Chapter Summaries

Columbus III consolidated imperial power by directing resources and troops toward nobles who would support him, while Northwind Province was largely left to fend for itself. As the Divine Grace Festival drew near, Pope Solarian entered the Imperial Capital and began winning the people’s faith, while he taught Simon that the Empire’s strength came from the great Deities’ departure.

• Columbus III subdued the Four Grand Dukes and drew minor nobles into his influence by distributing aid and using the Orc invasion to redirect resources.
• Count William sent three thousand members of the Legions of Vampires and thirty thousand blood slaves north, while Count Pascal dispatched gargoyle warriors to the Imperial Capital.
• Ryan rallied the worried nobles of Northwind Province with a banquet and reminded them that they had always depended on themselves.
• With ten days left until the Divine Grace Festival, Pope Solarian entered the Imperial Capital on foot, and the people knelt as his presence stirred faith in Dawn.
• Solarian spoke with Simon and explained that the Empire’s strength came from the great Deities having gone far away.

As the Divine Grace Festival approached, Pope Solarian’s growing influence alarmed Columbus III, and his confrontation with Grand Duke Mayers exposed the Empire’s hidden curse. On the eve of the festival, the Imperial House prepared to summon Eternal Gaze and crown Columbus III, leaving the ceremony’s outcome unresolved.

• Turk Columbus hurried the Grand Cathedral of Light’s final preparations as Lord Tasi warned that dim stars had weakened the Stellar Magic Array.
• Pope Solarian stopped a knight from whipping a slave, helped finish the sundial, and spent a week visiting the Imperial Capital while followers gathered around him.
• Columbus III grew angry at Solarian’s influence and sent Grand Duke Mayers to restrain him, but Solarian revealed the curse on Mayers’s bloodline and predicted the Empire’s defeat.
• Grand Duke Mayers rejected Solarian’s prediction and insisted the Florian Empire would endure as long as the God of Light remained.
• On the eve of the Divine Grace Festival, Columbus III and the Imperial House prepared a sacrifice to summon Eternal Gaze and have Columbus III crowned.

Ryan opened the Northern Military Council by explaining the orc threat and arguing that kingdoms with surplus forces must support the vulnerable northern front. After taking sole responsibility for any military defeat, he paused the meeting as the Florian Empire’s Emperor arrived at the Grand Cathedral of Light.

• At sunrise, golden-robed Light Cultists left the Imperial Capital and began their procession, while Ryan returned from the Snow Plains to his castle in the Northlands.
• Ryan transformed his castle hall into a snow-filled council chamber and told the nobles that the Northern Military Council would coordinate defenses against the orcs.
• Ryan described the vulnerable fronts across Northwind Province, the Sera Kingdom, the Andara Kingdom, and the Gerald Noble Territory, then proposed sending surplus forces to threatened battlefields.
• When Corland Kingdom nobles objected to risking their armies without gaining anything, Ryan argued that defending the northern front also protected Corland and pledged to bear sole responsibility for any defeat.
• After the nobles spent the morning disputing military responsibilities, Ryan called an intermission as the Emperor of the Florian Empire arrived at the Grand Cathedral of Light.

At Columbus III’s coronation as Grand Pope of Light, his plan awakened Franska, who answered him by striking the Evil Gods in the Northlands. After Franska departed, another Great Being appeared over the Imperial Capital to fulfill an oath to kill Columbus III, and its dark breath descended.

• Columbus III donned the vestments of the Pope of Light and crowned himself beneath the God of Light’s statue.
• Mage Tasi’s stellar canopy and Columbus III’s offering awakened Franska, which bestowed the true orthodoxy of Light and recognized Columbus III.
• Franska’s radiance wounded the Evil Gods in the Northlands, causing destruction across the Snow Plains that Ryan sensed from the Frozen Earth Territory.
• Columbus III proclaimed himself Emperor and Grand Pope as faith gathered around him, while Solarian waited for Franska to depart.
• Solarian invoked an ancient oath and contract, and a pitch-black Great Being opened a vortex above the Imperial Capital and unleashed dark dragon breath toward Columbus III.

Ryan witnessed the Demon Dragon attack the Imperial Capital and kill Emperor Columbus III despite the Empire’s defenses. With the emperor dead, Grand Duke Mayers and the nobles faced a tense standoff with Pope Solarian while the Council of Elders was summoned to decide the Empire’s next steps.

• A Dragon Spirit entered Ryan and gave him a dragon’s perspective as the Demon Dragon attacked the Grand Cathedral of Light.
• The Empire’s soul origins, Grand Duke Mayers, the living Imperial Capital, and the Solar Corona Legion resisted the Demon Dragon, but It ultimately killed Columbus III.
• The Demon Dragon’s attack left the Grand Cathedral in ruins, and the surviving knights subdued the dragonmen who had become Its followers.
• Grand Duke Mayers accused Pope Solarian of colluding with an Evil God, but Solarian denied responsibility and the nobles lacked grounds to arrest him.
• Troops surrounded the Grand Cathedral as the nobles debated their response, and Grand Duke Mayers sent knights to summon the Council of Elders.

Pope Solarian killed Columbus III, and the emperor’s death threw the Empire into political turmoil as the Orcs launched a full-scale invasion of the Northlands. As the Electors and nobles debated the succession, Solarian’s party was attacked on its return journey, and only the Holy Son of Dawn survived.

• Urgent dispatches reported that the Orcs had invaded across the Northlands and captured Twilight Fortress, while the Council of Elders called for a united defense after Columbus III’s death.
• Solarian promised Church of Dawn support against the Orcs, then left the Imperial Capital despite nobles demanding his death.
• Ryan told the Northern Military Council that the emperor had died, while Meyers urged Volvo to remain in the Northlands and secure the region.
• Volvo learned that an ancient Otherworldly God had killed Columbus III, and Viking awaited the fulfillment of the Grand Fate Priestess’s prediction.
• Rodriguez and Meyers clashed over whether the Empire should choose a new emperor before the killer was brought to justice, and Floyd found little support among war-weary nobles.
• On the road to the Holy Mountain, everyone accompanying Pope Solarian was killed except the Holy Son of Dawn.

Pope Solarian admitted that he had made a deal with a foreign god, then killed the twenty thousand Dawn Believers traveling with him and blamed their deaths on the Empire. His accusations destabilized the southern kingdoms and the Church, while the Empire remained orderly and prepared for revenge as the Northlands faced an orc crisis.

• Pope Solarian confessed to Shar, Eliot, and the other clergy that he had made a deal with a Great Being, then used divine spells to kill his followers and claim they deserved to die on Imperial land.
• After returning to the Holy Mountain, Solarian accused the Empire of murdering his twenty thousand attendants and refused to provide its promised supplies unless it delivered judgment for the dead.
• Grand Duke Fleming swore that Solarian had killed his own followers, preventing the southern nobles from immediately condemning the Empire, while Iron Eagle Kingdom fell into turmoil and Corland Kingdom hurried to support the Northlands.
• Clergy used unrest in Iron Eagle Kingdom and accusations against Corland Kingdom as pretexts to leave the Holy Mountain, where Solarian's authority faced growing doubt.
• The Empire continued Columbus III's plans despite his death, while its nobles prepared to make revenge the central political cause and commoners mourned the Emperor.
• Ryan's Northern Military Council benefited from the Empire's stability, but avalanches and floods caused by Franska's awakening devastated the orcs' homes and drove them south toward the Northlands.

Ryan organized the Northern Military Council to prepare for the Orc invasion while Frozen Earth Territory faced a growing host of powerful Orc tribes at the Northern Great Wall. After the defenders stopped the first assault, the Stag Legion rode out to sweep the snowfields.

• Ryan won the nobles’ approval for open military roads, shared resources, stronger fortifications, and his command of the Northern Military forces, while his Spirituality Panel surged as their recognition strengthened his Legendary Boon.
• Knights from Zero Crossing City took control of noble armies in Northwind Province and ordered the hungry soldiers to eat before preparing to reach the Fragrant Mountain Plains within three days.
• Griff told Ryan that the Northlands’ Orc migration included ancient, powerful tribes as well as the Six Royal Clans, and Amay identified the charging Hill Orcs as threats to human walls.
• The fortress defenders used poisoned arrows and siege ballistae against the Orc army, while Egil killed a Hill Orc that had cracked the fortress’s icy outer layer and then fought among the Orcs with his three White Wolves.
• The Northern Great Wall opened its gates, and the Stag Legion charged out to purge the snowfields for three hundred miles.

Ryan coordinated defenses across the Northlands as the orc invasion continued, while political and military changes unfolded in the neighboring kingdoms. The chapter ended with Ryan receiving requests for equipment, warhorses, imperial reinforcements, and a private letter from Roland.

• Shane executed Tyke Butler for withholding supplies, appointed a new supply officer, and ordered the shipment delivered to the Andara front; an army also demanded the Butler family return supplies.
• Grand Duke Gailan agreed to use the Corland army to enforce supply laws, while Garick told him Stag Attendants had replaced noble officers with more capable soldiers.
• Otto and Roland discussed Ryan’s request, and Otto led the Griffin Legion into the Northlands to attack orc tribes.
• Ryan issued orders to strengthen the Andara defenses, protect Northwind Avenue, and send Griff west to investigate the invasion.
• Ryan’s servants reported that Grand Duke Gailan wanted cheaper knight equipment, the Corland King wanted more warhorses, Grand Duke Leta requested imperial aid, and Roland had sent a private letter.

Roland and King MacReynolds considered how the Sera Kingdom could influence the Empire's succession by helping resolve the Northlands orc threat. In Twilight Province, Volvo learned that the war-weary nobles might favor him if he protected their lands, and he turned his attention to Ryan's request for military resources.

• Roland told King MacReynolds that Volvo's political ambitions would pressure the Sera Kingdom, while Floyd's devotion to war could bring an invasion, and said Ryan could help shape the succession by preventing an orc disaster.
• Chrysus told Volvo that the Empire's nobles were weary of war, making that attitude a potential advantage for Volvo over Floyd.
• Chrysus explained that Volvo needed to protect the nobles' territories from the orcs to win their recognition, while failure would leave Floyd as their only choice.
• Volvo accepted that he could earn the nobles' support by holding the Northlands frontier but questioned how he could defeat the vastly larger orc invasion.
• After hearing that Ryan had demanded troops and resources for Northwind Province, Volvo recalled Ryan's undefeated reputation and asked what resources he wanted.

Ryan led more than two hundred young nobles and nearly two thousand troops from Northwind Province to Twilight Province to support Elector Volvo and earn recognition and military merit. After hearing Volvo’s dilemma over the repeated destruction of Twilight Fortress, Ryan asked to inspect it before proposing a solution.

• Volvo agreed to send resources to the Northlands and summoned Ryan to Twilight Province for advice on the orc war.
• Ryan accepted the invitation, recruited young nobles and knights, and promised landless nobles officer posts and a chance to earn military merit.
• Ryan told Commander Farrell that he might request command of Winged Gorge and send its forces to defend the Fragrant Mountain Plains if Volvo gained the advantage in the Elector struggle.
• Ryan’s force traveled through Danube, Volga, and Blazing Snow Provinces, where Ryan explained why southern nobles resented being sent to fight in the Northlands.
• Volvo and Harald discussed pushing the orcs north to repair Twilight Fortress, but they rejected the nobles’ objections to fighting in the snow and the proposal to transport magically built fortress sections.
• Ryan met Volvo, heard that the orcs’ attacks had prevented repairs to Twilight Fortress, and asked to inspect the fortress before advising him.

Ryan advised Volvo to defeat the orcs through overwhelming military resources, and Volvo decided to raise more wealth for the Northlands war. He then pressed Chrysus to have the Mayers Family lead the nobles’ support, promising that the family would gain power if he became emperor.

• Ryan explained that the orc threat could be crushed by committing elite forces or spending vast sums on extraordinary weapons and magic.
• Ryan described a commander’s role as coordinating logistics, and Volvo accepted his argument that the Empire should use its wealth to sustain the war.
• Ryan hoped Northwind Province would receive a larger share of the Empire’s resources, while Volvo planned to raise more funds from the nobles.
• Volvo asked Chrysus to secure greater support from the Mayers Family and promised to fulfill the family’s ambitions if he became emperor.
• Chrysus was tempted when Volvo promised that the Mayers Family could take the place of the Fleming Family.

Ryan questioned Harald about the Imperial House and discovered that the Lionheart King sympathized with Viking Columbus, while political tensions grew between nobles and imperial relatives at Twilight Fortress. The chapter ended with Ryan asking about the fighting as the nobles challenged Harald and the Imperial House.

• Ryan asked Harald about the Imperial House, and Harald declared that Rice remained the true emperor and that Columbus and Enric shared Viking's bloodline.
• Harald said Viking's ideas were extreme but aimed to improve the Empire, and he insisted that Viking could not have left the West Coast for the Northlands.
• Count Gardner told Ryan he had arranged grain and other supplies for Northwind, then berated imperial relatives for avoiding the battlefield.
• Nobles confronted imperial relatives in the command center over their failure to build defenses and send knights to fight the Orcs.
• Harald's anger erupted against the nobles, who united against the Imperial House, and Ryan asked how the fighting at Twilight Fortress was going.

Ryan assessed the defense of Twilight Fortress and watched Volvo issue orders to mobilize soldiers, slaves, and supplies against the orcs. He then recognized that the orders depended on resources and organization the Empire lacked, and went to Count Gardner as the nobles struggled to transport grain.

• Ryan told the nobles that Twilight Fortress could be made defensible for ten days within two or three days, prompting Count Gardner to criticize the Imperial House's handling of the defenses.
• Volvo arrived, promised rewards and provisions for soldiers and slaves, ordered the Mage Association to aid repairs, and sent Harald back to command the fortress.
• Ryan offered Harald experienced fighters from Northwind Province, then concluded that Volvo's sweeping orders would be difficult to carry out in practice.
• Count Gardner gathered nobles to discuss the shortage of wagons and the challenge of moving grain for hundreds of thousands of people.
• Ryan visited Count Gardner and suggested that transportation might have to rely on the resources of the Northlands.

Ryan helped secure cattle, horses, and supplies for the Northlands while Volvo’s army won early victories at Twilight Fortress. Ryan warned Volvo that the Orc War had barely begun, as the Six Royal Clans had not yet formally entered the fight.

• Ryan offered to transport cattle and horses in exchange for war supplies for Northwind Province, and Count Gardner agreed to negotiate the exchange with Volvo.
• Harald led the Empire’s soldiers against the orcs north of Twilight Fortress while slaves repaired the fortress, and Volvo celebrated the reports of victory.
• Ryan returned with cattle and horses, easing Count Gardner’s grain-supply crisis as supplies flowed to Northwind Province in exchange.
• Volvo rejected Ryan’s warning to retreat far from the fortress, but agreed to keep the army within thirty li while continuing to spend the Empire’s wealth on the war.
• As Volvo’s prestige rose in the South, he privately asked Ryan when the war would end, and Ryan warned that the Six Royal Clans had not yet formally appeared and that the orcs seemed internally divided.

Ryan warned Volvo that battlefield sacrifices could awaken the Orcs’ god and urged him to strengthen Twilight Fortress, while the Orcs’ southern advance continued for reasons humans misunderstood. Among migrating Elephant Orcs, the foxfolk Shatterbone gained divine favor, gathered believers, and led them against other Orcs; the chapter ended with Werewolves discovering that the Elephant Orcs had taken their underlings.

• Ryan warned Volvo that repeated sacrifices might awaken the Orcs’ Great Being and unite them, then urged him to strengthen Twilight Fortress for the coming war.
• Volvo eased his push to return to the Imperial Capital, and troops withdrew closer to Twilight Fortress, relieving Harald while Ryan faced worsening reports from the northern front and his lands.
• The chapter revealed that weaker Orcs moved south to find food while stronger tribes avoided human territory, and migrating Elephant Orcs captured defeated bearfolk as provisions.
• A red-skinned foxfolk emerged from an Elephant Orc, received divine power, and began gathering Orc believers under the name Shatterbone.
• Shatterbone forced Elephant Orcs to spare Frost Lizard Orcs, then led them in defeating a Frost Lizard tribe and converting its survivors through a ritual.
• Werewolves discovered that migrating Elephant Orcs had taken their underlings, and their leader vowed to make the Elephant Orcs attack the human fortress.

Shatterbone defeated the Werewolves and led a unified Orc army against the Northern Great Wall, where Egil and Brandt stopped his advance. After surviving a clash with the humans through divine power, Shatterbone retreated and resolved to gather stronger Orc warriors for another attack.

• Shatterbone used ice spikes and the Giant Elephant Sword to defeat the Werewolf leader and break the pack, then learned the Werewolves had attacked his tribe because they needed more Orc fodder for wars against humans.
• Brandt and Brunamigis saw a vast Orc army led by the red-skinned Shatterbone approach the Northern Great Wall, and Egil charged out to confront him.
• Shatterbone struck Egil with divine power, but Brandt used a Molten Fire Spike to disrupt that power and carry Egil back to the fortress.
• The Great Wall’s defenders killed most of the attacking Orcs, forcing Shatterbone to withdraw while vowing to return with stronger warriors.

Shatterbone gained the Rhino Orcs’ allegiance by demonstrating that the gods still answered his sacrifices, and he declared Savi’s tribe a new royal clan. The Silvermoon Werewolves arrived to challenge the Rhino Orcs, but another divine radiance stunned them before fighting began.

• Ryan learned that an Elephant Orc had received a divine blessing and suspected the gods had influenced the war.
• The Werewolf clans argued over who should become their new Monarch while the Behemoth Orcs pressured them to submit.
• Shatterbone told Savi that the gods wanted him to become a Monarch, and Savi stopped attacking when divine power appeared around Shatterbone.
• Shatterbone offered the Rhino Orcs’ sacrifices, drawing the gods’ response and strengthening himself as Savi and his people watched.
• Shatterbone declared Savi’s tribe the Rhino Royal Court, prompting the Werewolves to rush over and challenge them.
• Savi proclaimed that the Rhino Orcs would replace the Silvermoon Royal Court, but another wave of divine radiance left the Werewolves stunned.

Shatterbone received divine power and declared himself the Orc Emperor, drawing the Behemoth King into a challenge. Though Shatterbone could not fight back, the gods’ protection made him invulnerable, and the Behemoth King fled as the Orcs witnessed his claim to leadership stand.

• Shatterbone became Legendary through divine favor and announced that he would lead the Orcs south to seize warm lands and food.
• The Werewolves retreated and schemed to make the Behemoth King confront Shatterbone, then told the Behemoth Royal Clan that they would support Shatterbone as Orc Emperor.
• The Behemoth King learned that Shatterbone had divine backing and set out with the Behemoth Giant Beast to kill him and claim the title.
• Savi established the Rhino Royal Court and brought other Orc tribes under his rule before the Behemoth King’s arrival terrified the Rhino Orcs.
• The Behemoth King attacked Shatterbone, but Shatterbone’s divine power shielded him and frightened the Behemoth Giant Beast.
• The Behemoth King challenged Shatterbone, failed to break through his divine protection, and fled as the storm subsided.

Shatterbone was recognized as the Orc Emperor and united the orc tribes around an invasion of human lands, while Ryan warned Volvo that the new divine power could threaten the Empire. The orcs launched a fierce assault on Twilight Fortress, forcing Volvo to return to Twilight Province after only two days in the Imperial Capital.

• Ryan urged Volvo to reinforce the Northlands fortresses and warned that Shatterbone's divine power could overwhelm the Empire's defenses.
• Volvo resolved to kill the Orc Emperor in war before his imperial rivals could claim the honor.
• Shatterbone accepted the orcs' challenge by right of divine favor, declared its intention to seize human resources, and was recognized as Orc Emperor.
• Savi announced that the Rhino Royal Court would attack Hot Spring Province, while the Silvermoon Werewolves resented their exclusion from the Royal Clans.
• The Tiger Orcs routed Imperial troops north of Twilight Fortress after a day of fighting, forcing Volvo to return to Twilight Province.