Chapter Summaries

Garen rode to Freljord to confront Luxanna over her letter to Jarvan IV, but their argument over Demacia’s leadership and the people’s welfare ended in a duel that Luxanna won decisively. She had Garen confined in Freljord while she continued her work, and said she would visit their parents and deal with some of the Crown Guard family’s relatives.

• Garen hurried from Dawn Castle to Freljord, determined to persuade Luxanna to abandon her course.
• Luxanna explained that Demacia’s nobles and emperor did not necessarily represent the interests of ordinary Demacians, but Garen struggled to accept her claims.
• Luxanna challenged Garen to fight, and her magic-piercing blade defeated him in three moves.
• Luxanna had the guards carry Garen away and told him he would remain in Freljord while she worked.
• Luxanna said she would visit their parents in Silvermine City and might deal with some relatives of the Crown Guard family.

Luxanna secured Borga and the Northern Second Legion for her plan to resist the royal family and seize control of Silvermine City. She used her parents’ names to invite the local nobles to a banquet, setting a trap for them as the guests arrived.

• Luxanna told Peter and Ogesha that she would not give up the Northern Wanderers and warned that Freljord was preparing a general mobilization.
• Peter and Ogesha rejected Luxanna’s request to join her, so she placed them under house arrest.
• Luxanna recruited Borga, who assembled the Northern Second Legion to support her uprising.
• Luxanna announced a banquet in her parents’ names, drawing Silvermine City’s Crown Guard collateral nobles to the castle.
• The nobles arrived for the banquet, but Peter and Ogesha were absent and Luxanna greeted the guests herself.

Lux used a banquet in Silvermine City to arrest nobles accused of abusing commoners, invoking a joint agreement with Freljord. After calling the arrests an appetizer, she served the surviving nobles a commoners’ meal and hinted that the main course was still to come.

• Lux welcomed the assembled nobles, then revealed that she had gathered them to begin a trial rather than arrange marriages.
• Borga and the Northern Second Legion sealed the banquet hall, while Lux cited the Joint Fugitive Apprehension Agreement as the basis for taking nobles into custody.
• Lux read out petitions and investigative reports from commoners, and soldiers arrested the accused nobles and several young men who resisted.
• Lux told the remaining nobles that Freljord’s prosperity came from commoners who filed petitions, not from Noble Exemplars.
• Lux called the arrests an appetizer, then sat down to eat a simple commoners’ meal as the remaining nobles reluctantly joined her.

Lux used public trials in Silvermine City to dismantle the local nobles’ authority and introduce Freljord’s civil administration, winning residents over with the promise of advancement and practical reforms. As news of the trials spread across the north, some nobles began considering negotiations with her, and industry association representatives approached those on a secret target list.

• After the banquet, Lux expanded the arrests to Silvermine City's law-enforcement officials and held three days of public trials with the Northern Second Legion, the Northern Wanderers, and clerks.
• Lux personally presided over the trials of Crownguard nobles, presented evidence of their crimes, and exposed how they had misused taxes.
• Freljordian clerks gained residents’ trust by promising irrigation repairs, clarifying land ownership, and creating formal land records across Silvermine City's countryside.
• Silvermine City's residents accepted Lux's New Order as clerks established local administration with support from Hextech and the Northern Wanderers.
• News of Lux's trials spread through northern industry associations, prompting nobles to reconsider opposing her and representatives to visit those on the secret Northern Unified Front Main Unification Target list.

Luxanna built the Northern United Front by recruiting a minority of northern nobles, while Jarvan IV sent troops to suppress her rebellion. With the Noble Council offering little practical support, he bought their grain at a high price and went to the military camp to prepare for war.

• Luxanna's intelligence unit classified northern nobles, and trade association representatives persuaded some to join her cause while seven representatives were imprisoned.
• Jarvan IV learned that Luxanna had taken Silvermine City and imprisoned her family, then ordered troops north to suppress the rebellion.
• Lanfu, Barrett, and the Noble Council backed Jarvan IV publicly, but the nobles refused to provide meaningful military aid or grain.
• Jarvan IV sought the nobles' stockpiled grain because the royal family had sold its surplus and could not wait for the harvest before marching north.
• The Noble Council agreed to sell grain at a high price, and Jarvan IV returned to Dawn Castle, swept dinner onto the floor, and went to stay at the military camp.

Jarvan IV mobilized Demacia’s elite troops to crush Lux’s northern rebellion, confident that victory was assured. Meanwhile, Lux’s forces mobilized faster and revealed a vast, well-equipped military machine that left Demacia badly outmatched in numbers, logistics, and transport.

• Jarvan IV moved into the military camp and saw the Fearless Vanguard assemble first, while considering how to deal with Lux after the war.
• Jarvan IV assumed Lux’s militia would be slow to gather and believed Demacia’s forces, advisers, and Galio would ensure victory.
• Lux’s general mobilization brought fifty thousand northern troops together in three days, with the Northern Second Legion and Northern Third Legion also being reorganized.
• Freljord’s preparations included five capital ships, standardized equipment for over a hundred thousand soldiers, and Enyuk wagons to move troops.
• Lux and Karya had divided cavalry duties among trained scouts, Dragon Riders, and wagon transport to compensate for Freljord’s shortage of horses.
• Freljord’s Hextech Corps and Inland Fleet prepared to use specialized magic and waterways for battlefield support and transport, while Jarvan IV lacked a dependable navy.

After Freljord’s mobilization overwhelmed Lux, she worked with Karya, Yin Nuo, and Sona to plan a larger clerical system and prepare the North’s takeover. The Northern Wanderers mobilized for their campaign as Lux rallied Freljord’s citizens, leaving the army ready to march and the coming conflict framed as a test for everyone in the North.

• Karya urged an exhausted Lux to delegate authority and gave her a list of promising clerks to train for leadership roles.
• Lux, Yin Nuo, and Sona planned an expanded clerical system, with the Northern Vanguard coordinating, planning, and assessing the clerks’ work.
• The leaders set campaign objectives: seize northern cities’ defenses, impose temporary military rule, detain local officials, and prepare for later trials.
• Lux was assigned to lead the Highland Walkers and Plains Walkers with the inland river navy against Jarvan IV, while Yin Nuo would lead the Hill Walkers to seize Irondale and contain the Northern First Legion.
• Lux explained the campaign objectives to the commanders, then pledged arms before Freljord’s citizens and called on the Northern Wanderers to march for Demacia’s future.

Yin Nuo’s Northern Wanderers swept through the northern cities before halting outside the nearly impregnable Irondale, while Jarvan IV’s march north was disrupted by Freljord’s Inland Fleet. After nearly a month, Jarvan IV finally reached Freljord, where Lux and the Northern Wanderers were prepared for him.

• After Lux’s rallying speech, the Northern Wanderers mobilized, and Yin Nuo led a rapid advance toward Irondale, taking northern cities with ice ramps and Snowfield Wanderer assaults.
• Yin Nuo reached Irondale after thirty-six days but judged its mountain defenses too formidable for a direct attack, so her forces blocked the eastern and western exits and settled in to wait.
• Jarvan IV led the Rebellion Suppression Army north from Demacia City, but Freljord’s Inland Fleet burned his supply ships and defeated Demacia’s navy at Dersa Bay.
• After the Inland Fleet attacked Edessa, Jarvan IV diverted soldiers to protect the river ports and continued his march using land transport for supplies.
• Jarvan IV reached Freljord nearly a month later, where Lux and the Northern Wanderers had completed their preparations.

Haike Jimenez led the First Regiment of the Plains Walkers across Canal 102 to confront Sa Lange’s vanguard before it could establish a foothold. As Demacia’s cavalry charged, the Plains Walkers held formation under missile fire, and Sa Lange realized his attack was not going as expected.

• Haike Jimenez chose to cross Canal 102 and meet Demacia’s vanguard with the forest behind his troops.
• Jarvan IV ordered Sa Lange to take three thousand vanguard troops north and build a pontoon bridge, but Sa Lange learned that the Plains Walkers were waiting to fight.
• Sa Lange dismissed the Plains Walkers as weak and advanced after his troops ate and briefly rested.
• Haike arranged his troops with a weakened center and concealed robed figures on both flanks to draw in and attack the enemy.
• Sa Lange’s sword formations fired missiles at the Plains Walkers before the shield formations charged, but the defenders remained in formation and Sa Lange sensed something was wrong.

Sa Lange’s Xiongdou Vanguard was defeated when the Plains Walkers absorbed successive cavalry charges and used wind magic to encircle the army’s flanks. Sa Lange ordered a retreat and led his remaining Guard Cavalry into a charge to cover the withdrawal.

• The Plains Walkers absorbed the Shield Formation Cavalry’s charge, then surrounded and killed most of the cavalry after it lost momentum.
• Sa Lange sent the First and Second Cavalry Squads to charge the Plains Walkers’ center in successive waves, but both were broken up.
• The Plains Walkers’ wings used wind magic and sail-like battle flags to rush around the Xiongdou Vanguard’s flanks.
• The Plains Walkers routed the flank guards and baggage train, scattering packhorses and sweeping the Third Cavalry Squad into the chaos.
• Sa Lange ordered his forces to retreat toward Pinara and sent a clerk to report the defeat to the Emperor.
• Sa Lange led the Guard Cavalry downhill in an arrowhead formation to hold off the Plains Walkers and cover the retreat.

The Plains Walkers annihilated Sa Lange’s Vanguard Army, and both sides reviewed the battle while preparing for a larger conflict. As Jarvan IV reinforced Pinara City and watched the northern front, Lux secretly arrived outside Imperial Capital City with the First and Seventh Spellblade Sequences.

• Sa Lange led the Guard Cavalry in a final charge, but the Plains Walkers routed the Vanguard Army and captured prisoners, supplies, and equipment.
• Haike’s commanders reviewed the battle, judged the Dandelion Tactic effective but vulnerable to thrown weapons, and assessed the Imperial Capital Army’s strengths and weaknesses.
• A scribe reported the defeat to Jarvan IV, who held a funeral for Sa Lange and rallied the Imperial Capital Army with a speech.
• Jarvan IV stockpiled supplies, summoned elders from the Moon Sect, and sent Dragon Riders north as both sides paused major operations.
• Lux arrived outside Imperial Capital City with the First and Seventh Spellblade Sequences, intending to strike the capital.

Lux led First and Seventh Sequence Hextech users through the Shadow Realm to burn the assets of twenty-three noble families in Imperial Capital City, stirring political pressure on Jarvan IV. As Jarvan weighed whether to attack the Northern Wanderers, the Solar Sect and Moon Sect offered support in exchange for religious freedom, and their groups merged with the Radiant Church to form the Twilight Church.

• Lux brought the First and Seventh Sequence Hextech users through the Shadow Realm to Imperial Capital City, intending to provoke Jarvan IV rather than occupy the city.
• Lux split the Hextech users into squads, and they burned twenty-three Noble Manors and their owners' bonds before returning to Freljord through the Shadow Realm.
• The Noble Council sent an envoy to Pinara City to demand that Jarvan IV protect the nobles, leaving him torn between maintaining the standoff and attacking the Northern Wanderers.
• The Solar Sect and Moon Sect's advisory elders offered to join the rebellion suppression effort if they could proselytize freely in Demacia.
• Jarvan IV proposed that the Solar Sect and Moon Sect join the Radiant Church, but the groups negotiated a merger instead and founded the Twilight Church.

Jarvan IV accepted aid from the Solar Sect and Moon Sect, believing he could use their warriors to crush the northern rebellion and control their faith, while the Great Gods used his ambitions to draw Demacia into their influence. Meanwhile, LeBlanc and Vladimir exploited his absence to prepare an immortality ritual in the Shadow Realm, leaving Demacia City’s government and supply system in chaos and Jarvan IV urged to pursue them.

• Jarvan IV welcomed the Rah-Hok warriors and Lunar Warriors, intending to use them as expendable troops and weaken the Twilight Church.
• The Solar Sect and Moon Sect pursued influence over Demacia itself, while the Twilight Great God’s planted influence continued to shape Jarvan IV’s choices.
• LeBlanc and Vladimir used their aliases, Lanfu and Ziwei, to build a covert network among the nobles and prepare an immortality ritual in the Shadow Realm.
• LeBlanc and Vladimir transferred followers into the Magic Seekers and Garrison Legion, then entered the Shadow Realm to merge their subjects with shadows.
• Barrett discovered Lanfu was missing and supplies were mismanaged, so Jarvan IV rushed back to Demacia City and found its offices crippled by missing officials, funds, and provisions.
• A voice urged Jarvan IV to find Lanfu and Ziwei in the Shadow Realm and meet his destiny.

Jarvan IV pursued Lanfu and Ciwei into the Shadow Realm, where he found LeBlanc and Vladimir preparing an immortality ritual and fought them with help from the Solar and Lunar Warriors. As the sun and moon converged into twilight, Jarvan IV revealed that he had returned to Runeterra.

• Jarvan IV ignored Barrett's objections and led an elite mixed squad into the Shadow Realm to hunt the traitors.
• Jarvan IV found LeBlanc and Vladimir building an altar and attacked their followers with the Dragon-Binding Spear.
• LeBlanc and Vladimir unleashed blood magic, Shadow Chains, and the altar's Shadow Mist, forcing Jarvan IV onto the defensive.
• The Solar and Lunar Warriors joined the fight, coordinated with Jarvan IV, and pushed LeBlanc and Vladimir toward retreat.
• The sun and moon converged, forming twilight, and Jarvan IV emerged from the mist and said he had finally returned to Runeterra.

The Twilight Spirit revealed himself through Jarvan IV and trapped LeBlanc and Vladimir, then explained that the constellations were homes to immortal Great Gods. He offered the pair a choice between binding themselves to the Shadow Realm or seeking eternity among the stars, with few stars left in the divided War Constellation.

• The Twilight Spirit used Jarvan IV’s power to intercept LeBlanc and Vladimir, trap them in a spatial cage, and bring a hidden second LeBlanc into it.
• Jarvan IV urged LeBlanc and Vladimir to worship a Great God for eternal life, prompting them to wonder whether beings bound to the celestial realm could be immortal deities.
• The Twilight Spirit identified himself as Twilight and showed the pair a star map, explaining that the constellations represented Great Gods who watched over Runeterra.
• Twilight singled out the Star of Greed in the War Constellation and said its master was the demon Tahm Kench, also known as Two Coats.
• Twilight said a demon in the Shadow Realm had become Karya’s plaything, then asked LeBlanc and Vladimir to choose between a lesser plane and the eternal stars.

Jarvan IV, under the Twilight Spirit’s influence, blamed Freljord for the capital crisis and maneuvered the nobles into funding a costly northern war, hoping their taxes would drive Demacians toward the Twilight Cult. Karya suspected the Twilight had returned, secretly prepared countermeasures, and left Lux planning an advance south as an unknown observer appeared in Rizos.

• LeBlanc and Vladimir accepted the deal, and Jarvan IV’s government publicly blamed Freljord for the hostage crisis while declaring the northern rebels a major threat.
• Jarvan IV secured military funds from the nobles and privately counted on their greed and new levies to make Demacians desperate for a savior.
• Lux was baffled by the blame and tax increase, while Karya identified the Twilight as the likely cause of Jarvan IV’s behavior and warned her about its powers.
• Karya ordered a secret anti-Twilight team, assigned covert tasks to Lux, Yin Nuo, Sona, Shyvana, and Fiora, then disappeared and left Lux a note to proceed with the battle plan.
• Lux planned to push south and force the Imperial Capital Army into a decisive battle, while an unknown visitor watched Rizos through a silent void and lamented that someone had chosen to debase themself instead of becoming Dawn.

The Twilight Spirit spied on Rizos through a spatial void, and Galio spotted him, prompting Beroba to alert Lux. While the Twilight Spirit searched unsuccessfully for Karya, Karya remained hidden in Rizos among the Northern Wanderers as the Anti-Twilight Squad prepared to collect supplies.

• The Twilight Spirit opened a void to observe Rizos and waved at Galio before closing it.
• Galio told Beroba that he had seen Jarvan IV watching Rizos through a hole in the sky, and Beroba hurried to inform Lux.
• Lux reassured Beroba that the sighting was likely a spying spell, then privately worried about the Twilight Spirit’s spatial magic and planned for possible attacks.
• The Twilight Spirit searched Rizos and nearby settlements for Karya but could not find him, even after peering into Lux’s office.
• Karya remained disguised as a Plains Walkers company commander in Rizos, organizing squad leaders who were secretly members of the Anti-Twilight Squad.

The Twilight Spirit gathered Northern intelligence for Jarvan IV, and the Imperial Capital Army used it to devise a three-stage campaign against the Northern Wanderers. The commanders disagreed over how to deal with Rizos, so Jarvan IV ordered them to begin with the river crossing.

• The Twilight Spirit stopped searching for Karya and secretly gathered intelligence by spying on Lux's office and Northern documents.
• Jarvan IV shared the intelligence with his commanders and asked them to plan the next move, surprising them by delegating strategic decisions.
• The Imperial Capital Army commanders planned to cross Canal 102, advance north by building supply camps, and then seek a decisive battle.
• The commanders disagreed over whether to bypass Rizos or surround it and support Northern nobles, leaving the choice to Jarvan IV.
• Jarvan IV said they should begin with the first step, the crossing of Canal 102.

The Imperial Capital Army crossed Canal 102, but Haike’s Plains Walkers retook the Sixth Crossing and destroyed the Lunar Warriors at great cost. After both armies regrouped, Lux saw that the river no longer protected her position and decided to attack.

• The Imperial Capital Army advanced to Canal 102 and began crossing at more than twenty sites, while Haike’s Plains Walkers disrupted the crossings and destroyed many floating bridges.
• The Imperial Capital Army secured seven crossing sites, but Haike rapidly concentrated his forces and launched a surprise attack on the Sixth Crossing.
• The Plains Walkers seized the Sixth Crossing camp, drove the Imperial Capital Army south across the bridges, then destroyed the bridges and annihilated the surrounded Lunar Warriors.
• Haike withdrew before Imperial reinforcements arrived, leaving the Imperial Capital Army with heavy casualties, including the loss of two hundred Lunar Warriors.
• Lux sent the depleted First Regiment and magically exhausted Third Sequence Spellblades to Velos to rest and reorganize.
• Lux studied the map and decided to take the initiative and attack beyond Canal 102.

Cisilia led the Northern Territory Air Force’s First Flying Squadron on a mission to intercept Imperial Capital Winged Legion scouts. After a surprise engagement, her squad disabled three enemy dragonbirds and pursued the remaining riders to encircle them.

• Cisilia inspected her gear and led her Dragon Riders from Rizos’s northern gatehouse on an interception mission.
• Cisilia guided the squad through the clouds to its designated position, where they unexpectedly encountered a ten-rider Winged Legion reconnaissance squad.
• Three Winged Legion riders stayed behind to cover their squad’s retreat, and Cisilia and her deputies disabled all three with throwing ropes.
• Cisilia ordered the First Flying Squadron to pursue and wipe out the entire enemy squad.
• A Dragon Rider in Cisilia’s squad cast Wind at Our Backs, boosting their speed so they caught up with the Winged Legion riders and encircled them.