Chapter Summaries

As Eluin’s nobles gathered at Lokesh Palace, High Priest Moros accused the Royalist Faction of colluding with the Goathead Cultists, and Viscount Begning stepped forward as his witness. Begning then challenged Brando’s identity, leaving the hall waiting for the Highland Knight commander to identify him.

• Roman noticed Magdal stirring in her sleep and leaned close to hear her warn someone to be careful.
• Brando identified the powerful nobles and warriors arriving at Andefuller Grand Sanctuary with Dirfiel.
• High Priest Moros accused someone at the gathering of colluding with the Goathead Cultists and presented Viscount Begning as his witness.
• Begning accused the Royalist Faction of working with the Cultists and claimed Brando was a Goathead Cultist conspiring to seize the kingdom’s throne.
• Begning asked the Highland Knight commander to verify Brando’s identity, and the commander looked at him and asked, “Charles, is that you?”

The Black Blade Legion and Southern Legion clashed in the skies over Ambersell as Eluin’s civil war began, while fighting broke out inside Lokesh Palace. Brando awakened a new power during his duel with a Templar Knight and wounded him with a Guaranteed Hit.

• Viscount Kuzdal Poleman led the Black Blade Legion’s Dragon Riders against the Druids and their birds of prey over Ambersell.
• Commander Bunid Norbert recognized Charles in Lokesh Palace, but a Dragon’s corpse crashed through the dome and Grand Duke Anlek ordered everyone to fight their way out.
• Dalit discovered the Southern Legion Dragon Riders approaching from the west and warned the Black Blade Legion to prepare for their attack.
• Nostra led the Southern Legion in a charge against the Black Blade Legion as the Temple of Flames’ forces joined the battle at Port Ambersell.
• Brando intervened when a Templar Knight threatened Nemesis and Princess Griffine, then awakened his perception of the Element Wall and knocked the knight’s sword away.
• Brando’s sweeping strike cut the Templar Knight, and he declared the attack a Guaranteed Hit.

Brando manifested the Space Element and faced the Sanctuary forces in Lokesh Palace while protecting Nemesis and Princess Griffine. As High Priest Moros confronted the princess, Mephisto appeared and unleashed his aura, leaving the hall in shock.

• Brando manifested the Space Element, gaining the ability to make an attack hit any point within fifty meters at the cost of Power of Order.
• Brando helped the injured Nemesis up and assessed the forces surrounding the princess and the Royalist Faction in the flooded hall.
• Moros told Princess Griffine that Begenin had been moved to a secure location and urged her to stop resisting.
• Brando mocked Moros, frightened Grand Duke Xifahe with his Elements, and warned the High Priest to consider his safety.
• A hand emerged from the void and pulled back a Giant's Cloak, revealing Mephisto, the Grey Sword Saint, who unleashed his aura across the hall.

Mephisto revealed his mastery of the Extreme Realm and killed the Templar Knight Aidenlant, prompting Moros to unleash the Ten-Ring Spell Flames of Sin. Brando escaped the burning sanctuary with his companions after Charles blasted open the Andefuller Grand Sanctuary, and the chapter ended as the remaining structure collapsed into fire and magma.

• Mephisto confronted Moros and revealed that he had entered the Extreme Realm after his battle with Andessa.
• Mephisto let a Templar Knight's sword pass through him, then killed Aidenlant with his greatsword.
• Moros cast Flames of Sin, flooding Lokesh Palace with fire and magma and killing many noble envoys.
• Brando pulled Nemesis and Princess Griffine away from the flames and ordered Charles to blast open the sanctuary.
• Charles's Dragon Strike Technique destroyed most of the upper half of the Andefuller Grand Sanctuary, angering Princess Griffine.
• As the remaining sanctuary became engulfed in magma, Brando urged everyone to flee and said Mephisto could handle Moros.

Mephisto killed Moros after the High Priest’s Ten-Ring Spell erupted, while Brando gathered the princess’s allies and prepared to break out north from Ambersell. As the Naga attacked the harbor and the White Lion Legion prepared to move, Roman left to help Brando, believing he was walking into a trap.

• Mephisto drew Moros into the Fourth Realm and stabbed him while Moros was still channeling his spell, killing the High Priest.
• Brando reunited with Bresen, learned that Freya and Myuko’s cadets had driven the guards back, and received Princess Griffine’s authority to lead the breakout.
• Brando ordered the group to break out north with more than two hundred cadets, aiming to reach a ship near Silver Lighthouse.
• Marquis Yulian ordered troops to reinforce the fight against the Grey Fin Naga’s Imperial Guard, refusing to keep them stationed at the south gate on Moros’s orders.
• Antitina sent Caglis and the White Lion Legion to depart, then discovered Roman had immobilized her and left to help Brando, warning that he was in danger.

Brando faced the Helian Family’s private army while escorting Princess Griffine and the Royal Knight Academy cadets through Ambersell. After Oufwell placed the cadets under his command, Brando gathered his allies and prepared to lead a charge through the blockade.

• Owen inspected Sir Maloser’s defensive deployment in Evergreen Square and judged the port’s soldiers unprepared for the White Lion Legion.
• Scouts reported that the Helian Family’s forces had blocked the Royalist party’s route, and Brando used Wind Spirit Spiders to scout their position.
• Oufwell ordered the Royal Knight Academy cadets to follow Brando and protect Princess Griffine, but the cadets initially resisted accepting his authority.
• Brando called for volunteers to form a spearhead, and Freya and Bresen rode to his side before Medisa, Qian, Charles, Mordefis, Andriga, and the Rubis Mercenary joined them.
• Brando ordered everyone to keep pace as he led the assembled force into a charge through the rain.

Medisa and Brando led the princess's forces in a devastating attack on Baron Luodu's army along the Silversmith River, routing the noble soldiers and killing Luodu. As Reld Duroshe and Marquis Barta discussed the battle, a guest spotted golden light and identified it as Heavenly Armament.

• Baron Luodu's soldiers looted homes and formed a defensive line along the Silversmith River while Beth watched the advancing royalist knights.
• Medisa charged across the river and used Spirit Wings to unleash enormous waves that swept away Luodu's soldiers and shattered their formation.
• Brando ordered the knights to split toward both wings as thousands of Wind Spirit Spiders appeared overhead, and the cadets drove the fleeing soldiers toward the Port Guard.
• Qian killed Baron Luodu as golden beams struck resisting knights across the battlefield, and Luodu's army collapsed.
• Reld Duroshe and Marquis Barta discussed how the princess's forces had discovered the Port Guard, until their guest pointed toward the river and exclaimed that the golden light was Heavenly Armament.

Brando used the Royal Knight Academy cadets and Baron Luodu’s fleeing soldiers to dismantle the Port Guard’s street defenses, stunning the White Lion Legion. As Foster ordered his forces to advance, he learned that the White Lion Legion’s supposedly vacant Imperial Guard Regiment designation had appeared on the battlefield.

• Baron Luodu’s routed soldiers collided with the Port Guard as Brando’s forces pressed the attack, and Maloser realized the princess’s side had seen through their position.
• Brando told Loka, Enrok, Freya, Bresen, and Myuko that the Port Guard planned to trap them in street fighting; he bet Myuko that he could defeat them, with the loser serving as the winner’s adjutant or squire.
• Brando sent the Royal Knight Academy cavalry through the streets in divided, coordinated squads, using Luodu’s remnants to infiltrate and attack the Port Guard’s flanks.
• Foster’s officers watched the Port Guard’s defensive line unravel, and Foster ordered the White Lion Legion to proceed with its planned advance as the Port Guard faced defeat.
• A messenger reported that an army bearing the White Lion battle standard was moving toward the Port Guard’s flank, and Foster learned it was the Imperial Guard Regiment designation left vacant after Former Lord Eck’s death.

Freya’s Lion’s Sword awakened as the White Lion Legion’s lost predecessors appeared on the battlefield and defeated Kalen’s detachment. The sword and oath resonated across Eluin, and Foster saw the Lionheart Sacred Sword’s light rise in the east.

• The Lion’s Sword blazed in Freya’s hands, while the White Lion battle flag shone and the White Lion Guard emerged through the rain.
• Kalen called the approaching forty-five soldiers impostors and ordered his two hundred troops to attack; Caglis prepared to fight through them.
• Caglis’s White Lion Guard charged in formation and struck with the Empress of Wind Swordplay, Fang of the White Lion, felling the Fourth Detachment’s front line.
• The White Lion Guard’s victory recalled Former Lord Eck’s oath, and the White Lion Legion’s soldiers felt the sword and oath resonate.
• Foster saw a golden pillar rise from the radiant banner and another rise in the east, recognizing the Lionheart Sacred Sword—Eck’s sword.

Reld? Duloshe and Kallen’s White Lion Legion chose to uphold their oath and fight Brando’s recreated White Lion Guard, despite the overwhelming pressure and danger. After Caglis defeated them and pleaded with them to stop killing their own people, Kallen recognized the bloodied standard and fell to his knees in tears.

• Reld? Duloshe reaffirmed the White Lion Legion’s vow never to yield, and Marquis Barta saluted him after understanding his lesson in perseverance.
• Kallen rallied the White Lion Legion Fourth Detachment to charge, while Caglis asked the Former King for a fair duel and received the White Lion Armor’s golden recognition.
• Caglis’s White Lion Guard clashed with Kallen’s veterans; the Guard’s armor protected them while the veterans’ skill pushed the younger soldiers to improve.
• Caglis ordered the White Lion Guard to abandon defense and attack with all their strength, and their White Crow Swordplay struck down many White Lion Legion soldiers.
• Caglis stopped the fighting and urged Kallen to see that they were killing their own kingdom; Kallen dropped his sword and fell to his knees in tears.

Brando received the soul of the Flame Blade Odephys while Freya gained the Lionheart Sword’s recognition, revealing that the two had been separated. As pillars of light linked Ambersell to a vast magical array in the sky, Brando realized the Cruzian people had arranged the divine artifact’s return.

• Freya’s Lionheart Sword and Former Lord Eck’s banner blazed with light, and the banner burned to ashes as its light vanished into the sky.
• Brando recalled Krentel’s oath to protect the Lionheart Sword and learned that the Flame Blade Odephys’s soul had been separated from it.
• A pillar of light struck Brando, giving him an inheritance identified in his inventory as the Fragment of the Flame Blade Odephys (Soul).
• Brando explained that Freya had gained the Lionheart Sword’s recognition, while the Odephys soul had acknowledged him.
• Nemesis questioned Brando about the divine-artifact resonance, and he suspected the White Lion Legion and someone else had leaked the news.
• Several pillars of light connected Ambersell to a vast magical array above the clouds, and Brando realized the Cruzian people had come to reclaim the Flame Blade Odephys.

Brando’s forces faced an encirclement by the White Lion Legion, but the newly formed White Lion Guard arrived and helped the Royal Knight Academy cadets escape. Brando regrouped his army and launched a charge against the White Lion Legion.

• Orland led the officer knights through the Port Guard’s defenses until Brando learned that the White Lion Legion was closing in from both flanks.
• Brando ordered the army to turn around, and Orland’s group was ambushed by White Lion infantry before the White Lion Guard intervened and helped them break through.
• Beth regrouped the cadets and told Orland that the reinforcements were the White Lion Guard, while the Half-Elf princess watched the legendary army march beneath its banner.
• Brando arranged for Caglis and the new White Lion Legion to protect the cadets, then merged the forces and prepared to break through the encirclement.
• Brando activated Conflict Aura, pointed his sword toward the White Lion Legion, and ordered his army to charge.

Brando led the White Lion Guards and the Royal Knight Academy cadets through the Kingdom's White Lion Legion's encirclement at Ambersell, defeating several swordsman regiments and killing Grand Knight Nicoloma. With the princess's force breaking through, High Priest Wood and the other elders prepared to enter the battle.

• Sir Franz ordered the Kingdom's White Lion Legion archers to fire on the advancing White Lion Guards, but their Conflict Aura deflected the volleys.
• Brando commanded the White Lion Guards to attack, and they leaped over the enemy spearmen, killing Sir Franz and opening a gap in the First Swordsman Regiment's position.
• Caglis and the White Lion Guards fought through the surrounding soldiers while the cadet cavalry formed a crescent and charged into the weakened line.
• Brando led the charge with Oufwell and the other knights, breaking the White Lion Legion's encirclement and routing its First Swordsman Regiment.
• Brando killed Grand Knight Nicoloma as he emerged from the routed soldiers, and the charging force swept past the Third and Fourth Swordsman Regiments; Conn died and Owen was gravely wounded.
• Barta reported the breakthrough to High Priest Wood, who said the elders would have to take the field, and Reld went to open the door.

Count Vitokin heard the Temple of Flames refuse to interfere in Eluin’s internal conflict, then watched it send twenty Templar Knights to the battlefield through Gates of Light. As Brando led Griffine’s survivors across Ambersell, he planned a southern escape and revealed knowledge of Saint White Bay that made Griffine suspect a connection between him and Sharr.

• Count Vitokin and Flame-haired Nicholas negotiated with the Temple, which offered limited support and prepared to pursue Mephisto and the Cultists while leaving Eluin’s domestic conflict to its own forces.
• The Temple of Flames opened twelve Gates of Light and sent twenty Templar Knights to the ruins, while Reld passed Vitokin and reflected on the White Lion Legion’s duty and Eluin’s dwindling time to choose its future.
• Brando explained that the White Lion Legion had fewer than three thousand troops and warned Griffine’s group that the Temple could use a teleportation array to bring enemy forces to Ambersell.
• Brando, Nemesis, Griffine, Oufwell, and their companions concluded that their best route was south through Flada Forest and the Anlek Mountains to meet Griffine’s army and allies near Saint White Bay.
• Brando identified Saint White Bay as the secret anchoring point of the Elnian First Royal Fleet, prompting Griffine to connect him with Sharr and ask whether Mr. Sharr was alive and truly connected to Brando.

Roman and White Mist explored the ruined sanctuary, where Roman captured Viscount Begning after he tried to deceive her. Begning’s forced confession revealed that Brando might be the true Earl of Yanbao, and White Mist urged Roman to question him about the conspiracy’s weakest link.

• Roman armed herself with a ritual spiked mace and crossed the ruins with White Mist.
• Roman recognized Viscount Begning as an enemy and knocked him unconscious, then tied him up with two enchanted cords.
• Begning awoke and claimed he was Brando’s ally, but Roman struck him again because she disliked him and White Mist advised her to question his motives.
• Roman used a truth spell to make Begning confess that he had planned to use her to threaten Brando.
• Begning revealed that Marquis Yuxi suspected Brando was the true Earl of Yanbao, and White Mist prompted Roman to ask which part of the conspiracy Begning feared most.

Brando learned that he was a true Highland Knight descended from Earth Sword Saint Darus Cardilosso, while Sharr revealed that he had once served as Darus’s mage attendant. The chapter left the past’s pact resurfacing as Leto reminded Bunid of the Dragon of Harasg.

• Bunid saw the Black Blade Legion and Cruzian forces gathering near Ambersell, and his knights reaffirmed their pact.
• Leto and Kuran discussed the Highland Knights’ pact and the unanswered truth of history.
• Sharr told Brando that he was a true Highland Knight, prompting Brando to recognize the significance of his family’s sword and heritage.
• Sharr revealed that Brando’s grandfather was Darus Cardilosso, the Earth Sword Saint, and that Sharr Palos had been his mage attendant.
• Griffine and Sharr explained that Darus had also been known as the Dragon of Harasg and Marshal of the Temple of Flames’ allied forces in the First Holy War.
• Leto told Kuran that he had asked Bunid whether he remembered the Dragon of Harasg, and Kuran said he could never forget.

Brando learned that his grandfather, Sword Saint Darus, had secretly commanded Eluin’s army during the last Holy War, and he connected Darus’s withdrawal from the war to a hidden betrayal in the November War. He left the conversation believing the Temple of Flames had turned against Eluin and that Madara’s Undead Army had attacked from behind, while recognizing that his own arrival had changed history.

• Brando questioned Charles and Princess Griffine about Darus’s role as marshal of the Temple of Flames’ allied forces, a fact absent from the history Brando remembered.
• Brando linked Darus’s withdrawal in First Era 325 to the November War and the bloody fighting around the Alqash Mountains.
• Griffine told Brando that his father had known some of Darus’s secrets and that Darus had arranged his parents’ marriage according to Highland Knight traditions.
• Brando told Griffine that he had learned swordsmanship and magic through experiences from another part of his life.
• Brando guessed that the Temple of Flames’ allied troops had attacked Eluin’s army from behind in the Alqash Mountains and that Darus had led Eluin to fight its way out.
• Brando concluded that the Temple of Flames had betrayed Eluin and that Madara’s Undead Army had been involved in the attack.

Aiko turned Grand Duke Lantorilan’s troops toward the Royalist Faction’s ideals, while the battle for Port Ambersell shifted as Sanir’s nagas routed the Port Guard and Brando’s forces reached the southern gate. The gate opened for Brando and Princess Griffine, leaving the kingdom’s allies gathered for the coming fight.

• Aiko surrounded Macaro and the Royalist Faction party with Lantorilan’s troops, then declared that he would fight for justice and asked Buga to honor his oath alongside him.
• Yula emerged and supported Aiko, while Macaro and Livuz recognized that the Royalist Faction’s ideals still endured.
• Sanir ordered the Grey Fin Naga Imperial Guard to continue advancing through Port Ambersell and rendezvous with Brando after routing the Port Guard.
• Danos saw the assembled Dragon Riders bearing down on his forces and struggled with his despair and anger over the kingdom’s divisions.
• Brando led the Royal Knight Academy cadets to the southern gate, where Count Odin opened it and welcomed Brando and Princess Griffine.

Brando led Princess Griffine and the Royal Knight Academy through the southern gate of Port Ambersell and into the Flada Forest, where he used Sacred Swords to drive off the Black Blade Legion’s Dragon Riders. As the pursued group approached Mount Fama, Brando prepared to choose a defensible battlefield, but a black pearl in his pocket grew warm, signaling an unexpected arrival.

• Count Odin arrived with reinforcements and the druid master Wochik, whom Master Anderson had persuaded to help.
• Brando ordered the group to scatter into the Flada Forest and repelled repeated Dragon Rider attacks with Sacred Swords.
• The Royal Knight Academy students and Odin’s soldiers admired Brando, while Princess Griffine asked how he knew magic and Nemesis seemed doubtful of Charles’s explanation.
• Brando explained that the Black Blade Legion was pursuing them with overwhelming numbers, and Freya asked about his plan for finding a favorable battlefield.
• As the group neared Mount Fama, Brando pulled out a black pearl that had grown warm and realized a guest had arrived.

Brando accepted Queen Hanlu’s alliance with the Grey Fin Naga and planned where to confront the pursuing Black Blade Legion. He chose the Marr Highlands and ordered Sanir to bring Antitina to him by nightfall.

• Bridget arrived with Sanir and announced that Queen Hanlu had sent the Grey Fin Naga to fight alongside Brando’s human allies.
• The Grey Fin Naga joined Brando’s army, bringing its strength to six thousand as the Black Blade Legion pursued them.
• Brando and the officers discussed where to fight, and Brando selected the Marr Highlands despite its seemingly unsuitable terrain.
• Brando ordered Sanir to locate the Sea Demon Whales and bring Antitina to him by nightfall, while the others prepared a battle plan and a strike against the enemy vanguard cavalry.