Chapter Summaries

Walter Graham traveled to Mochuria to seek aid against the Red Dragon Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius, but Bahamut refused to intervene directly in a mortal war. Walter then appealed to the Gold Dragon Council, where Krasus reacted uneasily upon hearing his enemy’s name.

• Walter Graham arrived in Mochuria and pleaded with Bahamut to help defend Fadlan from Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius.
• Bahamut praised Walter’s goodness but refused direct assistance, saying the conflict was a mortal war and not the Five-Colored Dragon Queen’s scheme.
• After Walter left, Bahamut told his dragons that Holy Fadlan could not be reborn and that allowing Keosius to rule was preferable to exposing the Material Plane to devils, demons, and the Dragon Queen.
• Walter went to Glorious Residence to ask the Gold Dragon Council for help, invoking the favor owed to him for rescuing an Ancient Gold Dragon.
• Krasus welcomed Walter, but his breathing caught when Walter named Keosius as his enemy.

Walter refused Krasus's offer to abandon Fadlan, though Krasus agreed to raise his request for aid before the Gold Dragon Council. On the Ugo Great Prairie, Rhea fought Orc raiders alongside Titus, who was revealed to be Keosius, before Aurora summoned him to the council.

• Krasus warned Walter that opposing Keosius could push him toward the evil dragons, but Walter insisted on returning to North Aisel to fight for Fadlan.
• Krasus agreed to present Walter's request for help to the Gold Dragon Council, and Walter thanked him before leaving.
• Rhea killed Orc riders on the Ugo Great Prairie, then drove off the survivors with a sweeping strike from her silver sword.
• Titus arrived and burned the fleeing Orcs with dragonfire, then discussed Rhea's plan to help Queen Catherine reclaim power in Serenia.
• Aurora arrived to summon Titus to the Gold Dragon Conference, and the chapter revealed that Titus was Keosius.

Aurora brought Keosius to the Gold Dragon Council, where he entered under the identity of the Ancient Gold Dragon Titus and secretly assessed the gathered dragons. The council’s leader, Krasus, arrived, and Keosius learned that the powerful executive would make a formidable opponent.

• Aurora gave Keosius an identity badge and explained that Krasus had summoned Golden Dragons to discuss growing threats across the Feanso Continent.
• Aurora led Keosius through a portal to Mount Orlando, where he entered the Hall of Justice and saw the remains of the Progenitor Dragon Orlando.
• Keosius took his seat as an Ancient Gold Dragon, met the Young Golden Dragon Anher, and privately noted that he had been impersonating the real Titus.
• Beatrice greeted Keosius, and Golden Dragons from across the Material Plane filled the hall as he counted their numbers and strength.
• Krasus entered the Hall of Justice, and Keosius secretly assessed the executive’s Challenge Rating as 28.

Keosius attended the Gold Dragon Council as Titus and learned that the Golden Dragons feared his growing power and potential importance to the dragon race. When Krasus proposed limiting aid to Walter Graham, Keosius argued that justice required the Golden Dragons to oppose his enemy, leaving the council swayed by his speech.

• Krasus opened the 267th Gold Dragon Council, where the Golden Dragons shared reports of threats across the Material Plane and assigned missions, including investigating the Dragon Worship Cult.
• Samuel and Elliot praised Titus for his deeds before Krasus revealed that Walter Graham had requested aid against the Embers of the Burned Emperor, Keosius Klauberwu Norikesius.
• Krasus warned that Keosius was a powerful Red Dragon with bloodline comparable to a Third Generation Progenitor Dragon and said his allegiance could affect the coming war between Bahamut's and Tiamat's forces.
• Krasus advised sending an Ancient Dragon only to preserve Walter's life, but Titus objected to letting power dictate justice.
• Keosius, speaking as Titus, urged the Golden Dragons to defend Walter from a brutal aggressor, and his impassioned words moved the council.

Keosius posed as the Ancient Gold Dragon Titus, won the Golden Dragons’ support, and received a powerful protective necklace before joining Walter’s forces in Collins City. After Walter revealed the defenders’ plans to him, the real Keosius prepared to invade North Aisel.

• Keosius persuaded Krasus to let him aid Walter alone, and Krasus gave him the Platinum Sacred Heart necklace.
• Walter waited in Collins City for reinforcements, and Keosius arrived disguised as Titus, an Ancient Gold Dragon sent by the Gold Dragon Council.
• Walter welcomed Titus and shared North Aisel’s defenses and the identities of its allies, including Barachiel, while Keosius secretly gathered intelligence.
• At Dragon Blood Mountain, Keosius awakened and ordered his forces to begin their campaign in North Aisel.

Keosius ordered the Embers of the Burned Empire to enter a state of war within three days, while Olivia confronted him over the planned invasion of North Aisel. He argued that the empire’s people had chosen the war, leaving Olivia shaken as she looked down on Istaria’s jubilant crowds.

• At the Istaria Great Altar, Dolo advocated a brutal campaign in North Aisel, while Lang Pu argued for a swift conquest that would secure the empire a foothold without provoking the other powers.
• Keosius ended the debate and ordered the empire to enter a state of war within three days.
• Olivia hurried to the altar and accused Keosius of breaking his promise not to invade or provoke war.
• Keosius claimed that destroying the Three Great Kingdoms would end the conflict and bring peace, but Olivia called the invasion selfish aggression.
• Keosius seized Olivia and flew over Istaria, showing her the crowds celebrating the war before insisting that the empire’s people had chosen it.

Keosius rallied the people of the Embers of the Burned Empire to support a war of conquest against the south, while Olivia struggled to decide whether his vision of a new order was right. The Empire’s citizens embraced the coming war, leaving Olivia isolated and doubting herself.

• Olivia saw workers, soldiers, tavern owners, and players celebrate the coming war, making her question whether she alone opposed it.
• Keosius told Olivia that the old order was doomed and that he meant to hasten its violent collapse, leaving her partly persuaded despite her doubts.
• Keosius appeared above Istaria as the Emperor, and the crowd worshipped him while Olivia wondered which side of his nature was real.
• Keosius addressed the Empire’s people across the Anzeta Great Wasteland and portrayed an invasion of the south as a fight for justice and land.
• Keosius’s speech inflamed millions across the Empire, and Olivia watched the people embrace war while feeling she did not belong.

The Embers of the Burned Empire mobilized its forces for a southern war, sending troops and weapons from Istaria, the Fire Elemental Plane, and the Underdark. Olivia resolved to join the Empire's General Staff to understand Keosius's new order, as the empire's armies prepared to overwhelm the unprepared southern powers.

• Lajie helped load weapons and ammunition from the Dragon's Nest onto trains bound for the south, while Imperial soldiers and equipment mobilized across the empire.
• Dolo led Istaria's military parade, and George departed with the army, promising himself he would return covered in honors.
• Olivia watched the parade, questioned why ordinary citizens supported the war, and told Lang Pu she wanted to join the Empire's General Staff.
• Serkan rallied the Fire Elemental Plane legion at the Brass Fortress and prepared its forces to join the war.
• Hart assembled undead and allied races in Dragon Shadow City under Keosius's decree, as the empire's forces across the planes stood ready to deploy.

Piotr McGrath’s scouting force encountered the Empire’s advancing Steam Tanks, which annihilated the cavalry and crushed Piotr despite his defiant attack. Steel Frenzy’s tank formation continued toward the unprepared cities of North Aisel.

• Piotr saw Dragonkin, Wyverns, and Chimeras gathering above Tahan City and ordered his scouts to retreat and warn Duke Walter.
• When the Steam Tanks appeared, Piotr split the force, sending Afar and fifty cavalrymen southwest to carry the warning.
• A Steam Tank fired into the cliff above Afar’s cavalry, triggering a rockslide that buried all fifty riders.
• The tanks overtook the fleeing scouts and crushed them, while Piotr turned to face one of the machines with his silver sword.
• Piotr’s sword left only a faint mark on the tank before its force-field shield threw him down and its tracks crushed him.
• Steel Frenzy discovered that he had killed Piotr and continued leading the tank formation toward North Aisel’s cities.

Earl Leoni Garcia rallied the Aisel Winged Cavalry to defend North Aisel from the Embers of the Burned Empire, but an aerial bombing devastated his force and advancing steel war machines left him questioning whether they could win. The chapter ended with Leoni watching the enemy approach, shaken by the collapse of his confidence in Fadlan's strength.

• Earl Leoni Garcia invoked Fadlan's imperial glory to rally the Aisel Winged Cavalry for the coming war.
• More than a hundred Wyverns carrying riders approached, and Leoni ordered the cavalry into a defensive formation.
• The Wyverns dropped hundreds of bombs, killing or wounding nearly two hundred Winged Cavalrymen in a single attack.
• Leoni hurled a lance into the sky and killed one Wyvern Rider as the remaining Wyverns climbed for another bombing run.
• Steel behemoths advanced from the horizon, and Leoni wondered whether his forces could win without the Holy Fadlan Empire.

Leoni led the Aisel Winged Cavalry in a last charge against the Embers of the Burned Empire’s tanks, but the Steel Torrent destroyed the force and killed him. The invasion of North Aisel continued, leaving Duke Walter’s remaining forces trapped in the cities and awaiting aid from Walter Graham.

• Leoni rallied the Aisel Winged Cavalry to charge the Steam Tanks, but their lances failed to penetrate the armor and the formation was crushed.
• Leoni split open a tank with his saber, killed its Dragon Vein Goblin driver, and urged the surviving cavalrymen to keep fighting.
• Wyverns and Steam Tanks attacked Leoni and the scattered cavalry; after his horse died, Leoni charged on foot and was killed by a tank shell.
• On July 11th, New Era 1789, the Embers of the Burned Empire invaded North Aisel with armored divisions, air divisions, and a rapid deep-penetration force.
• The invasion routed the western North Aisel defenses and left Duke Walter’s remaining forces confined to major cities, where people prayed for Walter Graham’s aid.

The Embers of the Burned Empire attacked Saint Theo City with bomb-carrying Wyverns, devastating the city and breaking its citizens’ confidence. As Kallen and Zalan prepared defenses, the Imperial Army arrived and began bombarding the walls, leaving the city facing a far larger assault.

• Kallen Ferguson and Zalan Yaelvis watched the Embers of the Burned Empire’s forces advance after Aisel’s army suffered heavy losses.
• The First Air Regiment bombed Saint Theo City, killing more than a thousand people, destroying buildings, and throwing the city into chaos.
• Kallen ordered rescue efforts while Zalan and the Mages of the City of Myriad Laws raised a magical net and advised sheltering in basements and fortresses.
• The Imperial Army arrived with Steam Tanks and artillery, broadcast a demand for surrender, and sent its Wyverns circling overhead.
• Kallen urged the citizens to resist as the tanks fired on the walls, whose magical barrier held against the shells.
• The Sun God Ballistae struck and destroyed one Steam Tank, but Saint Theo City faced more than a hundred tanks, two hundred heavy artillery pieces, and three hundred bombing Wyverns.

Arturo Red Ridge ordered the Embers of the Burned Empire to unleash their full assault on Saint Theo, overwhelming the city’s defenses. Kallen escaped as the walls collapsed, and the Empire went on to seize nearly all of North Aisel, leaving Walter Graham to defend Collins City.

• Arturo Red Ridge commanded the Empire’s forces to bombard Saint Theo City, shattering its Protection Array and setting the city ablaze.
• Kallen fought Wyverns, intercepted shells, and struck back against attacking players while Zalan urged him to retreat to Collins City.
• The city walls collapsed under the bombardment, and Kallen teleported away with Zalan as Empire troops advanced into the ruins.
• By July 30, the Empire had occupied every city in North Aisel except Colin City, while Walter Graham defended Collins City.
• The Feanso Chronicles described the Blitzkrieg as a forceful declaration of the Empire’s arrival and the death knell of the old Fadlan order.

Duke Walter gathered a vast allied army in Collins City to resist the Red Dragon after North Aisel fell in nineteen days, and Barachiel arrived to lead aid from Mount Paradise. As Walter prepared for the decisive battle, the Red Dragon he opposed was secretly standing among the allied ranks.

• Duke Walter worried that the Red Dragon Embers of the Burned Emperor was too powerful for him to defeat, while Titus urged him to trust in justice and revealed his Ancient Gold Dragon form.
• Titus declared that creatures devoted to fairness and justice would support Walter, as soldiers, mages, Angel Divine Descendants, and celestial forces assembled outside Collins City.
• Barachiel arrived with the Celestial Legion, announced Mount Paradise's aid, and sounded his horn to inspire the allied army.
• Walter resolved to drive the Red Dragon from Aisel, rallied the allied army, and vowed that justice would prevail.
• Walter entered a sealed chamber with his two strongest allies to plan against the Red Dragon, unaware that the enemy was among the cheering troops.

Keosius led the Embers of the Burned Empire to Collins City, where his forces confronted Duke Walter’s allied army. After Keosius declared his claim to North Aisel and battle began, Olivia asked him to spare the Golden Dragon Titus.

• Keosius’s army surrounded Collins City as a colossal fire illusion of him appeared above the battlefield and frightened Walter’s soldiers.
• Titus identified the giant dragon as a fire elemental illusion, and Walter rallied his troops by denouncing it as a deception.
• Keosius accused Walter’s forces of being abandoned sinners and declared the Embers of the Burned Empire the rightful successor to Fadlan.
• Walter, Titus, and Barachiel defied Keosius, who announced that North Aisel belonged to his empire and threatened to destroy anyone who resisted.
• Keosius ordered his army to charge, and cannons, steel vehicles, dragons, undead, and fire elementals attacked Collins City.
• Olivia questioned Keosius’s pursuit of justice and asked him to spare Titus, and Keosius agreed while hinting at a hidden motive.

The Embers of the Burned Empire began its assault on Collins City, using superior artillery and tanks to devastate the allied forces before the defenders mounted a fierce counterattack. The battle spread into the sky, where Wyverns and Celestial warriors fought in a brutal, unresolved clash.

• Da Tou’s artillery destroyed the allied guns, and Walter realized the weapons sold to the Three Great Kingdoms were obsolete stock that had helped fund the Empire’s invasion.
• Barachiel ordered the Celestial Legion to shield the allies from the bombardment while its envoys healed, empowered, and attacked the advancing Empire forces.
• Arturo led the Steam Tanks through the allied defenses, but Arcane mages and Angel Divine Descendants destroyed tanks and inflicted heavy losses.
• Smaug led the Wyvern Legion against the Celestial Legion, while Alger and the Red Scale Conquerors broke through its shield line with their Dragon Roar Charge.
• The Wyverns and Celestial warriors fought at close quarters as guns, magic, and arrows filled the sky and casualties fell on both sides.

The Embers of the Burned Empire sent Anthony and the Dragonkin Paladins into the battle, where they fought an Angel Divine Descendant and trapped him with their combined power. Steel Frenzy killed the captive Divine Descendant but was immediately killed by Marquis Kallen; after reviving, he and the other Vitagis Dragon Scale Monks plunged into the Allied Forces' positions and began slaughtering their soldiers.

• Anthony led the Dragonkin Paladins into the battlefield, where their Dragon Vein Link let him withstand the Angel Divine Descendant's attack.
• The Dragonkin Paladins summoned a red dragon incarnation that burned and restrained the Angel Divine Descendant with chains.
• Steel Frenzy charged the trapped Divine Descendant with his Chainsaw Sword, and the Dragon Pact Sorcerer enchanted it so he could sever the enemy's head.
• Marquis Kallen killed Steel Frenzy in revenge, but Steel Frenzy soon revived as other Vitagis Dragon Scale Monks launched themselves into the Allied Forces' positions.
• The Dragon Scale Monks attacked with Blast Rifles, Chainsaw Swords, and bombs, killing Allied Forces soldiers across the battlefield.

Kallen fought Steel Frenzy and the Dragon Blood Marquis Misha as the Embers of the Burned Empire overwhelmed the allied forces. Walter refused Titus’s plea to intervene, insisting they wait for the Red Dragon to reveal himself.

• Steel Frenzy revived after Kallen killed him, deployed Church of the Machine God war machines, and was burned to ashes when Kallen broke through his defenses.
• Kallen saw the Evil Dragon Kin tormenting allied soldiers and charged toward the Dragon Scale Monk, but Misha intercepted him.
• Misha battled Kallen with Dragon Breath, fire illusions, and teleportation while Dragon Pact Sorcerers joined the fight.
• The Embers of the Burned Hell Legion stormed allied positions, and the empire’s forces broke through defenses across the battlefield.
• Walter watched the allied forces retreat from Collins City and refused Titus’s request to join the battle, saying the Red Dragon was the greater threat.

George and the Imperial infantry killed Barni, a wounded judge of Silver Heaven, with coordinated gunfire and artillery as the Embers of the Burned Legion overwhelmed the Allied forces near Collins City. Keosius agreed with Olivia that the war should end and rose above the battlefield, drawing every eye with a thunderous roar.

• George led his regiment through the breach and ordered his soldiers to encircle the wounded Celestial Fighter Barni.
• Barni unleashed golden feathers that killed dozens of Imperial soldiers, so George called for artillery support.
• George's troops and the Steam Tank bombarded Barni, who fought back with blades of light and killed more soldiers before the barrage overwhelmed him.
• George and his soldiers shot Barni down, and George raised the Sword of Paradise while rallying his troops for the Empire.
• Zalan watched the Allied forces collapse and saw a legendary mage looming over him as the Embers of the Burned Legion advanced toward Collins City.
• Olivia asked Keosius to end the war, and he rose into the sky and roared across North Aisel.

Keosius revealed his enormous true form and tried to persuade the allied soldiers to surrender, but Barachiel arrived and rallied them. As Keosius and Barachiel prepared to fight, Barachiel summoned Silver Heaven Lucia over the battlefield, and Keosius announced that he would tear it apart.

• Keosius revealed his fifty-meter Red Dragon form, terrifying the allied soldiers and prompting many to flee or drop their weapons.
• Keosius urged the allied forces to abandon resistance and join the Embers of the Burned Emperor, but Barachiel used Holy Word to restore their resolve.
• Barachiel arrived with celestial forces, and Keosius, Barachiel, Walter, and Titus prepared to fight while the armies clashed again.
• Keosius recognized Barachiel as a worthy opponent, while Barachiel resolved to stop the Red Dragon and challenged him in the name of Mount Paradise.
• Barachiel blew the Silver Horn and summoned Silver Heaven Lucia over the battlefield, and Keosius vowed to tear it apart.