Chapter Summaries

Fuan and his companions traveled to Odin City to reclaim his armor, where Dragon Monarch Drummond ambushed them and Fuan unleashed a powerful combat technique before escaping. As Fuan fell unconscious and Drummond revealed a matching technique, Ryan welcomed the mage Brenner to Frozen Earth Territory.

• Fuan visited the blind old man in Blue Butterfly City, who read the carved sword’s account of humanity’s first Dragon Chosen and warned him about the northern Dragon Monarchs.
• Fuan, Winsor, and the executioner fought their way north toward Odin City after learning that his armor was there, while several Dragon Monarchs sent Dragon Warriors after them.
• In Odin City, Sven secretly helped Ryan’s alchemists conceal ballistae inside dragon statues while Drummond ordered him to place Fuan’s armor in the palace ruins as bait.
• Fuan entered the palace ruins at night with his companions, but Drummond ambushed them and attacked with dragonfire.
• Fuan used his blood to unleash Annihilation—Prairie Fire, damaging the ruins and allowing his companions to help him escape; Drummond then performed Annihilation—Vortex Sea, and Fuan fell asleep.
• Ryan welcomed Brenner to his castle, where Brenner offered to examine the ancient braille in Frozen Earth Territory.

Brenner revealed that Dragon Chosen were transformed into Dragon Monarchs to harvest human faith, and Ryan led his forces into Nidhogg to overthrow the dragons. As the Dragon Chosen Fuan gathered allies and sought his armor, Ryan’s army reached Westwind City to confront Dragon Monarch Rheindart.

• Brenner explained to Ryan that Dragon Chosen gathered human faith for Great Beings and eventually became Dragon Monarchs, then gave Ryan a forbidden spell capable of killing one of them.
• Ryan told his followers they would change Nidhogg and begin by committing regicide, while deciding not to kill the still-human Dragon Chosen.
• Milly recognized Fuan as the Dragon Chosen, joined his group, and recovered his armor from the mountain ruins while Sven learned she had left Odin City with him.
• An alchemy apprentice told Sven that Ryan’s group was leaving with weapons, and Borgeld joined Ryan’s army as its standard-bearer.
• Ryan led his army toward Westwind City, where Dragon Monarch Rheindart ruled, and questioned Brandt about the lingering effects of his Dragon Spirit Blessing.

Ryan and the Stag Legion attacked Westwind City, where Darryl, Ross, Borgeld, Brandt, and the ballista crews helped bring down Dragon Monarch Rheindart. Ryan then ordered a terrified human slave to strike the fallen dragon, and the slave drove the Amber Longsword into its heart before Brandt took hold of the weapon.

• Fuan and his companions saw the Stag Legion gathered outside Westwind City as Rheindart demanded sacrifices and created Dragon Warriors.
• Ryan arrived with his army, Darryl challenged Rheindart, and the Stag Legion charged into battle against the Dragon Warriors.
• Brock and the alchemists assembled ballistae, and one of their bolts pierced Rheindart while Darryl, Borgeld, Brandt, and Ross joined the fight.
• Ross's poison and metal particles weakened Rheindart, and Darryl, Brandt, and Borgeld brought it crashing into Westwind City.
• Ryan gave a legendary greatsword to a human slave and ordered him to kill Rheindart; the slave stabbed its heart, and Brandt took up the Amber Longsword.

Ryan’s forces killed Dragon Monarch Rheindart, while Fuan set out to climb the Snow Mountain in search of greater power. Meanwhile, Drummond recovered his identity as a Dragon Chosen and demanded to know where Fuan had gone.

• Ryan’s army killed Dragon Monarch Rheindart and led the human slaves away from Westwind City before the other Dragon Monarchs razed its ruins.
• Fuan learned that the humans who killed Rheindart came from beyond the world, then accepted the blind old man’s advice to climb the Snow Mountain and received his son’s leather boots.
• Ryan planned how to confront the remaining Dragon Monarchs and learned that Fuan had traveled north toward Aesir’s barren ridges.
• Sven reported that Dragon Monarch Drummond had turned into a human with golden eyes and dragon claws.
• Drummond recovered memories of becoming a Dragon Monarch through blood sacrifice, declared himself both Dragon Monarch and Dragon Chosen, and asked Sven where Fuan had gone.

Fuan killed a Dragon Monarch, gained Legendary power, and set out to defeat the remaining dragons while Ryan questioned whether he would eventually become one himself. As Dragon Monarch Drummond prepared to face Fuan in Odin City, Fuan arrived with a new majesty and declared his challenge.

• Ryan sent the Stag Legion to fight an Amber Flame Dragon, while he prepared a forbidden-spell scroll and waited for a chance to kill more Dragon Monarchs.
• Fuan saved a city from a dragon's fireball, then used his combat techniques to kill the Dragon Monarch and announced that he was the esteemed Dragon Chosen.
• Fuan reached Ryan's battlefield and killed another Dragon Monarch, then told Ryan that an elder had guided him through a baptism at the northern Snow Mountain.
• Fuan vowed to kill the remaining Dragon Monarchs and left for Blue Butterfly City, while Ryan wondered if Fuan would turn into a dragon and Ross reminded him about the Magic Potion planted in Fuan.
• Drummond returned to Odin City, approved Sven's plan to lure Fuan there, and declared that he would kill the Dragon Chosen himself.
• Fuan arrived outside Odin City with Milly and two other followers, declared himself humanity's only king, and challenged Drummond.

Fuan fought Drummond in Odin City and learned that Dragon Monarchs had once been Dragon Chosen, but he succumbed to the Dragon’s Will and transformed. Ryan’s forces killed both Fuan and Drummond, and Ryan traveled to the northern Snow Mountain, where he saw the true dragon race and discovered the greater challenge facing him.

• Drummond attacked Fuan with the same powers Fuan wielded, then revealed that Dragon Monarchs were former Dragon Chosen who had become dragons.
• Fuan rejected Drummond’s offer to rule Aesir together, but the Dragon’s Will overtook him as Ryan’s forces surrounded the ruins.
• Ryan used the Withered Flower’s pollen to weaken Fuan, while Sven’s hidden bolt pierced Drummond’s chest.
• Drummond told Ryan to look from the northern Snow Mountain to understand why it had chosen to fall, and Ryan’s forces killed Drummond and the transformed Fuan.
• Ryan crowned himself with Aixnier’s sacred artifact and traveled to the Snow Mountain, where he saw true dragons ruling the skies and heard a voice call him Dragon Chosen.

Ryan learned how the Dragon Emperor’s legacy shaped the conflict between the Dragon God and Demon Dragon, while Surtr entered Muspel and began corrupting dragons. As Ryan moved humans across the land and claimed them as his subjects, a dragon hatchling fled after sensing the Dragon Emperor’s Crown.

• Ryan learned that the Dragon Emperor had once ruled the land and that the Dragon God and Demon Dragon had divided it after its fall.
• Surtr entered Muspel, killed a Legendary Tidal Dragon, and raised it as one of the Twilight Kin.
• Ryan gathered the human population into surviving cities and sent his army to plant his banner in every settlement.
• A dragon hatchling attacked the migration but felt the Dragon Emperor’s majesty from Ryan’s crown and fled.
• Ryan let the hatchling escape because its mother could pose a greater danger.

Ryan traveled to Sera Kingdom with Avril to witness the royal city’s establishment, while Surtr opened a gateway between the southern flames and the Northlands, destabilizing Nidhogg’s world. In Sera’s royal city, Ryan learned that King Sela had built an arena for the Braveheart Guild to select warriors for the Griffin Legion.

• Surtr, tormented by Nidhogg’s instinctive power, opened a crack in space that let the Northlands’ icy winds freeze the northern sea and destabilize the world.
• Ryan began a spring outing with Avril after three months in Nidhogg and traveled toward Sera Kingdom to see its nearly completed royal city and the newly established Braveheart Guild.
• Sven asked Ryan to help Milly resist the Dragon Essence in her body, and Ryan told him to have her train under Aethelred before receiving a blessing.
• Ryan and Avril arrived in Sera’s royal city, where Count Fragoso welcomed them and described the conflict with Carlos’s families and the arena built to select knights for the Griffin Legion.

Ryan attended the Sera Kingdom’s royal celebrations, gained a young griffin, and recruited Northlands adventurers for the Braveheart Guild. In the Frozen Earth Territory, Worby delivered supplies to the Frost Giants and learned they would send one giant to help Ryan, leaving him to consider how useful they might be against dragons.

• Ryan joined Otto, Mihai, and Roland in viewing Sera Royal City, then endured the lengthy loyalty ceremony and banquet with Avril.
• Ryan told the nobles about the upcoming Braveheart selection, and the competition recruited hundreds of knights for the Griffin Legion and adventurers for the guild.
• King MacReynolds gave Ryan a young griffin, which Ryan brought home to accompany his Azure Lion.
• Worby delivered food to Raglov and learned that the Frost Giants had fled their tribe during winter because Hobii’s gray-skinned Goblins were empowered by an awakened Great Being.
• Raglov thanked Ryan for helping defeat the Goblins and promised one Frost Giant’s assistance, while Ryan considered whether the giants could help him fight dragons.

Ryan recruited the Frost Giants to help fight an Earth Dragon in Nidhogg, where Raglov sensed his kin beyond the spatial rift. After the Earth Dragon was killed, Raglov realized the Frost Giants in that world had been sacrificed during the War of the Deities Across Planes.

• Ryan visited Raglov and learned the Frost Giants had lost two children to Hobii’s followers, prompting him to offer help against the Evil God.
• An Earth Dragon devastated human territory, and Ross, Egil, Macken, and Luna could not stop it from escaping.
• Ryan asked Raglov for help, and Raglov sent Ragrus and several hundred Knight Retainers through the spatial rift into Nidhogg.
• Raglov sensed Frost Giants beyond the rift and told Ryan they could travel across the sea on glaciers, then insisted Ragrus search for them after the battle.
• Raglov and Ragrus killed the Earth Dragon, and Raglov concluded that the Frost Giants in Nidhogg had died as sacrifices during the War of the Deities Across Planes.

Ryan returned from Nidhogg and considered how to protect his territory while the Frost Giants fought the dragons. As Emperor Florian’s new alliance with the Church of Light provoked the Church of Dawn into a purge and political maneuvering spread through the Empire, Ryan visited Northwind Province’s nobles and prepared to meet Count Soron.

• Ryan gave some dragon blood to the Frost Giants, left Raglov and Ragrus in Nidhogg, and decided he needed another way to deal with the dragons and the two Great Beings.
• Emperor Florian was crowned Grand Pope of Light, rewarded Ryan with funds, three Templar Knight Potions, and the Swampland, while the Church of Dawn ordered the Holy Kingdom Knights to begin the Path of Dawn against nobles who abandoned it.
• Shaya and Chrysos Meyers discussed the Church’s coming purge, the Emperor’s political plans, and Chrysos’s strategy to secure Northwind Province through marriage alliances before he returned south.
• Ryan gave Xilin Dragoon Frostmourne and charged him with responsibility for the Dragoon Family; Xilin pledged the family’s loyalty to Ryan.
• Ryan visited the nobles of Iron Mountain County and decided it was time to visit Count Soron.

Ryan visited Count Soron and discussed Northwind’s history and the decline of its Dragonblood Warrior Legion. After learning that the Mayers Family planned marriage alliances with Northwind’s nobles, Ryan revealed his dragonblood and offered the Northlands’ riches as an alternative, leaving the nobles’ choice unresolved as Zero Crossing City filled with adventurers.

• Count Soron recounted how the Church’s power waned, the Dragonblood Warrior Legion was founded, and Extraordinary Legions declined because nobles could not sustain them.
• Ryan argued that Northwind should preserve its strength for future threats, then showed Count Soron dragonblood and drank from it.
• Count Soron recognized the dragonblood and admitted he would support Ryan, but warned that Chrysus had secured the nobles’ interest in marrying into the Mayers Family.
• Ryan told Count Soron that he had come for him rather than the other nobles and presented the Northlands as a source of wealth and opportunity.
• Zero Crossing City grew lively as adventurers arrived to seek riches in the Northlands.

Adventurers and the Soron Family ventured into the Northlands, where they fought gray-skinned goblins, uncovered old wealth, and found dragon blood. Count Winter and Countess Winter concluded that Ryan had likely supplied Count Soron with the dragon blood, while recognizing the Northlands’ vast stores of extraordinary resources.

• The Burns Family and Fidel Soron recruited adventurers to search the Northlands for family wealth and dragon blood.
• Adventurers explored the buried ruins, killed gray-skinned goblins, and recovered a scepter, a ring, and other treasures.
• Kaide fell into a dragon blood pool and gained extraordinary strength, then revealed that he served Baron Kendra.
• Count Soron returned with dragon blood and invited nobles to witness the Dragonblood Warriors’ renewed glory.
• Count Winter and Countess Winter reasoned that Ryan had found and given the dragon blood to Count Soron.
• Countess Winter explained that the Northlands could hold abundant extraordinary resources despite its deadly climate.

Ryan used the Frozen Earth Territory’s wealth and political maneuvering to draw Northwind nobles toward his faction while challenging the Mayers’ influence. He then offered his overwhelmed younger brother Norton a way to prove himself by improving the management of his territory.

• Ryan displayed a life-giving Frost Giant sapphire to the nobles and gave eight sapphire necklaces to the Eight Knights, encouraging nobles to reconsider the value of the Northlands.
• Ryan learned that Xilin Dragoon had lost an arm after encountering a powerful Blue-skinned Monster, then directed him to seek advice from Rose Jackson rather than risk damaging his Seed of Life through regeneration.
• Ryan called attention to the missing imperial funds intended for Northwind Province’s repairs, planting doubts about the Marquis of Northwind and the Mayers while counting Viscount Landa and Viscount Hogg among his supporters.
• Ryan assessed the nobles as opponents, fence-sitters, or core supporters and noticed Norton building connections at the banquet.
• Ryan told Norton that Baron McKinley’s daughter could become a marriage prospect if Norton demonstrated his value, then offered to help him manage his struggling territory.

Ryan visited Norton’s overcrowded territory and showed him how to improve its management by investing in housing, food distribution, sanitation, and production. Norton borrowed money from Ryan, who planned to use loans and professional managers to develop his brother’s territory and draw other South-born nobles into his circle.

• Ryan questioned Norton’s steward about the territory’s housing, firewood, burials, illness, food distribution, and finances, then criticized Norton for failing to manage his population.
• Ryan advised Norton to hire managers, lend timber to slaves for houses, organize food distribution and sanitation, reclaim land, and process iron ore instead of relying on raw materials.
• Ryan persuaded Norton that allowing slaves to earn some wealth would motivate them to produce more, and offered to lend money and provide qualified managers.
• Norton borrowed ten thousand Gold Coins from Ryan, agreeing to repay twelve thousand within ten years, and Ryan offered him another five hundred Gold Coins for a banquet.
• Ryan considered using loans to build influence among the South-born Baronet nobles and began thinking of creating a pawnshop.

Ryan weighed his growing influence in Northwind Province, confronted Shaya over the Marquis of Northwind, and found that farming in The Swamp had stalled. The chapter left him considering whether dragons could help cultivate the Frozen Earth Territory.

• Ryan assessed his potential influence in Northwind Province and decided to make trouble for the Marquis of Northwind.
• Ryan discussed the dying Forest Otherworld with Shaya, who threatened him with a dagger before he shattered it with his strength.
• Shaya lunged at Ryan, and he subdued her before insisting that the Marquis of Northwind should not rule Northwind Province.
• Ryan found that the seeds in The Swamp had not sprouted and ordered people to plant potatoes while they waited.
• Ryan considered using dragon breath to alter The Swamp's frozen soil and dreamed of dragons helping with farm work.

Ryan considered how to earn nobles’ acceptance for the deaths of their children and decided to build a legendary band of heroes. In Zero Crossing City, Chief Bard Sven defended the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild’s sale of breathing techniques and led a knight to a stone tablet bearing the Northern Warrior Breathing Technique’s qualifications.

• Ryan learned that Orc attacks were damaging nobles’ spring crops while the Northern Kingdom's Braveheart Guild paid adventurers for Orc kills and earned income from the growing city.
• Ryan weighed the cost of Frostmourne and the resentment caused by the deaths of noble scions, then concluded that shared glory could persuade nobles to accept their losses.
• Ryan asked Apia about the blind guide in Nidhogg, learned the man had died, and left for Nidhogg while the Frost Giants and Dragons continued their contest.
• In Zero Crossing City, knights and residents discussed the Eight Knights, and a visiting knight grew angry after hearing that the guild sold a Knight Breathing Technique to commoners.
• Chief Bard Sven recounted the origins of the Florian Empire’s first Extraordinary Legion and explained that a knight’s creed qualified someone to receive a breathing technique.
• Sven asked what qualified someone to receive the Northern Warrior Breathing Technique and led the visiting knight to a sunlit stone tablet.

Sven explained the Northlands Warriors’ severe oath to a knight who rejected its demands, while Ryan’s plans for recruiting people from noble bloodlines continued to develop. In the Swampland, wheat sprouted at last, and Ryan also saw the abundance of farmland in Nidhogg as he pushed to secure food supplies.

• Sven showed a knight the stele outlining the Northlands Warriors’ oath, and the knight refused to give up wealth, land, and noble prospects to join them.
• Sven explained that Ryan had set high barriers and strict conditions to shield the Northern Warrior Breathing Technique from noble opposition and draw potential recruits from marginalized noble bloodlines.
• Sven rebuked knights boasting about competing for the Eight Knights honor, then invited one to buy a Scott Dagger.
• Ryan saw wheat sprouts emerge in the Swampland as farm slaves gathered around them, and he hoped the crop would turn golden by autumn.
• News of the Swampland’s growing wheat spread among the nobles, and Ryan welcomed their interest in visiting the fields.
• Ryan surveyed Nidhogg’s fertile farmland and arranged for large-scale cultivation while the Frost Giants occupied the dragons.

Ryan witnessed Surtr enter Nidhogg as a blazing giant, and Surtr attacked him, calling him a thief. The Dragon Emperor’s power awakened through Ryan and transformed him as it struck back at Surtr.

• Brandt drove off a legendary dragon with the Dragon Crushing Mountain technique, while Ross reported that dragons were increasingly invading Nidhogg.
• Ryan visited the injured Frost Giant Raglov, who warned that an unfamiliar Great Being was awakening and spreading its domain across the world.
• Ryan saw Surtr’s ash-darkened power reach Nidhogg and recognized that a ruined-winged legendary dragon had become Surtr’s follower.
• Surtr rose from the ocean in his true form, bringing dusk, disasters, and falling meteors across the world.
• Surtr reached toward Ryan and called him a thief, but the Dragon Emperor’s power transformed Ryan into a dragonlike form and swung a sword at Surtr.

Ryan regained control of the Dragon Emperor’s body and fought Surtr, then persuaded the Fire Giant that the Dragon God had manipulated them both. He made a contract with Surtr and returned to the ground, where worshippers praised him and his Spirituality rose sharply.

• Ryan realized his soul had merged with the Dragon Emperor’s remaining power and reopened his eyes in the Dragon Emperor’s body.
• Ryan fought Surtr and argued that the Dragon God had lured Surtr into the world to weaken them and devour their Taisu.
• Ryan convinced Surtr to join forces against the Dragon God and formed a contract with the Fire Giant.
• Surtr returned to Muspel, while Ryan fell to the ground and lost the Dragon Emperor’s remaining protection.
• Egil gave Ryan clothes as the gathered people worshipped him, and Ryan’s Spirituality reached 1,034,585.