Chapter Summaries

Count Jandernel’s army gathered in Pallas, and Princess Griffine’s advisers pressed her to compromise and pursue an alliance with Anlek; she agreed to follow their wishes. At a watchfort north of the Gris River, Hadesh reflected on Brando’s unexpectedly large force of veteran soldiers before someone spotted movement in the forest.

• Count Jandernel assembled a force of twenty thousand in Pallas, alarming the Royalists and threatening the rebels.
• Arcel and Coop discussed the risks of Griffine’s secret contact with the rebels and argued that an agreement with Jandernel was safer.
• Griffine’s advisers gathered in her study, and she agreed to compromise with Jandernel and pursue a marriage alliance with Anlek.
• Hadesh watched the winter forest and assessed the veteran soldiers gathering under Brando, realizing that the rebels had more than two thousand battle-ready fighters.
• Someone behind Hadesh reported movement in the forest, and he turned around in surprise.

After Qian defeated Andessa, Brando and his companions discovered that Qian possessed dragon blood and had gained powerful Half-Dragon abilities. Brando realized Arnos had likely tampered with the Golden Apple to make him feel close to her, and he ended the chapter wary of the dragon’s unusual interest in him.

• Qian defeated Andessa and revealed that her physical strength had risen to the peak of the Silver rank.
• Brando questioned Qian about her family, and she recalled that her parents were ordinary mountain folk before bandits attacked her village and a captain rescued her.
• Qian showed Brando dark golden runes on her arms, and Otales identified them as solidified dragon blood from a living dragon.
• Otales explained that Qian had gained Half-Dragon Power, could reach the peak of the Gold rank, and would cultivate twenty to thirty percent faster.
• Brando suspected that Arnos had altered the Golden Apple and realized she had wanted him to eat it so he would grow close to her as the dragon-blood owner.
• Brando feared that Arnos’s extraordinary interest in him meant she viewed him as a toy.

Brando discovered that the crystal atop the dark pyramid was the core of the underground city and learned that Valhalla had once housed a vast system for preserving heroic spirits, ancient knowledge, and legendary warriors. The city was nearly destroyed, but clues in the core crystal revealed that the true Valhalla was still sleeping somewhere within the fortress.

• Farina, Brando, and the others examined a newly appeared staff and its Crystal Ball, which Brando identified as the underground city’s core crystal.
• Brando used the crystal to project a panoramic view of the city and read fragments describing its defenses and districts.
• Brando realized Valhalla had been built as a permanent magic domain that preserved heroic spirits, ancient technologies, and legendary troops such as the Dawn Lancers, Sudden-Death Angels, and Dark Elf archers.
• Veronica tested control of the city’s defenses and discovered that the fortress was almost completely paralyzed and beyond repair.
• Brando told the others that the true Valhalla was still sleeping inside the underground fortress because its builders had created two core crystals.

Brando and his companions searched the ruined city of Valhalla, finding its magical items powerless but collecting thousands of valuable weapons and suits of armor. After secretly obtaining a city core, Brando decided to leave with Veronica and Mephisto and arrange for the World Tree Sanctuary to be built later.

• Brando, Veronica, Mephisto, and their companions searched Valhalla and discovered that an antimagic force had drained the city’s magical objects.
• Brando collected tens of thousands of damaged weapons and suits of armor, including equipment made from rare star metal.
• After inspecting about two-thirds of the ruins, the group confirmed that Valhalla had been destroyed and held no functioning magical items.
• Veronica decided to return to the empire through Wolf's Pass, while Brando revealed that he also wanted to leave.
• Brando secretly obtained the second core crystal and learned that rebuilding Valhalla required planting it in the World Tree Sanctuary for nearly two weeks.
• Brando chose to leave with Veronica and Mephisto, planning to have Antitina oversee the sanctuary’s construction later.

Brando returned to Wolf's Pass after surviving the ravine, reuniting with Mordefis and gaining another powerful ally as war with Count Jandernel began to loom. He rallied the young Eluinians to march back to the Green Tower and prepare to face their approaching enemy.

• Brando learned through Medisa and Charles that forces from Pallas had begun moving, and he ordered Charles to strengthen the Gris River defenses and report the war's progress.
• Brando discovered that Mordefis had survived her fall into the ravine; after waking, she drank his blood to recover, and he ordered her not to bite his neck without permission.
• Brando continued drawing power from the Book of Mavikart and gained a level before leaving the ravine with Veronica and the others.
• Brando returned to Wolf's Pass, where Andessa, Caglis, and the other survivors welcomed him and the young Eluinians showed their newfound resolve.
• Brando declared that the Wolf Calamity had passed but their true enemy was near, then led the crowd in preparing to return to the Green Tower as they shouted, “Long live Eluin!”

Brando returned to the Green Tower and learned that the Druids and Treants had survived the Wolf Calamity better than expected. When he asked for help to defend his threatened territory, Quenir and the people of the forest rallied an army alongside human mercenaries, leaving Brando with a new alliance ready for war.

• Brando was welcomed at the Green Tower, where Quenir presented him with a fruit of the Sacred White Oak Tree and offered the Druids and Treants' allegiance.
• Brando declined to make the forest peoples his subjects and proposed that they remain allies, and Quenir agreed to become his friend.
• Brando told Quenir that his territory was threatened and asked for supplies, weapons, armor, and Pegasi to help him return quickly.
• Quenir called on the forest's inhabitants to fight alongside Brando, and elves, centaurs, and Druids gathered despite their losses.
• Mercenaries and adventurers volunteered to serve Brando for one gold coin, and he accepted them as his knights as the humans and elves raised their weapons together.

Brando prepared the allied army while securing support from Eluin nobles and learning that Madara’s intervention required an earlier departure. He used the Book of Mavikart’s remains to rapidly raise his Mercenary level and sought a warrior master to learn a core skill.

• The Druids, centaurs, and allied craftsmen equipped the nearly thousand-strong human and elven force, while Brando declined offers of troops from the Wind Spirits to avoid provoking a holy war.
• Count Odin told Brando that he and other nobles would try to persuade That Princess to support him, and Brando agreed to stand with Eluin and Former Lord Eck’s descendants.
• Evidence that Madara had intervened and that One-Eyed Dragon Tagus might command its forces forced Brando to move the army’s departure deadline up to seven days.
• Brando used the remains of the Book of Mavikart to advance his Mercenary level from 27 to 30 in half an hour.
• Brando visited the centaur warrior master Manehoof to discuss combat techniques and learn the core skill available at level 30.

Brando reset his skills to pursue a long-term growth plan, mastered Wind Empress Nine Luminaries with startling speed, and spent a week strengthening it. The skill reached Expert level, but its enormous experience cost left him facing a daunting limit.

• Brando reset his Mercenary skills, raised Piercing Strike to Master level, and planned to advance toward Rime Knight and later Frost Soil Guardian.
• Brando asked Otales to teach him Wind Empress Nine Luminaries and was shocked by its learning cost, then spent his remaining skill experience to master its basic use.
• Brando created an illusionary duplicate with Wind Empress Nine Luminaries, astonishing Otales with how quickly he grasped the technique.
• Brando spent the following week converting experience from the Book of Mavikart into skill experience and training Wind Empress Nine Luminaries.
• Brando raised Wind Empress Nine Luminaries to Expert level, gaining up to five duplicates and the ability to exchange positions with one, but found that further training required over a billion experience.

Brando tested Wind Empress Nine Luminaries, practiced swordsmanship with Mephisto, and was offered the Grey Sword Saint’s mantle. As he prepared to move his army out of the Black Forest, Mephisto offered a way to transport it quickly with help from the Silver Alliance mages.

• Brando learned that Wind Empress Nine Luminaries could create eight illusions, but their skills consumed large amounts of mana and they could not make more illusions or exchange places with him.
• After Kuran stopped sparring with him, Brando practiced with Mephisto, who helped improve his Military Swordsmanship and offered to pass on his swordsmanship.
• Brando delayed his answer for a day, while Otales encouraged him to accept Mephisto’s offer.
• Mephisto revealed that he and Veronica had been classmates and said he could ask Tulamann and William to help transport Brando’s army with a temporary teleportation array.
• When Brando questioned whether the Silver Alliance could interfere in mortal conflicts, Mephisto suggested they keep the assistance secret.

Hank led the surrounded scouts in a disciplined breakout against Count Jandernel’s forces, while Hadesh regained his courage and helped cover the charge. Pallas received reports of the enemy’s strength as his army prepared to take Gras Crossing and fight across the river.

• Hank refused Knight Wilson’s demand to surrender, and the old scout urged Hadesh and the other riders to prepare for battle.
• When arrows and infantry attacked, Hank spotted a weak point and led more than twenty riders in a charge against the right flank.
• Wilson sent cavalry to support the noble infantry, but Hank broke through the knights and drew their attention while Hadesh rallied the surviving riders to escape.
• Wilson recognized Hank as a veteran of the November War and feared that he and Pallas had become caught in a conspiracy.
• Pallas received reports that his vanguard had driven the enemy sentries north of the Gras River, then prepared to take Gras Crossing.

Medisa and Charles watched Pallas’s army gather at the Gris River, where the Jandernel forces discovered the forest protecting Brando’s crossing. Pallas ordered a probing attack with fire arrows, and the chapter ended as a second volley was readied.

• Charles reported that the scouts had suffered heavy losses, while Medisa explained that Pallas was protecting his flank from the Cave Dwellers.
• Pallas arrived at the Gris River and examined the vast forest and the fortifications hidden within it.
• Pallas’s mage concluded that creating such a forest would require thousands of Druids or a Grand Druid, and Pallas ordered a probing attack and a camp to be established.
• Kruss’s infantry and barbarian highlanders waded across the river as archers poured oil into a trench and prepared fire arrows.
• Medisa recognized the danger, and the fire-arrow volley struck the forest; most arrows were caught by the dense canopy as Pallas waited for the effect and his archers prepared another volley.

Brando’s forces stopped Pallas’s first river crossing with a storm of Druid magic, but Pallas’s army remained far stronger and prepared to attack again. At dawn, Charles and Medisa saw the enemy felling trees to build bridges, and the trial began.

• Druid magic extinguished the forest fire and unleashed lightning on the Grus Infantry, hillfolk warriors, and noble archers, forcing them to retreat.
• Charles and Clencia assessed the enemy’s powerful mage corps and overwhelming numbers while Brando’s allies discussed the orders to delay Count Jandernel’s army.
• Pallas’s wizard explained that the Druids would struggle to repeat their lightning spell, and Pallas decided to resume his advance after resting overnight.
• Count Jandernel’s army camped for the night, then launched its offensive at dawn by felling trees to build bridges across the Gris River.
• Charles and Medisa watched the enemy prepare the crossings and recognized that the trial had begun.

Freya was haunted by a nightmare of a flaming knight and worried about Brando as nobles discussed his chances against Pallas. The chapter left Freya distracted as she went to compete in the Winter Lyre tournament.

• Freya woke from a recurring nightmare in which a flaming knight warned her about her fate and stabbed her.
• Griffine received news that Pallas's army had engaged the rebels without making substantive progress, then ordered preparations for the tournament and winter hunt.
• Macaro told Balil that Brando had foolishly chosen to face Pallas in an open battle, while Balil admitted he hoped for a miracle.
• Freya overheard Macaro and Balil doubt Brando's chances and wished she could be at his side.
• Freya became so distracted by thoughts of Brando that she nearly took a spear to the swordsmanship event.

Freya awakened a mysterious power during her academy duel and claimed the Lionheart Sword, which Nemesis renamed the Amber Sword. Meanwhile, Brando sensed the sword’s signal as he and his companions reached the territory where the Tonigell conflict would come to a head.

• Freya lost focus during her duel, but radiant wings deflected her opponent’s strike and a white light brought a stone sword to the arena.
• Freya discovered an azure mark on her forehead and drew the golden Lionheart Sword from its stone casing.
• Griffine and Oufwell identified Freya’s awakening and discussed the sword’s return and the need to watch over her.
• Nemesis told Freya to name the sword Amber and explained its legendary connection to resisting fate.
• Brando sensed a signal from the Lionheart Sword, then led his companions into the hills and announced they had reached their destination.

Pallas ordered Sir Weid to attack the rebels’ left flank with Jandernel’s Red Banner Cavalry, but Tiger Sparrow’s mercenaries and expert archers ambushed them in the forest. The ambush shattered the cavalry’s charge, and the chapter ended with an arrow killing Weid as he attacked Tiger Sparrow.

• Pallas spotted an opportunity and sent Sir Weid to lead the Red Banner Cavalry against the rebels’ left wing.
• Tiger Sparrow gathered elite mercenaries to intercept the cavalry as they crossed the Gris River and entered the forest.
• Medisa’s arrows failed to stop the armored riders, but elf and human archers picked off cavalrymen with precise shots.
• A gray-blue-skinned elf revealed his Silver Archer strength and killed riders while Weid ordered his men to advance and suppress him with Hand Cannons.
• Tiger Sparrow’s disguised mercenaries sprang their ambush, and their Silver-strength fighters broke the cavalry’s charge.
• Weid charged Tiger Sparrow, but an arrow from the elf pierced his throat.

Medisa committed the Cave Dwellers to battle as Pallas’s forces broke through the illusionary forest, but Brando’s unexpected army appeared on the left wing. Brando prepared a surprise attack and learned his scouts had found a hunter’s cabin.

• Pallas ordered the Knights of Jandernel to advance as the Red Banner Cavalry collapsed.
• Medisa ordered Yuta to sound the horn and said she would personally lead the Cave Dwellers into battle; Yuta agreed to go with her.
• Jandernel’s wizards began dismantling the illusionary forest, while Charles told his apprentices to conserve their magic for the final battle.
• Tagus identified the Cave Dwellers as the humans’ trump card and prepared to attack for the Madaran Emperor.
• Brando arrived with Elf Archers mounted on flying horses, judged a hilltop position close enough for a surprise attack, and learned his scouts had found a hunter’s cabin.

Brando prepared to face Pallas’s advancing army after reassuring a family of refugees and rallying his allies. He summoned a wolf tide to attack the Jandernel forces as Quenir and the Treants joined the assault.

• Brando recognized the family captured by the centaurs as refugees and promised to protect them as residents of Tonigell.
• Pallas ordered his Noble Private Soldiers to advance while Medisa kept her reserve force back, trusting Brando’s plan and maintaining her focus on Madara.
• After a refugee boy accused him of causing the war, Brando explained that he would fight anyone who tried to take his people or kingdom, and his forces answered with a battle cry.
• Brando told Quenir that the Treants should hold back the Jandernel army while he crushed its left wing.
• Brando whistled, summoning a wolf tide that frightened Pallas and the hill people; Quenir signaled the Treants to attack as flying horses rose from the forest.

Brando led the black wolves into the Grus army and broke through its defenses, confronting Sir Grus with a reminder of his past disgrace. After Brando and his mount cut a path through the soldiers, two hidden Golden Rank warriors attacked, and Brando pressed his assault on one of them.

• The Black Wolf Lord and its pack charged the Grus formation, whose soldiers faltered in fear of the Wolf Calamity.
• Brando confronted Sir Grus and reminded him that he had abandoned his comrades at Condenel twenty years earlier.
• The black wolves and Shadow Rock Beasts pierced the first defensive line, while Sir Grus organized his knights and tried to encircle them.
• Brando rode through the soldiers with his Sword of Earth and the wind spell Streambind, while the Black Wolf Lord helped clear a path.
• Two Golden Rank warriors revealed themselves from the crowd, and Brando struck at one so forcefully that the swordsman staggered as another blow came down.

Brando defeated the two Jandernel Gold Rank swordsmen, routed the Grus soldiers, and killed Sir Grus after telling him the November War had not been his fault. With the coalition collapsing and Pallas losing control of the army, Pallas led his remaining three thousand men onward to face the final battle.

• Brando killed two Jandernel Family Gold Rank swordsmen in quick succession, causing the Grus soldiers to flee in terror.
• Sir Grus challenged Brando, who killed him and told him that his comrades had never blamed him for the November War.
• Sir Grus's knights refused to retreat, and Brando's black wolves charged them.
• The mountain tribesmen fled, the Grus coalition collapsed, and Pallas saw that the battle was lost.
• After foreign soldiers and local lords withdrew, Pallas led three thousand men from Pallas Territory onward to conclude the war.

Medisa and Mephisto halted Tagus's undead army while Brando's forces overwhelmed Pallas's troops. After Qian mortally wounded Pallas, he ordered his knights to surrender for Eluin's glory.

• Tagus learned that Pallas had charged and withdrew the undead army from the battlefield.
• Pegasi, Treants, and experienced warriors slaughtered Pallas's outmatched soldiers as Qian and Mordefis attacked the remaining Jandernel troops.
• Qian fought Pallas's knights and, mistaking his advanced armor for a sign of hidden strength, pierced him with her spear.
• Pallas asked Qian about her origins and her lord, and she said she was from Eluin and served Brando, who intended to save the kingdom.
• Pallas ordered his knights to surrender, declaring that doing so would preserve Eluin's glory.