Chapter Summaries

Elfie subdued Totti and the Red Hemp sailors aboard their captured flagship, while Totti realized his disobedience had helped doom the fleet. Van Dyke was found hiding in a wine barrel and revealed that he had planned to escape and warn Viscount Boateng that Count Black had betrayed the duchy.

• Elfie soaked Totti with seawater to silence his insults, then left to secure the remaining Red Hemp ships for Viscount Sonanda.
• Totti blamed himself for ignoring Captain Van Dyke and feared the captain had killed himself.
• Great Oak sailors found Van Dyke hiding in a wine barrel and brought him to Elfie.
• Van Dyke explained that he had planned to escape and warn Viscount Boateng about Count Black's betrayal, but said it was now too late.

Viscount Sonanda confronted his former comrade Captain Van Dyke after Great Oak Territory joined the Northern fleet against the eastern noble fleet. The arrival of Sonanda’s son as the Northern fleet commander convinced Van Dyke that the eastern nobles would lose the land battle.

• Elfie informed Viscount Sonanda that Red Hemp Territory’s fleet had been taken over, and Sonanda arrived aboard the much larger new Wavebreaker.
• Captain Van Dyke recognized that Great Oak Territory had secretly built a powerful flagship and betrayed the noble fleet, then feared for the eastern nobles’ chances in the land battle.
• Viscount Sonanda ignored Totti and approached Van Dyke, who confirmed that Sonanda had acted under Count Black’s orders to destroy the eastern noble fleet.
• A sailor reported that the Northern fleet commander had arrived, and Sonanda sent Elfie to bring him over.
• The Northern fleet commander addressed Sonanda as his father, and Van Dyke concluded that Count Black had arranged an overwhelming advantage in the land battle.

Sonanda invited Van Dyke to join a future revenge fleet, but Van Dyke refused because he considered Red Hemp Territory his home. The First Mate explained why Sodoma’s presence suggested possible defections on the land battlefield, leaving Totti anxious about his father until Van Dyke calmed him.

• Sonanda invited Van Dyke to help lead a powerful fleet against the East Sea Alliance, but Van Dyke declined, and Sonanda left with Sodoma.
• Sonanda told Elfie to treat Van Dyke, Totti, and the First Mate well, and they were confined to a cabin with clean clothes.
• The First Mate identified Sodoma as Sonanda’s capable illegitimate son and speculated that Great Oak Territory’s deep cooperation with the Northern barbarians could lead to defections on land.
• Van Dyke explained that he would not abandon Red Hemp Territory, where he had made a home with his family and been treated well.
• Totti grew worried about his father, but Van Dyke knocked him down and urged him to stop fearing an unconfirmed danger, and Totti thanked him.

Sonanda offered Sodoma command of the new Wavebreaker and a future title, but Sodoma refused, remaining loyal to Victor. Meanwhile, Victor received intelligence about weaknesses in the Allied Army’s vast encampment and called a meeting to plan his next move.

• Sonanda showed Sodoma the new Wavebreaker and offered him command of it and, eventually, the Coastal Defense Fleet and his title, but Sodoma refused because he had sworn allegiance to Victor.
• Sonanda and Sodoma agreed that the fleets would remain at sea while the land fighting continued, and Sonanda promised to send supplies and medicine.
• Victor assessed the nearly hundred-thousand-strong Allied Army encampment and redirected James’s cavalry to target enemy scouts and roaming cavalry in the east.
• Orlando delivered Victor a map and report revealing weak points in the Allied Army encampment, including the camps of the Great Oak Territory and its allies.
• Victor marked up a map, ordered the regimental commanders to attend a meeting, and asked Orlando to report as soon as news arrived from the fleet.

Victor received news that the fleet had destroyed the enemy navy, then finalized a land assault against the duchy's First Legion for dawn. He offered Baron Brown and Viscount Markut reinforcements for their outnumbered infantry, but they declined and prepared to earn military merit themselves.

• Ron teased James for failing to strike the enemy supply lines, and James explained that fortified supply stations and the enemy's overwhelming numbers made cavalry raids impractical.
• Orlando arrived with Sodoma's report that the fleet had lured the enemy into the Reef Zone, defeated its main force, and destroyed the remaining ships with Great Oak Territory's Coastal Defense Fleet.
• Victor told the officers that the naval victory secured their retreat but declared he would attack, then revealed a plan to exploit Great Oak Territory's maneuver and strike the exposed flank of the duchy's First Legion at dawn.
• The officers eagerly accepted their assignments, while Lodan asked for his logistics troops to join the front-line battle and Victor reminded him that they had other duties.
• Victor offered Baron Brown and Viscount Markut elite Reserve Force troops to support their three thousand infantry against an enemy regiment of five thousand, but they declined and promised to hold the enemy in place.

As the Southern Marching Legion prepared to march out, Beck ordered the outnumbering Duchy Allied Forces to form up rather than wait behind their fortified camp. Victor inspected his troops as they ate and armed themselves, encouraging them with the promise of a feast after victory.

• Yellen refused to send Great Oak Territory's newly formed cavalry into the field, and Count Black declined Beck's offer to command the Eastern Regional Allied Forces Command.
• Beck took command of the Duchy Allied Forces and ordered them to prepare for battle after watchtowers reported movement in the Southern Marching Legion's camp.
• Beck's deputy questioned whether the enemy's preparations were a feint, but Beck ordered the troops to eat before forming up.
• The Southern Marching Legion's soldiers enjoyed a lavish breakfast while auxiliaries prepared their armor and weapons.
• Victor rode through camp, promised his soldiers mutton and wine after victory, and encouraged a young soldier who confidently displayed his armor and pike.

Victor led the Southern Marching Legion onto the battlefield, where its size and armor unsettled the Coalition of Nobles. Beck organized the First Legion and allied forces into a defensive formation, confident they could surround and wear down Victor’s army.

• The soldiers cheered for Victor, then marched out of camp and formed the Southern Marching Legion into five lines alongside allied forces from the Stream Territory and the Black Pine Territory.
• Victor raised his Golden Sunflower Crest battle standard and advanced at the head of the army, while the sight of the approaching force disrupted the Coalition of Nobles’ formations and drove its nobles back toward camp.
• Beck criticized the Coalition of Nobles’ disorganized troops, though he noted that the Great Oak Territory and several other noble houses had formed orderly ranks.
• Beck ordered the private armies into separate squares and arranged them beside the First Legion and the Great Oak Territory, planning to engage Victor in the center and close in from both flanks.

After the main army departed, Old Buck’s guards struggled to keep the prisoner-soldiers in line as the prisoners challenged them and mocked the Southern Marching Legion’s chances. Old Buck realized his guards had also lost confidence in the army’s ability to win.

• After the main army left, auxiliary soldiers took over the Main Camp’s gates and watchtowers while Old Buck led guards escorting prisoners to work.
• Old Buck saw guards confronting prisoners who had stopped working and demanded to know what was happening.
• A prisoner complained that the guards had refused to give them water, and Old Buck offered his waterskin.
• The prisoner knocked the waterskin aside and accused Old Buck of trying to curry favor with them, while other prisoners mocked the Southern Marching Legion’s smaller army.
• Old Buck noticed that his guards looked dejected and realized they doubted the Southern Marching Legion could defeat the Coalition of Nobles.

Old Buck killed a group of captive soldiers after they caused trouble in the prisoner camp, and auxiliary troops brought him and Eagle Eye before Lodan. Lodan reassured them that they would not be punished and promised to recommend them as territorial officers if they kept the camp stable, declaring that the Viscount’s army would win.

• Old Buck led the guards in killing the captive soldiers who had started a disturbance, and auxiliary troops subdued the guards who continued attacking the wounded.
• The auxiliary captain reported that thirty-nine captives were down, and his soldiers killed the six who were still barely alive before escorting Old Buck and his guards away.
• Eagle Eye tried to secure Old Buck’s release with a bribe, but the auxiliary troops detained him too and took both men to the camp garrison.
• Lodan introduced himself as the camp’s chief logistics officer, prompting Old Buck and Eagle Eye to kneel and Old Buck to take responsibility for the killings.
• Lodan said Old Buck had done nothing wrong and ordered both men to keep the prisoner camp stable, promising to recommend them as territorial officers after the war.
• Old Buck asked whether their army could really win, and Lodan confidently affirmed that the Viscount’s forces would prevail.

Lodan sent Old Buck and Eagle Eye to the Medical Department and supply depot, where Ramos issued rewards for their guards and encouraged Old Buck’s ambitions. Old Buck’s men became auxiliary soldiers of the Two Rivers Territory, with Old Buck named their squad leader.

• Lodan gave Mendepo a note directing him to take Old Buck and Eagle Eye to the Medical Department and Ramos for supplies.
• At the supply depot, Ramos learned that Old Buck had been born a serf and hoped to become an officer and free his family from serfdom.
• Ramos shared his own rise from serfdom and urged Old Buck to work steadily toward earning merit.
• Ramos showed Old Buck the canned fruit awarded to the guards, and Old Buck shared it with his men.
• Ramos revealed armor, uniforms, shields, and swords, then announced that Old Buck and his guards would serve as auxiliary soldiers, with Old Buck as their squad leader.

The Southern Marching Legion and the Allied Army advanced toward their first major battle while Victor and James responded to Beck’s attempt to restrict the Southern cavalry. The Southern troops shifted formation, and Marvin’s regiment prepared its weapons as battle approached.

• Old Buck returned to the prisoner camp with new equipment, and the guards began mistreating prisoners in hopes of provoking unrest and earning military merit.
• Victor kept James’s cavalry in reserve while the armies marched closer, and Beck arranged the Allied Army in a shallow arc to limit the Southern cavalry’s maneuvering space.
• Victor recognized Beck’s plan and ordered James to take the cavalry around the battlefield to attack the Allied Army’s flank, while the Great Oak Territory covered the other wing.
• The Southern Marching Legion shifted its formation during the march, sending its cavalry around the rear and reorganizing its infantry into lines; Beck watched in astonishment.
• Marvin praised Victor’s counting rods for helping officers change formations quickly, then ordered his pikemen and ranged troops to ready their weapons as battle neared.

Beck hurried the Allied Army forward as the Southern Marching Legion reshaped its formations and prepared to strike. The armies exchanged their first volleys, and the Southern Marching Legion's armored heavy infantry kept charging toward the First Legion's defenses.

• Beck ordered his troops to quicken their march and directed the Great Oak Territory's cavalry to pin down James's cavalry.
• Knight Yellen left to command the Great Oak Territory's troops while Steward Magnus stayed behind to deal with Allied Command and oversee preparations.
• The Southern Marching Legion combined Marvin's and Santos's regiments into a diamond formation with heavy infantry and pikemen at its point.
• Beck ordered the First Legion's vanguard to form a defensive line, its ranged troops to fire ten volleys, and its pikemen to attack from both sides.
• At two hundred meters, both armies' bowmen and crossbowmen began firing, and the First Legion's sword-and-shield troops braced behind their shields.
• The Southern Marching Legion's armored heavy infantry charged through the arrows without stopping.

The Southern Marching Legion’s heavy infantry pressed into the First Legion while the Allied Army’s right wing collapsed under cavalry attacks and betrayals. Beck moved to the First Legion as Ron’s and Baron Brown and Viscount Markut’s forces reached its exposed flank.

• The First Legion’s arrow volleys barely harmed Victor’s heavy infantry, and Beck ordered his deputy to execute a battalion commander and take charge of the archers.
• The Great Oak Territory’s private army moved aside, letting the Southern Marching Legion’s formations rush toward the First Legion’s flank.
• Cavalry bearing the Great Oak Crest and James’s cavalry attacked the Coalition of Nobles from behind and the flank as eastern nobles’ troops attacked their allies.
• Beck recognized that the Allied Army’s wings were collapsing and moved with his officers into the First Legion’s formation.
• Victor’s heavy infantry broke through three ranks of sword-and-shield soldiers, then split apart to wedge into the First Legion’s front while the Pikemen attacked the resulting salients.
• Ron’s First Regiment and the mixed regiment commanded by Baron Brown and Viscount Markut reached the First Legion’s flank before its Pikemen could arrive.

Beck committed most of his remaining troops to the frontal battlefield in a bid to break the deadlock. He ordered Verati to strike the enemy’s ranged troops while the other battalions pinned down the fighting, leaving Beck with no troops at his side.

• Ron and the others formed up on favorable terrain as the First Legion’s reinforcements arrived to defend the flank.
• Beck assessed the collapsing right wing and the grinding frontal battle, then ordered Angelo to continue sentry duty with his remaining troops.
• Beck transferred two battalions from Angelo’s regiment to Verati, along with the personal guard and reserve troops, to reinforce the front.
• Beck explained that Verati should use the personal guard’s cavalry to attack the enemy ranged troops and send the other battalions to prevent enemy light infantry from joining them.
• Verati accepted the mission as Beck drew his sword and prepared to remain behind without troops.

Verati led the personal guard’s cavalry around the eastern side of the battlefield while the First Legion and Southern Marching Legion fought fiercely. The cavalry slipped past Santos’s blocking force toward the Southern Marching Legion’s rear, leaving Marvin alarmed as infantry pinned Santos down.

• Verati rode east with the personal guard’s cavalry as Beck watched the First Legion struggle to hold the Southern Marching Legion’s attack.
• The First Legion’s ranged troops reached position and fired volleys that inflicted heavy casualties on the Southern Marching Legion’s Pikemen.
• The Southern Marching Legion’s Bow and Crossbow Troops exchanged fire with the First Legion’s ranged troops and suffered far fewer casualties thanks to their armor.
• After receiving Beck’s orders, the First Legion’s Legion Deputy Commander began withdrawing the ranged troops as the Pikemen pressed forward.
• Santos took two detachments to block the approaching cavalry, but the riders veered past his formation toward the battlefield’s rear while enemy infantry pinned him down.
• A messenger warned Marvin that the cavalry had reached the rear, and Marvin realized his ranged troops were threatened.

Marvin and the senior officers of Two Rivers Territory formed a makeshift pike line to hold off an approaching Light Cavalry force while the ranged troops prepared to fire. The archers and Heavy Crossbowmen devastated the cavalry’s front ranks, but the unharmed leading officer continued his charge.

• Marvin led his officers and guards to form a crude pike line before the archers and Heavy Crossbowmen.
• The squadron commanders told Marvin they had ordered their men to concentrate fire if the line was breached.
• The ranged troops fired in coordinated volleys, bringing down at least a third of the enemy cavalry in the first volley and scattering the front ranks.
• The leading enemy officer evaded the arrows and kept charging toward Marvin’s pike line.

Marvin and his pikemen endured successive cavalry charges until Viscount Victor’s Personal Guard struck the enemy flank. Verati led a charge at Victor but was killed beneath the Golden Sunflower banner, and Marvin saw that victory was within reach.

• Verati charged Marvin but fell when his horse collapsed, then became trapped beneath its corpse as the cavalry crashed into the pike formation.
• Marvin helped a company commander kill a fierce cavalryman while his veterans held off the first wave.
• Verati freed his injured leg as nearly eight hundred cavalrymen advanced, but archers and crossbowmen fired another volley at them.
• Bask’s Orphan Brigade charged the cavalry’s right wing, and Marvin recognized the Viscount’s banner and led his pikemen forward.
• Verati learned that Viscount Victor was with the flank attack, mounted another horse, and led a charge toward the banner.
• Verati was beheaded beneath the still-standing Golden Sunflower banner, and Marvin realized the enemy was nearly defeated.

After Verati’s death threw the First Legion’s Personal Guard into disarray, Marvin and Bask prepared a counterattack. Victor’s account revealed how he had tested his newly completed Transcendent Organ and killed Verati.

• Marvin recognized that Verati’s death had left the Personal Guard’s Cavalry in chaos and sent for Bask.
• Bask agreed to Marvin’s plan, and the two led their forces into action with Bask’s men at the spearhead.
• Victor recalled shooting Verati’s horse with his greatbow, disrupting the enemy charge and giving the Personal Guard time to break through.
• Victor activated his pineal gland’s Transcendent effect as Verati charged him, sharpening his senses and reactions.
• Victor dodged Verati’s lance, pulled him from his horse, and killed him with his golden-lit longsword.

Victor’s forces routed the First Legion’s cavalry and broke through its lines, while Beck fled and the army’s retreat became a collapse. The victory devastated the loyalist nobles and cost the Golden Sunflower Family more than forty percent of its combat troops killed or wounded.

• Victor killed Verati, routed the personal guard cavalry, and returned to the banner after his guards joined the fight.
• Marvin and Bask defeated the remaining cavalry, freeing the ranged troops to help break the First Legion’s defenses.
• Marvin reinforced Santos, who collapsed from exhaustion after confirming Victor was safe, while Ron’s troops broke through the First Legion’s left flank.
• Beck learned Verati was dead and fled south, after which the First Legion’s deputy commander ordered a retreat.
• Marvin and Ron blocked some of the retreating First Legion, while the Southern Marching Legion and Great Oak Territory destroyed most of the Coalition of Nobles.
• The battle left the Golden Sunflower Family with more than forty percent of its combat troops killed or wounded, while the First Legion lost over half its strength and the eastern loyalist nobles suffered devastating losses.

Victor arrived at the Great Oak Territory camp with Knight Yellen and found Count Black dead in bed. The chapter ended with Victor struggling to contain his grief over the loss of his mentor and friend.

• Victor heard a warhorse whinny and went outside as Victor and Knight Yellen arrived at the camp with Cavalry.
• Victor comforted Grape, then noticed that the Great Oak Territory soldiers looked frightened and uneasy.
• Magnus welcomed Victor and led him and Yellen through the war wagon to Count Black’s bedroom.
• Victor found Count Black cold and lifeless, realized the old man had died, and punched the wall to hide his grief.