Chapter Summaries

The Inner Court Knights debated the scale of the Jorgendigon invasion as evidence emerged that it had devastated Pasilian Fortress and threatened the Empire’s mountain defenses. Back in Rushta, the Silver Queen summoned two Knight Commanders after royal reports from the southern regions stopped arriving, leaving the Empire facing an unexplained crisis.

• Nasha, Rogers, Trevor, and Que discussed whether Jorgendigon could muster enough forces to threaten the Empire, and Que said the combined strength of all Jorgendigon was impossible to assess.
• The ruins of Pasilian Fortress revealed a devastating attack that had killed its defenders and civilians, while the Empire’s other southern fortifications were reportedly suffering similar destruction.
• Fris awoke beneath the rubble, remembered seeing a black dragon during the assault, and realized the attack had been a planned surprise strike toward Greenclaw Fortress.
• For three days, the Silver Queen’s court in Rushta remained tense as reports from the regions south of Anzlova ceased and rumors about Brando fell silent.
• Constance summoned Travis and Kevin to White Rose Garden after the Empire lost contact with its southern territories.

As Jorgendigon’s invasion threatened Anzlova and the Broken Sword Mountains, Constance confronted her ministers and ordered the Palute Family to keep Rocco from falling. The chapter ended with Qian learning of the invasion and anxiously asking whether the lord was in danger, while Rodney considered Grand Duke Helix’s warning to leave the capital.

• Reports spread across the Empire that Jorgendigon had invaded, seized cities in Anzlova, and threatened Aelnor Castle and Rocco.
• Constance questioned Travis and her ministers about the invasion, the Lionfolk, and the troops available to defend Anzlova.
• Constance ordered Donas to tell Duke Palute that Rocco must hold or the White Legion would take over its defenses.
• Grand Duke Helix warned Rodney that he would leave the capital for Flower Leaf Territory and advised Rodney to return to his own lands.
• Qian heard from Betisa that Jorgendigon was attacking and urgently asked whether the lord was in danger.

Brando’s group reached the area around Greystone Town, finding evidence of fierce battles between Cruzian forces and Jorgendigon’s army and learning that the town remained occupied. As they prepared to decide how to get past the garrison, Roman spotted a hidden group that included Walton, Sir Cooper’s captain of guards.

• Roman spotted two dead soldiers by Brown Bear Lake, and Brando identified them as members of the Calonian Earth Dragon Knights who had likely been killed by Jorgendigon’s forces.
• Brando killed a Cave Demon Rat that had been hiding nearby, and the group moved the soldiers’ bodies to a secluded place before continuing north.
• Brando’s group found more dead soldiers, Cave Dwellers, and signs of magical bombardment along the route around Brown Bear Lake.
• Brando and the others reached a hill overlooking Greystone Town and saw Harpies circling above its darkened streets, confirming that Jorgendigon still held the town.
• Roman spotted several people hiding near the forest, and Nasha identified one of them as Walton, Sir Cooper’s captain of guards.

Brando’s group contacted Sir Cooper and learned that Count Orcons had been captured by Jorgendigon forces and taken toward Greystone Town. Brando’s questions revealed that the enemy’s movements might not match what Cooper’s scouts had reported, leaving the group uncertain about their target and plans.

• Brando’s group used a signal and Wind Message Technique to contact local survivors while avoiding the Harpy patrols.
• Brando captured Sir Cooper and his men, and Rogers persuaded Cooper to cooperate.
• Cooper told Brando and Rogers that Count Orcons had been captured near North Mountain Outpost and taken with other prisoners toward Greystone Town.
• Brando questioned Cooper about the enemy’s forces and patrols, suspecting that troops from multiple Jorgendigon lords were stationed in the town.
• Brando asked whether the force that attacked Count Orcons had returned to Greystone Town, and Cooper and Rogers realized they could not explain the enemy’s movements or its apparent focus on the count.

As Cave Dwellers seized Greystone Town, a little sprite and her Pseudodragon companion Sini hid in a secret passage and overheard Delphine’s allies plotting against Tanpu and the man beside him. They emerged inside Luoweisi’s bakery and set out for the attic to find the woman who had knocked them out of the sky.

• The little sprite and Sini waited until the Cave Dwellers left the inn, then used a Magic Imprint to locate the woman they were seeking in a nearby attic.
• The little sprite led Sini through a secret passage beneath the inn toward the bakery, where they overheard Delphine and her allies discuss the Cave Dweller attack and plan to ambush Tanpu’s companion.
• Delphine vowed to avenge her husband Elman, while the others suspected Count Orcons was working with the Cave Dwellers and prepared to hunt him.
• After the group left, the little sprite and Sini crossed the abandoned bakery and headed toward its attic, where the little sprite had previously tried to steal bread.

The little elf and Sini accidentally knocked Boli unconscious with Dragon's Slumber Dust, drawing Delphine and the others into the corridor. After they were discovered, the little elf tried to rescue Sini and fought back with Boli's belongings, ending by throwing a mysterious ball at the young man.

• The little elf and Sini eavesdropped outside the guest rooms and overheard Boli complaining while preparing Dragon's Slumber Dust.
• Boli opened his door, and the little elf sneezed, releasing the dust and making him collapse.
• Delphine and the others came out to investigate, while the little elf and Sini hid beneath the cloak.
• Sorinz exposed the hidden pair, and Delphine recognized the little elf as an eavesdropper.
• Sorinz grabbed Sini, so the little elf attacked him, freed Sini with Boli's Chili Powder, and threw a ball at the young man after he warned her not to.

Brando’s forces prepared to capture Greystone Town, and invisible gargoyles eliminated the Harpies guarding it. Treant druids then opened teleportation gates for the waiting troops, leaving the attack ready to begin.

• Brando questioned Sir Cooper about Greystone Town’s defenses, while Cooper doubted that their small force could defeat the Jorgendigon defenders.
• Leisimeca explained to Haruze that Jorgendigon was a vast underground region divided among many hostile tribes, not a single nation.
• Brando and Nemesis discussed the meteor, the Cave Dwellers’ search, and the use of players’ unconventional tactics to take the town.
• Eight invisible gargoyles flew above Greystone Town and killed the four Harpies before they could react.
• Treant druids transformed into birds, entered Greystone Town, and set up magic arrays in secluded spots.
• The druids opened teleportation gates in the town and hills, allowing Brando’s waiting troops to prepare to enter.

Brando divided his forces and used the Buga teleportation array to enter Greystone Town with Cooper, then planned a quiet raid on the Shadel Cave Dweller lord Tanpu at Saint Shand Square. He assigned targets for a coordinated attack and left Nemesis and the Druids to handle surprises.

• Brando split the forces, sending Rogers with Count Gene to secure the western gate and assigning Roman to lead the delegation toward a secret passage.
• Brando opened the Buga teleportation gates and brought Cooper, Yuta, and the White Lion Swordsmen to a hidden courtyard, where Tiger Sparrow reported that Tanpu was stationed at Saint Shand Square.
• Tia spoke Jorgendigon, and Cooper recognized the location as the square where he had once stayed at the Silver Chime inn.
• Brando led the small force to Saint Shand Square, where Cave Dwellers had occupied the temple and Harpies watched from nearby rooftops.
• Brando assigned Fuluo and Tia to silence the Harpies, Yuta to eliminate the Cave Dwellers, and himself and Walton to deal with the Razor Boars, while Nemesis and the Druids remained in reserve.

Brando’s group captured Tanpu’s temple in Greystone Town and learned that powerful Jorgendigon forces were attacking elsewhere. After briefly touching the Side of Truth through the Sword of Earth, Brando found the mysterious metal disk Nemesis had recovered, a treasure linked to the laws and fate.

• Brando’s forces killed the Cave Dwellers outside the temple, and Brando’s sword aura terrified a Razor Boar as he briefly sensed the Side of Truth.
• Brando and the White Lion Guard stormed Tanpu’s temple, killed its defenders and minotaur, and captured Tanpu.
• Yuta and Tia reported that Guko commanded the other Jorgendigon army in Greystone Town, while Moksha led the force attacking Yasa and the Medusa King’s army attacked Rocco.
• Brando learned that Count Orcons and his party had been imprisoned beneath the temple, then asked whether Nemesis had found the object they sought.
• Nemesis showed Brando a radiant metal disk, which Yuta admired as Brando recognized its significance.

Brando and the others recognized two adult black dragons, Modesti and Malthus, passing over Greystone Town, while Medisa’s group reached Luoweisi's Compass and took cover from the disturbance. The dragons continued onward, but a strange shout broke the silence, leaving the group facing an unknown danger.

• Medisa led the White Lion Guard, Summer Solstice Knights, and envoy party through Greystone Town toward Luoweisi's Compass.
• Medisa ordered the soldiers to find cover and Roman hurried the nobles into nearby houses as an unnatural wind and pressure swept over the town.
• Brando saw two adult black dragons cross the sky and identified them as Modesti and Malthus, two of Jorgendigon's supreme city lords.
• Brando connected the dragons' arrival to Jorgendigon's hidden objective and recalled the strange connection he had sensed with the Sword of Earth.
• Medisa silenced the terrified nobles after the dragons passed, but distant voices shouted, "Don't drop it!" and "Damn it, close your eyes!"

A silver dragon named Missril confronted the black dragon Malthus above Greystone Town, and their first collision devastated the city. Brando set out to reach Medisa as the fight began, while the survivors were scattered or buried in the destruction.

• A Shining Tree seed blinded the people in Luoweisi's Compass, but a white-robed woman caught its light and warned them to flee.
• Sini recognized the woman as a dragon, and a gigantic black dragon descended over Greystone Town as the woman revealed herself as the silver dragon Missril.
• Missril confronted Malthus, who accused her of hiding and threatened her; she challenged him over the dragons' oath and the sacred pact.
• Brando checked on Medisa through their mental connection, learned she was near the ruined Luoweisi's Compass, and ordered Cooper to take him there.
• Missril charged Malthus, and the dragons collided, unleashing a city-wide shockwave that collapsed buildings and scattered Roman, Chiara, Medisa, and the others.

Two colossal dragons and their dragon beasts devastated Greystone Town as Brando led rescued nobles through the burning streets. Medisa’s group discovered Roman and Chiara were missing, while the Little Elf mistook a dragon beast for Sini before the real Sini rescued her.

• The Little Elf found the Demon Slayer Spear, escaped Aife and Sorinz, and watched a dragon beast burn Aife to ash.
• Brando cut down a Ridge Dragon Beast as he escorted Cooper, Walton, Count Orcons, and other rescued nobles through the fire.
• Medisa gathered the survivors and learned Roman and Chiara might be trapped in a sealed secret passage beneath the rubble.
• Miss Oni and Sergeant Marjorie stayed with Medisa to search for Roman and Chiara while Mr. Aiko and Bronfield led the others away.
• A dragon beast attacked the Little Elf, but Sini knocked her out of the fireball’s path and rescued her.

Missril crashed through Greystone Town, and Brando and the others struggled to survive the destruction and Malthus’s forces. Brando accelerated Missril’s recovery while the Little Elf awakened the power of the Demon Slayer Spear, which pointed toward something ahead.

• Missril fell into Greystone Town, and Medisa, Dirfiel, and the others tried to slow her before Brando stopped her with a silver web.
• Brando learned Missril wanted him to buy time so she could recover and draw Malthus away, then used Flowing Hand to accelerate time beneath her wing.
• Malthus sent Ridge Dragon Beasts to attack, and gargoyles, the Summer Solstice Knights, and the White Lion Guard fought to hold them back.
• A Ridge Dragon Beast attacked the Little Elf and Sini, but the Little Elf’s spear unleashed a flash that decapitated it.
• Sini identified the spear as the legendary Demon Slayer Spear, and it pointed down the street after the Little Elf held it.

Brando and the defenders held back Malthus’s dragon beasts while Missril’s time-acceleration spell ran down, but the hidden traitor Ferguson revealed himself to Malthus and began to disclose the War Tablet. As Malthus intervened, a mysterious silver beam struck Ferguson, leaving his fate unresolved.

• Brando’s forces and the gargoyles defended the wounded Missril while she conserved her strength under the accelerated-time spell.
• A fleeing noble was found murdered, and the traitor Ferguson climbed onto a rooftop and called to Malthus for rescue.
• Brando recognized Ferguson and warned Missril that Malthus might intervene, but she could not end the spell or lure the dragon away early.
• Ferguson told Malthus that he had information about the War Tablet, and Malthus protected him from an archer’s attack.
• As Ferguson began explaining the Artifact Reaction and his role, a silver line struck his chest and expanded into a pillar of light.

Missril shielded the little elf and Sini from Malthus’s attack, then drew Malthus away from Greystone Town while Brando organized an evacuation. As the delegation prepared to leave, Magdal brought Brando to see someone Marjorie had found, but the chapter ended before he saw who it was.

• The Demon Slayer Spear fired and destroyed Ferguson, prompting Malthus to unleash a rain of meteors at the little elf and Sini.
• Missril shielded the pair, confronted Malthus, and flew south to lure it away from Greystone Town.
• Missril gave Brando dragon power that restored and increased his experience before she departed.
• Brando ordered the exhausted delegation to leave Greystone Town for the lower reaches of the Silver Spring River and learned that Charles and his soldiers had taken the western gate.
• Magdal told Brando that Marjorie and the others had found someone, then led him to the gathered White Lion Guard members, where he saw an unidentified person.

Brando discovered that the burned woman rescued from the ruins was Delphine, the Chancellor’s daughter, and chose to take her along despite learning that she had planned to attack him. As the delegation left Greystone Town, Cooper tried to claim the Demon Slayer Spear from the little elf, while Sini prepared an escape spell that ended in a fiery blast.

• Brando learned that the badly burned woman was Delphine and heard that her attendants had targeted him with the Demon Slayer Spear.
• Brando ordered the delegation to take Delphine along and give her a dignified funeral if she died.
• Cooper tried to persuade the little elf to leave the Demon Slayer Spear behind, but she refused and discussed sneaking away with Sini.
• Brando counted the White Lion Guard’s casualties as the delegation withdrew from Greystone Town, then warned Cooper not to trouble the little elf too much.
• Cooper said he would scare the little elf, and a pillar of fire suddenly erupted behind the group.

Roman, Chiara, the Wild Elf, and Sini escaped the underground passage and emerged downstream of the Silver Spring River, where they encountered goblins, a dwarf, and two ogres. They hid as the goblins discovered them and attacked.

• Roman and Chiara found a Wild Elf and the Pseudodragon Sini trapped beneath rubble, then rescued them using Rook's Exchange.
• The Wild Elf said she remembered the secret passage map and knew the route to the downstream section of the Silver Spring River.
• Roman, Chiara, the Wild Elf, and Sini reached the surface beneath wild pomegranate bushes and argued as the Wild Elf tried to run away.
• Roman heard approaching footsteps, and the group hid when goblins emerged from the forest with a dwarf they recognized.
• The goblins spotted the group and threw spears at them as two ogres appeared behind the goblins.

Roman, Chiara, and the pixie defeated the goblins and ogres, then captured Boris Fire-Anvil and questioned him about his connection to Jorgendigon and the Nidwen Family. Chiara deduced that Boris had a secret mission targeting Miss Delphine, leaving her wondering whether the Chancellor had turned against his own daughter.

• Roman slowed the goblins with a Slowing Curse and trapped them behind a Mirror Spell while Chiara and the pixie fought back.
• Roman used a Grease Spell to make one ogre fall and die, and the pixie accidentally killed the other with the Demon Slayer Spear.
• Chiara threatened the surviving goblins with her wand, and they brought the bound Boris Fire-Anvil to the three women.
• Chiara questioned Boris and learned that he had been at Luoweisi's Compass with Miss Delphine, Uncle Sorinz, and Aifei.
• Chiara identified Boris as the Nidwen Family's alchemist and deduced that his hidden mission targeted Miss Delphine, then wondered whether the Chancellor had sided with Jorgendigon.

Chiara interrogated Bori Flint and uncovered a plot to kill Delphine and Eluin, along with evidence of a wider conspiracy involving figures near the Empire’s upper ranks. Bori identified Freeman Lailis and Lady Shagos as contacts, but the person directing the scheme remained unknown.

• Chiara reasoned that Delphine’s attack was meant to provoke the Empire’s chancellor and suspected an influential traitor near the Empire’s upper echelons.
• Bori Flint revealed that Count Floyd had lent Delphine the Demon Slayer Spear to kill her and Eluin together, while Bori’s task was to lure Delphine into the Jorgendigons’ hands.
• Chiara deduced that Count Floyd had likely been manipulated and frightened Bori into confessing that Freeman Lailis of the Cruz Royal Archaeological Society had contacted him.
• Chiara concluded that the conspirator’s willingness to involve the Temple of Flames suggested the person did not fear it, and Bori named Lady Shagos as his Jorgendigon contact.
• Roman explained that her mind-reading spell revealed emotions rather than secrets, and Chiara set aside the idea of using it on Bori.

Brando’s group hid from the black dragon Modesti while he considered the alliance forming among Jorgendigon’s rulers and the possibility that they would invade the surface. The chapter left Brando seeking answers from the Empire as Delphine’s condition worsened.

• Brando ordered his companions to hide and wait until evening, then sent White Mist to tell Roman and the others to stay put.
• Brando discussed Haruze’s exceptional aptitude for Ancient Magic and resolved to guide the Little Prince’s development.
• Brando concluded that the five underground kings might have united and that Jorgendigon could be preparing to enter the Holy War.
• Brando and Count Orcons linked the underground rulers’ actions to the attack on Little Nidwen’s daughter and considered possible traitors within the Empire.
• Hypamira reported that Delphine’s infection and organ failure had worsened despite her Disease Removal Spell.