Chapter Summaries

Brando suspected that Viscount Cadell was an assassin connected to Haruze’s identity as Bedis and listened as Princess Griffine prepared them for her death and Eluin’s struggle against Anlek. When Haruze stopped Brando from drinking poisoned wine, the dream shifted to the elves’ past, and Cadell’s urge to kill Griffine and others surfaced.

• Brando suspected that Cadell had taken the place of Aisai, Anlek’s assassin and spy, in the dream.
• Princess Griffine told Brando and Haruze that she planned to reveal their relationship and urged them to oppose Anlek if she died.
• Haruze knocked Brando’s wineglass away and warned him that the wine was poisoned.
• Haruze defended Brando as Griffine accused Cadell of being Anlek’s assassin, and the banquet hall transformed into an older elven era.
• Brando heard Cadell’s urging to kill and placed his hand on the Sword of Earth.

Brando resisted the dream’s demand to kill Princess Griffine and fought the knights sent to seize Viscount Cadell. After realizing Grand Duke Anlek’s alleged role fit a plot to overthrow the kingdom, Brando made up his mind while the palace burned and soldiers flooded inside.

• Haruze tried to stop Brando from drawing his sword against Princess Griffine, while Brando struggled against the dream’s urging to kill her.
• Princess Griffine accused Cadell of betraying her and revealed that his identity had been exposed, triggering the dream’s violent upheaval and the arrival of Anlek’s soldiers.
• Brando drew the Sword of Earth and defeated two knights despite having only Silver High-rank strength in the dream.
• Brando seized Princess Griffine and concluded that Anlek, a member of the Circle of Unity, sought to overthrow the kingdom rather than claim its throne.
• Brando ignored the dream’s accusations against Griffine and Bedis, considered the soldiers pouring into the burning palace, and made up his mind.

Brando led Princess Griffine, Haruze, and their companions through the Golden Vine Palace while confronting the confusion shared by himself and Viscount Cadell. He chose to follow his convictions rather than compromise, escaped the collapsing dream, and reached the forest where a dead elven girl lay in the carriage.

• Brando held Princess Griffine captive to make the soldiers let them retreat toward the second floor, then fought his way up the stairs with Haruze and the others.
• Brando freed Griffine and guessed that her blank letter had been intended to provoke Anlek into acting, while Griffine asked whether Bedis could trust him.
• Brando rejected compromise and declared that people could be willful and still be forgiven, stirring Viscount Cadell's buried feelings and confirming his own answer.
• Brando chose to change events according to his convictions, and the Golden Vine Palace and its inhabitants dissolved into mist around him and the royal party.
• Brando and the others emerged in a forest, where he found a dead elven girl with a black dagger in her chest inside the carriage and recognized her as Bedis, Ramona, or Moonleaf.

Brando confronted Viscount Cadell in the dream forest, but Cadell transformed the scene into a vision of Eluin’s capital falling to Madara’s undead. Brando led Haruze and Princess Griffine toward an escape route, where Black Knights intercepted them outside White Rose Castle.

• Brando challenged Viscount Cadell and accused him of losing his humanity, provoking Cadell to engulf the forest in flames.
• Cadell transported Brando, Haruze, and Princess Griffine into a vision of the final battle of Munsterlos, where Skeleton Soldiers attacked.
• Brando told Haruze and Princess Griffine to retreat through the Golden Vine Palace toward White Rose Castle, then collapsed the corridor to crush the pursuing Skeleton Soldiers.
• Princess Griffine guided Brando and Haruze toward the castle’s kitchen entrance as they crossed the burning palace grounds.
• A squad of Black Knights discovered the group in the castle courtyard and charged them on skeletal warhorses.

Brando fought through the undead in Viscount Cadell’s dream and rejected Cadell’s attempt to make him abandon his resolve. After defeating Cadell’s transformed Ghost, Brando escaped as the dream began to collapse.

• Brando drew the Black Knights away while ordering Haruze and Princess Griffine to flee, and Haruze encountered Nemesis at the kitchen door.
• Brando escaped the Black Knights but ran into a Cursed Armor that cornered him at a locked door.
• Brando broke through the door and found Hongcha and the familiar players, whose words helped him push forward instead of dwelling on the past.
• Brando rejected Viscount Cadell’s accusations, regained his Elemental Tier strength, and recognized Cadell’s Ghost as the dream’s final boss.
• Brando killed the transformed Ghost, collected a silver quest item, and watched the dream begin to collapse.

Brando confronted the memory of Eluin’s fall and Viscount Cadell’s past, then escaped the burning palace with Nemesis. The survivors emerged from their dreams in the Eternal Night Forest, where they learned that many of their companions had vanished for good.

• Brando entered his own dream of Golden Vine Palace and faced Viscount Cadell amid the flames, hearing him apologize to Bedis and Saint Osore.
• A familiar figure pulled Brando from the burning palace, and he recognized her as Nemesis after they emerged in the cedar forest beneath the tide of magic.
• Nemesis covered the sleeping Haruze with her cloak and asked Brando to give her time rather than question what she was hiding.
• Firas and Laurenna emerged from their dreams, and Firas said he had killed the First Prince in a dream where the prince tried to marry Laurenna.
• Freya and Qian later emerged from their dreams, while Brando learned that more than half the group had been lost forever in the forest.

The Great Magic Tide struck Vonder, raising fears that the Tiamat Law was weakening and that a greater upheaval was coming. As Solomon tried to contain political unrest among the Buga, William set out to investigate a shifted monitoring node, while Marquis Stoffen pursued a fallen meteorite and worried over the unstable borders near Saint Osore.

• The Great Magic Tide darkened the skies across Vonder, set the sanctuaries' Columns of Order alight, and prompted warnings from Marsha's Tiamat Law.
• A white-robed mage demanded answers from the Silver Alliance Senate and called for arbitration and sweeping change, but Solomon dismissed the radicals and defended the Alliance's authority.
• William told Solomon he intended to help Eluin and then departed after sensing that a monitoring node had shifted.
• Marquis Stoffen led elven knights through the storm toward a fallen Tear of Sarah and concluded that the Tiamat Law was weakening.
• Stoffen recalled rising monster attacks and concealed reports along Saint Osore's border, then ordered his knights to continue into the dark forest.

Brando and the knights rested in the Frost-dyed Forest after surviving the dream mission, and Brando examined several magical items before giving Qian an ancient ring suited to her fighting style. The chapter ended when Peya awakened from her dream.

• The knights found Peya asleep in a grove, and Brando confirmed she was unharmed and told the others to let her rest.
• Brando appraised Atoya's Resolve, recognized it as a quest item, and replaced his damaged Flame Star necklace with it.
• Qian gave Brando an ancient Ring of Stone, and he identified its powerful Strength bonus and placed it on her finger.
• Brando encouraged Qian to believe she could awaken the Elements, then used his experience to raise his Templar Knight level.
• Freya told Brando that Peya had awakened, and he and Qian went to see her open her eyes.

Peya followed a dreamlike memory to find her brother’s dropped dagger and learned that he may still be alive, while Brando’s group discovered the route Grand Duke Anlek’s party took toward the glaciers. At Despair Breath Glacier, Aloz grew irritated with the cold and her Cruzian companions, then heard that Brando and the others had arrived.

• Peya awoke, panicked at the familiar forest, and ran toward the exit, so Brando’s group followed her.
• Peya led Brando’s group through the forest toward the glaciers and found her brother’s dagger beneath a cedar tree.
• Peya told Brando that she had dreamed of her brother traveling with the pale knights and dropping the dagger there.
• Brando reassured Peya that she was alive and that her brother might still be alive, then warned her not to endanger the group by running off alone.
• Peya agreed that she could determine Grand Duke Anlek’s route, and Brando said the search would be easier.
• Aloz complained about the cold and her Cruzian companions at Despair Breath Glacier, then left her tent after hearing that Brando and the others had arrived.

Brando arrived at Veronica’s camp near the Breath of Despair, where she and Mephisto recognized that he had achieved Element Awakening. After they discussed the trouble caused by his actions in Ambersell, Veronica revealed that her expedition had run into a problem.

• Veronica studied a map in her tent while Mephisto waited nearby.
• Brando entered the camp, and Veronica and Mephisto remarked on his Element Awakening.
• Veronica reproached Brando for killing William and causing an uproar among the Empire’s nobles.
• Brando thanked Veronica for helping him and explained that he had come to support her.
• Veronica told Brando that her party had run into trouble.

Brando told Veronica that the army’s missing rations had likely been stolen by a frost wyrmling, then connected Anlek’s pursuit of the Dragon’s Heart to the creature and the Temple of the Hibernator. He began planning how to thwart Anlek, while Shido questioned him about dragons and Eluinian customs.

• Veronica revealed that her three hundred soldiers had food reserves for only one more week, and Brando suspected the frost wyrmling had stolen their supplies.
• Brando explained that Aloz had warned Veronica about the wyrmling, then identified Shido and Lainaret Aurelius among the people in the tent.
• Brando told Veronica that he had found Anlek’s tracks and explained that the Dragon’s Heart lay in the wyrmling’s lair in the Despair Glacier.
• Brando deduced that Anlek might seek help from the Temple of the Hibernator by releasing Echisis’s sealed demon-wolf offspring, and he began considering a plan to thwart him.
• Veronica sent Brando to clean up while she gathered the others, and Shido followed him to ask about dragons and rumors about Eluinian customs.

Freya and Nemesis prepared to ambush a force of Noble Private Soldiers while Cruzian officers mocked Freya’s command. Elsewhere, Brando explained the glacier’s ruins to Shido and reassured Veronica that Anlek would follow his plan.

• Freya confirmed that the advancing group matched Brando’s description as Nemesis checked the time.
• Broud and other Cruzian officers ridiculed Freya’s leadership and doubted the planned attack on the glacier.
• Brando told Shido that the towering ruins were Milos’s remains, citing the Black Prophecy and records from the Buga people and the Black Tower Wizard.
• Veronica asked Brando whether he was confident Anlek would follow the plan, and Brando began to explain why.

Brando confirmed that Anlek had sent Enhol cavalry toward the Temple of the Hibernator to draw out its gatekeeper, while Aloz revealed herself as a golden dragon. Freya led the ambush against the cavalry, and Ku Wu realized too late that Anlek's men had walked into a trap as Aloz attacked.

• Brando used the witches' Crystal Ball to spot Anlek's Enhol cavalry approaching the Temple of the Hibernator, and he rebuked Gridd for challenging his command.
• Aloz transformed into a golden dragon, struck Gridd, and overwhelmed the gathered soldiers with Dragon's might before flying toward the battlefield.
• Anlek learned that Dragon's might had been unleashed and continued toward his plan with Dejar and the black-robed knights bearing the ouroboros mark.
• Freya ordered her troops to hide and wait while Medisa summoned the Knights of Fran, then commanded them to kill the Enhol without taking prisoners.
• Ku Wu recognized the golden dragon and the approaching ambush, but his Communication Crystal failed inside a law barrier as Aloz's golden flame descended.

Aloz massacred Anlek’s halfling forces while Freya led Cruz’s knights in pursuit of the survivors. Freya’s force closed on Ku Wu, but the chase reached dangerous glacier terrain, leaving her to choose a route.

• Aloz attacked the halflings with fire, wind, and claws, killing many and driving the survivors into panic.
• Ku Wu escaped north with his guard knights, determined to reach the Temple of the Hibernator and imprint the Frost Wyrmling for Grand Duke Anlek.
• Freya commanded the Cruz knights to encircle and attack the fleeing halflings, while she pursued their leader with the forward group.
• Freya and Ku Wu raced along the glacier as their mounts tired and dangerous terrain threatened to decide the chase.
• Blund urged Freya to drive Ku Wu into a dead end, but Xiao Peiluo could not judge the terrain and Nemesis deferred to Freya’s command.
• Freya looked toward the northeast as she prepared to choose their route.

Freya used the wind and glacier terrain to maneuver the Cruzian knights into position against Ku Wu’s halfling cavalry. As the battle turned against the halflings, Blund spotted an unexpected blue light, and the chapter ended by revealing the food-filled cavern where the Young Frost Dragon Star was hiding.

• Freya ordered Blund to lead the Eighth Echelon around the shattered glacier and drive Ku Wu’s cavalry north.
• Ku Wu waited until Blund’s cavalry had moved away, then turned his exhausted halfling riders to charge Freya’s First Echelon.
• Ku Wu’s javelins broke against magical barriers on the Cruzian knights’ shields, and Freya’s cavalry charged through the halfling formation.
• Blund spotted a blue light on the horizon, and the knights saw something that shocked them.
• The story revealed that a cavern stocked with food was the hiding place of the Young Frost Dragon Star.

Sta, a timid Frost Wyrmling, moved his supplies and the Dragon's Heart out of his cave as Anlek's forces approached. Brando and his companions watched Anlek's knights enter the cave and discussed the Circle of Unity, while Brando prepared to explain the Black Knights' origins.

• Sta finished moving his food, removed the Dragon's Heart from its ice pillar, and replaced it with a Grey Gemstone.
• Anlek sent knights into the cave, and his wizard urged him to search for the Dragon's Heart after they reported the way was safe.
• Anlek ordered Dejar to kill two hunters, while Peya restrained herself from rushing to help them.
• Brando identified the Black Knights as members of the Circle of Unity's Knights of the Dead Order and explained the major Cultist factions to Veronica, Shido, and Qian.
• Brando said Ailanta might be the one nation free of the Circle of Unity's influence, then turned to explain the Black Knights' origins.

Brando explained the Circle of Unity’s hierarchy and military forces, then led the group to pursue Anlek through Frostfang’s ice caverns. As Anlek’s party entered the fissures, the timid Frost Wyrmling Sta watched from hiding and prepared an ambush.

• Brando described the Circle of Unity’s councils, identified Anman as a Privy Council member, and warned that the Knights of the Dead Order numbered at least thirty thousand.
• Brando said Anlek had to die and recognized Peya’s personal reason for seeking revenge.
• Anlek’s soldiers and Black Knights entered the fissure while Brando’s group stayed hidden and planned to follow them through the caverns.
• Brando identified Dejar among Anlek’s companions and told Shido they would wait before pursuing.
• Sta hid behind an ice wall, ordered his Cave Dweller followers to attack Anlek’s party, and prepared to trigger collapses.

Star’s attempt to ambush Anlek’s expedition was interrupted when the ice tunnels collapsed, so he followed the humans into his nest instead. When Anlek’s men tried to approach the apparent Dragon’s Heart, they vanished, while Star watched and laughed from hiding.

• Star caused an ice tunnel to collapse, then killed two Black Knights who nearly detected him and fled with their bodies.
• After the wizards cleared a passage, Anlek ordered his group onward, and Star secretly followed without attacking again.
• Anlek’s expedition entered a hall containing a huge Grey Gemstone that the Circle of Unity wizards identified as a possible Dragon’s Heart.
• The first group of Black Knights vanished when they approached the gemstone, while the Noble Private Soldiers initially stood beneath it unharmed.
• When Anlek sent the Black Knights forward again, they and the nearby Noble Private Soldiers vanished, and Star laughed from his hiding place.

Grand Duke Anlek’s men discovered Sta’s teleportation trap and tried to disable it, while Brando’s group followed the sounds of magic to the dragon’s lair. Aloz recognized something among the bodies and rushed off, leaving Sta screaming for mercy.

• Anlek’s wizards found Sta’s ceiling-mounted teleportation array and realized it had sent the Black Knights away, but Anlek ordered them to destroy it.
• Sta explained to himself that the array had not teleported him because his enormous body exceeded its weight limit.
• Aloz returned from the battlefield and told Brando’s group that a glacier collapse had likely been caused by the Frost Wyrmling.
• Brando and Veronica heard signs of spellcasting and suspected Anlek might be dealing with the Cave Dwellers beneath the glacier.
• Brando’s group reached Sta’s lair and found it wrecked and littered with bodies, but neither Sta nor Anlek was there.
• Aloz inspected a corpse and its belongings, vanished from the hall, and soon made Sta scream for her to let him go.

Aloz dragged Sta from the collapsed ceiling and punished him for trapping his own nest before introducing him to Brando. Sta’s careless remarks about Brando and Floro’s earring led Aloz to grant Shido a dragon’s friendship and tease Brando about being a possible mate, leaving the Cruz nobles astonished as Aloz disappeared.

• Aloz pulled the plump dragon Sta from the snow and beat him for setting traps in his own nest.
• Aloz introduced Sta to Brando, and Sta began to reveal that Aloz had a crush on him before she threw him onto the ice.
• Aloz explained that Floro was her lifelong partner and reminded Brando that he had taken Floro’s earring, prompting Shido to explain the earring’s romantic symbolism among dragons.
• Aloz praised Shido’s explanation and granted her a dragon’s friendship, while Veronica reflected on Shido’s potential role as a link between Cruz and Eluin.
• Aloz called Brando an acceptable backup mating partner, then left the hall after he told her to stop talking; Brando told Shido the situation was a misunderstanding.