took the soldiers from Thundercloud County and gathered spirituality from Northwind City’s residents and refugees by claiming the city and offering them a place among his citizens.
• Count Winter’s Flying Wolf Cavalry was crushed by the Silvermoon Royal Court Wolf Riders, and the Werewolves broke through the eastern front, forcing Count Winter’s battered army back to his castle.
• Count Winter ordered his remaining forces to attack after learning that Count Soron had arrived with the Dragonblood Warrior Legion, then realized Ryan’s army had likely prompted Soron to act.
• Ryan persuaded Count Soron to use the Dragonblood Warrior Legion as the vanguard, and the armies of Northwind Province launched their attack against the Werewolves at dawn.

Ryan unleashed the Demon Potion, transforming tens of thousands of slave soldiers into Abyssal Kin who fought the Werewolves, but the Werewolves began coordinating a counterattack. Ryan sought to disrupt their battlefield order and prepared an oil-and-fire plan, leaving the human cavalry readying for a risky charge.

• Ryan waited until the Silver Stream County army collapsed, then ordered the slave soldiers to charge as he activated Rosalind’s scroll and awakened the Demon Potion in their crystals.
• The slaves transformed into Abyssal Kin and slaughtered Werewolves, shifting the battle’s momentum as the human nobles watched.
• Werewolf clan leaders rallied their packs from three directions, and Ryan warned that their discipline would eventually wear down the Demon Kin.
• Ryan requested Viscount Hogg’s cavalry, urged Count Soron to advance the Dragonblood Warrior Legion and have Count Winter fire Magic Crystal Cannons, and said the humans needed to bring chaos to the battle.
• Ryan brought oil from the army’s supplies and tied wet linen to the tails of Warhorse Winter’s Chill and the other cavalry mounts, preparing to use fire despite Viscount Hogg’s concerns.

Ryan led the cavalry in a fire-based attack that disrupted the Werewolves and helped the Abyssal Demon Kin gain the advantage, while Count Winter’s Magic Crystal Cannons struck from the mountains. As Hati redirected Werewolves toward the human forces, Ryan ordered Count Soron’s Dragonblood Warrior Legion to retreat; meanwhile, Avril kept Borgeld in the Frozen Earth Territory to aid Bilki’s newcomers and preserve their lost homeland’s history.

• Ryan led several thousand cavalrymen around the Werewolf-Demon battlefield, using burning oil and flaming arrows to break Werewolf formations and drive them toward the center.
• Ryan sent Egil after the Werewolf clan leaders and directed Foxskin Brunamigis to shoot them, while the cavalry continued harassing the Werewolves for an hour.
• Ryan ignited a large store of black oil with a flaming arrow, and Count Winter’s Magic Crystal Cannons began firing from the mountains.
• Hati ordered Werewolves to charge the cannon positions and the human army, while Ryan warned Count Soron to withdraw the Dragonblood Warrior Legion from the oncoming Abyssal power.
• Avril refused Borgeld’s request to join the southern war and asked her to help Bilki’s people settle near Northgar Lake; they agreed to record the history of Fenrir and Gam.

Ryan and the Northwind nobles committed their Extraordinary Legions to a decisive attack after the Wolf Riders turned the battle against the Demon Kin. The fighting became a brutal war of attrition, and Hati sent legendary Werewolf chieftains into battle while preparing to confront the human legend himself.

• Ryan watched the Wolf Riders join the battle and told Count Soron that the Northwind nobles had to defeat the Werewolves themselves.
• Ryan asked Count Winter to send his Flying Wolf Cavalry, and Count Soron agreed to wager his Dragonblood Warrior Legion on the attack.
• Count Winter's Unicorn Flying Wolves appeared with just over a thousand riders, and Ryan led his three thousand cavalrymen into the Werewolf army alongside the Dragonblood Warrior Legion.
• The cavalry and Flying Wolf Cavalry fought their way through the Werewolves while the three Extraordinary Legions clashed with the Wolf Riders in a bloody battle.
• Hati decided to enter the fight and sent powerful Werewolves, including three legendary Werewolf chieftains, to end the war.

Ryan’s plan turned the battle against the Werewolves by invoking Egil’s higher power to weaken the Wolf Riders, while Rosalind ambushed the wounded Werewolf King Hati. With Hati imprisoned, Ryan drew the Gram Sword and erased the mountain where the king was sealed.

• Viscount Hogg saw the human and Demon Kin forces surrounded by Werewolves as three Legendary Werewolves attacked, while Count Soron, Count Winter, Knight Mulan, and Alchemist Rose joined the fight.
• Ryan called on Egil, whose wolf form and presence suppressed the Werewolves’ power, allowing Ryan’s cavalry to slaughter the weakened Wolf Riders.
• Rosalind used Ryan’s invisible cloak to ambush Hati, but Hati severed Rosalind’s arm before the demon’s remaining hand corrupted the king’s body.
• Countess Winter imprisoned Hati atop the mountain with Space Magic while the other Legendaries remained occupied in battle.
• Ryan drew the Gram Sword and struck the sealed mountain, causing it and the surrounding storm to vanish.

After the war, Ryan negotiated with Northwind Province’s nobles over abandoned lands and resources, then led his army back to Zero Crossing Prefecture, where scattered orcs remained. He argued that the orcs could restrain the Emperor from sending the depleted provincial army to aid Andara, and urged Baron Enzo to connect the province’s resources through a trade guild; as the soldiers neared Zero Crossing City, they grew anxious about having no place there.

• Ryan arrived at Count Winter’s castle and urged the nobles to work together as they negotiated over lands and resources left vacant by the war.
• Ryan told the nobles that the Emperor had placed Northwind Province under Grand Duke Mayers for thirty years and proposed claims for himself, including manor plots and Northern Trade Guild shares.
• Ryan led his army back toward Zero Crossing Prefecture, helping nobles deal with orcs along the way, and told Baron Enzo that purging the remaining orcs would only trigger further conflict.
• Ryan explained that the orcs kept Northwind Province’s army from being sent to support Andara and advised Baron Enzo to seek new development through a trade guild connecting the province’s scattered resources.
• As the army reached Zero Crossing City, soldiers fell behind and grew nervous because they had no place to return to.

Ryan arranged for tens of thousands of refugees to settle in three new villages and towns around Zero Crossing City, then demanded a share of the trade guilds’ wartime profits. After recovering from the war, he chose to remain in his territory while the settlers began building Yellow Earth Town under Harrington’s supervision.

• Ryan promised the refugees homes, land, and funds for supplies, giving each person a stone voucher worth one Gold Coin and leaving five hundred cavalrymen under Harrington to oversee their settlement.
• Ryan confronted Zero Crossing City’s trade guild managers over their wartime profits, and Elena agreed to provide him with a portion as a gift.
• After sleeping for more than twenty hours, Ryan told Avril he would not send troops to eliminate the orc threat, since the nobles needed to continue seeking imperial aid and helping one another.
• Refugees used their vouchers to buy household goods from the trade guilds, while Frozen Earth Territory’s knights patrolled Zero Crossing City.
• At Yellow Earth Slope, Harrington watched the refugees lay out roads for Yellow Earth Town and said he would remain there to guard Ryan’s interests in the city.

Ryan negotiated with merchant guilds over settlements and a major venture into cultivating Extraordinary Crops, while revealing that the opportunity covered much of the Andara Kingdom. After Avril reported that the emperor had tasked Prince Volvo with rebuilding the West Sea fleet, Ryan realized the Emperor-Elect’s test was tied to Northwind Province’s iron mines and Meyers’s political involvement.

• Ryan arranged for merchant guilds to supply and help develop three settlements, then invited them to survey land and identify suitable Extraordinary Crops.
• Most guild representatives weighed the risks of Ryan’s plan; three withdrew, while Irina, Frank, and another representative agreed to participate.
• Ryan told the three remaining representatives that nobles across more than half of the Andara Kingdom had agreed to cultivate Extraordinary Crops, though their trade there would be limited to half the market.
• Avril told Ryan that the emperor had approved Prince Volvo, an Emperor-Elect, to oversee rebuilding the West Sea fleet using iron from Northwind Province.
• Ryan concluded that Prince Volvo’s assignment was an imperial test linked to his earlier visit to the Andara Kingdom and that Meyers’s involvement carried political significance.

Beard led a Commerce Guild caravan through Northwind Province to collect resources, reunite refugees with their families, and assess nobles’ heirs for Ryan. The expedition recovered many people, challenged nobles who held Ryan’s slaves, and returned with an enlarged following as Ryan tracked the growth of his Spirituality Panel.

• Beard arranged for Armored Bear Warriors and three adventurer groups, including Lynn’s Ashen Adventurer Group, to escort the caravan.
• Beard recruited more than four hundred representatives to search noble territories for their families and promised successful representatives a path to becoming village heads and farm owners.
• In Baron Gerard’s territory, Beard reclaimed Ryan’s slaves and judged Lanny poorly after learning he resented sharing family wealth with his mage brother, Far.
• Beard confronted a knight who denied that his captive Sabina was Ryan’s slave, then ordered Sabina whipped and her family demoted to slaves after she identified herself.
• The caravan’s numbers grew to two or three times its original size, so Beard sent some people back early and planned to use different representatives next time.
• A month later, Ryan smiled as he examined the growth on his Spirituality Panel.