Chapter Summaries

Auper took control of the Lawrence Territory and hired a Great Knight and ten Formal Knights, then sent messages that revealed his father and brother's capture. Thor learned that Auper was trying to have them killed, and he prepared for the coming alliance against Eagle Territory.

• Auper seized control of the Lawrence Territory and traveled to Loren City to hire a Great Knight and ten Formal Knights from the Habs Merchant Guild.
• Auper returned with his hired knights and sent notices to two neighboring barons while dispatching a knight to Eagle Territory to leak information.
• Thor showed Auper's letter to Baron Pape Lawrence, who condemned his son's actions and asked Thor to release Lawrence.
• Thor refused to release Lawrence but said he would keep Baron Pape safe in Eagle Territory.
• Thor realized the other Noble Lords would likely unite against him, while the two neighboring barons received Auper's letters and were stunned.

Auper Lawrence told Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton that Pape Lawrence and his elder brother had died while trying to seize a Large Iron Mine from a newly established Pioneer Lord. Tempted by the mine and sensing the Lawrence Family had been weakened, Valmy and Gratton considered joining forces to claim its riches.

• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton arrived at Lawrence Territory and noticed that Habs Merchant Guild knights, including a Great Knight, had replaced the Lawrence Family’s familiar knights.
• Auper Lawrence received the two barons in place of Pape Lawrence and announced that Pape and his elder brother had been killed in battle.
• Valmy and Gratton suspected that Pape’s death and the Lawrence Family’s losses left the territory vulnerable.
• Auper explained that Pape had died trying to seize a Large Iron Mine from a Pioneer Lord who had ruled for less than half a year.
• Valmy and Gratton reacted eagerly to the mine’s value and the weakness of its new owner.

Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton verified Opal Lawrence’s claims about the iron mine and gathered forces to seize it, while Thor prepared a trap after deliberately leaking the mine’s location. As the two barons marched toward the mine, Opal Lawrence followed behind with only serfs, hoping his father and brother would both die.

• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton sent knights to investigate and confirmed that Eagle Ridge had an iron mine with ore being transported nearby.
• Baron Gratton and Baron Valmy learned that Thor was a Dreyrosa descendant with a powerful force, but planned to seize the mine instead of fighting him directly.
• Thor revealed that he had deliberately leaked the mine’s location and concentrated nearly all his forces there, leaving Eagle Ridge lightly defended.
• Thor finished preparing the mine’s defenses, including installing the remaining Magic Crystal Cannons, and promised his men double merit if they defeated the enemy.
• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton marched toward the mine with their combined forces, while Opal Lawrence followed behind with only serfs, intending for his father and brother to die together.

Opal Lawrence secretly maneuvered Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton into marching against Eagle Ridge, hoping Thor Dressrosa would kill the lord there and clear the way for Opal to inherit the Lawrence Territory. As the barons approached the mine, they found no opposition and sent two Knight Orders ahead to test Eagle Ridge’s strength.

• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton’s joint march alarmed the Maine River Valley’s Pioneer Lords until scouts revealed they were heading west toward Eagle Ridge.
• Opal Lawrence’s claim about a Large Iron Mine concealed his plan to provoke Eagle Ridge into killing Thor Dressrosa’s father and elder brother.
• Thor recalled his knights to defend the mine and left the roads unobstructed, conserving his forces despite being nearly as strong as the two barons combined.
• After their scouts reported no ambush, Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton discussed the possibility that Eagle Ridge had withdrawn or might have received help from the Dreyrosa Family.
• The two barons decided to send two Knight Orders ahead to test Eagle Ridge, led by two Formal Knights and including about a dozen Apprentice Knights.

Thor used a staged retreat to make Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton believe Eagle Ridge was weak, prompting their joint forces to march on the mine. As the enemy approached, Thor prepared to surround them and ordered his men to let surrendering troops live while killing anyone who fled.

• Thor ordered Steve to lead a small force and captured serfs against the two Knight Orders, then retreat if they could not win.
• Steve and his knights withdrew after the enemy overwhelmed the disorderly serfs and six Formal Knights pinned Steve down.
• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton concluded that Eagle Ridge had little strength left and ordered their combined forces to advance on the mine.
• Thor spotted the approaching army and ordered Steve and Mark to take opposite flanks and prevent anyone from escaping.

Thor’s forces used Magic Crystal Cannons and Blazing Oil to ambush Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton’s army near the mine, capturing both barons in a decisive victory. Two days later, Thor learned that Ryan had also defeated Opal Lawrence’s force near Eagle Ridge, leaving Thor to consider his next move and send Ryan to Loren City.

• Thor dispatched knights in every direction while his Magic Crystal Cannons were loaded and ready to fire.
• Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton advanced toward the mine, assuming Thor’s forces had fled, until blue Magic Arrays appeared across the hillside.
• Thor’s Magic Crystal Cannons unleashed lightning and ignited Blazing Oil, killing many of the enemy’s knights and throwing the army into chaos.
• Steve and Mark led their troops and slaves against the survivors, capturing Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton while suffering only a few dozen losses.
• Ryan defeated Opal Lawrence’s force near Eagle Ridge, and Opal fled, abandoning hundreds of slaves and Apprentice Knights.
• After receiving Ryan’s victory report two days later, Thor sent him to Loren City.

Thor met with the recovered Baron Pape Lawrence, Baron Valmy, and Baron Gratton to negotiate their release and war reparations. Pape and his son accepted Thor’s contract, while Valmy and Gratton balked at the ransom and considered a different contract.

• Thor brought Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton to meet Baron Pape Lawrence, who learned that his son had declared him dead.
• Pape asked to return to his territory and agreed to Thor’s contract after reading its terms; Lawrence signed it as well.
• Thor gave Valmy and Gratton ransom terms that included gold, serfs, and war reparations, and both Barons said they could not pay.
• Valmy and Gratton read Thor’s alternative contract, and Thor warned that their territories might collapse without them.

Thor secured the submission of Baron Gratton and Baron Valmy, joining Baron Pape’s territory under his authority and establishing control over the Maine River Valley. As Thor turned toward development, Pape returned to Lawrence Territory and attacked his son Opal in fury.

• Baron Gratton and Baron Valmy signed Thor’s Contract Scroll, making their territories subordinate to Eagle Ridge.
• Thor released the captured knights, kept the slaves, and ordered the three barons to send people within seven days.
• Thor returned to the castle and considered developing the Maine River Valley with the thousands of slaves and additional talented people.
• Pape Lawrence returned to Lawrence Territory, struck Opal Lawrence, and declared that he had no son like him.

Thor developed Eagle Ridge after its victories, emancipating serfs and forming a Reserve Knight Corps, while Allen tamed a powerful Unicorn Horse for him. When Lajos Assad returned with record trading profits, Thor welcomed him to Eagle Ridge, where its growth astonished him.

• Thor announced that three hundred serfs had been emancipated and twenty people had qualified for the Reserve Knight Corps.
• Allen reported that he had tamed a Peak Second-Tier Unicorn Horse, and Thor rode it around Eagle Ridge.
• Thor learned that Lajos Assad was returning and rode out with knights to welcome him.
• Lajos reflected on his trading profits and how Eagle Ridge's victories had earned him better treatment and safer passage.
• Lajos arrived, marveled at Thor's Unicorn Horse, and told Thor that the journey had been especially profitable.
• Thor welcomed Lajos into Eagle Ridge, whose rapid development and lively residents astonished him.

Thor and Lajos celebrated their partnership before Lajos departed with Neil Morton, while Thor turned to developing the Maine River Valley. After receiving Thor’s request for help, Count Engel Dreyrosa prepared a substantial group of personnel and knights to support his son’s territory.

• At a banquet, Thor named their merchant guild the Lajos Eagle Merchant Guild to strengthen his partnership with Lajos Assad.
• Three days later, Lajos Assad left with more than three hundred sets of Black Iron Armor, and Neil Morton departed with him.
• Thor began planning how to prevent flooding in the fertile Maine River Valley.
• Count Engel Dreyrosa received Thor Dressrosa’s letter requesting administrative officers and was pleased by his son’s progress.
• Count Engel Dreyrosa arranged five administrative officers, one hundred craftsmen and workers, ten Formal Knights, over a hundred Reserve Knights, and a Great Knight to support Thor.

Thor began building reservoirs and reclaiming farmland now that nearby threats had been resolved. The first wheat harvest exceeded local expectations, though Thor remained dissatisfied and considered seeking ways to improve yields.

• Thor ordered more than a thousand slaves and dozens of knights to build reservoirs upstream, with Baron Valmy and Baron Gratton required to provide workers under their contract.
• Thor continued reclaiming wasteland around Eagle Ridge while the reservoir project proceeded.
• The first harvest from the reclaimed fields yielded about three hundred pounds of wheat per acre, exciting the slaves and free citizens.
• Thor told Ryan to dry and store the grain, which eased his concerns about feeding his growing territory.
• Thor concluded that ordinary farming methods had reached their limit and wondered whether elves, or the Half-Elf girl, could help increase crop yields.

Thor learned that a defeated Minotaur Tribe would enter the Maine River Valley in three months, threatening Eagle Ridge and nearby Pioneer Lords. He began gathering information, seeking outside help, and preparing his territory for the coming crisis.

• Thor read the Daily Intelligence and learned that a Minotaur Tribe would enter the Maine River Valley in three months.
• Thor decided that abandoning Eagle Ridge was impossible and considered combining forces with the Lawrence Territory, Walmi Territory, and Gratton Territory to resist the tribe.
• Thor ordered Lajos Assad to investigate signs of the Minotaurs and sent knights to request help from the Flying Eagle Knight Order.
• Thor accelerated defensive construction, strengthened his subordinates, and sent men to Loren City to buy supplies.

After a month of peace in the Maine River Valley, a Minotaur Tribe massacred Baron Rothschild’s territory, causing panic across the northwest. Lajos Assad returned with news of the threat, and Thor began preparing Eagle Territory and the Maine River Valley to resist the tribe.

• A Minotaur Tribe overran Baron Rothschild’s territory, killing its people and capturing women.
• News of the massacre spread through the Northern Province, and frightened lords fled or sought aid from the Flying Eagle Knight Order.
• Lajos Assad heard about the attack and Thor’s earlier warning, then returned to Eagle Territory to report what he had learned.
• Lajos told Thor that the tribe was a powerful remnant of a defeated Third-Tier tribe, with seven or eight Second-Tier Minotaurs and two Peak Second-Tier leaders.
• Thor asked Lajos to keep watching the Minotaurs and prepared to unite the Maine River Valley’s forces and five Magic Crystal Cannons against them.

Thor ordered the evacuation of the mine and gathered its people and weapons in Eagle Territory as the Minotaur attack drew near. Count Engel Dreyrosa’s reinforcements arrived, but Peros mistook Thor’s prosperous territory for the wrong destination.

• As the Minotaur Tribe grew and the Maine River Valley faced an approaching attack, Thor ordered Ryan to halt work at the mine and bring its Magic Crystal Cannons and people to Eagle Territory.
• Steve obeyed Ryan’s message, shut down the mine, and led its slaves, knights, and goblins back to Eagle Territory.
• Thor redeployed his forces, prepared the five Magic Crystal Cannons, and equipped Steve and the Knight Order as the Minotaur attack neared.
• Count Engel Dreyrosa sent Peros, a Great Knight, with officials, craftsmen, Formal Knights, and Reserve Knights to support Thor.
• Peros reached the outskirts of Eagle Territory, saw its castle and golden wheat fields, and assumed he had taken a wrong turn.

Thor welcomed Peros and the new officers, craftsmen, and Great Knight sent by his father, then set about strengthening Eagle Ridge. Meanwhile, a Minotaur attack destroyed three territories near the Maine River Valley, leaving its Pioneer Lords and Barons fearing the invasion would reach them.

• Thor received Peros and assigned him temporary command of the Fledgling Knight Order while Steve helped him settle in.
• Thor distributed the arriving craftsmen and began planning for Eagle Ridge to become more self-sufficient.
• A Minotaur Tribe attacked Sunset Territory three days earlier and destroyed the territories of three Pioneer Lords.
• News of the attack spread panic among the Maine River Valley’s Pioneer Lords and Noble Lords.
• At Gratton Castle, Baron Valmy feared the Minotaurs would head toward the valley, while Baron Gratton worried they might not reach them.

Baron Gratton and Baron Valmy proposed uniting the Pioneer Lords with Thor to defend their territories from the Minotaur Tribe, while Thor learned the tribe had grown more dangerous than expected. The Intelligence System then revealed that the Minotaur Tribe would enter Maine River Valley in seven days.

• Baron Valmy persuaded Baron Gratton to seek help from Thor and unite the Pioneer Lords against the Minotaur Tribe.
• Baron Gratton and Baron Valmy won Pape Lawrence's support, and most of the Pioneer Lords agreed to join them.
• Thor received Lajos Assad's report that the Minotaur Tribe had ten Second-Tier Minotaurs, including three at Peak Second-Tier, and worried that the valley might be unable to withstand them.
• Thor opened the Intelligence System and learned that the Minotaur Tribe would enter Maine River Valley in seven days.

Thor learned that a Nature Elf was about to be born near his territory and realized Anna might be able to form a Symbiotic Contract with it. He revealed that he knew Anna was Anna Karenina, then destroyed the Slave Contract, leaving her free and stunned.

• Thor read that a Nature Elf would soon be born near his territory and considered how Anna might benefit from it.
• Thor summoned Anna, dismissed the other servants, and asked whether he should call her Anna or Anna Karenina.
• Thor told Anna that he knew she was a Half-Elf from the Natural Forest and belonged to the Karenina family.
• Anna panicked and raised a wall of fire when Thor threw an object toward her.
• The object burned, and the Slave Contract’s restraint shattered, freeing Anna.

Thor lifted Anna’s Slave Contract but told her she would remain in his service, then took her with him toward the site where a Nature Elf was expected to be born. While Thor was away, Peros reassured Baron Gratton, Baron Valmy, and Baron Pape with a parchment from Thor.

• Thor praised Anna’s First-Tier Magic, lifted her Slave Contract, and told her she would continue working for him and accompany him on his trip.
• Anna joined Thor and ten Formal Knights; since she could not ride, Thor lifted her onto his Unicorn Horse, and the group set out for a destination two hundred miles from Eagle Territory.
• The next morning, Baron Gratton, Baron Valmy, and Baron Pape arrived at Eagle Territory and panicked when Ryan told them Thor was away.
• Peros revealed that he was a Great Knight and showed the Barons a parchment from Thor, which eased their fears.

Thor led Anna and the knights into a canyon in the Northern Glacier, where a fierce blizzard signaled the birth of a Nature Elf. Anna approached the forming elf, while Thor waited behind, anxious that it might refuse to make a Symbiotic Contract with her as his protective magic began to fail.

• Thor brought the group to the canyon and ordered them to stay alert for signs of a Nature Elf’s birth.
• A worsening blizzard intensified over the next two days, and Anna realized it heralded the birth of a Nature Elf.
• Thor led the group toward the canyon’s center, then told Anna to go ahead when they reached the storm’s vortex.
• Anna advanced through the blizzard as a tiny, transparent figure began to appear, while Thor worried whether the Nature Elf would choose to contract with her.
• Thor’s magical barriers broke one by one, and he faced the possibility of retreating before the cold overwhelmed him.

Anna endured the freezing storm and formed a Symbiotic Contract with a newly born Ice Elf, which she named Nicole. Transformed into an elf with greatly enhanced magical talent, Anna decided to form a contract with Thor and drifted toward him.

• Anna called upon the Great Goddess of Life as the storm froze her body, and a pale blue Magic Array appeared around her and within the vortex.
• The wind and snow converged toward Anna, then vanished as two Magic Arrays illuminated the sky and she floated in the air.
• A tiny Ice Elf flew to Anna, and she named it Nicole after they became partners through a Symbiotic Contract.
• Anna became a Nature Elf with improved magical talent and asked Nicole to form a Symbiotic Contract with Thor.
• Nicole agreed, and Anna began drifting toward Thor through swirling Ice Elements.