Chapter Summaries

Ryan left Twilight Fortress for Northwind Province after asking Volvo for command authority over imperial military support to the Andara Kingdom and Gerald Noble Territory. Meanwhile, Floyd and Grand Duke Rodriguez plotted to bring Volvo back for Columbus III’s funeral and take the Northlands war’s credit from him.

• Volvo blamed lax noble officers for the Empire’s rout and ordered resources sent to rebuild Twilight Fortress within ten days.
• Ryan told Volvo that the Werewolves were driving orc forces toward Northwind Province, and Volvo agreed to let him return with promised supplies.
• Ryan requested an official military position to command imperial support for the Andara Kingdom and Gerald Noble Territory, and Volvo agreed to discuss the support with Commander Farrell.
• Volvo spent heavily on mages and military resources as the orc offensive intensified, strengthening Twilight Fortress and increasing his standing in the North.
• Floyd and Grand Duke Rodriguez discussed how to prevent Volvo from gaining more prestige, proposing to summon him to Columbus III’s funeral and appoint another Northlands commander.
• Floyd suggested Viking as a replacement commander, but Rodriguez said Viking was disqualified and asked who else could take the position.

Volvo struggled to avoid leaving the Northlands for Emperor Columbus’s funeral, while Ryan advised him to secure a military victory before returning. In the Council of Elders, nobles debated whether Volvo’s war duties justified delaying the funeral.

• Volvo learned that Emperor Columbus’s funeral would be held soon and asked Chrysus to help postpone it, but Chrysus refused to risk the Mayers Family’s prestige.
• Volvo recalled Ryan and asked him how to delay the funeral; Ryan advised him to win a decisive victory in one province before returning to the Imperial Capital.
• Volvo resolved to end the war at Twilight Fortress and sent the Imperial Capital a letter describing his commitment to the Northlands and its soldiers.
• Nobles in the Council of Elders praised Volvo’s letter and supported his remaining in the Northlands, while Floyd argued that he should attend his father’s funeral.
• Grand Duke Mayers defended Volvo’s concern for the army’s morale, and Grand Duke Rodriguez countered that Volvo could decide the funeral’s timing with the Imperial Family.

At the Council of Elders, Floyd’s supporters secured a February date for the Emperor’s funeral and promised more troops and supplies for the Northlands, prompting Volvo to prepare to earn undeniable credit before returning. Floyd arrived at Twilight Fortress with supplies and Hildegard, but Volvo refused to travel back with him and delayed his departure until the fortress was repaired.

• Grand Duke Rodriguez proposed holding the Emperor’s funeral in March, while Meyers pushed for February and Floyd’s allies pledged more troops and wealth for the Northlands war.
• Volvo learned of the Council’s decision in Twilight Province and began gathering supplies to attack the Orc Army at Twilight Fortress and secure lasting merit.
• Floyd arrived at Twilight Fortress with supplies delivered by magic array, and Hildegard arrived to replace Volvo as commander despite his frail condition.
• Volvo and Floyd argued over returning to the Imperial Capital, while Hildegard gave a rudimentary plan for defending against the orcs.
• Volvo refused to leave before Twilight Fortress was repaired and told Floyd it would be finished within a week.

Volvo restored Twilight Fortress and prepared the Imperial army for a decisive assault on the Northern Orcs, while the exhausted slaves continued dying as they repaired the fortress. The chapter ended with sunlight breaking through the ash haze as the slaves finished building a broad road down from the fortress.

• The slaves and Imperial soldiers endured relentless labor and fighting as Volvo forced them to hold Twilight Fortress against the orcs.
• Volvo ordered the mages to strengthen the fortress’s grand magic array and arranged for powerful weapons and magic scrolls to support the coming battle.
• Floyd secretly left Twilight Fortress after Count Davis asked him to intervene against Volvo, intending to return with Volvo in two days.
• Volvo ordered Harald and the forces at Twilight Fortress to prepare for a decisive assault at dawn, then gave the soldiers food and a day to rest.
• The slaves, reduced to scattered remnants, moved corpses and stones while some turned to the Abyssal Evil God; a mage burned several slaves for eating the dead.
• The slaves built a broad stone road down from Twilight Fortress, and sunlight finally pierced the haze of ashes.

Volvo led the Imperial Army’s assault on the orcs after Imperial mages unleashed devastating magic across the Northlands. The attack decimated the gathered tribes, but Brilliant Monarch Acosta emerged from the lava with divine power, and the Empire’s Legends moved to confront it.

• Volvo granted the surviving slaves commoner status and wealth, then rallied the Imperial soldiers to attack the orcs.
• Acosta killed a Snow Leopard Orc chief and prepared to lead the orc invasion, but learned that the humans had launched their own attack.
• Lord Lan and the Imperial mages unleashed immense magic that flattened the mountains and devastated the orc forces.
• Volvo ordered the Imperial Army forward, and Harald led the charge as the mages’ spells continued to destroy the battlefield.
• Acosta emerged from the lava with a molten greatsword, and six Imperial Legends gathered to face the Brilliant Monarch.
• Harald struck Acosta with his Legendary sword, but Acosta’s swing caused all power, including Harald’s Knight Combat Technique, to evaporate.

Volvo’s Imperial army defeated the Orc Royal Court after the Brilliant Monarch broke free of a six-Legendary hexagram and was beheaded with Palacios’s help. Floyd warned Volvo that the Orc King’s soul remained alive, leaving its death—and the victory—uncertain.

• The Brilliant Monarch overwhelmed the six Legendary figures by wielding divine power drawn from a dead god’s remains.
• An Imperial general ordered thousands of Magic Crystal Cannons to fire into the Orc Army while elves attacked with World Crossbows.
• The Brilliant Monarch’s power surged after Volvo pierced it with a World Tree branch, but Palacios bound it with blood-red magic and Harald cut off its head.
• The Legendary figures joined the Imperial army in slaughtering the Orcs, and Volvo claimed he had defeated the Orc Royal Court in seven days.
• Floyd told Volvo that the Brilliant Monarch’s soul had survived because it was fused with a god’s essence, but Volvo dismissed the warning and asked Floyd to confirm the kill.

After Emperor Flor died, Volvo and Floyd competed for succession as the nobles debated which Elector could best lead the Florian Empire. Volvo returned with the Orc King's head and won public acclaim, while the Council of Elders remained divided over the candidates.

• Floyd traveled separately from Volvo and doubted that the Brilliant Monarch's possible survival mattered.
• At the Council of Elders, Floyd challenged Volvo's qualifications and accused the nobles of failing to avenge Emperor Flor, while Grand Duke Mayers argued that Volvo could solve the Empire's problems.
• Count Clayton refused to choose between the Electors before they completed their trials, and the Imperial House likewise remained neutral.
• Volvo returned to the Imperial Capital, displayed the Orc King's head above the city gate, and received a jubilant welcome as Floyd grew angry.
• The Electors addressed the nobles at the Council of Elders; Volvo promised to lead the Empire alongside its nobles and drew repeated cheers.

As the electors fought over the throne, Grand Duke Fleming refused to back either side and rallied nobles around protecting their existing interests, giving Floyd renewed hope of resisting Volvo. In Northwind Province, Ryan prepared to attend the Emperor’s funeral and entrusted Aethelred with governing Frozen Earth Territory and the Northlands while the orc invasion continued.

• Old Grand Duke Fleming told Feredias that Volvo would likely become Emperor, but Fleming would avoid the contest and defend its established authority and interests.
• Grand Duke Fleming declared that he would attend Emperor Columbus III’s funeral but would not join the electors’ struggle, prompting nobles to rally around Fleming’s neutral faction.
• Floyd visited Grand Duke Fleming, who framed an elector’s reign as a trial for the Empire, and Feredias encouraged Floyd to seek support from the Council of Elders.
• Ryan prepared to leave Frozen Earth Territory for the Emperor’s funeral while continuing to supply the defenses against the orc invasion.
• Ryan gave Aethelred his ring, Ryan’s Authority, and appointed her to govern Frozen Earth Territory, Northwind Province, and the Northlands during his absence.

Ryan strengthened his control over the Northlands, elevated Amay to Legendary, and led Northwind Province’s nobles toward Imperial Capital for Emperor Columbus III’s funeral. After reaching the capital, Ryan saw that the people celebrated Viking’s return more enthusiastically than the arrival of his own procession.

• Ryan assigned Aethelred to manage the territory and ordered Borgeld and Higni to protect her and suppress anyone disrupting the war against the orcs.
• Ryan used the Giant Mammoth’s divine blessing to elevate Amay to Legendary and secured his oath to defend the Northern Great Wall fortress.
• Ryan traveled south with Avril and a growing procession of Northwind nobles, dismissing their excess guards and presenting a force of Northern Warhorse riders.
• At Winged Gorge, Shaya Meyers tried to lead the procession as Marquis of Northwind, but Ryan kept the nobles five hundred meters behind her carriage by invoking etiquette.
• Ryan’s procession entered Imperial Capital, where the people gave Viking, the Elector, a louder welcome than they had given the Northwind nobles.

Viking returned to the Imperial Capital for Columbus III’s funeral and publicly denied seeking the throne, while his arrival unsettled the Electors and nobles. As Volvo’s succession seemed imminent, Count Clayton planned to build an independent political faction, and Ryan met a painter-philosopher named Scott Ary at the funeral banquet.

• Viking clashed with Floyd, revealed his divine power, and declared that he had returned only as Columbus’s son to mourn his father.
• Volvo questioned Grand Duke Fleming about Viking’s return, then accepted that Viking had the right to attend the funeral.
• Ryan asked Count Clayton whether Viking meant to claim the throne, and Count Clayton explained his plan to build a political bloc with Volvo’s support.
• The nobles attended Columbus III’s funeral, where they expected Volvo’s coronation to follow and questioned whether he would avenge the former emperor.
• At the banquet, Ryan met the painter Scott Ary, invited him to the Northlands, and learned that he was also a philosopher.

After the nobles formally acclaimed Volvo Columbus as emperor, he prepared his first decrees with the great nobles who had backed him. The chapter ended as Volvo appeared in his coronation robes and lifted the imperial scepter before the Empire.

• After the emperor's funeral, the nobles gathered in the Hall of Elders, where Volvo Columbus declared that he would become emperor and received their acclamation.
• The next day, Volvo restrained himself from taking the scepter before the coronation and accepted the advance loyalty of Grand Duke Mayers and the other nobles.
• Grand Duke Mayers proposed more than a hundred measures to obtain resources from provinces across the Empire, while Volvo questioned whether Northwind Province should be required to provide more iron ore.
• Count Clayton advised his circle of nobles to wait and watch, explaining that Volvo's first decree would reveal whether he gained imperial authority or became Grand Duke Mayers's ally.
• At the coronation, Volvo stood before the nobles and Church of Light clergy, donned the emperor's robes, and lifted the imperial scepter.

Volvo became Emperor Columbus IV, gained the Empire Emperor’s Legendary Boon, and received the nobles’ oaths of loyalty. His first decisions exiled Viking, elevated Floyd, and sparked a power struggle with Grand Duke Fleming, leaving Ryan to consider seeking benefits from Volvo.

• Volvo took the scepter, became a Legend, and was acclaimed as Emperor by the people and nobles.
• The nobles swore personal oaths of loyalty to Columbus IV, with Ryan among the last to do so.
• Volvo banished Viking from the Empire and granted Floyd the title of Marquis Carlos, making himself the sole remaining Elector.
• Viking left for a desolate island with the silver-haired elf, while Floyd refused to go to Carlos Province immediately.
• Grand Duke Fleming rallied nobles against Volvo and opposed his demands for provincial supplies, and Ryan noticed the shifting political alliances.

Ryan left the Imperial Capital without gaining resources or assurances for Northwind Province, while the new emperor Volvo faced growing resistance from the great nobles. Volvo revealed plans to issue trade permits for merchant guilds, and the nobles asked how he intended to set their terms.

• Ryan left his meeting with Volvo, bid farewell to Count Clayton, and urged the Northlands nobles to rely on themselves and grow stronger.
• Count Pascal told Ryan that Grand Duke Fleming and the Council of Elders had blocked Volvo’s second batch of decrees, then returned to Danube Province in anger.
• Count Winter questioned whether Northwind Province could withstand the orcs, and Ryan vowed to eliminate the threat and give the land time to develop.
• Volvo confronted the nobles over their opposition, threatened to cancel every decree while keeping their number unchanged, and demanded that the nobles repay their emperor.
• Volvo proposed issuing Imperial trade permits that would let licensed merchant guilds travel and trade across the Empire and other lands, and a noble asked how he would establish their terms.

Emperor Columbus IV issued a decree requiring trade guilds to obtain Imperial permits, a reform Ryan recognized as a way to centralize wealth and power among the Empire’s great nobles and the Emperor. Ryan urged the Andara Kingdom and other allies to establish trade guilds linked to the Northlands, while the orc war remained a pressing concern.

• Emperor Columbus IV told the great nobles that the Empire would issue trade permits and that not every noble was qualified to conduct trade.
• Ryan studied the decree and concluded that it would divide the economy among producers, great-noble trade guilds, and the Empire, concentrating wealth in the Imperial Capital.
• Ryan decided to warn his allies and prepare for economic upheaval, noting that his bank could benefit from the coming trade wars.
• A messenger told the King of Andara that the Florian Empire would open Imperial trade permits to foreign guilds, and Count Merses explained that the new Emperor sought greater control over trade.
• The King of Andara read Ryan’s proposal to join the Northern Trade Guild and establish an Andaran branch, while Ryan sent related messages to other kingdoms and territories.

The Northern Great Wall Fortress endured a six-hour Orc and Werewolf assault before its soldiers received hot baths, potions, food, and rest. Ryan arrived afterward and ordered the search for the Werewolf Royal Court to continue while discussing Ross’s stalled growth and the Werewolves’ bloodline with him.

• The soldiers of the Northern Great Wall Fortress fought Orcs and Werewolves for six hours, with Borgeld leading the Armored Bear Warriors in a charge along the walls.
• The fortress’s logistics crews washed, treated, fed, and housed the exhausted soldiers, while Ryan’s abundant supplies helped sustain their fighting strength.
• Ryan arrived at the fortress and ordered the scouts to keep searching for the Werewolf Royal Court after they reported heavy losses and no discovery.
• Ross told Ryan that his vitality had failed to break through, and Ryan suggested evolving the Shadow Python through alchemy and studying the Werewolves’ bloodline for answers.
• Ross reported on the strengths and weaknesses of metallic toxins in battle.

Ryan learned that the Alchemy Academy’s corrosive metal toxin was too costly to sustain the war, while the Werewolf High Priest Udi used a Blood Hawk to glimpse Ryan and revealed that he served a powerful lord. The chapter ended with Udi confronting the Werewolf leaders after taking control of their Royal Court.

• Ross explained that the corrosive metal toxin could kill Orcs but cost too much to use for long, and Ryan agreed to keep using it while the war continued.
• Ross showed Ryan a lightweight, durable iron that would not rust and said he planned to make it into more efficient furnaces.
• Werewolves ambushed human scouts in the Northlands, but one scout escaped after the High Priest had ordered that none be allowed to get away.
• Udi drank from the dead Blood Hawk and saw Ryan’s world through its memories, then sensed a terrifying presence and found Ryan looking back at him.
• Ryan briefly saw Udi through a strange spiritual space before hearing the returned scout’s report about the Werewolves.
• Udi restrained the Werewolf leaders with the Royal Court’s divine power and declared that he was a servant who had descended into a weak creature at his lord’s command.

Orc Emperor Shatterbone gathered the Orc Royal Courts, used divine power to bless their warriors, and launched a massive assault on Hot Spring Fortress. As Orcs advanced into Hot Spring Province, Grand Duke Russell ordered the locals to mobilize, while Emperor Volvo Columbus struggled to contain the political consequences of the crisis.

• Shatterbone rejected Savi's suggestion to retreat and summoned the other five Royal Courts to join the attack on Hot Spring Fortress.
• The Behemoth Monarch said the human defenses had grown too strong, while the headless Brilliant Monarch unnerved the assembled Orcs.
• Shatterbone invoked his authority to bless every Orc present, compelling the Orc Monarchs and their followers to kneel and swear to defeat and plunder the humans.
• Shatterbone ordered the newly empowered Orcs to attack, and their advance shook Hot Spring Province as its people began fleeing south.
• Grand Duke Russell's Thornflower Knights stopped the fleeing residents and ordered every man to join the defense of Hot Spring Fortress.
• Emperor Volvo Columbus received an urgent report that the six Orc Royal Courts were preparing a desperate assault and ordered Hot Spring Province to mobilize.

Grand Duke Russell faced the Orcs’ six royal courts at Hot Spring Fortress and sought Ryan’s advice on how to win. Ryan outlined a plan that drew support from the emperor, and Russell prepared Hot Spring Province’s forces to take the fight to the Orcs.

• Gallen Russell declared that he would win the war for the honor and power of the Russell Family, then asked Anselmo how to secure victory.
• Ryan received Grand Duke Russell’s letter, examined a Demigod-drawn map of Hot Spring Province, and replied with advice on mobilizing troops, resources, knights, terrain, and attacks on Orc leaders.
• Grand Duke Russell accepted Ryan’s counsel, crushed Hilde’s letter, and declared that Hot Spring Province’s warhorses and terrain would help defeat the Orcs.
• The emperor agreed to provide supplies, battle mages, and control of Purple Mountain Province and Morelos Province to support Grand Duke Russell.
• Grand Duke Russell’s knight rallied the civilian soldiers by promising the Thornflower would stand with them, then the Thornflower Knights charged into battle.

Knight Cook’s conscripted soldiers defeated a Leopard Orc unit at Mace Spring, then marched with Baron Mace toward Warm Water City as Bear Orcs caught up with them. At Sunny Grassland, the imperial army prepared for another attack, only to find Orc forces closing in from several directions.

• Knight Cook led his hundred-plus soldiers against Leopard Orcs that stumbled into a hot spring, and the soldiers killed more than thirty at the cost of twenty-three casualties.
• Baron Mace asked Knight Cook to protect his family and escort them to Warm Water City, and Cook agreed despite orders to assemble at Sunny Grassland.
• Bear Orcs caught up with Baron Mace’s fleeing group, and Cook ordered his soldiers to stand and fight as the slaves panicked.
• Grand Duke Russell’s army defended Sunny Grassland against repeated Orc charges after mages used forbidden magic to boil the hot springs and strengthen the defenses.
• Count Ferguson learned that Orc armies had appeared on several sides of Sunny Grassland and were surrounding the imperial forces.

Count Ferguson and Opu Russell struggled to command the imperial army as the orcs encircled and devastated Sunny Grassland, until the Hot Spring Marquis’s Magic Armor Knight Legion arrived. The battle’s source was revealed to be the assault on Hot Spring Fortress, where the Orc Emperor Shatterbone appeared, prompting Flor’s emperor to prepare for a god-slaying campaign.

• Count Ferguson panicked as orcs attacked Sunny Grassland from both flanks and the sky, while Opu Russell tried to organize the imperial forces.
• The orcs surrounded the imperial cavalry, and their shamans’ roars countered the mages’ spells as the battle turned into a massacre.
• Opu Russell ordered a desperate counterattack and charged the orcs, while Count Ferguson directed the mages to strike the enemy even at the risk of hitting imperial soldiers.
• The Rhino Orc Army arrived and threatened to overwhelm the humans, but Green Columbus led the Hot Spring Marquis’s Magic Armor Knight Legion onto the battlefield.
• The chapter revealed that Hot Spring Fortress had faced a million-orc assault led by Shatterbone, and Volvo Columbus told the nobles that the Empire would kill a god again.