Chapter Summaries

Karl prepared to make a final stand in Carnford while Konrad left through the teleportation array. Harald ordered the castle burned, believing Karl would die in its ruins.

• Karl and Brendan carried Master Andrei's body to join the fallen soldiers, while Konrad watched before heading upstairs to the teleportation array.
• Harald surveyed Carnford and ordered Leon to capture the castle's craftsmen, especially those skilled in making cannons and gunpowder.
• A guard captain reported that Karl's defenders were still holding the castle and that an old knight had inflicted heavy casualties on the Sauron forces.
• Harald ordered the frontline commander to burn the castle with Molotov cocktails rather than continue the costly assault.
• Harald watched the castle and silently bade farewell to Karl, blaming the Goldflower Kingdom's king for leaving him without reinforcements.

As Harald prepared to celebrate the fall of Carnford, Friedrich von Schmidt burst into the Sauron camp alone and carved a bloody path toward the central command. Harald realized that Friedrich’s greatest threat was the panic his attack could spread through his exhausted army.

• Harald ordered the fortress burned, and the Sauron commanders looked forward to returning to Frosgard with their spoils.
• Sauron soldiers shouted that the eastern camp had been breached as Friedrich von Schmidt charged through the palisade on horseback.
• Friedrich cut down soldiers and horses with golden sword arcs as he drove toward the central command.
• Leon warned Harald that Friedrich’s rampage could spread panic and trigger a mutiny.
• Harald recognized that panic among the exhausted troops could turn the army against itself.

Harald ordered Asgeir and Ilain to stop the Gorse Knight before his attack could spark a slave uprising in the Sauron camp. Meanwhile, Laurent’s North Wind Squad struck the camp from its undefended southwestern side, leaving the Sauron troops in chaos.

• Harald recognized the danger posed by the tens of thousands of resentful slaves still held in the camp and ordered Asgeir to assemble the Tiger Corps against the Gorse Knight.
• Harald sent Ilain to mobilize the camp’s mages, promising them five thousand slaves as a reward for helping suppress and kill the knight.
• Laurent spotted the weakly defended side of the Sauron camp and led five hundred North Wind knights out of the woods in a surprise charge.
• The North Wind Squad broke through the outer defenses, cut down soldiers, and set tents ablaze as the Sauron troops fled in panic.

Harald’s camp descended into chaos as Friedrich’s assault in the east was joined by a surprise Broomflower force attacking from the southwest. Harald ordered troops pulled back from Carnford to defend the camp, while fearing that Karl might have survived the burning castle.

• Harald watched Asgeir and the mages slow Friedrich’s advance, but a guard reported that the camp’s southwest side had also fallen into chaos.
• A Broomflower force struck from the southwest and advanced toward the central command tent, prompting Harald to realize that Rochfort’s earlier cavalry raid had been a diversion.
• Harald ordered Svein to lead the Bear Corps against the Broomflower soldiers and keep them away from the army banner.
• Harald ordered Leon to halt the assault on Carnford Castle and recall most of the besieging forces to deal with Friedrich and the southwest attackers.
• Harald watched the burning castle and feared that Karl might have survived as the battle slipped beyond his control.

Trapped in the burning castle, Karl tried to kill himself rather than be burned alive, but a glimpse of the battlefield revealed that the Sauron soldiers were fleeing. He rushed out to tell Brendan and the others, giving the defenders a sudden chance of hope.

• With the castle filling with smoke and flames, Karl asked Brendan for a loaded pistol and went alone to the study.
• Karl put the pistol in his mouth but could not bring himself to pull the trigger.
• A burst of flames through the study window forced Karl to prepare to shoot himself again.
• Karl noticed the Sauron soldiers retreating in panic from the castle and down the mountain.
• Karl rushed back to Brendan and announced that the Sauron appeared to have fled, leaving the soldiers and townspeople stunned.

Karl saw the Sauron army suddenly flee and rallied the survivors to save the burning castle. With Lina and Morian’s magic and the survivors’ efforts, they contained the fire and preserved the castle, though the reason for the enemy’s retreat and Konrad’s disappearance remained unclear.

• Karl led Brendan, Richter, and the survivors to the second floor to inspect the battlefield.
• Karl saw the Sauron army fleeing in disorder and ordered everyone to put out the castle fire.
• Lina told Karl that Konrad had vanished after sensing something when the Sauron began retreating.
• Morian used ice magic and Lina used wind and water vapor to extinguish the flames while the survivors carried water and scattered sand.
• The fire was brought under control, the castle’s main structure survived, and Karl and the others realized they had made it through the attack.

Friedrich charged into the Sauron Army camp to threaten Harald and draw troops away from Karl, but sorcerers and soldiers overwhelmed him. He ended the chapter kneeling amid the enemy, badly battered and fearing he could not save his brother.

• Friedrich fought his way toward the central command tent, where Harald was stationed, but the Tiger Corps and sorcerers stopped his advance.
• Elaine and the other sorcerers attacked Friedrich with spells, and Friedrich escaped the hellfire by dismounting before resisting Elaine's curse lightning with Iron Body.
• Sauron soldiers surrounded Friedrich and forced him to fight while repeated spells and curse lightning drained his Battle Qi.
• A Sauron Third-Order Knight struck Friedrich's shoulder with a giant axe, cracking his armor and knocking him onto one knee.
• Friedrich looked at the enemies closing in and regretted his reckless attack, fearing he could not save Karl.

Konrad teleported into the battle and rescued Friedrich by dispelling the curse that weakened him, then used Chain Lightning to drive back the Sauron soldiers. The brothers joined forces and stood back to back as their enemies hesitated to attack.

• Konrad teleported between Friedrich and the Sauron soldiers, knocking nearby enemies aside with the force of his landing.
• Konrad dispelled the cursed clouds above Friedrich, restoring his strength, and Friedrich pulled the Battle Axe from his pauldron and stood.
• Konrad cast Chain Lightning, killing Sauron soldiers and forcing the survivors to hold back.
• Konrad and Friedrich stood back to back, facing the encircling soldiers in a tense standoff.

Harald watched Konrad von Schmidt’s arrival turn the eastern battle and a slave uprising ignite the Sauron camp, then ordered a retreat north. The Sauron army crushed most of the uprising as it withdrew, while a few slaves escaped into the forest.

• Konrad von Schmidt appeared over the eastern battlefield and drove back Sauron warriors surrounding Friedrich.
• More than thirty thousand Broomflower slaves revolted in the western camp, setting fires and attacking Sauron soldiers.
• Harald concluded the battle was already lost and ordered the Sauron army to retreat north, assigning Asgeir to cover the rear and Svein to suppress the revolt.
• Svein sent Bear Corps elites against the uprising, and Sauron soldiers killed or captured most of the slaves.
• A few slaves escaped from the camp into the distant forest while the Sauron army withdrew.

The Sauron forces drove a panicked retreat north after their attacks were halted, while Konrad rescued the gravely wounded Friedrich from the battlefield and teleported them back to Carnford Castle. Konrad reunited with the castle’s survivors and revealed that he had brought Friedrich back unconscious.

• Harald gathered the prisoners and supplies and led the Sauron army north as Laurent’s North Wind Squad withdrew under pressure.
• Elaine and the Sauron warlocks overwhelmed Konrad and Friedrich with spells and rifle fire, leaving Friedrich gravely wounded.
• Konrad used a prepared teleportation array to escape with Friedrich just before the enemy spells struck.
• Konrad and Friedrich appeared in Carnford Castle, where Lina and Morian caught the exhausted mage and Karl came to greet him.
• Konrad cast a soothing spell on Karl and pointed the survivors toward the unconscious Friedrich.

Karl learned that the badly wounded knight was his brother Friedrich, who had risked everything to reach him. After Friedrich’s injuries were stabilized, Konrad explained that Earl Rochefort’s reinforcements had arrived and forced the Saurons to retreat.

• Konrad told Karl that the wounded knight was his older brother, Friedrich, and Friedrich confirmed his identity.
• Friedrich explained that he had followed the Saurons from the Royal Capital and ridden ahead alone after Eisenberg refused to send troops.
• Karl thanked Friedrich for coming, and the brothers embraced amid the ruins.
• Konrad warned Karl that Friedrich was critically injured, so Karl ordered Richter to bring the Militia Potions and hemostatic ointments for him and the other worst-wounded survivors.
• After Friedrich’s condition stabilized, Karl asked Konrad why the Saurons had retreated, and Konrad said Earl Rochefort’s reinforcements had arrived.

After learning that Earl Rochefort’s reinforcements had forced Harald’s Sauron army to retreat, Karl ordered Carnford’s surviving defenders to pursue and join them. The defenders and surviving cavalry launched a counterattack as Brendan signaled them to attack.

• Konrad explained that Earl Rochefort’s troops had crossed the Death Icefield and Barren Peninsula, while Friedrich’s charge and a slave revolt disrupted Harald’s army.
• Karl realized Rochefort had risked his elite troops to rescue him and ordered every able defender to pursue the retreating Saurons and link up with the reinforcements.
• Karl rallied Carnford’s surviving soldiers, then led around two hundred infantrymen out through the damaged gate toward the Sauron encampment.
• Brendan climbed the inner-city wall and waved the agreed cavalry attack signal with the battered Carnford battle standard.
• Lyon and Thorsten recognized the signal, rallied the surviving cavalrymen, and prepared to pursue Harald’s retreating forces.

Lyon and Thorsten led Carnford’s surviving cavalry out of the castle and joined Sir Laurent’s Fran City troops in a pincer attack that routed the Sauron forces. Harald watched the chaos from a nearby mound and realized his attempt to take Carnford Castle and kill Karl had failed.

• Lyon led more than thirty Carnford cavalrymen down the mountain, cutting through fleeing Sauron soldiers.
• Lyon and Thorsten charged into the Sauron camp and struck the flank of Svein’s Bear Corps, which was fighting Laurent’s North Wind Squad.
• Laurent rallied his Fran City knights to attack alongside Carnford’s garrison, trapping the Sauron forces between them and turning their retreat into a rout.
• Lyon, Thorsten, and Laurent joined forces and led their troops in pursuit of the fleeing Sauron soldiers.
• Harald surveyed the ruined camp and acknowledged that Friedrich, Rochfort, Konrad, the Schmidt brothers, and the governor had overturned his expected victory.

Harald ordered a retreat after his assault on Carnford failed, while Karl’s defenders and Fran City’s reinforcements secured the battlefield. Karl’s forces held the city at a terrible cost, and he ended the chapter exchanging a hard-won salute with Sir Laurent.

• Harald chose to withdraw rather than risk his army being surrounded, and ordered Asgeir and Svein to disengage and serve as rearguards.
• Harald rode north with his guards as his forces retreated from Carnford.
• Lyon’s cavalry killed the last Sauron stragglers, and the battlefield fell silent.
• Karl surveyed the devastation and recognized that his victory had cost more than two thousand soldiers and subjects, while Carnford City lay in ruins.
• Sir Laurent met Karl on the battlefield, and the two exchanged thanks and respect for their shared defense.

After the battle, Karl and the survivors of Carnford worked through the night to rescue the wounded, gather the dead, and secure the ruins. Though their domain had been devastated and fewer than five hundred people remained, they survived and began rebuilding shelters.

• Karl and Laurent organized Carnford's surviving defenders and subjects to clear the battlefield and search for wounded people.
• Edgar directed the cleanup while the exhausted Morr remained unconscious inside the castle.
• Carnford's soldiers beheaded the Sauron dead and killed wounded Sauron soldiers to confirm the enemy threat was over.
• Laurent and his knights refused to rest and joined the work, and Karl also helped despite his wounds and exhaustion.
• The survivors worked until night, gathered the enemy's heads and spoils, then returned to Carnford Mountain.
• The survivors began reinforcing walls and building makeshift shelters among the ruins.

Karl reviewed the devastating losses Carnford suffered in its victory over Harald’s Saurons and ordered the exhausted steward Edgar to rest. The survivors shared a meal, and Karl visited the wounded, where Otto recovered with his pregnant wife Marissa by his side.

• Edgar reported that Carnford had lost 317 soldiers, leaving fewer than a hundred combat-ready, and that more than 1,500 civilians had become casualties, including 792 confirmed deaths.
• Karl and Edgar concluded that their losses had bought Carnford at least a year of security by inflicting five to six thousand casualties on the Saurons.
• Karl postponed the compensation calculations and ordered Edgar to eat and sleep before returning to work.
• The logistics staff served the survivors soup made from the castle’s last food reserves.
• Karl visited the infirmary and found Lina, Morian, and Old John treating the wounded, while Marissa fed her injured husband Otto and Otto said he had fought to hold the walls.

Karl visited the wounded defenders of Carnford and promised himself he would rebuild their home. After learning Harald’s army had been defeated, Ulf ordered the Sparrow Corps to fake an attack on Fran City so they could retreat north.

• Karl stopped Marissa from rising, checked Otto’s injuries, and thanked the wounded soldiers for defending Carnford.
• Karl apologized to Marissa for failing to protect her, and she said Otto had been defending their home and that they did not blame him.
• Ulf received a report that Harald’s army had retreated in defeat and realized his Sparrow Corps was isolated deep in the Goldflower Kingdom.
• Ulf told his officers the Great Chieftain’s main force had returned north and ordered the Sparrow Corps to prepare to retreat.
• Ulf ordered a loud feigned assault on Fran City to pin Earl Rochefort’s forces down while the Sparrow Corps withdrew north.

Earl Rochefort recognized that the Sauron attack on Fran City was a feint intended to cover the Sparrow Corps' retreat, but he could not tell whether the retreat meant Carnford had fallen or Harald had been defeated. He was left anxiously awaiting news of Karl and Carnford, worried for Charlotte and her unborn child.

• Earl Rochefort learned that the Sauron Barbarians had begun attacking Fran City and saw their forces advancing with ladders, battering rams, and catapults.
• Earl Rochefort realized Ulf was staging a feigned attack to conceal the Sparrow Corps' retreat, and he ordered the defenders to fight without pursuing the enemy.
• Fran City's defenders repelled the assault for about an hour, and the Sauron soldiers retreated in good order after a horn sounded.
• A young officer asked to pursue the retreating Sauron army, but Earl Rochefort refused, suspecting Ulf had prepared a trap.
• Earl Rochefort wondered whether Carnford had fallen or Harald had been defeated, and worried about Karl, Charlotte, and her unborn child.

After Carnford’s victory over the Saurons, Karl assessed the losses, planned how to use the captured heads as political leverage, and sent word to Earl Rochefort. He then reviewed Edgar’s proposals to compensate fallen soldiers’ families and care for the wounded.

• Edgar reported that Carnford’s forces had inflicted about six to seven thousand casualties, including no more than three thousand elite Sauron soldiers, and collected around five thousand recognizable heads.
• Karl decided to divide the Sauron heads among the Royal Capital, Earl Rochefort, and northern border lords rather than send them all to the kingdom.
• A scout reported that the Sparrow Corps was retreating north, confirming that Harald had been defeated and Carnford was safe.
• Karl ordered Lyon to take ten Broomflower Veteran Soldiers to Fran City, report the victory to Earl Rochefort, and request troops to cover Carnford and help stabilize the region.
• Edgar presented compensation proposals for fallen soldiers’ families and provisions for wounded soldiers, and Karl reviewed the draft.

Karl revised Carnford’s bereavement compensation rules to protect fallen soldiers’ parents and children and preserve military morale. He left Edgar with instructions to strengthen neighborhood supervision and report widows who violated their oath.

• Edgar explained his proposed bereavement compensation provisions, and Karl interrupted to revise who would receive the payments.
• Karl ruled that compensation should go first to the soldier, then to his parents or children, and only to his wife when the children were young and needed care.
• Karl required any wife receiving compensation to swear she would raise the children and support the soldier’s elderly parents, with payments ending if she remarried.
• Edgar recognized that Karl’s rules were meant to ensure fallen soldiers’ families were cared for and prevent damage to the army’s morale.
• Karl told Edgar to strengthen neighborhood supervision and let residents report a fallen soldier’s wife if she had an affair.